Milestones

K-bao is reaching new milestones every week now. Below is a quick run-down of some recent developments:

1. She can now sit up by herself for a few seconds at a time. The three things preventing her from doing more than a few seconds are: (i) a tendency to lunge for whatever is in view, whether it be a book, Mr. Caterpillar, her toes, etc. - the effort generally causes her to topple over; (ii) we've let her fall backwards a few times on the bed, and lo and behold she enjoyed the sensation, so if she isn't lunging forward she is gleefully falling backwards - a dangerous habit; (iii) her unusually large crop of hair, which we conjecture causes her to lose balance frequently.

2. She is now eating solids. K-Mum has introduced oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pears and avocados, all of which were big hits. Her favorite activity is now sitting in the high chair, savoring the sweet goodness that appears in her mouth, and banging on her little tray like a street drummer if we don't shovel the grub in fast enough.

3. She is now, for the most part, sleeping through most of the night. We've been through one round of "Gotcha" with her on this issue several months back, so we're not celebrating too early. And yet...Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! God is good!

4. She has entered the stranger anxiety phase, and that includes kids. A few weeks ago we visited our good friends in Oakland, who have a baby girl several months older. Granted, K-bao was outweighed 2-1 (her parents called their kid "the gentle giant"), but from the moment little K entered the house and saw who she was dealing with, she started looking for an escape hatch. I'm afraid we have a little 'Fraidy Cat on our hands.

5. She is now flipping over regularly, back to front, and occasionally front to back. When we check on her in the middle of her night we generally find her on the opposite end of the crib to where we placed her, face down, with her blankies swaddled about her neck or feet, one foot dangling in between the crib slats.

6. And finally, if this were possible, she has developed an even louder complaining voice. If she ain't happy, everyone darned well better know it. That means everyone in the library. Everyone in Safeway. Not quite everyone in Costco just yet, thank goodness.