What's "willful?"

Whatever it is, Mommy and Daddy use that word a lot to describe me. "Sweet but willful," Mommy pronounced when I was just a few hours old and she apparently hasn't changed her mind. I don't know what they could be talking about, but here are some of the times they use the term:

When I was still in Mommy's womb, I liked to swim all around. Uncle Jack called it "the lava lamp;" usually around 11 pm the floor show would start and I'd really get rippling. But as soon as Daddy turned the video camera on, I'd freeze. He'd film for several minutes and sometimes I'd make a half-hearted kick or two, but when he finally gave up and I heard the "ding" of the camera turning off, back I'd start again! LOL

I still like to make people work for it. Mommy has been describing to Grandma and Grandpa Salyers how I like to talk and sing now. Every time I start to orate, she calls them but by the time the phone connects I'm not happy anymore and all they hear is me fussing. The other day Mommy talked to Grandma on the phone for 90 minutes hoping that I'd relent and make some noise; nope!

I also don't like these attempts Mommy and Daddy are making lately at putting me to sleep at set times. I must make a stand for babies everywhere -- "I shall not be, I shall not be scheduled . . . ." I only like to fall asleep while nursing, or while being bouncey-walked for a half hour or so, preferably while also being patted and sung to. Mommy thinks if she lies down with me every day at the same time, I will eventually come to expect and even anticipate nap time. I must not soften! So far I have resisted the pull of the comfy bed and screamed for at least 30 minutes each time before falling asleep. I only hope that I can continue to uphold the cause. Why don't these people understand? If you fall asleep, you might miss something!

Come to think of it, Aunt Cindy also used that word, "willful," when she came to visit me at 7 weeks. When I would (very reasonably) voice my outrage about some indignity, she would translate: "Will is being thwarted . . . will is being thwarted!" Well, if expressing my opinions and wanting things my way is willful, so be it!

Recent Milestones

Here are some of my recent accomplishments:

• Just today I took my anti-reflux med straight. (The pill is supposed to dissolve in the mouth but up 'til now, someone had to dissolve it in a little milk and give it to me in a medicine dropper.) It only fell out of my mouth one time and Mommy popped it back in; I didn't choke on it or anything!
• Also today I grabbed my feet for the first time. Mommy's been showing them to me for ages but they just seemed so far away. (Well, and I'm so fat that I have a little trouble reaching them; it makes me grunt to bend over that far!) But the sleeper I had on today had was a little big, so I could get hold of the tips of the footies.
• I'm getting ticklish -- first I would only laugh if someone chewed on my feet (had to use their teeth for it to work); that was just before Labor Day weekend. Then I also grinned and sometimes laughed when Mommy did this thing she calls "zerberting" on my cheeks and she also found a ticklish spot where my thighs connect to my body. Now I seem to be getting ticklish all over, but I especially love it when someone makes the yummy sound and gets my tummy! I have a funny laugh, kind of grunty and breathy, not that high-pitched squealy noise some babies make.
• I can anticipate--when Mommy takes a deep breath and makes the yummy sound over me, I just know she's going to tickle me and I start laughing before she does anything. Grandma Mago also taught me to anticipate. She sings me "1, 2, buckle my shoe" and before she sings the end she pauses. So I start waiting for the "9, 10, big fat hen."
• I have a pretty consistent bedtime of 9 pm. Of course, I only sleep 'til 2, but hey, by then I'm pretty darn hungry!

I'm sure I'll have more new tricks to report soon!

Hey out there. I just woke up from a nap and I am in such a good mood. Hey, there are my hands again . . . . . . .

. . . . . oh sorry, where was I? I'm going to talk to the light for a minute and then Mommy's going to change my diaper. She better hurry, 'cause I can turn a good mood south in a hurry!

Woke up it was a Monday morning . . .

Mommy is sitting in the rocking chair, watching me play in my exersaucer (still love it, it's the best). She is freaking out because my feet are flat on the bottom now! When she and Grandma got it the day before yesterday, I could only stand on tip-toe.

Other things of note in my world: have you ever really looked at your hands? Because they are so cool. Yesterday, when we went to Great-grandma and grandpa Honeycutt's house, I was really checking mine out in the car on the way over. You should try it! I don't sit and stare at them for hours or anything (the way Grandma Salyers said Mommy did when she was a baby) but I get really thoughtful about them for a few minutes before trying to use them to reach, whack, or grab.

Grandma Mago sings Itsy Bitsy Spider to me a lot. It might just be coincidence, as I'm trying out all these things my hands can do, but it sure does look like I'm making the spider movement as it crawls up the waterspout! I also love Little Cabin in the Woods, but Mommy has to help me do those movements; I'm not quite there yet.

Ex-ersaucer Ex-cited

Mommy and Grandma Mago left me with Daddy this morning to go to Duke's fall consignment sale. Mommy came back with an exersaucer -- she said this is like a walker except with no wheels. [And it only cost 7 bucks! --Mom]

And guess what? I can stand up in it without someone holding me all the time (even though I have to stand on tiptoe to reach the bottom)! And I have two hands free to play with all the toys they put on the tray that goes around it. I accidentally knock the toys off onto the floor a lot, but I still get them in my mouth a lot of the time. Just like with any activity that totally captures my interest, I tend to forget to swallow, so pretty soon my onesie and the tray are covered with drool. I'm telling you, it's the best!