Recent News and Developments

First a news bulletin: Mommy and Tommy Dolphin are found!! We apparently left them at Auntie Michelle's house. I am so happy to have them again; now my favorite part is chewing on the seahorse teether, which I am just sure I can fit in my mouth in its entirety. (I am not deterred by gagging myself on it repeatedly; I just know it'll fit!)

Some recent developments: I mentioned that I had started to sit. I am getting better and better at sitting without help. I still love to stand and in my exersaucer, I've started jogging in place! I also have discovered that I do like my doorway jumper; I just didn't like the doorway Mommy and Daddy had put it in. Now that it's in the doorway to my room, I enjoy standing and turning around in it while Mommy cleans. I am working sooo hard on scooting; when there's something I'm interested in, my legs just go crazy trying to get me towards it. Unfortunately, if I do move, I go backwards, which really frustrates me! I can get my front end up and my back end up, just not at the same time.

I've made some innovations in the area of communications. I hold my arms up when I want to be lifted out of my exersaucer and hold my arms out to people when I want them to take me (folks find this very endearing, trust me). I've also started talking -- ok, not really in the sense of making specific sounds that you would identify as "words," but definitely in the sense of emphatic enthusiastic noises that convey emotion (i.e., baby jabber). I especially like to talk when I'm in the bathtub and getting my diaper changed (maybe being naked facilitates language development? Now there's a pickup line!)

I've also started laughing a lot more frequently, especially at Mommy, for some reason. I guess I find her amusing. When she came in after teaching her class on Saturday, she and I had quite a laughion (like a discussion except you laugh).

On Wednesday, Nov. 1 I marked a new first: I rode through the whole store in the cart seat. Mommy had tried putting me in one a time or two before, but I always cried. I didn't like it if we stayed still too long, but otherwise it was kind of fun (and judging from Mommy's expression, a relief for her!).

Oh, thought of one more language-related development: I recognize some words. The first one Mommy and Daddy noticed was my name; that is to say, Catfish. I also seem to respond to Otis Chester, though. It's hard to tell at this point how much is tone and how much is word recognition, but it's fun all the same. The other word I know is "cat." If Mommy says, "cat," I look around to see where it is. Boy, I love those cats. (We have three, two that come inside and one that stays outside.) I reach for them when they're close by and try to touch their soft fur and get so excited when they're just out of reach (when I finally get that scooting thing down, it's gonna be a whole new world, baby!)

Even though I adore them, we've temporarily cut bananas out of the diet because I have become majorly constipated since I started solid foods (the upside of which is that the 'rents can just tilt my diaper toward the toilet and let the turds drop in - splish, splash, flush - much easier than dealing with typical baby poo in cloth diapers. But when your kid cries while doing #2, people, something's got to be done). Mommy read that avocados are not only the "ideal" first food for babies but also help relieve constipation. Well, that got her the first "yuck, yuck, why have you put this vile substance into my mouth" baby face. So avocadoes go down as the first food I don't like.

Finally, those of you concerned about my weight (or my parents' repetitive motion injuries from lifting me) will be happy to know that the large fat roll on the back of my neck has started to diminish -- apparently being absorbed into the large fat roll that is the rest of me. No, but seriously, I'm still pretty darn huge, but those who watch closely say proportions are starting to shift somewhat. (Oh, how they'll miss those dimpled sausage-casing legs once they're gone.)

Whew, that was an eventful two weeks! At that rate, I'll be quoting Shakespeare by my next post! Good night, sweet prince!