Our baby is not quite two months old, as I write this, and what she's learned is phenomenal.  It took her less than an hour to figure out food and fist don't fit in the same mouth at the same time.

She's learned that if she toughs it out until her siblings go to bed, she gets Mommy 100% to herself.  Silence, to her, means wake up and be cute.

Right from the start she recognized my voice.  I could soothe her immediately.  But even if I was holding her, she didn't seem to know that I was right there.  I would move my face in front of hers and she'd always be pleasantly shocked..."Oh, there you are."  Now, in the past week or so, she's learned to look for me, or for whoever is directing noise toward her.  And not only can she find me, she can keep me by following with her eyes.

Cooing, gurgling, smiling, singing - she can stop the Earth's rotation.  And she knows it.  Doing something sweet results in all of those big faces staring down in awe.  So she practices, and she's good.

I love this time with her.  She's just the most perfect infant on this planet.  Yet I'm looking forward to her independence.  Two months of baby worship have led to a completely disheveled house.

After being through "independence" four times, I realize I'm wishing for a creature who routinely unloads cupboards, dumps cat food, strews laundry, yanks table cloths and pulls every cushion off the couch.  So in other words, baby independence leads to a completely disheveled house.

And come to think of it, my oldest still undresses as she goes - leaving clothes, books, pens, papers in her wake.  We've not lived in tidiness since...And come to think of it Dad undresses as he gets home from work - leaving boots, sweat socks, jacket, tools in his wake.

And if I honestly consider my own habits, there's no hope.  Welcome, baby, you picked the right family!

Mima's Notes:
I spent the day with my grandson today.  He is close to walking, and closer to talking everyday.  I was singing his uncle's favorite song, and my grandson shocked me by swaying and singing the "Bye-Bye" lyrics with me.  Then I came home, and relived this moment, and it feels like the past and present are colliding in my consciousness.