Many Moves

Our little Annabelle seems to be fast approaching the world of the "big girl". Like most parents, this is coming too fast for our comfort and recently we've had to counsel ourselves to just sit back and enjoy watching our baby learn and grow. It has been awhile since we last blogged, so let's catch up.

Annabelle went on her first plane ride to KY in early May. It was a special flight, one we shared with the beautiful Glenn Close two rows in front of us and one we spent so starstruck that we forgot to get nervous about gate checking all of our crap, breast feeding in closed quarters, and possible cabin pressure panic. So, thank you Ms. Close. Ever determined to mine other people's business, during the flight I used my daughter as an excuse to get up and walk past her and her husband several times to try to read the script she was reviewing. I pined for an autograph on Annabelle's boarding pass, which I thought was appropo of the fact that my love of Maine started with images of "Sarah," from "Sarah Plain and Tall," and with the Maine coast dwelling in my mind as a setting of near perfection for my future family. And now, here we were, going on my daughter's first plane ride with "Sarah." She looked grumpy though, so I managed to control myself. Of course she spoke to Anthony, said "Hi," and looked adoringly at Annabelle. The best part of the flight however was later, as we all disembarked our teensy plane and boarded a bus on the tarmac amidst a chorus of comments about, not Ms. Close, but how beautiful and well-mannered our daughter was. I will forever tell her she upstaged Glenn Close.

Anyway, back to Annabelle. She has grown like a weed, a great big tall dandelion weed to be precise. She has officially grown 9 inches since she was born and is 28 inches at her 6 mos. visit. If she could palm a basketball, she could probably dunk. Her brain pan is also growing, but still is small enough to make her look mature. She squeals at the sight of her baby friends, all boys, trying heartily to vie for their attentions, but slapping away any unwelcome touches by their prying little hands. One little boy found her to be a tease and kept trying to hit her on the back after she recoiled from his touch. 9 mos. olds-geez. I shuttered and helped her dodge. I never knew how much my role as a parent would be defensive interference during play dates, but a mommy's got to help a sista' out.

However, soon Annabelle will be able to do her own defensive coordination, as she is officially teething. Two little bottom incisors are busy rousting Annabelle from restful sleep, provoking random fits of screaming, and generally making us all slightly more crazy. They haven't poked out yet, but I give it a week. Also on the oral front, she has started eating solid foods like rice cereal (which is officially not solid) and mashed pears-num, num! She is also busy perfecting her skills drinking (read: lapping up) water from mommy's glass.

In other news, she is sitting up by herself, rolling all around as an alternative to crawling, which comes next, and already chasing after kitties trying to put them in her mouth (probably better than the other way around...). She has arguments and occasionally screams at the dust buster (to get its attention-duh!), and seems more or less obsessed with random household fixtures --ceiling fans, lamps, knobs, etc. She still seems to enjoy her time out-of-doors, which has evolved and expanded now that we're on the cusp of another Maine Summer. The other day we strolled down the hill to our local Memorial Day parade, which had just the right mix of marching bands and fire engines to keep Anthony entertained. Anna on the other hand seemed a little bit bored -- clearly not enough household appliances...

We're trying to make some plans for the summer, and adapt our usual hodgepodge of outdoor activities to make them a bit more Maine and baby friendly. Lots of car camping in store, and hikes at our favorite locales. Cass plans to learn to sail, Anthony will work to get a little bit more of his surf on. We bought a pair of sweet ocean kayaks this spring (one of which is now without rudder after a near-tragic incident involving some wind, a highway, and two idiots who don't know the proper way to secure a boat to the top of a car). Fun stuff. Don't know how we'll manage to kayak with the young one though. A book we bought recommended stowing young childen in the fore or aft gear-hold, next to the extra cloths and beef jerky. A friend suggested towing an inner-tube behind us -- or two, rather -- one for Annabelle and one for the beer. We continue to weigh our options.

That's all for now.