It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon, and everyone is resting but Elvie Kate and Mama. I am seated at the table with the open computer, a leftover cupcake and cup of coffee resting beside the machine. Lying on the floor nearby is Madame Herself; she is positioned under the wooden gym toy that every baby in our family has used and loved. She flails wildly as she sings to the toys dangling overhead, and every now and then she quiets and makes a slow, methodical swipe at them with her left hand.
We’ve come to the stage of monthly updates where there is really something to update about. Those Deliberate Swipes are something that have manifested just in the last week or two. Before that, if you put her on the floor, she would crab and complain until someone came to talk to her (so she could talk back.) Now she is content to study and converse with the toy itself for a quite a while. When she fusses I know it’s time to put her down for a nap.