A Morning Visit

I've never been much of a morning person. I start slowly, and no matter what fun or exciting event might be in store for the day, getting my feet on the floor usually requires great effort. Peeling back the covers is a daily challenge. Until lately. The stronghold of a warm bed is weakening, and I am warming to the idea of life before 8 a.m. I have found inspiration.

I go to her in the morning and she reaches her little arms for me, and with a huge, drooly grin utters the syllables that even my grouchy morning demeanor simply can't resist.

"Ma Ma!!"
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Until now, it's been all about the "DaDa". All she ever wanted to talk about was "DaDa". It was "DaDa" in the morning, noon, and night. "DaDaDaDaDaDaDaDaDADA!!!"

Until now.

Now we're on to new sounds, and one in particular that I am quite fond of. It has a nice ring. "Mama". There is absolutely no correlation, other than in my wildest imagination, between seeing my face and saying the word. But still. I could listen to it all day. Or, in fact, crawl out of bed willingly in hopes of being rewarded with my brand new, very favorite sound. Turns out, mornings aren't so bad lately.

This particular morning we went to the doctor's office for a nine month check-up. My pediatrician of fifteen years recently retired, so today was my first day to meet the gentleman who took her place. I liked him very much. He is about twelve, and has one child who is not much older than Emma. That makes him an expert in practical parenting. That and his medical degree, which I think is probably very helpful. Really, I did like him. I'm just surprised that the other people around me are getting younger all the time.

Of course, the highlight of these early well visits is watching the nurse mark the next section of curve on the little growth chart. Emma is in the 55th percentile for her weight; all 19.3 pounds of her. She ranks in the 80th percentile for head size. It has been medically confirmed that she is a Bobblehead.

Anyway, Dr. Youngman mailed me a survey last week and asked me to do a series of things with Emma to evaluate her developmental progress. I'm so pleased to report she aced the test. She can pass a toy from one hand to the other, and sit upright without leaning on her hands. She can look for my voice even when she can't see me, and she can notice her own toes. In a word, she's a star. A point that I was quick to share with doc. After all, at this apparently early stage in his career he may not have seen many perfect babies yet. He was very impressed. The only subject on her report card that suffered was Sippy Cup Training. So, here's my little Bighead, working on her homework. :)