Margo à la Maude

It's been a week since Donna and Margo have been back from Saskatchewan, a good amount of time to reflect on how the girl has changed. First and foremost, the first time I saw Margo after almost 8 days, she looked so much like a girl, not at all like a baby, but that could just be my own personal filter kicking in. She definitely has fuller hair now, though.



So, how has she changed?

For one thing, she learned how to share with attending the Saskatchewan School of Etiquette for 9-month Olds. This kind of blew me away. Watermelon has become a significant part of her diet these days, and once she's had her fill, she will reach out her hand to feed you. And she finds it hilarious when you eat from her hand.

(word to the wise... you don't always want to eat what's in a nine-and-a-half month old's hand)

And just tonight, Donna gave her a sock and told her to "give it to Papa." So, she did. I took it and gave it back to her to give to mommy. Lasted about 10 minutes, and she would split a gut laughing every time.

This brings us to her next bit of learning: clapping. She claps when she's happy. She has clapped before, but more as a fluke. This is for real.

She's smarter, sitting down when I tell her to sit down when she's in the tub. Bathtime was really, really frustrating before, because all she wanted to do was stand, which, good papa/bad papa, isn't allowed for safety reasons. So it was a battle between two hard-headed individuals whenever she hit the water. Now, it's fun.

As an opportunity to take a breather, I would often take her outside and give her all the plant names on the deck. Sometimes, I would rub the leaves and put them to her nose to let her smell the herbs, which she would normally then try to eat my fingers. Now, she actually smells the fragrance. Smart girl. FYI, I discovered that lavender and mint smells really good together. Margo agrees.

She arks her back now. Why? Beats me. When you pick her up, she makes a crescent moon of her body and practices her Cirque du Soleil act. As anoying as it is, she's getting quite graceful doing it.

Margo arching her back, artistically. It's hard to tell that it's arched, but that a big heap of laundry. And yes, that is a bathrobe. Such modesty for someone who gets aired out in the backyard naked on hot days.

Cache-cache/peek-a-boo is a riot to her now; when you throw a blanket on her head and ask where she is, she howls, especially when you pull the blanket off quickly.

And last, but not least, when she's tired, she will occasionally permit herself to lean back against your chest. You have to understand that Margo is NOT a cuddly child. Hugging her is the equivalent of putting her in jail, and she squirms out and your hold. Imagine my surprise when, reading her a bedtime story, she settled in. Nice change. Especially seeing as how it took her about a day to feel comfortable around me again after having been gone for so long.

I'm sure that they're more that just isn't coming to me right now. She's able to climb the first step/landing at the bottom of the stairs with just one leg up and without breaking her speed. She's more fun to be around, because she reacts to you now. Summer is a good time to have a 9-month old.

- Michel

Labels: developments

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 03, 2007 at 12:29 a.m.. You can skip to the end and leave a response.