Hello, Pushkin

Today is Mae's 9 month birthday! It was a HUGE day in our house. Just giant. Not only did she do her first definitely-not-an-accident waving for 'hi' and 'bye,' she also learned how to clap. Also, if you make motorboat lips at her now, she makes them right back. We had a tea party with our neighbour this afternoon and basically spent the whole time making farting noises at each other. It wasn't exactly ladylike and civilized, but a good time was had by all.

I have to say, 9 months is definitely the best age yet (and I do realize I've said the exact same thing about every age she's been so far). But, honestly, 9 months... it can't get better than this. It's just so cool to see the beginnings of communication happening.

The beginning of mobility, on the other hand, I have mixed feelings about. Yesterday Mae spent the whole day tearing around the main floor finding wires to pull on and corners to bang her head on. It was horrible. Every time I moved her away from a dangerous area or tried to distract her with a toy, she'd scream. By the end of the day, I didn't have any energy left. When I called my mom she squealed with excitement (like the good grandma that she is) to hear that Mae was really, really crawling but I couldn't share her enthusiasm. "I hate crawling," I said. "I wish she would unlearn it." My mom laughed at me. I guess she's been there.

Anyway, after a night spent childproofing (even though, I swear, I thought we'd already more or less childproofed), things were much better today and I'm sure I'll adjust. It definitely makes Mae giddy to be so mobile. You can just tell how proud she is when she pulls herself up on the sofa cushions or almost catches the wonderful, lovely kitty she's been crawling after. And if something makes her that happy, I guess it makes me happy too... even if it also makes me tired.