Things They Don't Tell New Parents #164

Every once in a while, a baby will throw up directly on your face when you're burping her. 

I need a shower and something to wipe this experience from my mind.

Guess We Have to Stock Up on Baby Toothpaste

For the past three months, Carrie and I attributed all of Grace's otherwise unexplained bad moods and sleepless nights to the start of teething.  And, for three months we've been wrong.  That all changed about a week ago, when not one but two teeth cut their way through her bottom gums.

Yeah it's blurry.  You try taking a picture of a wiggling baby.

I'll Teach You to Leave Without Me

Grace's grandparents all love hosting sleepovers for the baby, and once every month or so Carrie and I are more than happy to oblige.  As parents, it's good to get away for a bit to blow off some steam and not be on infant alert at every moment, so it's an incredible blessing that our parents live so close and are so excited to spend time with Grace.

Last weekend was such an opportunity, as we dropped off Grace with my in-laws and headed upstate for a night with some friends.  The Saturday night party was a lot of fun and everything seemed to go off without a hitch, at least until went to pick up our daughter Sunday afternoon.  Grace was furious at us for leaving her behind and spent the rest of the day letting us know all about it.

PPPLLLLLFFFFFFFPPPPTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!

Grace, Carrie and I are all huge fans of funny noises and funny faces.  Mommy and daddy will do just about anything to for a laugh, and baby is always more than happy to oblige

As Grace gets older though, our comic mannerisms are starting to have a side effect.  Namely, mimicry, which our little lady is quickly mastering.  If we stick our tongues out, she sticks her tongue out.  If we make a silly noise, she parrots it back as best she can.  The pinnacle of Grace's pantomiming happened today, right while I was trying to feed her lunch.

Ten minutes of Grace teaching herself how to spit just like mom and pop brought a sudden end to mealtime, leaving daddy covered in peaches and baby thoroughly amused.  It was as scary as it was funny however, as Grace was turning purple from the effort.  No worries though, we're going to spend the rest of the day teaching her how to stop and take a breath.

Next Stop Sea World

Carrie and I taught Grace how to play catch today.  We were at grandma and grandpa's house where there was a beachball lying around.  Since it's colorful and a thing, Grace was immediately fascinated by it, so we let her handle it for a bit.  After a minute or so, she dropped it and we handed it back.  Another minute, another drop and so on for a while.

Eventually Carrie decided to try tossing the ball to Grace instead of handing it to her, and she snatched out of the air on her first try, a pure natural.  Amazed and excited, we kept playing for an hour, taking the ball directly from Grace's hands instead of waiting for her to drop it most of the time.

Toward the end of our catch session, Grace decided to unveil a second skill, not satisfied by just learning how to catch.  We tossed her the ball, which she trapped against the side of her body.  Then, she pushed the ball up over her shoulders and balanced perfectly on the top of her head.  Just like a trained seal.

She stalled it long enough for me to take
out my cell phone and take this picture

Jiu Jitsu? I'm Going to Learn Jiu Jitsu?

For the most part, babies learn incrementally, picking up new skills bit by bit through trial and error.  For example, Grace has seemed to be on the verge of crawling for months, and is now at the point where she's got everything down except for actually moving forward.

Once in a while though, Grace seems to learn new things in giant leaps, as if they were downloaded directly into her brain like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix but if Keanu was a better actor.  Last Monday was one of those days.  From the moment Grace woke up, it was like she was a totally different person.

Our Little Author

My wife is an English teacher, a profession chosen because of a lifelong love for the written word.  So it should come as no surprise that telling Grace stories and teaching her how to read and write were among the thing's Carrie was most looking forward to upon becoming a parent.

It turns out, Grace is a very quick study.  This morning, mom sat baby in front of the computer to teach her a little about letters, numbers, cause and effect.  Enthralled by the keyboard and blank word document, Grace was filled with inspiration.  Within moments, she began putting word to digital page and authored her first story, which is hanging on our refrigerator at home and reproduced after the break for your enjoyment.