Bliss of Life

In an attempt to pass time and entertain my restless 8 month old, I pulled out my wooden flute yesterday and started playing.  I use the term “playing” loosely, very loosely.  I’ve never had a flute lesson, but  sounds were coming out and they were rhythmic enough for Lily to sing along with like she does when I sing her to sleep.  When I picked up the tempo she started bending her knees and bouncing a little.  It looked like dancing, but I wasn’t sure.  Later in the day we went a friend’s house where Lily found a musical toy.  And what do you know, she started bouncing her little body up and down every time she pushed the music buttons.  Then today we popped into a nearby cafe to get some juice.  Bob Marley was playing and guess who was bouncing her little body up and down and up and down in the baby carrier.  The cool thing is that we’ve never tried to show her how to dance, she just knew.

I’m behind on my blogging, but I’ve busy doing everything but sleeping.  I feel like a broken record, but if I told how little sleep I am getting, you wouldn’t believe me.  I hardly believe it myself.  And yet somehow, not sure how, I get up everyday and do it all over again.  Seeing friends on the weekdays is a respite from the monotony and the sleep deprivation.  Last week we hung out with Patrick and Mica.  Lily enjoyed showing off her new standing skills and showed them just how easily she can pull toys from her toy bins.

Lily was mesmerized by Patrick’s glasses and beard.

I love the way she is looking at Mica in this picture.

On Monday Lily turned 8 months.  I can hardly believe it.  Just last week, I would pull different toys out and set them in front of her.  Now she stands at the toy bins and pulls them out all by herself.   I can’t believe how fast this is happening.  Everyday she looks more and more like the child she is becoming.  And soon her little gummy  grin will vanish, just like those little newborn fists she wielded at everything during those first few months.  Her first tooth is cutting through, and it’s taking its bloody time.  The pain makes her different, which is what pain does to us.  She can be perfectly content scooting along the floor or nursing in my lap when out of the clear blue she arches her back and cries like she does when she bumps her head on the floor.  It’s hard to watch, especially at two in the morning, and then again at three, and later at four, and five…

Yikes!  She’s up again.  Got to run.

She’s done it twice.  Once, two days in a row, and only while crying from an attack of separation anxiety because I ran out of the playroom to fetch something.  I was fast.  Gone for only a few seconds, not even a minute, when I heard a word tucked in the middle of her vowely wails.  It was perfectly pronounced with the intonation that is characteristic of someone who is just learning how to hold words in her mouth and how to let them go.  It was beautiful.  It was my name.

Ma-Ma.

Lily’s astrological sign is the Taurus, which is partly why we call this face the Tauras face.  The Taurus face is two parts self-pride and one part determination (or maybe vice versa).  It’s accompanied by short and fast in-and-out breaths through the nose (breath of fire for those yogis out there.) The Taurus face first emerged when she was working on army crawling.  Once she mastered the army crawl, it disappeared.  For months there was no sign of Lily’s Taurus face, until she started pulling herself up to standing.  And now, it’s baaaaaack!

Lily and I had a play date with some new friends today.  It was loads of fun.  Lily checked out Ava’s toys while Amy and I had some much needed Mama-chat time.

Look at those girls.  Have you ever seen two more beautiful babies?