Philadelphia (yes, that's right! I live in Philly! I am coming out of the Closet of Brotherly Love to...wait. That sounds disingenuously racy. Let us abandon flights of fancy and false advertising, and return to the sentence already in progress) is breathtakingly beautiful in the springtime; most of it features enough greenery to be positively lush after a few good rains, and even though most of the spring blossoms have given way to leaves it's still a joy to look out the back window at the mist, the honeysuckle, the poke and ivy and daylilies running wild. RIght now I need to take a break from worrying about the car exhaust and MTBE in the water and persistent environmental pollutants. The baby is asleep in the next room, and has been sleeping nice long stretches at night for the past few days. She discovered Cheerios (well, Oatios, because, you know, I'm me) and loves them, tasted chicken and loved it, is not so hot on the prunes and avocados. Her new thing (everything is new, though!) is dive-bombing: the floor, the kitty, me. She crawls to her target, rears up on her knees, raises her arms in the air -- pauses for effect -- and then CRASHES onto whatever beloved object lies below.
When it's me, she crashes mouth-first onto the boob. It's the funniest thing.
She likes to slap my belly and watch it jiggle, cries when Daddy walks out of view, screeches in delight at pretty much everything. She climbs our stairs alarmingly fast, whispering "Pluh. Pluh. Pluh." I follow as a spotter, but she's doing all the work herself. She can stand, unsupported, for longer and longer intervals. At first she balanced with her arms out to the sides; now, she practices clapping or sucks her thumb for ten, twenty, thirty seconds.
And...I think I hear her waking up.
Stands? Unsupported?? As in, not hanging onto anything? You are so screwed ;) Seph's been pulling herself up for months and hanging on but so far no standing by herself, so we're safe for now ;)
(Pictures, pretty please?)
Posted by: DebbieS | Monday, May 15, 2006 at 12:06 PM
Howdy, neighbor. We moved from Rittenhouse Square to our current suburban home while I was pg with our first, but we're still in spitting distance of city limits ;)
Posted by: webhill | Monday, May 15, 2006 at 04:03 PM
Doh! You live near the evil in-laws! Don't go north to M-county! Beware! Beware!
Posted by: Kate | Monday, May 15, 2006 at 06:45 PM
Hey, I live in Philly too! Mist, day lilies? Sounds like Mt. Airy.
Posted by: magicdrgn | Monday, May 15, 2006 at 08:00 PM
Oh, god. I love your Sophia posts but they depress me...my Grub is only three weeks younger and still isn't even rolling. Sigh. He HAS discovered that he can pull his binky out, pass it from hand to hand, and then back into his mouth (and then he looks for the applause).
I don't envy you the mobility, though. Nope, not one little bit--Rex didn't walk until he was sixteen months old due to some foot surgery, and because he was the first I spent my days trying to get him to do it...then I all but bound Scamp's feet when I was pregnant with Grub to KEEP him from learning to walk (kidding--I did nothing to discourage him but did not particularly encourage him, either). He walked when Grub was two months old...and it's been all downhill from there.
Posted by: Pygmalion's Wife | Monday, May 15, 2006 at 08:28 PM
Oh dude you are so screwed. She climbs? She stands? There was a time when that would have seemed to smart and cute to me, but now I think of the implications and...horror, horror, horror. Start moving everything up a yard off the floor. Everything. Immediately.
Posted by: Menita | Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 06:42 AM
"All you have to bring...is your love of everythi-ing...Beautiful Mt. Airy Looodge!"
Sorry, but magicdrgn's comment now has that going through my head so I'm trying to pawn it off on you instead.
I *love* the little whispered comments as they locomote. And the dive-bombing of the breast, too.
Posted by: Moxie | Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 09:30 PM
Oh, I figured out you were in Philly a LONG time ago. All those hours of playing Carmen Sandiego in middle school were good for something!
It sounds like such fun to have a baby Sophia's age. My little munchkin was just born 2 days ago (yes, I know I should be sleeping right now instead of reading blogs!) and all she does is eat and sleep and be absolutely perfect and amazing.
Posted by: another Amy | Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 09:07 AM
another Amy, it's a blast, but GO TO SLEEP NOW.
Trust me.
Posted by: Jo | Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 10:56 AM
You are right Philly is so beautiful in the spring!
Posted by: cloudscome | Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 02:47 PM
Your daughter sounds like she's at a great age--I'm looking forward to mine gaining a few months, but I know I'll also miss this time. (She's 14 weeks right now.)
Posted by: Casey | Friday, May 19, 2006 at 12:55 PM