Remember the Cuteness, Part I

Ever since Maddie was a couple months old, I’ve been meaning to put together a list of all the cute, little, quirky things she does that make her her, knowing that she will quickly outgrow them, and I will probably forget them. Like the way she used to interlock her fingers and clasp her hands while nursing or the way she sleeps with her face all smooshed into the mattress and her hands under her forehead, so that when she wakes up, she has finger (and fingernail) prints on her face. Have I created this list? No. Don’t be silly. I don’t have time to make lists. I have TV to watch and other people’s blogs to read and chocolate chips to eat straight out of the bag. I have no time to document my daughter’s more adorable moments for posterity. (See, I didn’t even try to come up with some lame I’m-to-busy-being-a-mother/wife/contributing member of society excuse. I find my candor refreshing; although, I’m sure my mom would call it lazy…)


So, while I was home helping her recover from the croup that would not end (Oh yes, we were back home again on Friday, after a failed attempt at daycare that resulted in the return of the fever, but I swear she’s really better now.), I noticed some new “cute stuff” she’s doing, and I thought I’d share:


1. She shouts at the cats. Actually, it seems more like she’s trying to have a conversation with them, but she’s so excited that it comes out as shouting. This morning, she talked “at” Gwennie for about 2-3 minutes while I was getting dressed. Gwennie, of course, just sits and blinks at her. Zelda, our timid cat, runs away. Although, that may have more to do with that tail-pulling incident than the shouting…


2. She’s very into face-touching, especially noses. She loves to grab at people’s noses and mouths, and she will put her hand on my mouth to have it kissed. She also likes to touch my face while she’s nursing, which I’m sure sounds sweet and has a couple of you going “awwww”, but once you have been smacked and clawed at by a 7-month-old who isn’t even looking at what she’s grabbing you will immediately reassess the cuteness factor and dial it down a few notches. (I also think she’s starting to give kisses because sometimes she will put her open mouth on my cheek for a few seconds without sucking or licking or any of her usual I-must-eat-everything-ness, but I’m not entirely sure, which is why this is in parentheses. It’s like whispering. I’m also parentha-whispering because she only does this to me, not Jon, I think because of the whiskers, so I don’t want him to get jealous. He doesn’t read words in parentheses. Okay not true, but some of you believed me for a second, didn’t you?)


3. While she was sick, I got worried that she’d become dehydrated, so I tried to give her a couple of ounces of water in a bottle. She quickly made it extremely clear that water does not, under any circumstances, belong in a bottle. Bottles are for milk, and if you think water belongs in them, you, my friend, are obviously an idiot. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what the look meant. Water also does not belong in sippy-cups because sippy-cups are awful and stupid and not to be trusted. Water may be served out of a bottle without the top (so a cup, essentially), but due to the fact that someone has not at all mastered cup-drinking skills, this will most likely result not in anyone consuming more water but in one’s shirt being wet from neck to belly-button. We’re going to work on the drinking skills soon.


4. Maddie’s new favorite noise, perhaps even her new most-favorite-thing-ever, is the raspberry. She blows them constantly, which mostly means that those around her are often covered in a fine mist of baby spittle and sometimes pureed food (see below). Strangely, while she makes the noise all the time, she seems to assign different emotions and moods to it. For instance, she knows people think it’s funny and cute, so she’ll do it when you’re smiling at her or when she wants to be smiled at. However, it’s also become a sign that she’s done nursing or eating. Of course, if she really doesn’t like a particular food, her new trick is the faux-gag. She opens her mouth, showing you all of the offending food, sticks out her tongue, and makes the most horrible gagging sounds. Once she has established that you are, in fact, watching her little display. She will close her mouth, while spitting out all the food she can, and smile at you, very proud of having shared her “opinion.” It’s both completely cute and completely irritating at the same time.