Happy four month birthday, Emily.

Our little girl is growing so quickly. I am starting to fear that this disturbing trend will not be stopping any time soon. So, what tricks has she learned this month?

• In an ambitious impression of the Hoover Dam bursting, Emily can now produce drool at a frightening pace. Slobber rags must never be more than an arm’s length away. Can teething be far off?
• As with last month, the smiles are coming fast and furious. In addition to simple recognition-triggered smiles, Emily appears to be developing a very rudimentary sense of humor. Giggles, though still a rarity, promise to play a large role in the upcoming months.
• Having traded in the patented vacant stare, a newfound spatial awareness has Emily scrutinizing her surroundings at all times. She’ll sometimes enlist the new “lightning fast head turn” to zero in on random details/decorations. She has also developed a sort of sixth sense in that, if you enter the room without making a sound, Emily will turn to see who is watching her. Kinda scary.
• Manual dexterity is at an all-time high. Hold any object in front of Emily’s face and she will reach out for it, grab it, and bring it to her mouth. Both Mr. Hoppity and Jingly Bunny are constantly soaking wet.
• Though not able to accomplish the feat on her own yet, Emily has expressed a real desire to sit up. Like spotting a guy at the gym while he does his bench presses, a light guiding hand on her back can sometimes help a visibly straining Emily to achieve one full sit-up. She hasn’t acquired those rock-hard abs yet. Once in the sat position, it’s never more than about five seconds before she tumbles over to one side. Repeat.
• No “mama” or “dada” yet, but Emily’s vocalizing has produced such memorable hits as “agoo”, “oooooo” (with eyes super wide open), “mmmwww” (similar to ooooo but with the mouth closed and the upper lip hanging out way too far) “gggchch” (this is Arabic or Dutch, I think), and “the cat being violently squashed [extended version]”.
• If Emily is lying down and you want to help her to sit up, you have to push from behind because if you hold her by the hands or forearms and pull, she straightens her legs and goes directly to standing position. She loves this. Very few things bring more joy to Emily’s life than standing up. She hasn’t been able to maintain balance for more than three seconds yet but, with my hands on her sides, she will happily stand, bounce, duck, and lean for minutes on end – with her mouth wide open and smiling all the while.
• Saving the best for last, Emily decided to surprise us all on Boxing Day by rolling over from her back to her belly. Jan has been doing her best to discourage this milestone for weeks now for fear of never being able to let down her guard again. No more leaving Emily on the couch while we sneak off to dinner and a movie. But, as Frederick Wilconx said, “Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first base.” I’m ecstatic for the little girl. Is crawling far behind? Only time will tell.

On your marks…

Dearest friends and family and random internet weirdos, Happy New Year! May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

As many of you are no doubt aware, it is a New Year’s tradition here in Spain to stay at home till midnight and at midnight people eat twelve grapes, one at each stroke of the clock. After the clock has finished striking twelve, people greet each other (usually with a mouth full of grapes) and toast with cava. This is supposed to bring good luck and happiness in the New Year. This year we rang in the New Year at Rachel and Jonathan’s house. Emily was sleeping in a quiet room while everyone else was gathering around the TV for the midnight countdown. But instead of turning the TV on to see how much time was officially left before everyone could start downing their preprepared grapes and cava, Jonathan mistakenly unplugs the cable box and can’t figure out how to get the TV back on. Some watches in the room showed three minutes before midnight while others showed just one minute left! Just then, Emily wakes up and demands (in no uncertain terms) to be fed. Jan runs out of the room with her glass of cava while Jonathan continues to struggle with the cable box. Jan comes back into the room with Emily firmly attached to her boob just as the TV comes on and we hear the official clock already chiming. Everyone rushes for their grapes and starts downing them with each stroke of the clock – but we didn’t know if we had started with the first chime or somewhere in the middle. Since Jan was occupied with feeding Emily, I had to eat my own grapes and feed her at the same time – so I was dishing out two grapes per second – not as easy as it sounds. After about eight chimes, everyone on the TV starts cheering and singing to signal the New Year so we all jam the rest of the grapes in our mouths and quickly toast and drink the cava. I successfully drink from my glass while pouring Jan’s into her mouth at the same time. She, unfortunately, hasn’t mastered the art of drinking with a mouthful of grapes and her cava proceeds to pour down her face and all over her exposed boob before ending up on Emily’s lips and thus provide what Emily (and certain observers in the room) stated to be the best New Year’s ever.

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
(And never close His fist too tight)

Happy New Year