She has officially existed in the world longer than she
did inside my body. The tides are
changing, and she has become an eddy to the ocean she once inhabited. She is
developing distinct traits, quirks and reactions; before our eyes, to our utter
incredulity, Lucille is becoming her own person.
Food continues to be a fun exploration. With the go-ahead
from Dr. V, Lucy has had peanut butter, and shrimp. Both proved to be harmless
(a huge motherly WHEW!), and she enjoyed eating them. Of the top allergenic
foods, so far, we have escaped harm. She has not had tree nuts yet, but not
because we’ve avoided them, it just hasn’t come up. She continues to eat with
vigor and without hesitation. At her 9 month check-up, she weighed in at 20
lbs., 3 oz. (75th percentile), and she stood 29.5” tall (95th
percentile).
In terms of skills developed and acquired, my girl can
now clap, understands and delivers, sometimes on request, kisses. In fact she will
spontaneously kiss any object, including every page of a book you’re reading to
her, the wall she’s stumbling past, or the dog’s paw. She can stand, unassisted
for long periods of time, and it looks like she thinks about taking a step, but
before she does, she drops back down to her rump, where she crawls as if she’s
got a turbo attached to her heels. I’m convinced by her first birthday, she’ll
be taking those first steps, if not walking. She says the words, “eye,” “mama,”
and “baby.” Baby sounds more like “bee-bee.”
I’m still not convinced that while she clearly enunciates, “mama,” she
knows that word is me, her actual mama. It is apparent that she can, on
occasion, correctly identify an eye. She
will point to her baby doll or stuffed animal, poke it right in its plastic
orb, and say, “eye.” We can credit this to her Abuela in California. Lucy has
also learned how to wave hello and goodbye, and if we say, “doggie,” she looks
or points at Olive. Her pincer grasp is coming along nicely, but on the
flip-side, I tried giving her a cup with a straw the other day and it didn’t
work. Lucy points her nubby little finger at everything and is constantly
babbling a story or telling of some discovery. One of her favorite things to do
right now is push her little walker toy around, and would be content to motor
up and down the hallway a billion times, as well as play with her piano. And
this girl loves, I mean ell-oh-vee-ee, loves the water.
Unfortunately, this month was not a sick-free month. No
dice there. This month she had the luckless circumstance of dealing with a
nagging and persistent yeast infection, followed immediately by Hand Foot and
Mouth Disease. Thankfully, though, her bout with HFAM was mild. We basically
had one horrendous weekend with an alien child that had replaced our smiling,
happy-go-lucky kid. That damn yeast infection took nearly a month to clear up.
We just repeat to ourselves that it’s all part of both the daycare game and
growing up. Her immune system gets stronger and stronger with each lame-ass
incident.
The tides of our summer days are quickly receding, and
Lucy and I are enjoying what precious time is left before I become a washed up
piece of ocean turned sea glass on the nineteenth of this month. We have
enjoyed trips to the zoo, the Children’s Museum, lots of walks, and of course,
our vacation in California. While in California, she saw for the first time the
ocean, and put her doughy little feet in the Pacific.
She’s had a vast variety of experiences these past few
months, and I’m proud of that. I know she won’t remember a single second of her
first summer, but I will. Someday,
she will point to pictures of herself in my cousin’s pool, pictures of herself
on a carousel, and she will ask. I’ll tell her stories of an
infant, wide-eyed, curious, and eager to inhale the world and all it had to
offer.
Happy ten months, my sweet Lucille.
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