Random Bits of Cuteness

Of course, I buy new binkies, and less than 24 hours later the old ones turn up – in places that I’m sure I looked, several times: behind the toybox and behind the crib. Oh, well. I suppose extra binkies are not necessarily a bad thing to have.

I also have my first embarrassing story to tell Carrie’s first date (when she’s, oh, 27 and we start letting her date of course). I brought a load of laundry into the living room to fold and dumped it out on the coffee table. Carrie loves to play the pull-everything-off-the-table game whenever I do this, but today she decided to taste each piece of clothing as she pulled it off the table. She made the silliest faces each time, and then finally decided one of my socks tasted the best and carried it in her mouth while she crawled around the room. I swear it’s like having another puppy in the house, although this one doesn’t have sharp pointy teeth. Well, not yet anyway.

Yesterday Carrie started doing two new fun things: clapping hands and beeping noses. Now if I could just get her to stop grabbing my glasses after she beeps my nose, that would be a neat trick.

Apparently, the dogs just finally noticed that Carrie is a two-legged creature. She pulled up on the gate in her room while the dogs were laying on the other side, and it set off a bark-fest that had me looking to see if a C.A.T. had wandered into the house or something. She is obviously quite threatening despite her rather diminutive stature. They don’t have much longer before she’ll be able to chase them around on those little feet, though. She’s started – when she’s not thinking about it – standing on her own for a few seconds at a time. It’s sort of like cartoon physics, though: as soon as she realizes she’s not holding onto anything she falls.

And for the past few weeks Carrie has been trying very hard to fill whatever space she’s in with sound. Whenever she goes anywhere (not that she doesn’t do this often at home, mind you) she tests the acoustics of the space and then shrieks high enough and loud enough to break glass. We’re pretty sure she’s going to be an opera singer. Either that, or she’s working on a new way to communicate with the dogs.

A new Apple Store is going to open in the mall near me. And not a moment too soon…look:

That’s not an Apple computer she’s using!

My parents and I don’t see eye-to-eye on the whole issue of computer platforms. They blame Denis for the fact that I prefer Apple to Microsoft. Not only did I marry a man who practices a different computer “religion”, I converted to it! I’d like to think that I would have seen the light eventually anyway. They claim we promised to raise the kids PC, but I don’t recall anything about that in our wedding vows. They’re going to try to win Carrie over to the dark side, so it’s even more important that she be exposed to all the goodness and light the Apple Store will bring.

As a young child – maybe 6 or 7 years old – I distinctly remember understanding what “not to be removed under penalty of law” meant, but not knowing what a “consumer” was. So I was horrified when the tag came off of my new mattress while I was, um, just looking at it. Really, I didn’t touch it at all! I hid it, and for months I was afraid that the police were going to come and arrest me and my parents.

Those tags are all over baby items, and I’m pretty lazy about removing them. (Plus I still have this nagging fear, even if I am the consumer, that I might get arrested for it.) Carolyn, however, obviously has the consumer part down pat. We have a cloth book and a very small blanket that are covered with tags meant for her enjoyment, but she’ll have nothing to do with them. Tags she’s not supposed to eat? They’re apparently quite tasty!

I bought Carolyn a pair of sunglasses the other day when it was bright out. I guess they’re still a little big…

Tuesday, it was somewhat warm – 55°F – the sun was out, and the breeze was mild. Carolyn and I went outside for a bit, and the warm breeze on her cheeks and the bright sunlight made her smile and giggle. I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to take her for walks outdoors instead of in the mall. I’d almost forgotten that this will be her first spring! Of course, since Tuesday it’s been bitter cold.

For the past week or so, Carolyn has been enthralled with the dogs. She stares intently at them whenever they cross into her field of vision, and smiles and laughs at them. For the most part, the dogs totally ignore her, but sometimes one of them will come up and sniff her just as she’s leaning to get a better look, and their eyes meet. I haven’t managed to catch it on camera yet, but trust me, it’s adorable.

In between bouts of unexplained crying – it seems a bit early, but I think there may be some teething going on – Carolyn and I had a little photo shoot today. Don’t you want to just tickle those chubby little knees? And that’s not even the cutest picture, either – this was actually the post photo shoot outfit change.

We also went to the salon tonight. Carrie sat in my lap while they dried my hair, and had a grand time flirting with all the babies in the mirrors. I need to find a giant unbreakable mirror to put up behind her changing table soon.