Wednesday, February 09, 2011

13 months

When I called the pediatrician on Wednesday to ask about the rash on Lyra’s face and her fever and he observed that she was 13 months old, I was surprised, because I’ve noticed that they usually they don’t round up like that. Then I realized that she actually was 13 months old that day.

You would think at 13 months, I would be able to know when she was sick, but I had no clue. One weekend Lyra would only sleep in my arms, so I settled down in my bed with her and we slept for two hours. When we woke up, Brian pointed out that Lyra seemed warm, but I pointed out that we’d been snuggled up under a warm blanket together. It took some time before I registered that she really was too warm and just not herself. I had been enjoying how snuggly she was, when in fact she was snuggly because she didn’t feel well.

Lyra is a good eater most days, but it’s sporadic. When she wasn’t feeling well, she was eating a ton, but then she has days when she hardly eats anything. She’s losing interest in most purees and mashed foods, and wants to feed herself instead, which is slower and messier, but also frees me up. She would love to be able to use a spoon or a fork, but she just doesn’t have the coordination yet. After taking a few stabs at it (HA!), she’ll sit with the utensil in one hand, held high, while feeding herself with the other.

She is saying more words now, but mostly she just says “woof.” She says it when she sees a dog or hears a dog, when she’s pointing at a picture of a dog in a book. She says “boo” and “boom,” as well, or at least approximations of them. She does imitate other sounds when she’s in the right mood, which thrills Adriana, who is delighted when the baby complies with things like “Say ‘poop’ now, Lyra!”

Suddenly Lyra is afraid of loud noises. I took the girls to Berkeley to ride the steam train and the carousel, and the train was a terrifying experience for the baby. Our first ride on it, she was clinging to my neck and screaming every time the whistle blew, and only did better the second time because we sat in the very last car, and she could hardly hear it. She cried one day when I was using the food processor, and now when she sees me bring it out, she begins to wail in protest.

My favorite thing these days is her kisses. If she sees Brian and me kiss, she makes a kissy face. She points to stuffed animals and says “mwah!” and then will lean to kiss it when I bring it near her. She chases after our poor cat, saying “mwah tat.” She raises her arms to Brian to be picked up so she can kiss him when he gets home from work, and when Adriana will allow it, she wraps her arms around her sister’s waist and raises her face for a kiss. And best of all she runs toward me from across a room, smiling and making kisses, and then leans her face against mine.

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