Brawny Little Thing

We've been quite busy as of late in our house, doing over a couple of rooms, and I am finding myself exhausted.  I have learned one- hundred times over that child- rearing is an incredibly tiring daily exercise, albeit an awesome one.  Mabel is so energized, so courageous and brawny, and so curious lately that we find ourselves completely pooped at night.  J went to bed at 6:45, right after Mabel did, the other night.  We've given whole meaning to the term "old farts."  House projects combined with child care makes for two witchy and tired parental units.

Mabel is on the go now at an unprecedented degree.  She stands easily, and now makes her way down a surface, say the couch, for instance, by taking steps bigger than she should.  Every now and then she falls; she seems to look to us to see how she should react, and naturally we smile and tell her she's just fine.  Other times, she'll take a giant leap and step from, say, her Pack 'n' Play to the couch.  She seems to really get a kick out of taking steps but definitely can't walk yet.  I've been reading that around 9 months (which she's just past) babies are way more brawn than brains; they no longer look before they leap because they are so excited with their new- found strength.  The best thing lately has been Mabel's dance moves.  I know they dance and do Zumba at day care, but since Mabel can't walk or even stand without holding on, I assume she just watches and marvels at the big kids.  But every time we put music on, Mabel either bounces up and down, or does this amazingly cute shoulder back- n- forth move, which also entails bopping her head along.  I can't take any credit for this habit-- but I sure am grateful for T for teaching it to her.  J and I laugh SO hard!

Choosiness is another new trait for Mabel.  She's become more particular than ever before, which isn't always fun for us.  "No, I don't WANT to read 'My First Book of Colors' right now-- I want 'I Like Bugs' " is an example of what she seems to bellow.  We try to keep her busy and distracted while feeding her (she's definitely NOT choosy when it comes to food, which we are loving), and sometimes she really lets us know what she wants to do while eating-- from playing with one of her spoons to reading to mashing up yogurt chips.  And doing any one activity for too long is not cool in her book.  She will enjoy her "car" or her Pack 'n' Play or her doorway jumpy for bits of time and then wants new scenery.  It's amazing that she can be smiling and giggling it up one second then reaching up to one of us to be "rescued" in the next moment.  And Mabel now, at most times of day anyway, it choosy about how she is held-- wants to face outward toward the world.  She puts all her strength into contorting her body and turning it around while she is in someone's arms. It's rather hilarious.

We've also got clapping and lots of laughing going on, which we adore, but the exhaustion comes in with the chasing. We've got a couple gates up, but there are still various places even within a room we don't love Mabel to go toward.  Making all this more challenging is the fact that we are stripping wallpaper and priming and sanding and painting walls in a bathroom and in her play area and the living room.  We had to completely quarantine her play area, which before was a godsend because it contained nothing unsafe and we could just gate her up in there.  She's confined to the living room now, and there are multiple exits, and little routes toward windows and other places we would prefer her not to head toward.  Mabel ALWAYS seeks the most dangerous places.  J has a joke that we could put a million dollars in front of her or a knife, and she would go to the knife.  We lay out toys upon toys and all she wants is the remote control, one of our iphones, or a wire or lamp.  It's incredible.  I have to assume this curiosity is a good thing, and it's nice she wants to see and do new things.  But we get run pretty ragged and I just can't WAIT for our remodeling. designing to be over.  As of now, we have made a religion out of picking up gluey wallpaper pieces and various paint chips.  I swear we vacuum daily, but it's to no avail.  And then the irony is that the stopping to satiate her and keep her safe pauses the projects and stretches them out.  Is it nuts that today I was excited to come to work so Mabel could go to T's house and be back in the safe zone with lots to do?

Regardless, we are enjoying witnessing Mabel's little personality being formed.  She's still a happy baby, even with the gross teething she has going on.  She loves people and dogs, and is still obsessed with Elmo (we are not holding it against the puppet that his puppeteer is apparently a child molester-- argh!).  We see each and every day more ways in which Mabel becomes Mabel-- it's something I never understood before but am royally loving!