Week 13

Dear Zayde,

This week I learned how to yell.  It's not quite crying, but it gets everyone's attention.  I put lots of air into my lungs and then let out a tremendous sound that sounds not unlike a cat being carefully tortured by the CIA.  What is even more extraordinary is that I've learned to do this in my sleep, which confuses the heck out of Mommy, who apparently comes running to find out what has happened only to see that my eyes are closed and I am calmly dreaming.  Isn't that hilarious?

Speaking of sleep, this week I am beginning to learn how to sleep in my crib at night.  I learned a few weeks ago about sleeping in my crib during my daytime naps, and I thought that was the purpose of that particular piece of furniture, but now I know that I am capable of sleeping there any time of day or night.  It's definitely roomier than my bassinet, and the benefits of the crib also include not having to listen to Daddy snore.  I think Mommy must miss our sleeping in the same room because she is always leaning over my crib, listening to my breathing, and sighing.  Surely she must understand that babies need to move on to bigger and better things, but I understand her conflicting emotions.

And speaking of conflicts, this week I learned how to regress.  For a few weeks, as you'll probably remember, I've been sleeping for up to seven consecutive hours at night.  I thought I was stuck in that pattern, but it turns out that I am able to revert to my old ways.  For the past few nights, I've had the pleasure of waking up Mommy two or three times (every three hours or so) for a series of midnight snacks and quiet bonding time.  I'd forgotten how lovely it is to share these special moonlit moments with her.  I hope she's enjoying them as much as I.

In other news, this week I learned what a cable guy is.  I'm not impressed.

The most interesting thing that I learned this week is that some mommies go to work away from home.  I was thoroughly enjoying my weekly play dates with my friend Gabe, who is just a few days older than I, until this week, when Mommy explained that Gabe can't come to our house during the week anymore.  His mommy works in a big office somewhere and has to bring Gabe to a place called "day care," where lots of babies and little kids play together all day.  Day care sounds like a grand ol' time, but I think that if I had to spend my days without my Mommy, she would be very sad.  Apparently, my other friend, Adam, will also go to day care in a few weeks, so Mommy and I will need new friends to join us for play dates.  Please let us know if you know any babies who also enjoy cooing, sucking on their hands, and spitting up.

I apologize for being a day late with this week's letter.  I think with all the waking up in the middle of the night, Mommy forgot what day it was.  Silly Mommy.

Love,
Zelda

Week 12

Dear Zayde,

This week I learned how to be a chauffer.  Mommy and I drove Grandma all over town after she was in  an accident.  It was apparently quite a big deal that required a tow truck, a mechanic, and a doctor.  Grandma is fine, and I don't really understand what all the hoopla was about.  I have accidents all the time, and Mommy says it's no big deal.  All Grandma needed was a new diaper, a change of clothes, and maybe some snuggling.  Snuggling after an accident makes everyone feel better.

Speaking of physics, this week I learned how to spit up all over Mommy without getting a single drop on myself.  Remind me the next time I see you to show you how I manage to accomplish this at least once a day.  (Please see the aforementioned explanation of what to do after an accident.)

As you have undoubtedly noticed, I am twelve weeks old.  Some people think this makes me three months old, but this week I learned that there are not exactly four weeks in a month, so my monthly birthday won't arrive until next week.  In related news, I learned that Mommy likes to correct people when they're wrong about things such as "there are four weeks in a month."

Do you have a Valentine, Zayde?  I do.  In fact, I have more than one.  Valentines are people who love you and kiss you and give you sweet things.  Most of the people I see on a regular basis fit into this category, so I must have a lot of Valentines.  Mommy said that Daddy is my first and best Valentine, and I agree.  She said that some day boys will try to steal my heart, but I know that's impossible because my heart will always belong to my Daddy.  I am, however, willing to accept from boys this magical thing called chocolate that Mommy seems to like putting near her mouth, where it magically disappears.

Your funny valentine,
Zelda

Week 11

Dear Zayde,

This week I learned to stop being a bobble-head.  When adequately supported in an upright position, I can keep my head relatively steady.  Sure, I get tired eventually and face plant into the nearest bosom, but I'm learning to use my neck muscles for more than simply staying attached to Mommy while eating.  As they say, it takes baby steps.  I've also learned that every time I lift my head up while on my tummy, Mommy cheers.  Every.  Single.  Time.  She's also a fan of the bubbles I make with my lips.  Poor thing needs to get out more.

As Bubbi and Mommy can confirm, I learned this week that there is a clear correlation between my hands and my pacifier getting back into my mouth after it's fallen out.  We were all taking a nice walk in the marina when my pesky pacifier decided to jump ship and land on my chest.  As usual, I attempted to use my Jedi-baby mind tricks to will it back into my gaping mouth,  but it's a stubborn little sucker (pun intended), and it refused to budge.  This week I've learned to bring my hands together near the center of my chest and then up into my mouth, so I thought that I might suck on my fists for a while until the pacifier decided to behave itself.  Lo and behold, when I brought my hands to my mouth, the pacifier, caught up in the movement, landed right back where it belonged.  Bubbi and Mommy exclaimed with glee because they are easily amused and must lead incredibly boring lives to be entertained by something so mundane.  The good news is that I was able to continue with my preferred method of sucking, and now I have a new trick to practice.  I have yet to repeat this performance with consistency, but I know it won't be long until I've mastered the mind-hand-mouth-pacifier connection.  And if it works for the pacifier, imagine what else I might be able to get in there!

This week I learned that I have Great Uncles and Great Aunts, and you know what?  They're indeed pretty great.  Just like grandparents, these older folks hold me, talk to me in pleasant voices, and hand me to the nearest parent when I start to fuss or get particularly stinky.

Have you even been to a park?  I learned that parks are places where children play and babies lie on blankets while gentle breezes and warm sunshine lull us to sleep.  We went to the park with my boyfriend and his older sister, whose baby clothes I often wear.  She sang and danced for me, and I found her to be quite interesting, especially after Mommy told me that in just a few short years I would be running around just like this adorable girl.  It was an all around wonderful experience, and the only thing that would have made it perfect is if Mommy had mustered the courage to feed me out there.  I hear a picnic in the park is pure bliss.

Speaking of eating out, this week I learned that it is possible for both my Mommy and Daddy to leave the house at the same time.  On Friday they had something called an anniversary, and to celebrate, I got to spend an evening with my Grandma and Savtah.  They held me and played with me on my mat, and they even gave me a bottle full of milk.  I hardly noticed that my parents were gone, and I was fast asleep by the time they returned.  I really hope they have another one of these anniversaries soon because being loved by my grandparents is a glorious way to spend a few hours.

It's almost time now for my evening walk.  I've trained Mommy to take me out every evening about this time.  It's much better than staying inside during the early evening hours when there's nothing to do but cry about the passing of another day.  I love the sunset and the motion of the stroller bumping along the sidewalk, and it's great exercise for Mommy.  She says all this walking will get her back into her old jeans in no time.  I'm not sure what she means, but I think we're going to have to walk pretty far to get to wherever those jeans are.  We keep going around and around our neighborhood, and we haven't found them yet.

Your still blonde and blue-eyed granddaughter,
Zelda

Week 10

Dear Zayde,

This week I learned that I can go a whole day without napping.  Being awake for so long allowed me to interact with Mommy far more than usual, but unfortunately, she seemed to deteriorate rapidly around 2:00 in the afternoon.  I really wish she'd keep up with my energy levels.  What could possibly make her so tired?

This week I also learned how to pick up my head and turn it from side to side while on my stomach.  This range of motion doesn't do much for me now, but I predict that it will come in handy some day soon.  I'm learning to grasp things, too.  I particularly enjoy grabbing people's shirts and a certain black and white toy that chimes when batted.  I keep trying to grab my pacifier when it falls out of my mouth, but the darn thing is wily, and I can't yet make my hands do exactly what they're told.  Any advice on how to manage these ungainly appendages would be much appreciated.

Most importantly, according to Mommy, this week I learned how to sleep for up to seven consecutive hours at night.  I really didn't know this was even an option until recently, and I've observed that when I do sleep for at least five hours after the sun has set, Mommy and Daddy are in extraordinarily good moods the next day.  I am not sure if this is due to causation or correlation, so I'll continue my experiments and get back to you with a more robust set of data.

My grandest adventure this week occurred on Tuesday, when I learned that it is possible to travel westward from our house.  Until then, I'd only been east, south, and slightly north.  Mommy drove us practically to the Everglades (which is some sort of no man's land full of alligators and pythons) to visit her high school friend, who has a son just three days older than I.  We had a lovely visit.  I enjoyed his play mat, which includes different music from the one I use at home.  So far, with my limited research, it seems that all other babies are boys.  This makes sense considering that everyone tells me I'm the most adorable baby in the world; clearly it is because I am the only girl and therefore have an unfair advantage over all the cute but slightly-less-scrumptious boys.  I will continue to operate on this assumption until proven otherwise.

I feel myself getting sleepy now, but I will fight the good fight and stay awake as long as possible.  No need to go gently into that good nap, as far as I'm concerned.

Your smallest grandchild,
Zelda