The Adventures of Wiggle Baby

After six months of life, I have amassed a number of quirks and mannerisms. At the behest of my father, who has a lousy memory and who may have a limited degree of control over this web site, I will detail a handful of my Madeline-isms for posterity. [But, I will exclude any references to my posterior.]

1. The left leg tic. For whatever reason, I favor my left leg, and no matter what activity I’m engaging it, it’s wagging back and forth like a puppy’s tail. Also of note: it’s A-B-C time.

2. The chomp. Sure, it’s a stalwart of we young people — we chew on stuff. But I gnaw with purpose and determination. No time for joking around, Mr. Frog.

   

3. Insisting on standing. It’s hard to go from a laying-on-back position to a standing upright position, while keeping your knees locked at all times. But it’s what I do. I’ll sit when I have to, which is hopefully never.

   

4. The foot chew and levitation trick (not pictured.) Both of these are well-documented around these parts, but are included here for completeness.

   

5. Drinking incorrectly (and sometimes correctly.) Do you have a glass of liquid? I will drink that. I will drink that in any way possible…or not possible.

   

6. The giggles. Silly noises, people getting bonked, being tickled in the back, wacky sideways movements, looking at stuff I like — it all equals giggles.

7. Morning/naptime babbles. (video pending) When I wake up, I like to talk politics with my Winnie the Pooh mobile.

While there are many more silly things I do, I’ll have to stop here and give the Internet Tubes a chance to clear up. Stay tuned for your regularly scheduled update, including but not limited to: “Why I’m Totally Over The Whole Vaccination Thing”, and “Eating Sweet Potatoes Or Some Orange Goo, I’m Not Sure.”

I’m six months old today, and I’m going places! No longer satisfied with wiggling in location (and wearing down the hair on the back of my head in the process), I decided it’s time to switch orientations. Back to tummy, tummy to back. Constantly. Admittedly, my technique is unrefined. I can only go in one direction, and when I switch to the tummy position, I still hold my arms out in a levitating fashion, as if I am Superman. Maybe I am Superman!

Most certainly, this new mobility has complicated matters for anyone who prefers me to be stationary during such activities as sleeping, diaper changing, or laying precariously on the edge of something. But hey, you can’t keep Superman from flying. Just sayin’.

The past couple of weeks have brought other changes, too. I’m a stronger sitter-upper and stander-upper. I will gleefully lunge for objects of interest, such as whatever I dropped on the floor, a cat, some dude’s face, a cup of coffee, and other items I certainly shouldn’t have in my possession.

I picked up a new reading habit, though my fascination with the printed word pales in comparison to my fascination with attempting to eat the printed word:

hopefully, at least, I have ingested some literary knowledge.

In closing, happy half birthday to me, and happy birthday to America! It’s rainy, but still noisy…Someone please explain this whole “explosions on purpose” thing?