Ella’s days as the Queen of Entropy may be coming to an end. Just now, for the first time, I caught her putting the stacking rings back _on_ the wooden pole. She was even trying to get them in order, more or less!
Of course, in the next moment I had to restrain her from being too exuberant when bonking heads with Hannah, her 10-month-old guest. But, y’know, one thing at a time.
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Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest impression.
When Ella pulls books off the shelf to look at, as often as not they’re upside-down when she sets them in her lap. Watching her contently flip through the inverted pages, I always wondered: Is she really noticing the pictures? Or is she just mimicking our behavior?
This morning I got that question answered. She took _Runaway Bunny_, stared at an upside-down page for a moment, furrowed her brow, and then — slowly, methodically — turned the book so it was right-side up. Then she kept reading contentedly for a good five minutes.
Who knows when it clicked, but she gets it now. That’s so cool.
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Ella took her first independently-verified steps this past Saturday, at a retreat in Rehoboth, Delaware. She was surrounded by twenty or so people sitting in a circle, so there were plenty of witnesses. She took two small steps — wobbly, but upright, and without that element of “lurching” that distinguishes a bona fide step from a falling lunge. She was surprised and somewhat puzzled at the wild applause that ensued — I don’t think she really understood what she had just done.
Since then, there have been a handful of other steps, but they all had to be coaxed out of her. She knows exactly what the game is, and how desperately we would love to see her take more steps, so now she’s being coy with them. She’ll stand there while I’m holding my hands and encouraging her to walk, and I swear she’ll even lean forward for a moment before grinning impishly and collapsing onto her butt.
So: steps, yes, but walking, not quite yet. Then again, I predicted it would still be a couple more weeks after this before she took a step. And I thought Kerry would win. So what do I know?
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Many, many new pics since last time, thanks in large part to Nana and Papa Bruinooge visiting a couple weekends ago. Unfortunately we don’t have a picture of the Very Big Event, but I’ll cover that in the next entry.
“196″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella196.jpg — Ella likes her shoes, and will often seek them out in order to fiddle with them or just chew on them. One time I could swear she brought them to me because she was bored and wanted to get out of the apartment. Here we have her striking a pose that displays her — if you can believe it — gradually slimming form.
“197″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella197.jpg — For Halloween Ella was an Afghan princess visiting the U.S., and Suanna and I were her Secret Service handlers. The outfit she’s wearing is from Kabul — a gift from a friend who was there recently.
“198″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella198.jpg — Been awhile since we’ve had a Sleeping Ladies picture . . .
“199″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella199.jpg — Even babies cannot escape the question: what to do, what to do when your plate is empty and you feel ennui setting in?
“200″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella200.jpg — Fortunately, babies have a good answer: blow your lips at people and make them laugh. Or look at you aghast — either way, no more ennui!
“201″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella201.jpg — Fun with the tongue is also highly recommended.
“202″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella202.jpg — Obligatory Family Picture by the Pretty Tree.
“203″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella203.jpg — Obligatory Picture with Grandparents by said tree.
“204″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella204.jpg — Clear evidence as to who taught Ella to stick her tongue out like that.
“205″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella205.jpg — Here we have a head bonk, which is one of Ella’s favorite ways of showing affection. I admit, I taught it to her, but she has definitely taken it and made it her own.
“206″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella206.jpg — A classic Ella smile — not all that easy to catch on film.
“207″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella207.jpg — Ella likes these tights so much she feels obligated to fold in half in order to display them. You have to admit, they’re pretty great tights.
“208″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella208.jpg — Ella reading books with Nana.
“209″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella209.jpg — Another one of Ella and Nana.
“210″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella210.jpg — I would _like_ to think she’s trying to move the pen with her mind here, but she’s probably just deciding whether or not to chew on it.
“211″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella211.jpg — Shoulder-prancing fun in Rehoboth, Delaware.
“212″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella212.jpg — In Rehoboth Ella got to wear her peacoat and hat from Aunt Becky for the first time. She cut a very fine form watching me play chess on the big board.
Ella started to get fussy around four o’clock this afternoon; I realized she was overdue for her bottle, which was probably why she was sitting in the middle of the floor and whining.
“Do you want a bottle?” I asked, and made a “glug glug glug” sign with my fist and thumb. Instead of making the sign herself — she never really has caught on to signing much — she crawled over to me and stuck my thumb in her mouth. But the meaning was the same — she was confirming that she did, in fact, want a bottle. And when I got up and went into the kitchen to make one, she played quietly for a few minutes, content in the knowledge that one was coming. That last bit is the big change from a month ago — her cause-and-effect horizon has extended. She knows when the bottle’s coming. She knows that the front door opening early in the evening means that Mama’s home. She knows that when I get her pacifier that _I_ think it’s time for her nap — a notion that she may or may not agree with. Indeed, even though there have been plenty of physical changes over the past month, it’s the mental stuff that surprises me most — she just seems more in tune with the world, in a hundred little ways.
She’s down to two naps a day, neither quite as long as I’d like, and she’ll still get up in the middle of most nights, though that’s been steadily improving. Those two bottom teeth are much bigger, but their brothers and sisters have yet to show up. She’s up to three meals a day now. She’s much more elegant with moving and pulling herself up and crawling, though not to the point where you’d actually use the word “elegant” to describe it. And she can dance! If she’s standing it takes the form of a slight, bobbing crouch. If she’s sitting, she’ll rotate side to side. It’s not entirely clear what triggers it. Music, obviously, but since the first time I saw her do it I’ve spent lots of time playing peppy music and prancing around her while she just stares dispassionately.
And then there is the matter of walking. For what it’s worth, Nana Bruinooge firmly believes that she saw Ella take two steps while lurching toward Suanna this weekend. But she was the only person to witness this event — in a crowded room, no less — so I’m afraid I must treat this information as suspect. It all depends on what you’d call a “step” — does it count if it’s made while lurching headlong from one handhold to another, or is some minimal level of balance required? Even if the controlled-fall-with-leg-advancement maneuver counts as a step, I think we’re still in a grey area here, at least from what I’ve seen. But it’s going to be soon, because she’s definitely getting the hang of the fact that people _want_ her to walk, and act very happy when she tries.
Stranger anxiety seems to be winding down — she’s much more likely to let someone hold her without fussing than she would a month or two ago. At the same she’s a little clingier with Suanna and I. This can be frustrating when all she wants to do is play with her books but starts crying if you’re not within two feet of her while she’s doing it. But this is more than counterbalanced by the fact that she likes to linger with her head on my shoulder for a few minutes after she’s had a bottle, and that she sometimes likes to sit on my lap, not to get at my laptop, but just to sit.
I have a feeling there’s going to be even more changes between now and her first birthday. This is fitting, because in my mind, 11 months is still “just a baby,” but 12 months is Something Else. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year, but it’s also hard to remember a time before we had Ella around.
