Wanderer's Daughter

Can you tell this is my favorite outfit on Q? I am currently hoping that my mum will find us another tie-dyed shirt to replace this one when it wears out...because it is very close to "loved to death" at this point. It has a tear at the back of the neck and is fraying at the edges by the day. I never have been a tie-dye person myself (the damage wrought by being born in Woodstock in the mid-sixties) and I never would have thought to buy her something like this of my own accord. But it was passed down to us by our friends Maia and FangFang, and was an instant hit. It just looks fabulous on her. I put it on her as often as I can get away with....and of course it's comfortable to boot, so she loves it. I've never seen anyone who can wear bright colors quite as well as our Q.

By way of a quick update (we're still entertaining friends by the hour, and we have a social worker visit tonight...so I've got some scrambling to do!) QQ is walking like a champ these days. Once she started, the progress was very swift. She's quite facile, and the only thing she has yet to do is figure out how to watch for obstacles. She just doesn't notice when there are things underfoot. A couple of mornings ago, on a particularly spring-like day, she walked all the way down our block to the park, all on her own (though she has learned to reach up for my hand when she sees an uneven spot in the sidewalk...a positive side effect of that big pavement rash she has right in the middle of her forehead!)

She is more vocal and responsive by the day. She has a curious pavlovian response to the sight or sound of "shoes", "socks" and "hairbrush", and will either hold her foot in the air or mime brushing her hair with both hands accordingly. It's so cute that we take a bit too much advantage. She is very affectionate these days and her latest thing is to put her hand to our cheeks and turn our faces to force us to make direct eye contact with her. She does this sometimes when we're talking to other people and she wants the attention for herself, or if we're focusing on another task, or sometimes, it seems, when she just wants to study our faces and ascertain what we're thinking.

She still wants nothing to do with solid food, but we've made progress in that department as well. She will open her mouth for a spoon, and has even bitten on a teething biscuit once or twice (though she still much prefers the taste of post-it notes). She now lets me put my fingers in her mouth and rub her gums when she's teething, which I think is a big sign of how much more relaxed she's becoming about her mouth in general. She doesn't guard it the way she used to. Poor kid has at least FIVE molars coming in at once on top, and her mouth looks so painful it hurts me. But it has not affected her cheerful mood, and though I can hear her whimpering in her sleep sometimes, she is surprisingly good-tempered about it.

Yesterday, in a particularly huggy mood, in between throwing her arms around my neck and pressing her cheek to mine, she gave me a "love bite" on the tip of my shoulder. She has never done that before. I absolutely loved it...but I wonder, does this mean she's going to be a "biter"? I know what a liability that can be in preschool...