like the tree

Like babies everywhere, Maple changes quickly. She is very adept at grabbing and yanking various toys and appendages. She still loves to play "get up, stand up," where she pulls herself from lying on her back to sitting, and then standing up (with Mama's help). She prefers Bob Marley as the soundtrack for this activity.

We often hear her sighing and babbling to herself, but when we try to enter the conversation, she usually clams up, as if she only likes talking to herself. She likes to play with her ears, which always makes me think she has excessive earwax buildup that she can't quite figure out how to remove. And her latest obsession is jumping in her doorway jumper that Aunt Lauren and Uncle Peter sent her. She laughs like a crazy person as she watches the dog from the safety of that bumpered contraption. Still a happy baby, she now has much more complex needs, and cries and fusses a little more than she used to.

As the days go by, I find myself more and more in love with her. I can't imagine life without her anymore. That little toothless mini-Papa grin is forever etched in my heart. I also understand now why everyone says they don't want their kids to grow up. It's almost painful to endure their little changes, knowing that they will eventually be toddlers with their own will, and worse -- teenagers who want nothing from you but a ride to the mall. Every day I remind myself to stay open to all her changes and not to try to hold on to any one version of her. I think I am growing as much as she is.

On Wednesday we got our new sofa, and the level of excitement that this created in our household is great proof of how little we have going on. We can all lay on the couch in a fully reclined position while watching Tootsie over and over. This is bliss. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD.

And just a quick update for those of you who wonder how my brain is doing... I'm feeling great lately. I have tons of energy and don't have any new symptoms. I still trip over my words sometimes and have accepted the fact that I'm one of those shaky-handed people, but for having holes in my brain, I can't complain. I've found that if I work just a little bit less than an 8-hour day, I maintain my health a lot better. I received more donations of sick time from other employees, which seems a little bit weird since I look so healthy. I'm going to bring some framed MRI pictures of my brain to work and put them up in my office next to all the Maple pictures. "Here's my daughter Maple, and my partner Sean, and this is my brain. So how are you?"