Anjali Sage: Happy Four Months, Anjali!

With all the busy-ness, I have skipped a whole week! I'm sure you were waiting with baited breath. ha ha! This week has been full of socializing for Anjali (and Mommy and Papi, too). Teresa came to visit from Lexington, KY. Grandad was able to come a day early for a business trip that just happened to take place down the Bay, and Papi, Anjali, and I met him for dinner later in the week. Anjali, Teresa, and I also took the train to Sacramento to attend a voice recital of Tita Arlene. All this required carseat, train, and BART rides, cramping into booths at restaurants, and listening to adult talk talk talking ~ much of it past her bedtime. Anjali weathered it all with a great deal of patience and only a little squirmy whining or crying. The most difficult part for her, it seemed, was that she didn't want to miss out on anything. As soon as she would settle into eating that might lead to snoozing, something would pique her interest, and she'd reel around to see what action she was missing!

We have a few days here before we will be on the move once again, and I hope she is able to soak in some of the calming routine and down-time to nurture her inner self. Maybe that's a hope for Mommy as much as for baby. . ;-)

Now is an intense time of imitation for Anjali. If something is going on around her, she wants to be in on it. She is not timid, and is acutely inquisitive and investigative, hands-on (and mouth-on). If I'm texting a message, she wants to hold the phone. When I'm sewing, she wants to have her hands on the knobs. If I'm typing, she wants to have her hands on the keyboard (although I sincerely try to be at the computer only when she's asleep ~ I believe her eyes need to be learning about the real, 3-dimensional world, and not looking at a lifeless computer screen ~ *except*, of course, to talk to grandparents on the webcam! That's special time). And the eating. She must be included in the eating ~ Mommy and Papi make it look so irresistible! So far we are still able to appease her by letting her gum on a spoon, and taste the bottom of the glass or mug we're using, but I know that won't last long. . .

Our most recent adventure in exploring her world was at morning bathtime. Anjali was lying on a towel on the table, and I was dipping a washcloth in warm soapy water to wash her. As I sat her up to wet her hair, for the first time she noticed the bowl with the soapy water. She leaned over to it with outstretched arms, so I helped her to reach the bowl. Anjali dipped her hands in the water and took in the sensation. She moved her hands a little, and reached for the bowl rim. Then before I could even blink an eye, whoosh!! The water went everywhere! Her first lesson in the properties of a liquid.

Another aspect of her immediate world that excites Anjali is the cats. For months, Kitty and Rodolfo were just a part of the household landscape that did not seek to feed or entertain her. But lately, she watches their every move ~ jumping, bathing, waving their tails. She is keenly aware. And wants so eagerly to interact with them! If I am nearby, and rubbing on a cat, Anjali manages to get a few swipes in before they notice. But they are wary of her; unpredictable and/or spastic movements send them running. And the last few days, she has been calling out to them. Once again, the bold abrupt noise that she makes sends them running. I remember how much I wanted to touch cats and little dogs when I was small, and how frustrating it was that they would run away! I sympathize with her. But I also sympathize with the cats; her little hands grab and bang instead of smoothly softly pet. I don't know how long it will take them all to become friends.

In the movement department, Anjali is rolling every which way, and covering quite a distance somehow when I'm not looking. She is strong standing up (with help, of course), and this morning I even caught her for a few moments sitting upright, resting on her hands. She has found her feet, but is not yet getting them to her mouth (that's the goal, though ~ right?).

Her latest game with herself seems to be: while on her tummy, propped high up on her hands, she will quickly let go and send her hands out to the sides, and be perched on her tummy swimming with arms and legs, and breathing really fast as if excited. She does this over and over. She is also enjoying peek-a-boo, with fabric like the sheet of the bed.

She still enjoys squealing when someone sings, but she has also started using her speaking voice to babble gargly bubbly baby sentences. She is also directing her speech to people and objects, like I told you with the cats.

Hard to believe another month has already gone by! Perhaps one day I might quit saying that, but it seems astonishing how quickly we are cruising along through babyhood.

Happy four months, Anjali! We love you!