Yeah for me!

Last night we were working on Isabelle's self feeding. This entailed me chucking baby-rice-puffs at her and letting her pick them up off the floor and stuff them into her mouth. In one short week she has gone from rarely getting a puff into her mouth to getting it in almost every time. It's not always pretty and it sometimes involves her smashing her entire hand into her mouth - but hey, it gets the job done.

Of course, we have been cheering her on whenever she has success eating something with her little pinchers. Every completed bite gets a "good girl", "what a big girl" and/or a sitting ovation. Well last night, after a resounding chorus of applause, ITL made the first small attempt to clap her hands (in self admiration, I presume). My heart just about melted from the cuteness of it. She didn't get her hands together, of course, but she did wave them at each other - all the while grinning with satisfaction. She did it twice, in fact, the second time so Paul could see it.

It seems so amazing to me that 8 months ago the idea of tiny hands getting remotely close to clapping would have held so much exquisite joy for me. So much has changed in that time. I suppose having a baby does that to you. Maggie once told me that - that having a child brings out the wonder in the parents because you start to see the world, as best you can, through your child's eyes. I find myself gazing skyward to look at whatever ITL sees, listening for sounds that seem to grab her attention, and laughing at silly faces and noises right along with her. I know my experiences are no different than any other mother's, but that doesn't stop them from being magical and rare.