Margaret's Cunning Plan

Margaret just attempted to escape from her corral (or "the pokey" as I like to call it) cleverly disguised as a blanket.  I think that she asked someone to wander around saying "Tut, tut, it looks like cold" in order to put me off track.

Of course, as with most of her endeavors, she got distracted at some point, and veered away from the hole in the fence.   But it is a really good disguise; you can't deny it.

Forbidden Fruit

Occasionally, I do something really cruel.  I don't mean to, because I haven't thought things through from Margaret's perspective, but then I realize that what I have done is just plain mean, and I feel bad.

Take, for example, my behavior the other night.  It was a nice evening, and so we decided to eat our dinner in the backyard.  I brought out a number of things stored in my pockets (I was carrying Margaret, and trying not to drop her down the back steps).  I put her down on the blanket and emptied them out.

 All so exciting, and none of them is she allowed to have.  The sadness.

And the stuffed giraffe DOES NOT MAKE UP FOR THE CRUELTY OF TAKING AWAY THE ONLY THINGS SHE EVER WANTED, THE BEER AND THE CELL PHONE AND THE FORK, she mentioned politely.

Poor Margaret.

Hint Hint

Next week we're going to Massachusetts for Leo's cousin Molly's wedding.

We're going on Friday and coming back on Sunday, and there isn't going to be much free time.

But Margaret seems to be suggesting that she wants to get out on the water.

She also seems to want us to put some beer in her bottle.

Her ways of communicating are rudimentary at best.  But look at this conspiratorial little look.

I feel like here she's got a used car to sell me.

Standing On Her Own Two Feet

Not content with blasting through milestones like sitting and teeth and crawling all in one two-week period, Margaret has developed a love affair with standing.  She can't really do it on her own (though more later on that) but she's working hard at it.

She practiced at the zoo.  Notice how she's checking with her grandmother to make sure she's doing it right.

And then this morning, she was sitting with Leo on the couch, and she accomplished this all by her own unaided efforts.  Notice that his arms are not involved.

I means, she's getting a good bit of support from the couch, but she still hefted herself up. 

And since she's figured out that she can move and maneuver, she has had little interest in sitting still.  I'm so looking forward to taking her on the plane to Molly's wedding next week.  Why, Molly, why couldn't you have gotten married last week?  It would have been so much easier on me.

At The Zoo

Yesterday, the temperatures came down and the air was clear and crisp and asking to have something done out in it.  So Kate and I and Leo's cousin Sara went to the zoo, along with about 2.5 million of our closest friends.  It was a popular destination, and when we'd hiked in from where we parked our car, seen the penguins (because they are both cute and in a very cold environment) had lunch, gone to Leo's grandparents' memorial bench and seen the giraffes, it was pretty much time to go.

There are, however, two things of note.

First, she has grown a lot and gotten much happier since May.

See?  Here's May.

And here's yesterday.

The bench has stayed more or less the same.

We also got a very nice picture of Kate and Margaret on the bench.

Anyway, a nice time was had by all.

Mobility, Phase I Can't Remember What Number I Was On

Margaret has learned to commando crawl.  Or creep.  Or scootch.  Or something.

The secret is to put your* glasses or cell phone or some electric cords on the ground 2-3 feet out of her reach.

See?

In other milestones, Margaret went to the store with me this morning, and rode in the cart without her car seat.  We have a pad/germ-free thing/harness that helps her with this, but her new status as baby who sits means that she can use it.  It really made shopping a lot easier.  Because I could actually use the cart to put things in instead of trying to cram things around the giant car seat.

She seemed to enjoy herself.

Of course, it puts her closer to the merchandise, which is somewhat troublesome.

*Actually, it's probably better to put someone else's glasses, really.

EDIT: I have just watched the video and realized that it looks awfully cruel of me.  I did put glasses and a cell phone in front of her temptingly to motivate her, and I didn't let her have the glasses, but after I stopped filming with it, I did let her chew on the phone for a few minutes.

Sitting

So I've mentioned in passing that Margaret can sit up.  She can't get herself there on her own yet, but she seems to be trying really hard.  And she doesn't want to use her arms.  Crunches or nothing is her way.

But it's really cute, and it's changed the way she plays.  If we're not going to be sitting behind her guarding the back of her head - because she hasn't really figured out that she shouldn't throw herself backwards - we put her in the packn'play (playpen to most of you, but isn't it so much nicer sounding to say packn'play?) with some toys and let her do her thing.

Her thing involves reaching for toys, picking them up,

and eating them.

But there you are.  Sitting up.