Maya's walking! Maya's walking!
Yesterday afternoon she trotted herself carefully from the hallway to the bathroom, where I was sitting on the toilet cheering her on excitedly. (Please don't picture that. Suffice it to say that motherhood means giving up your right to pee in peace and privacy.)
She did it a few more times that evening: four steps here, five steps there, always culminating in a soft little drop to the floor on her diapered butt. What's interesting is that she's actually much more graceful than I was anticipating. It's as if she's been taking her time, building up to walking slowly, not rushing it until she knows she can do it smoothly and with some precision. It reminds me of myself; I don't like to do things unless I know can do them well (which often results in procrastination, but let's get back to Maya, shall we?).
What surprised me was how excited I was to see this walking happen. I thought nothing could eclipse the thrill of hearing her say "bye-bye" for the first time. But I have to admit, this walking milestone is pretty awesome.
For now the walking is sporadic and brief---she still spends the huge majority of her time cruising, with some sprint-like crawling thrown in when she "needs" to get somewhere in a hurry. But I've heard that once a child takes her first few steps, things accelerate from there, and before you know it, she's walking around like a pro.
Other goings-on...
Maya's little-kid personality is taking shape. The girl could write a book on winning over strangers and blinding them with charm. When we're out at a restaurant, Maya will find a nearby dining patron and stare him down until he's forced to look at her. Then, she'll grin or chuckle, and her new friend will smile back, or say, "Well hi there, cutie!" or some such, and Maya will smile or squeal, and back and forth it will go for several minutes. It's as if she's playing the role of Perfect Happy Baby, and she deserves the Oscar, seriously. Last night at the pizza place she even won over a trio of self-absorbed 20-something dudes. She's a little spreader of joy, that one.
Now that, as far as we know, Maya's latest ear infection has cleared, we've resumed the dairy trial. Yesterday she had some cream cheese and a tiny bit of pizza cheese. Last night she woke up three times, crying. Hmm. We'll see how things go.