Dear Isla,
Today is your 7-month birthday, and also happened to be the day you got baptized. That blessed event was... well... INTERESTING, to say the least. When Owen and Edie were both baptized, the water was poured gently over the tops of their heads, and the anointing with the oil was just a small sign of the cross made on the backs of their necks and the tops of their heads.
Well... I guess it's true that every officiant will perform the ceremony his own way. Today, the priest gleefully poured three huge scooping handfuls of water down your entire head (into your eyes and mouth, too), which had you sputtering in indignant anger; then the anointing of the oil came, and imagine my surprise when he poured literally a beaker full — about two measuring cups or more — of warm, scented oil all over your entire head. Fortunately none got into your eyes or mouth, but let's just say that you were Less Than Pleased.
In any event, it was a beautiful and special service, followed by a lovely brunch here at our house, with family and loved ones surrounding you.
I keep thinking to myself what a blessing you are to me... you, who arrived at a time in my life when I didn't expect to have any more children; it's like God wanted me to have you.
In other news, you are scooting all over the room, able to do pushups with your arms but still haven't got the hang of getting up onto your knees yet. You make all kinds of great noises, like raspberries and squeals and "ohs" and "ahs." I love listening to you "talk" to yourself.
You met your new baby cousin for the first time last week, and you are very intrigued by him. He's still so small, that I think you must think he's like the baby doll you play with, the one you like to alternately cuddle with and gnaw on. Today at your baptism, you kept trying to reach for him, and once or twice you managed to get ahold of his arm and try and pull him to you. As always, I wonder what's going through your head at times like these.
The other new development with you (and something that's unique to you, as Owen and Edie never really did this) — is that you are becoming more and more "mommy-centric" — if I'm not around and someone else wants to hold you, it's fine, but if you can see me, it's all over; woe to the person who is holding you. This is mostly true when you are feeling a little tired and crabby, and I have to say, a small part of me secretly loves the way your eyes will instantly zero in on me if I'm in the vicinity, and love the way you reach for me... and especially love the way you lean into me, and your body relaxes once you're in my arms, imperiously looking back at whoever had the unfortunate position of having to give you up.
You make me want to hug you close and never let you go, sweet girl.
Love, Mama
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your blog on Google while looking for an old book that I loved as a kid. I couldn't remember the title at all. All I could remember was that the main character's name got messed up by the computers and he went from "Robert Fulton" to "Torber Nutfol".
Thanks to you I found the book title and can now get a copy.
The post was "What’s in a (Nick)Name? June 13th, 2006 by jen" which I pulled as a cached page from Google.
Hi "hellfire" — I'm still getting used to this Blogger thing, and only just now saw this comment from you (don't know if you'll ever check this, but when I clicked your name it wouldn't allow me to see your profile, so I can't email you directly) — the death of my old blog's database has made me really sad, since I've lost some cool stuff, but I am glad you were able to find that book! Wasn't it called Robert Fulton's Terrific Time Machine, or something like that?
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!