It's time to hide the cat food...

Because Lauren is crawling! Army crawling, really. Sweeping my floors.

It's a double-sided achievement, from my viewpoint. I have been looking forward to her being able to move around the house independently because she just looks so sad and lonely if we all leave the room without her, even for just a minute. This will provide hours of exploration and discovery fun (see above mentioned cat food).

But...you know what the "but" is right? The dust bunnies will be searched out and tasted, the crunchy pea leftover from a dinner some days ago and lost under the table, will be found by a mouthy little girl. I'll have to be careful again with what's left laying around - and this time, there's much more laying around than there was when Mia became mobile.

Now there's tiny Barbie shoes, little hair rubber bands, and I'm not completely into the baby-proofing mindset yet.

At least there's no kitty litter in the house this time around. That's a terrifying thought.

And also...about Lauren? She's a genius. She's become so good at trying to imitate sounds and actions that I'm convinced she's smarter than the average baby. Not your baby of course, who is, I presume, quite talented and intelligent as well.

The other day, when I was trying to keep Lauren's attention on breastfeeding instead of on her sister's silly antics, I covered her eyes with my hand and started playing peek-a-boo. She loved it, and kept nursing for a few minutes longer while I entertained.

The next morning while she was nursing, I had my eyes closed to preserve the last few minutes of dozing. So I didn't see what she was doing so much as feel it. I felt her little hand go up to her face...then away...then she smiled. And she repeated it. I looked down just in time to see her trying to get my attention by playing peek-a-boo. It was puh-recious. (It seems that most of my favorite motherhood moments happen while breastfeeding.)

Now, she still tries to play peek-a-boo with me at random times during the day. Only, she sometimes forgets that her eyes are the goal for her hands, and ends up covering her left cheek and right ear, or her right temple and left ear. Again: puh-recious.

I think she'd catch on really quickly to baby sign language if I tried to teach her. But there's the catch: I'd have to commit to learning sign language.

This probably won't happen. (It's either baby-proof the house, or sign. See? I'm prioritizing.) At least I have the consolation of peek-a-boo.