Born Ambitious

When Juliette was born, my friend, Jenn, gave her a onesie that reads, "Capricorn. Born ambitious. Loves to organize." We think it is hilarious. I mostly just love the picture in my head of a very small baby organizing. "Mommy, please sort my short sleeve onesies separate from my long sleeve onesies. And really, do we need all these bath toys? Couldn't we find a better place to store these?" Someday I expect to walk into the room and find her organizing the Tupperware. Maybe that's why she makes a bee line for the cabinets whenever someone opens a door. Hmmm... Maybe a little experiment is in order. Okay, so maybe she's not ready for it quite yet, but I'm really hoping that there is some truth to that onesie. I could really use some organizational help.

One thing we know for sure IS true is that she was born ambitious. All three of my kids have been a little ahead of the game on all things baby. Both Annalise and Zachary got their teeth early; they moved early; they talked early. Juliette still has no teeth, but she takes the cake for moving early. The kid was one week old when she rolled over for the first time. She could not sit upright on her own before she could get herself into a seated position. She's been "crawling" (I'll explain in a minute.) for a couple months now. And she has been standing and cruising for almost a month. Tell me, what is the use of a seven month old cruising??? The problem with all her ambition is that she's not really very good at any of this. She crawls like a simian, with feet flat on the ground. (This is the first kid we've had who didn't have to crawl only on hard wood floors, and this is the one who lifts her knees up off the ground!?) And then there's the pulling up on the furniture and cruising thing. She's really too short to pull herself up on most things. So as a result, the kid is constantly bumping her head on tables or otherwise falling in dramatic fashion, with a full spin and a flourish, looking up with a bewildered expression on her face. She is so much fun to watch; that determined face, sucking in her lower lip, her fingers gripping tight. And she's such a show off, too. She gets into the stand, does a little dance, then lets go with one hand to wave and attract a crowd. Sometimes she'll give herself a little shout out, too. She's ambitious, that puny little thing. We can't wait to see what she'll do next!