Of new teeth, dogs, walking, baths and more...

A few random happenings from our weekend...

1) After much literal gnashing of teeth (and of flesh -- you should see the bite marks Aida left on Steve

Steve's shoulder during one of her more passionate teething sessions) Aida's eighth tooth poked through on Friday. Bottom right. We were wondering when this would happen. After Tooth No. 1 arrived in April when Aida was about five months old, six more followed in pretty rapid succession. Then, nothing. I feel like it's been almost two months since the last one came in. I mean, I'll have to check the dental records to be sure, but...

2) I had to catch my breath three separate times today when I witnessed Aida step away from the furniture and take one step unassisted. Each time, her second step ended with her hand grabbing something for support. But I feel like our little girl is very close to toddling. And, oh man. I just don't even know what to say.

Aida's song

Last week, I got an iPhone. Better put, my husband got me an iPhone with my money. He asked me if I thought it would change my life. I said I hoped not. Then he showed me the digital recording feature. And then we went for a Sunday stroll with Aida. And then I heard her singing to herself. And, so, then, I captured this. (Recorded Sunday, Oct 16, 2011, on a stroll with Mommy, Daddy and our friend Bradley. 11 months old.)

Maybe I like the iPhone more than I thought I would...Or maybe it's just that I love that child.

My beautiful, 11-month-old baby girl

Aida turned 11 months old today. This one makes me teary. One more month til the big ONE, and something about that makes me all kinds of proud and anxius and sad and joyful all at once.

This past weekend, at a friend's wedding in Virginia, I held her and danced with her for a very long time. I squatted next to her as she used my knee to help her stand. I clasped her little hands and let her lead me around the lawn while she "walked" wherever her curiosity led her. I didn't want to let her go, though at times I'm sure she would have been fine with it.

I know in a moment, she'll be walking without me. She'll be moving faster and falling harder. She'll be telling me things that come into her mind and I'll actually understand them. But right now, I feel the need to savor these last few days of her very young babyhood. Her hilariously floppy-handed and purposeful crawl. Her shimmy up my shins when she wants me to hold her. Her middle-of-the-night cries for mama's milk.

Before these things come to an end and her baby chub melts and her hair grows longer and her fingers become more useful and her independence takes more definite shape, I feel the need to write about the baby we know now:

More baby bravery

I have plenty to write about my trip with Aida to Louisiana this past weekend, but one of the highlights -- besides, of course, getting to be a part of my family's fabulous celebration of my grandmother's 85th birthday -- was Aida's sudden interest in and eagerness to touch a ...  Real. Live. Dog.

Here she is going after Roxy Giffin, who belongs to my Aunt Donna, Uncle Wayne and cousins Gabe, Camille and Josh. This was the first time she's ever sought to pet a dog. Video captured Oct. 1, 2011, 10.5 months old. Oh, and her dress is purposely hiked up to allow her to crawl. She was having difficulty with all that SKIRT around her.