Look quick -- she's growing fast.

Seth's in Japan this week, so I'm going to try to post as much as possible. It seems like Niki is doing something new every five minutes, so I have lots to post. I wish that blogger would let me load video and pictures at the same time, but such is not to be. I guess this will be an all day post.

This video shows Niki's latest attempts at crawling. She isn't quite locomoting on all fours, but she sure manages to get around. She has three primary means of movement : rolling, a kind of caterpillar-like crawl in which she rolls onto her elbow in order to elevate her behind and get up on her knees, and this forward scooting that I haven't seen before today. I've put baby gates on the bathroom door and the laundry room, and I'm taking a second look at everything within two feet of the floor because there's no stopping this kid, and once she really starts crawling, she'll probably do it behind my back.

She does most of her accomplishments when I'm not looking, and the camera still possesses the capacity to stop her in her tracks, so I don't have a lot of video, but I do have a lot of pictures. She smiles now and seems pleased when I take a picture, but if I want video, I have to make sure she hasn't seen me.

As you can see, she's really starting to get into everything. She has a special fondness for my shoes. I suppose they feel good on her teeth (yes, teeth plural. There's another one coming beside the first. I saw it today.)When she first started trying to crawl, I worried that our hardwood floors might be slowing her down because she couldn't develop any traction, so I attempted to make kneepads out of duct tape for her. First-time mother's folly, I know, but she's cute in them. In solid foods, we have taken a step backwards. The only thing she'll eat right now is barley cereal. She won't each peaches, which just doesn't seem right, or peas or beans or applesauce or any of the good stuff. In fact, sometime I think she likes dinnertime just for the high chair and the spoon. But there's no doubt that she does indeed like dinnertime.
To be fair, I suppose I should post a couple videos or pictures of her crying, just so Daddy gets a full picture, but really, why would any mother in her right mind take a video of that? And what father would keep the recording? Tis not exactly something we listen to for kicks. The real thing is enough.