a few more things about Socha

Mom just wrote a great post, but I thought I would add a few things.

* Your first real toys were your toes. Back in July, you learned that they were A-MAY-ZING. You just loved grabbing them, and showing off how flexible you were.
* You really do spread joy - when we go to the dining hall without you, the staff asks. At the airport, random Delta employees come up and ask to hold you (and we comply). Everywhere we bring you, you bring smiles to everyone else.
* You had your first sit-down meal in the DA dining hall last week when mom was out of town, and you did great. You were pretty quiet the whole meal, smiling and looking around, until the applause at the end of a student a cappela version of Bohemian Rhapsody. You don't like sudden loud noises, like applause, or toilets flushing.
* You've recently learned that destruction is fun. You enjoy shredding paper, and eating it if you can.
* You like sitting up on my shoulders, but I don't like it so much when you grab my hair like the mane of a horse and rock back and forth with glee. My hair is going, but you're really helping it come out.
* I like to flip you around. My boss, John T., was shocked at how much I would flip you around while in the dining hall ("My wife would have never let me do that!" he said under his breath.)
* I recently discovered that I am no longer able to change your diaper if you are uncooperative. You are much too strong and flippy. That could be difficult going forward.
* When you're having a good time, you smile WIDE OPEN, like you're screaming on a roller coaster. Sometimes I like to make the same face, just to see if it makes you laugh. It usually does.
* You like trees. Bark, at least. We're hoping we're raising a little tree-hugger, but maybe you're just waiting for baby's first chain saw.
* You've probably heard me sing your lullaby "Momma and Daddy and Socha makes 3" about 7347 times so far. I often count to 100 (sticking lines of lullaby, or that day's news, or random things I made up in between the numbers) just to keep myself in the room longer, because if I leave too soon you'll suddenly wake up screaming. No fun.
* You wore a pirate hat with skull & crossbones & pom poms on your first boat ride, on the Connecticut River for a nice fall colors cruise.
* You like to rock out in your "baby einstein" bouncy playstation thing, also while chewing on large parts of it.
* Currently, your favorite toy (probably displacing your toes) is the TAG on anything. The toy is fine, but if there is a tag (like the one that tells you how to wash it), that is awesome.
* You've got 2 teeth on the bottom that were pretty rough coming in - about 2 months of pain, we think, and 2-3 weeks of it pretty bad. Tooth #3 (on top) is maybe coming in now.
* When you were teething in September, you also got a cold that I brought home from school, and gave to mom, who gave it to you. That was not a happy week.
* You can now sit up on your own, and pull yourself around your on your changing table, and sometimes army crawl a little. You will be crawling soon. We are not ready.
* More than crawling, you really want to run. There is a lot of energy pent up.
* You look like mom: fine blond hair, blue eyes, delicate furrowed brows, little cute nose. You seem to have my personality: very outgoing, likes people, wants to bounce.
* I'm looking forward to whatever cool thing you figure out next.