Procrastination and baby talk

Sometimes, procrastination pays off...

So it's been at least 3 weeks now that my car stereo has not been working. I've been meaning to get around to replacing it, but other things have taken priority. But today, about halfway through my commute, it magically came on. I immediately called Tony to tell him the good news. He had had someone look at it for me about a week ago, and that guy declared that it was dead--but now Tony is thinking that all he did was check the fuses. Obviously, the radio does indeed work, so there's something fishy with the wiring or something. As soon as I got off the phone with Tony, I popped in my Wicked CD and got my Wicked fix.

A babyless night

My brother Pete stayed overnight with us on Saturday night, so when I took him home on Sunday night, I brought Ari with me and left her there. Mom watches Ari on Mondays anyway, and it made more sense to drop Ari off on Sunday night, since I was going there anyway, than for both of us to get up early on Monday morning. It was weird going home and being able to make as much noise as I wanted to upstairs--I worked out with the TV volume up as loud as I wanted (Tony and Wayne were downstairs watching the Red Sox/Indians game) and the door open, and when Tony and I were getting ready for bed, I was able to holler to him from the bathroom when he was in the bedroom and vice versa. I know I just spent an entire paragraph talking about how thrilling it was to make noise in my own house... and I realize how sad that is.

Speaking of the baby...

Ari has always been comfortable with strangers, people in church, etc. But lately, she's been getting even more relaxed around people she doesn't know all that well. At church yesterday, she kept picking different people to follow around while we were all cleaning up afterward--and when the person turned and noticed her, she would reach up, asking to be held. It really was the cutest thing--she was just making all sorts of new friends. We spent the afternoon hanging out at Pastor and Dawn's house, with Brandon and Kerry and their kids, too, and Ari spent as much time cuddling and playing with Dawn and Kerry as she did with me or Tony.

Also, I think--I THINK--I saw her stand up on her own yesterday, without clinging to anything. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and did a double-take, saying, "Wait, did she just stand up on her own?" And of course, she never did it again the rest of the day. I think she really can do it--it's just a matter of having the confidence. She does this goofy thing where she'll plant her palms on the floor, burrow her head into the carpet, and lift her butt up in the air, so that she's just on her tiptoes--it looks as though she's trying to stand alone, but can't quite get that final step of the process figured out. Any day now, she'll have it down.