Baby B milestones: There are a million of them

Most new parents are thrilled and amazed at their babies' mental and physical development, particularly from six months on. Every little baby nuance of sound, smell, taste, touch and other motor movements can be as profound as heavenly miracles.

And that's what they are - aggregate miracles from heaven that culminate and morph into a mini-me and a mini-you.

We participate regularly with glee and reverence in the ascent of Beatrice.

She's 10 months, 16 days, 12 hours, 30 minutes and 45 seconds old. Every second is a milestone, isn't it?

She's a babbling brook of sound. Saying "ma-ma" and "da-da" and "a-ma" and "a-da" and "blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-walla-walla-washington". It's a beautiful, sometimes overwhelming sound, depending on her volume, which is getting louder.

She speaks in sign. A little. Mama A's been teaching her and she's retained milk (squeezing the cow udder) and blanket (pull shirt down or up or something like that). She also knows what the eating and drinking motions mean, although it's the babbling brook of sound that jumps to roaring rapids when she's hungry.

She reads books. Or more accurately enjoys being read to and loves looking at all the pages and flipping them herself.

Her face has blossomed into a rainbow of emotion - happy, hungry, angry and frownie brownie!

She has hair. No more Peanuts' cartoon head with pencil wisps of hair. Bea now has a fine layer of white-blond hair on her head and it comes in more everyday! (Okay, still looks like a Peanuts' cartoon head, but still.)

She has teeth. Well, 1.2 teeth and growing. One of her front incisors has risen from the gum depths causing her flashes of indescribable pain and her mouth to drool incessantly. The .2 will be one more soon and the other chompers aren't far behind.

She has an Ellen Barkin smile. And oh my is that gonna break hearts someday.

She feeds herself. And her lap. With her hands. No utensils yet.

She's point and waving. At people, wall pictures, ghosts, the TV, her toys, furniture and our 300-year-old cat.

She's eating dirt and sand. What childhood isn't complete without eating dirt and sand? Chock full of minerals, Bea enjoys supplementing her daily diet.

She's eating my MacBook laptop cord. Another delicious addition to her diet, my laptop cord found its way into her mouth recently and then wouldn't charge my battery until it dried out overnight.

She's cruising. No Al Pacino movies or teenage cat-call main drag driving here. We're talking shuffling on both feet while pulling herself along the couch, the coffee table and other pieces of furniture. Plus, she's walking around more and more aided at first with both our hands and now she's down to one-hand walking!

She's falling down. Beings that ascend must also fall down occassionally, and a lot when you're a baby. She's taking the butt and noggin bumps in stride, though.

And she walked unaided! Yes, earlier this week she got brave and took her first few steps on her own with no parental-handed aid! Amazing and thrilling. Her bravery has since waned though; she really wants our assistance. It's as if she has horizontal vertigo. No worries, we're her guides!

The ever-amazing-exponential-developmental Baby B.

You can do the proud papa dance with me if you want.