The Fine Art of Conversation

Baby Brigid slept in the crib again last night, only for a nap as opposed to starting there for the night. But she didn't stir, didn't jump up or start when I placed her down, so maybe she is starting to adjust to being put down when she's sleeping. I don't want to jinx it, or anything, but it's a significant accomplishment.

She has taken to communicating by using a odd kind of calling sound. She will just start calling out loud. If you call back, she continues. Sometimes she seems to have a huge oxygen reserve that helps her just call and call and call. It's funny. She's not distressed; she's not angry or upset in this sound. She just seems to like the way it sounds, especially if you do it back. Babbling has taken on conversational proportions, too. Maaamaaamaadahhhdaaahaddaablah blah blah (really. she's saying blah blah blah. That's not my editorializing). She started a little bababa this morning, though I'm not sure if it can be an official entry into her vocabulary. It sounds like she's trying to have a conversation with you and she'll pause after saying something, so I'll respond in kind and she picks up the strands of conversation and starts again. Brigid also enjoys a good squeal now and then, and sometimes she surprises herself with the force of her squeals. She'll let one out then her face gets all surprised, like, "Ooh, did that come out of me?" Then she'll do it again as if to confirm her observation.

Yesterday, she also started doing this growly, grunting kind of sound. At first, I thought she was straining at stool, as they say in gastrointestinal terms. But that wasn't it. She was just growling. She did it quite a bit yesterday and even Jack mentioned it when he was holding her last night after he got home from work. We were watching Grey's Anatomy and Brigid was standing on the end of the couch, holding on to the arm of the couch for support, and was alternating between her grunty-growly thing and her calling out loud thing. She was bouncing and smiling, very proud in her communication skills. It made it very hard to listen to the dialog on Grey's. Thank goodness she decided she wanted to nurse, or we'd never know what Meredith said to McDreamy or what McDreamy said to Addison when McSteamy walked out of the steam-filled bathroom. It's true: you can't talk when your mouth is full. But you can still grunt.