Mohawk photo shoot

We are now sporting a mohawk.  It's most prominent after a bath, once her thinning hair has taken its requisite ten seconds to dry.

And just for fun, here's the side view:

She's waving her arms because she is looking at her absolutely favorite thing in the world, better than      
mom and dad, even:  the dragonfly mobile that my friend Tara brought back from Cambodia.  As soon as she noticed it, diaper changes became something fun rather than the optimal time to practice lung capacity and decibel levels.

Here are a few shots of her, mohawk sprouting proudly, as she talks to the mobile and kicks her legs and wiggles her arms:

She also has this uncanny look of wiseness that strikes us as unusual for six weeks - as one of our neighbors says, she's already got us under her spell and wrapped around her little finger.  "The manipulation starts now," he said with a smile, and if that's true than this is probably the one instance in my life that I'm being swindled and not minding one bit.  (With two daughters of his own, btw, he doesn't seem to mind either.)

This last one is just before a projectile spit-up incident (yeah, I couldn't tell either).

The other cool thing is Anika's development of language - not words, of course, but an entire repertoire of sounds that's expanding every day.  She's most talkative after a feeding and in the early morning when she's wide awake and I want her to fall back asleep.  Lately, she's oohing and gurgling and ahhing on her own, forcing me to put down my magazine or the packing tape or the wine glass or whatever is holding my attention at the moment and just enjoy the world through her eyes.  It's a pity we don't remember babyhood, when everything is new and exciting and even plastic monkeys and simulated waterfalls can elicit exhilaration and joy.