Quirks

Let me share some of Lilli's wonderfully lovable traits. I'll begin with her long lasting addiction to fluff. Each morning while lying contentedly on my lap and nursing she picks fluff with her small exploratory fingers from my woolen blanket and rubs it against her nose. Sometimes she'll try to eat it. Other times she presses it into my face or presents it to characters in her books. I find balls of fluff all over the house. My blanket is looking rather scrawny. When away from the blanket she'll find other sources of fluff. The woolly hair on her doll. Her nighttime blanket knitted by our friend Erin. Any soft sweater that I may be wearing.

Her love of soft fluffy fabrics must have originated from those hours of being bounced as an infant in my arms. During those early months I lived in a large fluffy grey cardigan. It was warm and soft and Lilli spent much time with her nose buried into the nook of my arm. Since then her appreciation has evolved to include anything woolly. In her crib she curls up on top of "road-kill teddy" and under her special knitted blanket. Before we lift her out of the crib she gathers teddy and blanket together and clings to them tightly while she gradually shakes off the residual sleepiness.

When fully awake Lilli can be found in one of the following three states of action: running, sitting or lying down. Her running state is out of control, with flapping arms, protruding belly, legs that either carry her upper body too quickly or too slowly. Sometimes she'll fall over nothing, other times she runs over objects or down hills defying my expectations of a horrible spill. I'm relieved when she chooses to sit on the floor to look through a book or play with some toys. However I'm not excused just yet! She turns to look at me expectantly and an imperative little finger points insistently to the floor beside her. She is saying so clearly with her body, SIT HERE MUMMY. When the upright view-point becomes tedious Lilli likes to lie on her back and look up at the ceiling. Again, she'll pat the floor beside her and we both lie on the living room floor waving our feet in the air above our heads!