I only looked away for a second.

These are the words that make a parent's stomach drop into their shoes, and turn their blood to ice. One father told of how his daughter slipped down and out of her high-chair, and he came back into the room to find her on the floor. She was fine, but he got a professional opinion at the emergency room, since he didn't see if there had been and head impact. Better believe that I'm using the straps religiously!

So why start with this most cryptic of statements? I found out that she can roll over in my arms, but I was paying attention, and had my other arm under her by the time she got there. She also exercised this new trick in the bath. Not only was I right there to keep her face above water, I could seize the opportunity to clean her neck – the worst lint/sludge trap since my navel!
It was in traffic that my diverted-attention cost me, though not badly. It wasn't worse than the scuffs that black sneakers leave on a gym floor, but it got the adrenaline flowing, none the less! Lord knows I'll be doing double-time on watching traffic from here on in.

But on the child front, a friend recently told Andrea that when a child begins verbalizing, they practice all of the sounds they could possibly need for any language. From there, they're conditioned into the local dialect. Apparently, our child is rehearsing for the event that we should teach her to speak Kettle. Oh yes, she's nailed that delightful pitch that can make dogs divulge their secrets. We're delighted.

I mentioned that it was Andrea's Birthday last week. I tried cooking Beef Wellington and Crab Cakes. Both tasted great, both looked like they had been served with a pitch fork. The crab cakes were too wet, and fell apart. The BW should have been made in individual portions, but I did it roast-size. Between the pastry sticking to the pan, and the slicing of servings, it too fell apart. Chalk it up to the learning curve.