Prose in lieu of pictures today, folks. Accosted by the extraordinary breadth of Montana's baby travels I forgot entirely to mention what she is (literally) up-to these days. UP: pulling herself up on every imaginable non-stable piece of furniture in our impressively un-babyproofed house, which includes the faux suede tan ottoman from Bed, Bath and Beyond; the recliner from Ikea; the rocking chair (so much for stability), and the wine rack, which is now "hidden" under the ever-fashionable curtain-that-became-a-wine-tent.

TO, or more accurately "TWO": Teeth! With much gnawing, drooling, and nighttime whimpering, Montana boasts two robust little teeth in the center of her lower gums. Presumably there are more in the works. The days of mashed bananas and the eponymous Cheerios are in our near future, I suspect. In the meantime she's working her way through culinary delights such as green beans and brown rice for breakfast, chicken and sweet potato medley for dinner, and peach/banana/oatmeal ephiphanies. She loves drinking from a silver cup (thanks to Steve and Ana Allan) but hasn't quite mastered the sippy cup.

Increasingly, Montana is Miss Mobility -- and not just because her Downward Dog or Plank Position can rival the best yoga teacher (could there be a case for innate yogability, not just innate sociability?), or her pushups the most rigorous Army officer. Previously she was scooting in a very symmetrical fashion across any floor: Both arms extended straight out, palms flattened on the floor, legs flexed with toes bent and a giant "ooomph" as she pulled her entire body forward with, it seemed, her fingertips. Now the Giant Scoot has been replaced by the more recognizable baby crawl, which I think she finds quite liberating -- because it is much faster and because it is much easier to clamber over things (like parents' legs) with a bent-knee crawl than with a flat-belly scoot. Either way, the lady tires herself out by the end of the day: Bedtime has been around 7:15 pretty for the past few nights. Unfortunately she seems to have inherited my love of mornings. We regularly see 5:40 a.m. together; but this isn't much to complain about. She eats her green beans, I drink my tea, and around 6 we turn on NPR to learn about the world while watching raindrops pool on the abundant green leaves outside of our kitchen window.

OK, yes, it has been 6 weeks since my last post, which in baby terms is aa significant proportion of a little life. Therefore: my apologies, but as the Chinese proverb in Jennifer Boutin Carroll's house reads: "The best time to plant an apple tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today."

In the intervening weeks we have been to CA for 10 days, where Montana met many adoring fans who ranged from her three living great-grandparents (!) to her doting Stanford "aunts" and her future beau Matty DuBois, son of Holly. We've also had a visit from the Peppards, a trip to NYC to see Charlie and Heather and Craig Lottner, and a whirlwind trip to DC in which Montana met Grayson Roschewski, son of Mark and Lindsey. The child has friends and frequent flier miles to an extreme! In early August we head to Santa Cruz for Lolo and John's wedding, where Montana is very excited to meet her (2nd?) cousin Gretchen. In the meantime perhaps I will learn some more interesting blog editing skills. ;) Happy summer to all.