A huge buffalo, standing in the middle of lockers and benchs, staring at itself in the mirror. This pleases me.

"You are one handsome son of a bitch! You are! You totally rock!"

Is it normal for babies to like to rock back and forth?

Normal. Everything Annabel does is either normal or way better than normal. Normal normal normal.

Oh...Polter-Cow got a "jump." and I don't mean porn. That's what the "continued" is. Good for you.

Ah, cool. Yeah, the last-minute edits on this weren't as painful as last time. This time, they cut out an analogy from my interviewee (which was fine, really, because it was redundant); put two paragraphs together that shouldn't have been, making the second one appear to refer to things in the first one that it really wasn't (but at least it doesn't misrepresent the answer, only the methods used to obtain it); and added a sentence emphasizing a point that got lost in some of the verbiage. It wasn't a bad sentence (props for using the word "surmised"), and it's not far off from something I would have written, but it was weird to wake up in the morning and find this sentence I had no hand in writing attributed to me.

I hope for next week's article to be blissfully shorter.

Normal. Everything Annabel does is either normal or way better than normal. Normal normal normal.

OK. I thought it probably was, since she's just a baby and all, but she's the first baby I've ever been around for any extended length of time, and since it would be a problem if she were a few years older and doing this, I wondered if it was a precursor to problems to come.

I've found a new radio station. No DJs, and their tag line is "We play what we want." One of their ads is "Got a request? Then scream it at the radio." I've heard U2, Abba, Queen, John Mayer, Aerosmith--if I hear some Billy Idol, I'm a happy woman.

No DJs? Then who are the "we" playing what they want?

if she were a few years older and doing this, I wondered if it was a precursor to problems to come.

It's a little early to be worried about hebephrenic schizophrenia. (Lots of rocking.)

Babies do lots of stuff like rocking because they're still mastering balance and their bodies. When she gets a little older, she's gonna go through a spin around and get dizzy phase. A little older than that? Riding around in pickup trucks with boys drinking cheap wine and lying to you about it. Unfortunately, that's also normal.

Got a request? Then scream it at the radio."

Cue quote from Spin the Bottle: "You stopped the tiny men from singing." (as Angel taps the radio)

Why did Monday fly by so fast and Tuesday's crawling? I want to be at home with Wonderfalls DVD's and drinking a mocha.

When she gets a little older, she's gonna go through a spin around and get dizzy phase.

We're supposed to grow out of this one?

A little older than that? Riding around in pickup trucks with boys drinking cheap wine and lying to you about it. Unfortunately, that's also normal.

Heh. When I was calling all those schools for my freelance project, I started forming opinions on where I'd like to send Annabel in an ideal world where I suddenly become the next Nora Roberts and can send her anywhere I want. I mentioned Seattle Girls' for middle school, because while I'm not generally pro single-sex ed, I'm starting to think it's a good idea for that age group. DH responded that he thought a big reason he didn't really date till college was that he went to an all-boy middle school and it took him awhile to catch up socially when he got to high school.

I expressed surprise that he thought the prospect of Annabel not having a boyfriend until college was a bad thing.

We're supposed to grow out of this one?

Sadly, it happens. I was fine with spinning, rocking, bouncing, reading-in-the-car, and all those other tricksy balance activities that kids adore right up until about three years ago. Since then--oh, God. I can't swing on a swing without getting queasy, I can read exactly one page in the car before having to put the book down and stare out the window for about a page's worth of time, and I can't even think about riding on a rollercoaster. Hec has a nervous habit of crossing his legs and jiggling one foot when he's watching TV, and sometimes when he does that I have to move to the other end of the couch because the teeny repetitive movements nauseate me.

And, having talked to other folks in their 30s and beyond, I'm actually lucky that I made it all the way to 33 before succumbing.