Walker, Daddy and I went to the SF Zoo on the Sunday prior to Christmas, just before Gigi arrived. We saw the Reindeer and stayed to watch a puppet performance of the Nutcracker. It was a brisk day so we bundled Walker up in a few things he hadn’t worn before — a pea coat jumper and a hat that is a hand me down. And by that, I mean the little blue and white hat is 44 years old — it was Daddy’s when he was a baby and it was shared by many in the Young clan — Aunt Lisa wore it and then her kids’ heads were kept cozy. Lisa did a great job keeping it pristine and thoughtfully sent it to us for Walker to wear. We love how the hat compliments his striking blue eyes and accentuates his “I know something you don’t know” look.

Walker is growing so fast and I now understand the phrase, “they grow up so fast.” I’ve had glimpses of my future when Larry and I feed him. Right now, he really doesn’t like food other than rice cereal and he has found a way to express his discontent. Walker tenses up his entire body, makes tiny fists at his sides, holds his breath and turns red, and then growls as he moves his head from the left to the right. It’s an extremely disconcerting moment and I fast forward to the “terrible twos” when he does some variant of that PLUS yells “no, no, no, no….” Any child of Larry and me will certainly have a strong opinion about things and will not be shy about expressing his wants, needs, desires. I suppose it’s only fair and I should be thankful I see the potential situation now so I have some time to prepare.

Walker is spending a lot of time vocalizing (he is almost always chattering and has done some interesting complex sound aggregations such as blowing raspberries that transition to screeching or “da da da da da” sounds). He loves sitting up and playing with his rattles or his ball. He loves lying on the ground and playing with his toys. But he’s not doing a lot of rolling. When we went for his 6 month doctor visit, Dr. Mimi asked if Walker was rolling over, if he knew his name, if he responded to sounds. Now, I’m not one of those paranoid mothers but I started to fret over those questions. What does it mean that Walker isn’t rolling around all the time? Does he know his name? Does he respond to sounds? “Walker!” I say. “Walker!” He keeps playing with his toy or looking around at the wall hangings. It doesn’t matter that he tracks me whenever I’m in the room. That he gets upset when I leave a room. That he rolls over once in awhile when he’s reaching for something. That he perks up when he hears Daddy or Mommy coming. No. None of that matters. I just sit and obsess about how Walker compares to other babies. It’s ridiculous but it’s one of those times when I realize I’m only human.