Dear world,

I am Otter. I hold the exalted position of “The Baby” in the Law and Motherhood household. It is a position laden with heavy responsibilities, such as smiling at people, being coy, and getting into everything my limited reach will allow. I am busily trying to figure out my world, and encounter new aspects of it every day.

A few days ago I encountered “pot roast”. In it’s pureed form, it is by far the best baby food I have ever tasted. I really enjoyed the mixture of carrots, potatoes, roast beef, celery, and broth. It seems to have helped me sleep a little more at night, I think it keeps my tummy fuller, longer. (My tummy is rarely ever completely full, as it is a demanding tummy.)

I am working really hard on crawling, but I still refuse to endure the indignities of “tummy time”. I was told by various sources that I needed that dreaded time to strengthen my back muscles and learn to crawl. Well, I have replaced the back strengthening with some crazy arm antics, and have decided to make the crawling move from a seated position. It is a little tricky, but so far I can get both hands on the floor, and up onto one knee. I usually fall over before I can get the other knee into place, but I am confident I will soon master this technique. When I do, it will prove once and for all that tummy time torture is not something I need to endure. Maybe one of you could tell my mom?

I have a lot more work to do today, I plan on eating the phone when my mom isn’t looking, in addition to jumping in my jumper, mastering that foot transition, and playing the “drop it, pick it up” game with mom, so I should probably go. Please remember to tell mom I don’t need tummy time, as soon as I get that foot thing figured out. I keep trying to convince her, but every time I do, she just looks at me and says “shush shush, it’s okay” or “Ungee? Agoo?”. I am beginning to think she has very limited language skills.