Sophie is 6 months old today! ...and cuter than ever! Paul has noted that some babies' "relaxed" expression is poutiness, but Sophie's general expression seems to be wonder. She is always looking, smiling, interested in her surroundings. Paul got me a bookmark last year for my birthday that said "Wisdom begins in wonder" and it's true - Sophia means "wisdom" and she's always curious about her world - every day seems to bring a new discovery for her or a new thing for her to delight in and squeal joyously about. I hope that never changes for her. Her newest things:

• grabbing the spoon and trying to feed herself - good eye-hand coordination!
• rolling over (and over and over... we don't worry about "tummy time" any more)
• putting her toes in her mouth
• sitting up by herself and not doing too bad a job of it
• picking out two notes on the piano that GO TOGETHER (do we have a musical genius on our hands, or what?)
• playing with crayons (okay, so we have to make sure she doesn't eat them, but she does make a mark here and there)
• mimicing sounds we make
• growing those two adorable little teeth and biting hard on everything in sight

She's the neatest little person we've ever met and our lives are so much richer for it! Can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring...

Whip it... whip it good. So last night I finally got rev up the new food processor and make some Sophie food. It was so easy, so fun, and I'm thrilled to know I'm making healthy food for my little cookie. And I think we will be eating healthier too. I was looking at jarred baby food in the supermarket last night, and although most of the food at her age (stage 1) is just pure veggies and water, the next stage up horrified me. The "chicken" had cornstarch in it. The mangoes had sugar and "mango flavor". Huh? Why in the world does a baby need cornstarch or "mango flavor"? I remembered that I had two ripe, REAL mangoes at home and made them for Sophie instead. (I also made bananas and avacado. Tropical!) As I was relating this story to a co-worker, she told me that a while back Beech-Nut got in trouble for marketing "Pear Juice" which was actually water colored with beet juice! They didn't get in as much trouble as they could since they stated the ingredients correctly - the parents didn't read the label. I'm on the parents' side in this - you're in a rush, and Beech-Nut is a name you should be able to trust - but I really don't want to feed Sophie anything at all without knowing what the heck is in there. (Note: we do feed Sophie jarred food now - but some of the stage 2 stuff is just scary. Read this.) Tonight - I make organic sweet potatoes! Woo hoo! Maybe I'll save a potato for me and Paul and make sweet potato fries.

Deep peace is an inside job. ~ SARK, in her book Eat Mangoes Naked

Icky. Lots of strange and sad stuff has been going on around me lately. All of the following have happened to people I know in the past couple of days: house robbed, stepmother shot by boyfriend, dog paralyzed and had to be put to sleep, children who need operations, child who was kidnapped by her father and the mother has to sell off her belongings to pay a lawyer, friends in the hospital, people diagnosed with bone disease/incurable cancer, and (this one gets me the maddest) a cousin who was disowned by her father 20 years ago, she dies in a car accident this past week, and her father says it makes no difference because she was already dead to him.... and then today I learned one of my MMB (Sark's Marvelous Message Board) sisters just died. I'm struck silent by the death of someone I didn't know personally, only online and briefly, but still, it hurts. We are a tight-knit group. And on top of this, minor though it may be, I'm hosting a knitting circle for church that was supposed to start at 7:30 and not one person has come. I truly think nobody's going to show up. Add to this my general lack of sleep.... and I just want to cry. A lot. I really need to concentrate on all the wonderful and simple stuff that's been going on in my life at the same time: Sophie's joyful abandon in rolling over, meeting my newest little niece at last, family dinner on the porch, candles around the house at bedtime, home movies, yoga in the morning before I go to work, long phone conversations with close friends I haven't seen in a long time, and showing up in this strip (I'm the unicorn in the last panel). I need to shower off all this ickiness and remember all the reasons why my life is so good. I just might take my magic wand to work with me tomorrow. I think I need it.

Hey Food.* Armed with a brand-new food processor (thanks, Mom!) and a couple of loaned books, I'm going to start making baby food for Sophie! I get dreamy over thoughts of ice-cube trays filled with squash and sweet potatoes... this is like being pregnant all over again (without the 30-pound weight gain and aching back!) I'm making sure she's getting really healthy and nutritious food. She LOVES eating, loves her highchair, and, interestingly enough, loves mashed avocado, a food I never would have thought of if not for these books. I'm psyched! the books: Super Baby Food (homemade brown rice cereal, here we come!) Feed Me, I'm Yours! I also want to start signing with her, but there seem to be way too many choices out there. One thing at a time. *Believe it or not, there is a Sesame Street parody of "Hey Jude" that with the awesome lyrics, "Hey Food/can't put you down/if you're dry toast or something wetter/some veggies or a raspberry tart/and then we start to feel much better."

It's my birthday today. :)

Well, I surprised myself by actually doing all three things! One of the main things I finally got out the door that I'm really excited about is a painting I sent out for Artists in the Making. The goal of AITM is to raise $10,000 which will be donated to five San Francisco public middle schools to purchase art supplies. Such a worthy cause.... it's scary how arts funding keeps getting cut and yet there always seems to be enough for sports equipment....

Today's page in Living Juicy says: Permission to Surprise! Write yourself a permission slip! Surprise yourself by finding the balancing. I write myself a permission slip to surprise myself tonight when my hubby watches Sophie all evening so that I can paint - it's Art Night! Maybe I will surprise myself by using a new watercolour technique - I'm reading a great book with ideas for using everything from Saran Wrap to toilet paper. Maybe I will surprise myself by actually, finally, packing up my contribution for an art auction and moving it out the door. Maybe I will surprise myself by calling (and talking to for hours) a very close artist friend who lives far away. (Maybe I will do all three!) How will you surprise yourself today?

I love the things that happen When we start to discover Who we are and what we're living for, Just because love was all we ever wanted It was all we ever had. It's not just a loving machine, It doesn't work out If you don't work at it. ~ Paul McCartney, "We Got Married" [6 years ago tomorrow. I'd do it all over again in a second.]

Paint with joy! From the latest book I've been reading on painting: Remind yourself that it's only a piece of paper - it can be corrected - and that this is fun... Try to watch a child paint and see if you can recapture the child in you. If you can develop an attitude of joy while working, it's no longer work... I've written on the wall of my studio the following three thoughts: Stop worrying! Paint with joy! Enjoy life!

Ummmmm..... notice anything different around here? ;) What are you waiting for! Go explore!

In August it will be so hot I will become a cooking pot Cooking soup of course - why not? Cooking once Cooking twice Cooking chicken soup with rice. ~ Maurice Sendak, Chicken Soup With Rice