Finger food

Yesterday was my 25th birthday. It felt like my 30th, it was a great day, but that isn't the point of this post. Yesterday Elle did the cutest, most purposeful thing that hints at how smart she is getting.

Ania and I were taking turns eating in bed while holding Ellie. It was my turn to hold Elle, so I was sitting cross-legged in bed, creating a little "bowl" for her to put her head on me knee and kick freely toward my other leg. Unusually, Elle wasn't too interested in her pacifier but was staring and cooing and playing with my fingers. This is all fairly normal. I was talking back to her, replying with "O rly?" to her coos and she stared back straight in my eyes and squeezed my left index finger, harder than she ever has before. I commented to Ania how strong she is getting. Then Elle pulled my hand really hard toward her mouth so that my pinkie was flush against her mouth and started vigorously sucking and making happy coo sounds. I have never seen her use her hands so purposefully, she clearly wanted to suck on the skin of my finger and knew how to get it. She slobbered all over my finger for a good ten minutes cooing happily. What a great birthday present Ellie.