Earlier today, for a newspaper story, I was talking to a woman who has a 5-month-old son. I mentioned to her that at each stage of Autumn's life, I think she is so much more fun than she was before.
It started back when she was born and I thought she was more precious that anything or anyone I'd ever seen. Then, a few weeks later, she smiled. I had so much fun making her smile.
Then she babbled. And she laughed. And, of course, Keith and I jumped around like idiots doing anything we could to make her laugh some more.
We watched as she started sign language, telling us she was all done with her food. Or that she wanted more food. Then that she wanted milk. Soon she started to add words.
She cruised around the coffee table and took steps on her own. If Keith was reading the paper, she'd run over and swat it down to see his face. And she'd laugh.
Now she runs all over the place. Instead of swatting down the paper, she picks up her own section and sits as though she's reading the paper, too. She likes to color and sometimes hands me a crayon to color, too. Other times she just colors and, when she's done, hands me her picture and tells me it's pretty.
She still laughs at us, but now she laughs with us, too. At each stage, I think how much fun we're having. It's weird to think back at the last stage and think how much fun I thought we were having then. Now I realize it's even more fun now, and I'm sure there's just more to come.