Wild Animal

All of the sudden, we have a wild animal living at our house. He bites. He pulls hair. (After one really bad instance, his sister honestly asked me if she had any hair left.) And he screams, remarkably like his siblings.

To be fair, it happens when he's tired. But, in our household, when is he NOT tired? More reason to accentuate his lamb-like qualities:

• The Curtsy. When he needs to go from up to down, he tucks one leg behind the other and does the most graceful little curtsy that his Michelin Tire legs can pull off. I can hardly watch without testing the air in those tires.

• The Scoot. It must be hereditary. All our kids have preferred it to crawling. It seems awkward at first, but then they get fast.

• The Bubble Talk. Finally, my child's first word is Mama. (The first three began with Dada.) Now, he does variations on a theme - all music to my ears. Lately, he entertains himself with a bubble between his sweet lips, and a long "Moooom" is essential to its formation.

• The Wave. Holding John, I feel like the friendliest person in the world. We walked around our campsite last weekend, and he waved to every person, car, dog and bug that passed.

• High 5. All babies do it. Like the wave, it's reliable. He's always willing, and smiling, too.

• Kisses. John is currently in the open-mouthed, slobbery, lean-in phase, so I'm not sure you can honestly call it a kiss, but "kiss" is the trigger-word. And no matter how grubby, it's adorable.

I can't yet tell if he is more lamb or tiger, but as with all of us, I'm sure he'll have a little of both.