Polly want a cracker?

Our little Birdie has figured out how to make the sounds that suit her
nickname. In the past two days, the girl has discovered the upper
register of her voice - how to shriek and squeal and scream. When she's
happy it sounds like a bird or a very small mammal (check!) is playing
around in our apartment. When she's upset - ouch! you have to watch your
eardrums.

Overall, it's incredibly cute. She lies there and sounds like she's
telling herself a story in mouse-like squeaks. For her, it clearly has
entertainment value; she amuses herself. She amuses us too. Up and down,
up and down go the notes, as she experiments with the ways she can change
her voice. The funny thing is, whenever she now goes into her normal
voice for a nostalgic "goooo", I think it sounds low, which isn't how you
normally think of baby coos. But boy, a baby falsetto is high!

We've been having gorgeous weather here - it's fall, which means (this wet
year) rain, which means no smog and clear skies. So Brigid and I have
been going for walks, enjoying the air and the trees and the clouds,
breathing deeply because the rain has washed all the gunk in the air away.
Ah! it's beginning to smell like Christmas.