Among the many recent (apparent*) firsts, a cold you’ve had for 4 or 5 days now. Mostly you’ve been in good (if somewhat subdued) spirits, but your hoarse cry, especially in the night, is more than your dad and I can bear. Today I am a little sick, with achy joints and a slow head, and I hope you’re not (but suspect you are) suffering the same.

As recently as 6 weeks ago it was almost impossible to read to you since you were driven, almost invariably, to suck on the book. Now your relation to books and paper is more interesting. Your favorite toy, except perhaps for your yellow horn [drawing], is a set of 4×8-ish highly laminated playing cards. You take the card in both hands, turning and folding it slowly with intense concentration and delicacy, as though it were many-faceted. You’ve been known to do this for up to 1/2 an hour and now have extended that mode of investigation to your Dad’s paperback books, lying on your back and examining them not so much with pleasure as with satisfaction. Your own books are a slightly different story…