Last night my 2 1/2 year old daughter took a big bite of spaghetti from her fork, and some of the noodles hung outside her mouth. Rather than spitting it all over her clothes as she had previously, this time she "slurped" the remaining noodles into her mouth and ate the whole bite. "Hooray for Helina (not her real name)!" I shouted. And she celebrated her new accomplishment, too, by flinging her arms (and the fork, still laden with spaghetti sauce) into the air.

Now, I've been around for a while, of course, and I no longer get excited when I can get a bite of spaghetti into my mouth without spilling any. Nor do I expect others to be amazed by such a simple feat. But for a tender innocent babe who's not so far past her first steps, perhaps such a celebration is in order.

Did I mention, by the way, that my "number of posts" level has just achieved triple digits? Not that it's even worth mentioning, of course.

If you'll excuse me now, it's time for lunch.