This Tuesday is Mabel Watson Payne's 10-month birthday. It is astonishing how much she has learned in such a short time. I am entirely persuaded at this point that she understands everything I say. Though she does not speak in words, she has no hesitation about holding up her end of the conversation and no difficulty in doing so.
As a particular indulgence this afternoon I let her play with one of the rolled-up balls from her mother's yarn basket. She chose a small blue one (actually to be precise I think it is the same shade of blue that Meryl Streep described as "cerulean" in The Devil Wears Prada).
I put the dear child in her crib for a minute while I was busy in the kitchen and I half-expected her to complain, but when I came back what I beheld was the expression above – patient, inquisitive and friendly. I cannot believe there has ever before in the history of the world been such a good-tempered infant.
I discovered this baby's glowing-slug nightlight underneath the sofa (where I was prospecting for that cerulean ball of yarn) and set it out on the rug. When Mabel Watson Payne caught sight of it she was almost beside herself with glee.