Baby is clapping! And falling.

Here is a video of 9-month-old Nate clapping. He just started doing this today, and he can do it on command, unlike the "waving" that seems to be just a fun thing his hands like to do in their spare time. The best part of the video is at the very end, when I let him plummet head-first off the sofa (INTO MY WAITING ARMS! I SWEAR!) If only I'd thought to shoot the thing in 3-D, you know?

What's most shocking about the video is that it doesn't include Lula busting in and grabbing the baby/camera/spotlight for herself. She was using the bathroom at the time. She can use the toilet without any parental help! If you don't expect her to wash her hands, that is. Or flush. Or even wipe. (We're working on it.)

My mastitis is getting better, thanks. I still feel pretty damn worn out, and I still have a sore area. And the antibiotics are making my stomach upset -- have to go get some (doomed!) L. acidophilus pills to replace my own murdered intestinal flora. Sorry, beneficial microscopic bacteria. (What would Buddha say?)

By the way, it turns out mastitis is a serious (though not literal) headache for your modern dairy farmer. The top sponsored link on the Google results page for "mastitis antibiotics" is an ad for Hoof Trimming School (labeled with the disconcerting URL www.chutesunlimited.com.) They sell Udder Comfort Sprayable mastitis cream, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.