There was no label this time with the words 'DRINK ME,' but nevertheless she put it to her lips.

A week ago, an experiment failed spectacularly. I had given Jacqui a sweet-potato smoothie (sweet potato mixed with expressed milk) in an Avent spill-proof sippy cup the day before and she loved it ... the next day, she thought I was insane and making that up. She'd have nothing to do with it, unless she could chew through the cup to get at its contents. She and I both got frustrated beyond measure and I ended up throwing the cup with great force into the kitchen cabinetry. (It made a satisfying "thunk", but those Avent people don't lie -- it didn't spill.)

Tonight, I warmed some milk in a lower tech cup, purchased from Ikea. This cup practically begs you to hold it upside down, fling it about with great abandon, and dash it to the floor melodramatically in order to rain its contents generously all over the kitchen. In short, it is not spill-proof.

She loved it.

She and the kitchen both wore equal amounts of milk, but at least a third of it went into her baby-bird mouth. And she was so happy! And she grabbed for the cup and said "Go into my mouth!" and it did! It took some finagling; since nothing regulates the flow of liquid, it pours faster than she was expecting. Geoff and I took turns helping her drink with it, and lo, there was happiness.