Words, words, words

If you could read the type on this crossword puzzle from today's Metro, you would see that the clue for #58 across is "Famed lioness" (answer: Elsa) and the clue for #52 down, intersecting the former, is "Ad award" (answer: Clio).

Coincidence?? Or do we have a Jane's Calamity reader at the Metro headquarters?Either way, I'm taking it as a good omen. Thanks to my friend Mara for bringing this to my attention.

Speaking of Elsa and Clio -- which I usually am -- I must say, they are the most schizophrenic damned babies you ever met. For the past few days, Clio has been a terror, crying and fussing, waking up to wail inexplicably in the middle of the night. (And man, that baby has some pipes on her. Jennifer Hudson, look out.) I was beginning to wonder if she had late onset colic or something. Elsa, meanwhile, was being the "your sister" as in "why can't you be more like your sister?" Calm, smiley, contented, adorable. Then, today, Elsa was suddenly Fusspot #1, while Clio appeared to be making a bid for Baby of the Year. We spent ten whole minutes just grinning at each other. She even spoke: "Guh!" she said.

Speaking of speaking, I think these babies ought to be doing more of it by now. Not reciting the Gettysburg Address, mind you, but cooing. Aren't they supposed to be cooing? Ahs and Ohs and Ooohs? They come out with short little bursts of verbalization (see "Guh!" above) and sometimes make drawn out guttural gurgles, that sound more or less like "lllll!" They occasionally squeal. But they don't coo, per se. Maybe they're skipping vowels and going straight to consonants. Crzy Ls nd Cl.