Pristapulka

Ta-Daaa! As I mentioned, Little One is now walking! She is walking to the mailbox. Walking to the park. Walking-so-She-can-hold-TWO-forbidden objects-the-same-time! Walking-with-someone's-tail-in-Her-clutches-as-if-She-had-the-reins-to-an-Arabian! Toddle toddle. Crash. Stumble. Toddle toddle.

Now, there are some Bulgarians out there who will tell you that a girl does not get this good at bipedaling on luck and practice alone. Uh-uh (that's uh-uh with a nod, mind you). It was the Pristapulka.

In Bulgaria, a baby taking its first wobbly steps gets a party (woo hoo!). To bless those steps, and make them strong (and, it seems, also to celebrate a little the fact that they are Growing Up). Little One likes a party. Lucky for Her She knows some top-notch Bulgarians, who very very generously threw Her a Pristapulka! Which goes like this:

First- A round loaf of bread is covered in Honey. Everyone gathers around the loaf and waits with baited breath, until the loaf-holder says GO! Then we all snatch a hunk of it, and run like mad.

(Then we get to eat our loot). This is a blessing so that Little One's steps will carry Her far in life, which we hope will be sweet as honey.

Then- We cover Little One's eyes. We gather up objects that represent various professions- a stethoscope, an instrument, a paintbrush, a hammer, a pen. And lay them all out on the table. Then we put Little One in front of the table, uncover Her eyes- and watch intently, biting our tongues. The first object chosen by the wee babe foretells Her future calling.

Little One surveyed the items. Her hand hovered over one...then another....back to the first one. Realizing we were all watching Her, she paused, looking up at us with a mischievious glint in Her eye, rapt by the attention. She looked back at Her hand, almost picks up a few more things then- grabs.........the calculator.

Huh. Apparently very little of my DNA survived the embryonic cell splitting. Good for Little One!

We all cheered Her talent with numbers and settled into a feast.

Mmm. Pristapulkas are yummy, I can tell you that.

Thank you Bulgarians!