From our front porch looking in...

AUGUST 24, 2007

THOUGHTS ON MY GROWING GIRL...

So here we are-in the 11th month of life-boy does it fly by! I am so consumed by this little girl that I sometimes forget that I exsist. She has completely taken over my life...in a way that I had never really imagined before she breathed her first breath. I find myself thinking so many things when I am with her--like the moments I want to freeze...when she leans over with her open mouth and "kisses" me, for no apparent reason, as if to say "thank you mommy for loving me"... She knows what "give her a kiss" means and sometimes obeys the request!

I find myself struggling to engrain in my memory each touch, smell and moment of laughter. I feel like her little life is fleeting and if I am out of the room for just a moment, or away at work for too long, that I will miss some of her greatest revelations...like when she realized she could push the ball through the giraffe's mouth to make him sing and watched as the ball went round and round and came out on one of his four feet.

Sometimes I go back into her room after she has fallen asleep, pick her up, and hold her tight...bursting with unconditional love for this little person I helped create! What a beautiful little blessing. I cannot kiss her little body enough. I love to touch her soft skin...which is growing sweet little blond hair now.

She has officially started walking and we are now up to 18 steps...she only took 3 last week!!! She is certainly on the move. Still loves to eat dog food. Today, I gave her the bag of crackers, she was eating them and suddenly I heard them all fall onto the floor...it occupied for for atleast 15 minutes...so we just swept them up after she played in the crumbs. She also grabbed one of the platters on the baker's rack when I wasn't looking and broke it into a hundred pieces on the floor! Daddy says, "more shelf room"!

She has such a fantastic personality and really loves people! They love her too...how can you resist that cheesed up smile, showing all 8 teeth, eyes closed and nosed scrunched up! IRRESISTABLE!

I love how I can see her mind spinning. She loves to bang on things...she got into my brushes yesterday and we had a drumming contest on the microwave that is sitting in our hallway!

Her official first word was DADDY!!! But she now says mama and knows she is looking for me! What a wonderful feeling!

She still hates being put in the carseat, she loves her independence! She does stay close, though...I find her being my little shadow when I am working around the house. When I say "clap your hands, clap your hands..." she does! Now with open palms...that took a while to get! If you say "YEA" or see someone on tv clapping, she gets so excited!

I could go on and on with the thoughts running through my head...

She had her 10-month check-up with Dr. Carter and is still doing GREAT! She waved bye-bye to her (which Dr. Carter says is a 12-month skill!) haha!

Here she is after the appointment...by the way she still HAS NEVER BEEN SICK---not even a fever with teething! Thank you GOD for such a healthy baby!

She was soo sleepy...she nevers falls asleep like this!

We put a bow in her hair today for the first time and IT STAYED!! Her hair is still strawberry blonde and growing fast! When she gets hot, it gets a little wavy!!!

I will stop for now...too many thoughts for my fingers to type!