currently, you are:
- getting teeth!! i finally noticed the little white specks peeking through your gums on March 20th, your 7 month birthday, and when i went to check them out with my finger they were razor-sharp. hm perhaps that's why they call it "cutting".. we have a steady supply of orajel swabs and teething tabs on hand for the pain, which sometimes wakes you up at night. daddy figured out a trick to make the swabs work faster by blowing into the broken end. we also learned to rub it on your paci for maximum effectiveness, and i always put a drop of water on the tabs before giving them to you so they dissolve better. i suppose it's funny that these things are of utmost importance nowadays, but when you have a baby in pain you'll pretty much try anything.
(you can't see them, but i promise they're there!)
- going through bouts of speaking. a couple weeks ago it was "da-da." last week "mmma." and lately you've just starting emitting short (rather loud) shrieks and experimenting with consonants (i keep hearing "vuh" "fuh" and some strange clicking sounds that i think may mean something in another language). yesterday you were chattering on in the car and i was mimicking you in encouragement, and you literally hissed at me. i was a bit taken aback, and then found myself apologizing to you as if you meant something by it..
(you'd never hiss at daddy... ;)
i'm still claiming that your first word was God. even if it was by accident, you very clearly enunciated "gah-D." ;)
- omg to the tenth: CRAWLING. i have to admit that every day for at least 2 weeks i've thought you were literally on the verge and would crawl the following day. but you were holding out. clearly, you were capable. i know this because on several occasions, we would place a toy just out of your reach and you'd drop down on all fours, take a couple crawls (just close enough to fall down on your tummy and reach it), and then pick yourself right back up to a sitting position. but you didn't realize you'd already done it, so most of the time you still kept a "safety" leg underneath in order to return to your seat. i think the magic happened when we began encouraging this and clapping every time you'd go down and come back up. when i picked you up yesterday, they told me you'd crawled (and had announced it on the board outside the door). they also said that after doing so, you sat back, grinned and gave yourself a hand.
- handling the sippycup like a seasoned vet (daddy is crushed that you're growing up so fast). but to be fair, you have been holding your own for some time now.. VK asked a couple months ago "did you know she holds her bottle by herself?" yup. this was at like 5 months. you do have a voracious appetite that probably motivated it early. clearly you get that from your daddy. ;)
(chugging like a pro. right, dad?)
- enjoying banging items together and relishing in the sounds they produce. you have also discovered "the bounce," and do so while seated if you're super-excited (like when we come to pick you up from daycare and you can't quite remember that you know how to crawl now), and in your exersaucer. i especially enjoy this, because you look like you're having fun. and because i would totally get in one of those over-the-door bouncy-seat thingies if they made them big enough.
- still attached to the paci; though you don't seem to need it as often. olivia might disagree, however, since daddy shared with me a little incident that occurred the other day when you got to school and sat down next to her sans paci; noticed she had one in; and deftly plucked it from her mouth. whoops. evidently, it works both ways though because daddy went to help you out with some orajel the other night and you disengaged your own paci to expeditiously insert it into his mouth. also, you practice the "paci nunchucks" diligently, and won't hesitate to clock anyone who invades your personal space during practice sessions.
- wiggling around in that crib like a clock. as in, i put you down facing 12, and when I check an hour later, it's 3. another hour and you've done a complete 180 and are pushing 6 on the opposite end. when you're trying to fall asleep you sometimes thrust back abruptly and half the time end up shoved into a corner banging your head against the bars. am seriously rethinking this "bumpers are bad" thing.
- having your first emotional fit. last night we introduced you to teething biscuits and may never be doing so again (jk). when daddy thought you were done and went to take one away, you balled up your fists, lowered your head and squinted ferociously. and the noise that exuded from your petite little frame was nothing short of sheer rage. it sounded like a rabid hamster. in short, you hulked-out. we would have been more sympathetic except that it was so funny daddy and i could not stop laughing.
- trying to remember to call my mom by the correct grandma moniker. since the beginning of time (last august), it's been mimi sally [technically it started with the dogs even before then]. but after hearing a little boy repeatedly call his grandmother "mia," mimi was smitten and asked to be called this instead. forgive me if i use them interchangeably for a while and confuse the crap out of you.
(lovin on your mimi mia!)
- anxious to meet your "cousin" and future bff, Nora Kate! aunt marisa had teeny weeny cutie pie Nora on St. Patrick's Day, so as soon as she's old enough we'll make the introduction. though i may have to have a talk with you beforehand about proper paci etiquette..
(isn't she cute!?! it's ok if you're jealous of her hair... so are most men)
- so gosh darn beautiful. the saturday before easter, we had your "6 month" (oops! just a little late...) photo session with Lindsey. you were sadly not in the greatest of moods - hating the grass and outside in general, and keeping your stunning smile under wraps. but somehow she managed to get some great shots. i hope i'm not violating any copyrights by posting them here as long as i attribute them to Lindsey Turner Photography, but i think my absolute favorite picture of all time is the last one. :)
i cannot even express how amazingly much i love you!!! i am so incredibly blessed to have you in my life and in my arms, little one.
and i have to say, i never saw it coming. i mean i knew i wanted to be a mom and i knew i'd like it, but i really had no idea. it is truly such a gift that i have God and daddy to thank for giving to me. i don't think i can ever thank them enough.
