you met your aunt michelle (again!)

i say "met," because you were so little last time you saw her that you might have forgot it ever happened. that was six months ago, when you were only three months old! she lives super far away, in maine, but we are going to talk she and jeff into moving to arkansas! i think you have almost enticed her here, with your cuteness alone!

you make some of the same faces, like this one. i'm not sure if you taught her that, or she taught you.















and you drank water together like water drinking advertising models. you had a great time, and we can't wait until she comes back to visit again! maybe we will take a family trip to see her in maine! that sounds like a good idea.


love, mom

you are 39 weeks old!

you actually were 39 weeks old on monday, the same day that you turned nine months old, but i wanted to make them separate entries. anyhow, here you are being cute and sweet and 39 weeks old!

this past week you have had sort of a runny nose, so we wouldn't be surprised to see some teeth soon.

you have also been a little bit more silly lately. we love silly. you are in the right family for that!

love, mom

Happy Nine Months Birthday!

today, you are nine months old. i know i say this every month, but i can't believe how time is flying and how big you are getting!

the past month, you've broadened your horizons quite a bit and really have enjoyed exploring. you sometimes put weird stuff in your mouth, much much more than your brother used to when he was your age. and you get yourself into strange places, like under the futon.

you like to play peekaboo, like in the car, hiding your face behind part of your carseat, then sticking it out again. you also like to play the game where we copy each others' noises.

you like to stick your fingers in your ears and nose and mouth. and in other people's ears and noses and mouths.

now instead of your cheeks, people always seem to comment on your eyes or eyelashes. i always tell everyone you got your daddy's eyelashes. lucky girl. and daddy says the shape of your eyes is just like his cousin alicia's. your hair has been growing a lot lately too. pretty soon, we'll need barrettes for those bangs!

today you got to play with your friend abby. you had your first little spat, over a package of tissues. it wasn't really much of a spat. mostly you took turns taking them away from each other and chewing on them, but you made abby pretty mad at one point. i don't think she's used to someone snatching her toys, like you are with sam.

amber and margie and i thought this last picture was pretty funny. abby smiling really big, and you with the disaffected stare. pretty typical! does this mean you are going to be the emo one of the group? we'll see!

love, mom

these are too pretty not to post.

well, as everyone knows and is probably sick of hearing me say/imply, i think you're pretty much the most gorgeous baby girl i've ever seen.

here are some pictures that i wanted to post, just because.

this one is of you playing with daddy with sam's toy.

and in the last two, you are wearing a pretty dress.

i'm sure there will be more to post soon.
love, mom

You are 38 weeks old!

and you are learning and doing new things all the time. i think this is the really fun part of babyhood, even though you are more of a handful than ever.

you're super squirmy and don't want to be held on someone's lap as much. you have to be standing up or jumping or trying to dive off of the lap.

you have mastered the art of army crawling, scooting around really well on your forearms and legs and belly. i think pretty soon you will be able to get to a sitting position from crawling, which will make it all even more satisfying, as you won't have to have someone rescue you when you're tired of being on your belly. you're also trying to pull up on furniture more, and you've mastered the pincher grasp, so you try to eat everything you come across, both big and little. sam's crayons are not safe at all right now.

you finally got your upper right tooth last week, but you are drooling like crazy and biting everything again, so maybe the other upper teeth will be here soon.

you always wave to your daddy, whenever you see him. yesterday when we were at grandpa's house without daddy, several times you looked around and waved and said "dadadada." i think you were looking for him!

you are a smart and beautiful girl.

love, mom

apparently you don't like hats.

so, i made a few hats lately, for gifts for people. i decided it would be a good idea to start taking pictures of that stuff, since i don't use patterns or anything, just so i'd have a sort of record of things i've done/made. i figured the hats would look cuter on a baby than just sitting on the couch. either i picked the wrong time to take the pictures, or you were sad that they were for other people and not you, or you just hate hats...

i'll still make you one for winter, not knowing whether you'll wear it with a smile or a frown. i hope you love hats soon, because you are pretty cute in them, even while throwing a fit.
love, mom

you are 37 weeks old!

and you have suddenly become very silly, and very very mobile.

you haven't got the textbook crawling motion down completely, but you can scoot yourself pretty much everywhere you want to go and do not like to be contained. it's hard to get a picture of you now in your usual little place, because you just try to crawl off the couch. you rock back and forth on hands and knees, so it looks like real crawling will happen soon. then we won't be able to catch you.

you were kinda all over the place for our little photo shoot today. sam had to come help me contain you.

while you still purr a lot, you have a new favorite sound. it's that breathing-in-while-you-laugh sound. pretty funny.

you wave all the time, and you giggle a lot. we used to have to work to get you to laugh, but now you laugh at your toys on your carseat, you laugh for attention, you laugh at your brother, etc.

we can't wait to see what you do next!
love, mom

p.s. i just realized that you look a lot like me as a baby, in this last picture. it's funny, because i don't see much of me in you usually. you are your daddy's spitting image. but not here!

you are 36 weeks old!

yo've been laughing a lot more this week, which we love!
you also still make your R-rolling, purring sound. yesterday you did it all through church. people think you are a kitty or chewbacca.

i tried to get a video of you making that sound, and you do it a little bit on this one, right at the very beginning (with your face covered), and then again a tiny bit at the end. we'll try again later.


your top right tooth has been giving you some trouble, and that's why you look a little surly in the picture above. i thought i could feel it the other day, but now it just feels swollen, and when i try and look at or feel it, you protest. i don't blame you.

you are much more mobile, every day. you leave a wake of destruction in your path. anything that can be pulled out, spilled, or dumped over, you try and often succeed at getting your hands on. daddy says you are the grabbiest baby he's ever seen. earlier today you were looking for a DVD to watch. you considered the three stooges, then you decided on one about Sam. good choice!

love, mom

you are 35 weeks old!

this post is very late, as you are currently 34 and a half weeks old! we left on monday to go to the ConC staff and families retreat on the lake near Branson, so we have been a little busy. this picture was taken on tuesday at the lakehouse in one of the pretty chairs.

you really had a good time. you got to swim a whole lot, and also play with your friend olivia and your new friends liz and gina.

your top left tooth finally came through, and you seem to be feeling much better. you are also sleeping a tiny bit better. i'm not sure if that's because of the lessened tooth pain, or because i finally realized that you sleep better on your stomach, with no blanket on. i guess maybe you've been getting hot.

you still make your purring sound, and we're glad about that, because it's funny. you also are testing your voice in other ways, kind of yelling, and also making a strained loud sound that i can't really describe.

you have been trying different fruits now for a couple weeks. i think you like veggies better.

you can get out of your bumbo now, which is a little bit scary.

you are still VERY clingy to mommy. you can be playing just fine for daddy, and then i walk in the room and don't come and pick you up, and you lose it. i love you too!

love, mom