Wednesday, May 29, 2013

7 Months

Rylie is 7 whole months old today.  She has had another great month and is learning and growing so fast these days.
 
Momma, I didn't brush my hair after my bath last night.  I was too tired.  Do I look okay?
 
 
Me:  Of course you do.  Do you want to brush it now?
 
No, Momma.  My curls are showing.


*pose*


*pose*

*pose*

Oh, my toes!!
 
I'm getting a little bored..
 
Wait, is this some kind of a trap??

 
Yes, these white bars appear to be impenetrable.

 
Are you gonna do something about this, Momma??  I'm trapped!

 
Yes, I'll pick you up when we're done.
 
Oh, well, in that case...


 
Whoa, angle change!  You have to warn me about sudden movements.




 
Finally got my toes!!

 
So, what's happening at 7 months?
 
She still loves to smile, laugh, and squeal.
She's now a pro at sitting.
She still doesn't like being on her belly, so she doesn't do much rolling.
She loves to stand in her little bouncer and now uses her feet and arms to spin the seat all the way around.
She still loves the water.  Since she can sit unsupported, she is now taking baths in her bath tub.
Speaking of water, we set up our pool and she squeals with excitement every time I hold her up to show her the water.  The water is way to cold for her to try it out yet.
As you can see from the pictures, her hair is still dark, getting longer, and wavy in spots, curly in others.
She loves the dogs.  She chirps like a bird to speak to them (see last post).
She has tried lots of foods.  At this point, I let her taste a lot of my food with her tongue.  If she doesn't make an icky face, I'll puree a little and let her try it with a spoon.  That almost never happens. 
She makes an icky face at everything except spinach and water.  Maybe she'll be a salad girl like her momma.  Or maybe she's holding out for chocolate chip cookies, my other favorite...
Oh, and she loves frozen bananas.
She is still drooling. 
She still doesn't have any teeth, but she chews on her hand and thumb to massage her gums.  They must hurt.
She is now in size 3 diapers.
We recently had to put away nearly all of her 6 month clothes and move on to 9 months.  I squeezed her in a 6 month sleeper last night because all of her pj's were either packed or in the laundry.  The sleeves were barely long enough to cover her elbows and her feet were about to pop out of the footies.  How did that happen?
Last night, she slept from 7:30 until 5:30 this morning.  10 hours! 
She has been staying up until 8 or 8:30 most nights now and she has lasted until 4 or 5 am a couple times, but most nights, she is still waking up at least once.
She still loves to sleep with her hands behind her head.  She is doing it right now.  I should be using her nap time to finish packing as we are headed to Seattle in a few hours!
 
I better get busy! 
 


Friday, May 24, 2013

How to Speak Dog

This is a tutorial from Rylie on how to speak dog.
 
I mean bird.
 
I mean...
 
Let me put it this way:  Rylie has started communicating with the dogs by chirping like a bird.
 
Case in point:
 
 
As you can see, they pay very close attention to this sort of language. 
 
She's still working on teaching them their manners.  Before long, we'll be calling her the dog whisperer.
 


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

God Has a Sense of Humor

I have never been the type to want a bunch of attention drawn to me in public.  I dress in simple clothes.  I speak when I need to, but I'm not one to strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger.  I leave people alone and they leave me alone.

Well, at least that's the way it was until Rylie came along.  People are drawn to her, and since I'm usually the one with her, that means I have to talk to people. Yes, even perfect strangers. 

Ugh.

I had an old lady chase me down at the grocery store so she could get a closer look at Rylie.  And no, I'm not exaggerating when I say "chase."  She almost ran.  We have people come up to our table at restaurants every time we go out to eat.  We have spouses getting in competitions with each other to see who can make her smile first.  It's crazy! 

I never knew people were like this with babies.

Maybe people do this with all babies.  Maybe I've just never noticed, because I'm not the type to walk up to perfect strangers and talk to their babies. 

Or maybe, God just new I needed someone in my life, someone special, to push me out of my comfort zone and have more contact with perfect strangers than I had ever wanted.

Maybe He is teaching me something through her.  How to be a more social person.  Or how to bring a smile to a stranger's face.  Or that it's okay to walk up to a perfect stranger and pay them a compliment, even if it's about their cute baby.  Or maybe He just wanted a good laugh.

In any case, I am always happy that Rylie brings so many smiles to the faces of perfect strangers.  I am happy that she brightens the day for more than just myself.  God has given this world a gift.  How He entrusted such a special gift into my hands is beyond what I can comprehend, but I am so grateful to be a part of it.