pop for tots

Sheesh, nobody ever told me that giving Annabel soda mixed with her milk would be wholesome and make her popular. Thanks, world, for holding out on me.

a natural...

She is getting to be more comfortable moving around while standing. Maybe a little too comfortable. But her dismounts are starting to become more reliably non-concussion producing so it's all good. Here's the little munchkin at some random play today:

a house in the country

When my friend Sabrina visited a couple months ago we visited a winery and then toured the scenic countryside. We happened upon this house, with the best views in all the land, and large trees begging for tire swings. We were smitten. We looked it up and could not spend 300,000 on a house, even if it was gorgeous and had 10 acres.

But it went 'on sale' for 200k a couple days ago so we ventured out there today to stalk it again. Here are some views from out of the passenger window during the drive there.

And here is the house:

Gabe contemplating where a tire swing would go for Annabel:

The view:

 We have visions of fruit trees, solar panels and goats... But it probably needs crap tons of work.  At the very least it was a nice afternoon out!

seven months old

Why does seven months old seem so much older than six months old? So many changes this month: sitting well, pulling up to standing, standing on her own (a couple times today, a couple seconds each), cruising, two little teeth popping through, lots of babbling, more laughing, more personality...

I LOVE THIS GIRL SOOOO MUCH!



She is waking up really early now and I've been feeling zombie-ish. But I've discovered if I kiss her belly in the morning she erupts in giggles, and that gets rid of my initial reaction of wanting to cry from lack of sleep. She is teething like a champ. Sometimes she has bouts of fussiness, and she puts her fingers in her mouth more, but overall things are going smoothly. Check out her two pearly whites.



This is where she is usually perched these days-



She stands all. the. time. She just hangs out there, building up those little leg muscles. She will spend a whole day climbing up on the couch then getting back down. Sometimes she has trouble getting back down and she'll stare at the floor and scream in frustration. But more and more she'll bend her knees, place one hand down and land gracefully on her tush.

Her cute face that reminds me of an old man:



This is her saying I can't believe you got a bow in this peach fuzz of my head. Furthermore, I can't believe I have sweet potatoes in my ear and you've left it there this whole time.



I haven't gotten tons of pics and videos of her newfound mobility skills because usually I'm spotting her. But now that we have a rug and she's getting more stable I'll post some more.

Here's one of her today cruising on the couch, with a little poop detour.

You are so fun and smart and beautiful little munchkin!

i know someone who is rolling over in their grave right now...

care of www.regretsy.com 

a year ago...

I have been thinking about a year ago. I was lying in a dark room with a picture of our unborn baby projected on the wall. Since my sister had a boy already, there was a definite hope for a girl from my family. Gabe only has nephews so his family was probably on Team Pink as well. And though I was obviously wanting a healthy baby of either sex, part of me had visions of raising a strong daughter, fastening pigtails, and buying the ridiculously cute dresses I had seen in stores.

The tech told us undoubtedly GIRL and the crowd went wild :)  Gabe said 'We just gotta keep her off the pole.' I went home and was totally exhausted. I felt like I had run a marathon. So much wondering and dreaming, and now we knew. 

Looking back, it makes me smile at how we had no idea what was in store. People tell you that your life will change. And I always thought 'well, obviously'. But I couldn't have imagined her, for all that time I spent imagining. She is such a little person, so separate from anyone else's ideas of who she would be. I also couldn't have known how I would change as a mother. I didn't know about all the anxiety, joy, the challenges, the love and sleeplessness. Just no idea. And if I could go back and tell myself something, I wouldn't say a word. It was all the most wonderful surprise.

My Beach Bum

I've got some catching up to do. First, we found out that Annabel loves loves loves the beach. She especially loves eating it.



She did not like it so much when she was not allowed to eat it.



We went down to Myrtle Beach and Annabel got to hang out with Grandpop & Aunt Neicey.



Near the ocean it was really windy and wavy and loud. I wasn't sure how she would do. I think she liked it.



After a long time playing in the ocean she chilled in the shade of the umbrella:



She is standing up all the time now, which is made especially cute by the addition of ruffles:



Left to her own devices she would have happily eaten a tummy full of sand and then crawled right into the waves like a baby sea turtle. I think this bodes well a family scuba trip in about 13 years!