Our Strawberry at Eight Months!

I am sure you all feel as though you constantly read our blog in the past tense! Sorry for that. I have so much trouble disciplining myself to actually sit down and collect my thoughts long enough to wade through our immense picture collection and then write about all of the wonderful daily adventures we have with our increasingly-edible Strawberry! Narrowing the field from 100 or more pictures in a month's time to just, oh, 30 or so, is HARD WORK for a gushy, filterless mama like me!

I hope to capture Susannah's eighth month of life adequately yet concisely (don't get your hopes up on the latter), as I want to move on to more current events! Soooooo...these photos date back to early January when she turned seven months (and therefore started her eighth month of life). Follow me? Good...'cause I don't follow me...

A quick update on Rylie the Wonder Dog before I delve into the goings-on of the REAL center of our attention! Not only does she continue to sleep on our bed since Susannah's arrival, she often goes even further than that, choosing to stake her claim to a pile of clean laundry that awaits folding. Life sure has gotten hard since that baby came to town. Deprivation and abuse just abound...

Susannah began to sit without support (much to my great relief, since most of her peers were sitting a month earlier than her) just after turning 7 months. Despite--and because of?--my background in child development, I began to think that I was doing something terribly wrong when her six-month birthday came and went and still no sitting was to be done by our very strong girl. I increased my vigilance in giving her "practice," and then one night Daddy called me into the living room to observe the wonder of our well-balanced babe! It was then that I started to cry because I realized how quickly she is growing and developing...

"Our girls" spend lots of time in parallel play! Rylie does not make a peep even when Susannah takes her beloved toys. Sooooo patient and loving is our pup...

Exhibit B

...and Exhibit C!

Susannah is an intensely focused child who can sit and play contentedly for 45 minutes or more with the same few toys. Here, she is exploring her Plan Toys sound and texture blocks, which she likes to pick out of the plastic Tupperware containers I gave her. Notice that Rylie is sharing the baby blanket, also a regular occurrence in our home. (Please refrain from calling the authorities even though you have witnessed such maltreatment of our canine.)

Sweetly bundled 'Berry!

Even in the winter months we have taken advantage of the not-so-frigid days to stroll our neighborhood or the park. We especially enjoy when our friend and neighbor Melissa and her now-five-month-old son Judah can join us...when the babies' schedules are in sync, that is! Susannah loves to be outside, and sits serenely studying the miraculous details of the natural world as we walk and talk.

Just waking up and waiting for Mama to prepare her breakfast!

We have VERY leisurely mornings in our home. In fact, getting out the door before 10am is a BIG RUSH...one that I try to do as rarely as possible, as it's sooooooo enjoyable just to savor our breakfast and morning playtime together before Susannah's first nap! We have a predictable morning routine: Susannah nurses around 6am then sleeps for a few more hours, and then we wake for the day somewhere between 8 and 9. We watch excitedly, legs a-kickin', as Rylie and her daily visiting friend Missy (whom Susannah ADORES) race one another out the back door, thumping against one another and the metal storm door in their quest to get to the favorite "squirrel tree" first. While I prepare our breakfasts, Susannah sits in her high chair with her own collection of kitchen tools and alternates between shaking, banging, and throwing them onto the floor. She also peers out the kitchen window periodically and watches the dogs do their morning pottying and romping. When our breakfast of fruit and oatmeal is done, it's time to kick and roll on the floor gym! "Aunt Roommate" in Alabama often accompanies us from afar during our morning events, as Mama just loves waking up to her and the sounds of Julia (age 4) and Callie (age 1) playing in the background!

One of Susannah's favorite new pasttimes is JUMPING, JUMPING, JUMPING in the doorway jumper Grammy and Pop gave her for Christmas. She has time in this exquisitely-designed-for-wearing-them-out piece of baby equipment each day, as she just LOVES IT! And we have the greatest time watching her bounce around in it. Oh, nearly-effortless entertainment for the whole family in one simple toy!

Susannah's First Snow!

At the beginning of February, Staunton got several inches of snow, and we couldn't resist going out for a bit! I bundled Susannah in her pale pink snowsuit from my friend Andrea, and chuckled as I observed her almost complete inability to move in it :). The day was sunny and gorgeous as we walked cautiously around the brilliantly glistening landscape. Susannah seemed simultaneously awed and perplexed at this magnificent new sight.

Looking up at the towering, snow-covered trees

Our little "Snow Angel"!

All strawberries and cream in her warm winter bundling :)

Rylie's Fifth Birthday Celebration!

Every year on or around February 1st (Rylie doesn't understand calendars, which gives us flexibility), we celebrate our sweet Rylie-dog's birthday. This year, she turned five, and because she is quite possibly Susannah's favorite "person" in the world, we thought it should be Susannah's responsibility to serve Rylie her annual cream cheese-chicken "cake."

Susannah played with Mama's measuring cups and spoons while she waited for the big moment...

(Not to make other mamas out there jealous, but our baby will sit in her high chair eagerly exploring the minutia of all sorts of "toys" for as long as an hour! UNBELIEVABLE the deep, deep interest she has in the world. So incredible it is just to watch her manipulate and "download" everything in her world!)

Playing with my Daddy! Every time he walks into the room, Susannah absolutely LIGHTS UP! He almost always gets an even more demonstrative response from our mellow girl than does Rylie, which is hard to do!

Cake time! Susannah watched with rapt attention as Rylie consumed the contents of her birthday bowl.

While most dogs would snarl and snap at anyone that got near their most precious annual treat, Rylie hardly batted a whisker as Susannah held onto her bowl. It is such an incredible blessing to see the deep fondness that these two have for one another! It's an even more incredible blessing to see those chubby fingers wrapped around the edge of the bowl. I just wanna eat this Strawberry up!!!

Playing Our Days Away...

Though most days I try to get my shower during her morning nap, sometimes I get sidetracked with dishes, phone calls, or an indulgence such as the most recent episode of "Grey's Anatomy," my favorite show in the whole wide world (soooooo glad that ABC has it online, or I'd never be able to escape into it!). When this occurs, I let Susannah play alone in her crib or on her bedroom floor while I try to make myself presentable. Fortunately, she entertains herself so joyfully that I need not worry that she feels neglected while I primp!

This is the face I see every morning when she wakes up, as well as after every nap! Sooooooo sparkly and just plain ole' happy to be alive! Even in my most tired moments this face is life-giving to me, and I forget all my selfish cares. And not only does she flash me this unquenchable grummy grin, she also thumps her legs for joy against her mattress. I call it her "click beetle imitation"! Oh, what a DELIGHT this babydoll is! My heart just overflows whenever I think of her delicate disposition, soft pink cheeks, and click beetle maneuver.

"With what will I play today, Mama?"

"Redhaired Ragdoll" is a favorite! This precious handmade doll has endless details to explore, which makes her just perfect for our details-hunting girl! The doll's shoes are a recent fascination.

This fabric book, with its crinkles, teethers, and squeaks, is also a favorite for crib time.

Susannah has had hours of fun with this cool colorful stacking, ball-forming, complete-with-jingling-little-ball bowl shapes toy from Fisher Price that she received from Katie Marshall and family. So much can be done with it, and she has a blast every time we bring it out! I just savor my moments of watching her play and playing with her. In my eyes, she is absolutely the most fascinating of all of God's creation! Her mind is soooooo transparent, and her abilities always increasing. Such MIRACLES are these tiny-yet-so-significant gifts from the Lord!

NAKIES!!!!

On her 8-month birthday, which occurred on February 4, I did a photo shoot of Susannah in her official "birthday suit"! We both had a BLAST doing this! She simply DELIGHTED in being on the floor of her cozy bedroom, and showed her joy by WRIGGLING, GIGGLING, SQUIGGLING, AND JIGGLING all over the place! And she does have the cutest little body with all of its sweet softness and roundless...oh, my! Could these little creatures possibly get any more precious and endearing?! My heart overfloweth...

All wrapped up in the beautiful handmade blanket that Aunt Beth sent upon her birth

So sparkly when naked!

Reading in the buff...

I can hardly contain myself when I look at this picture! All I want to do is just NIBBLE, NIBBLE, NIBBLE those cheeks!!!!!

(insert above caption here!)

A Few Closing Shots...

Giggly girl on her changing table, where we could just play all day! This is our time for singing and talking and tickling and "hiney bitin'"!!!!

This picture so perfectly captures her intensity and eye for detail. This is a monarch butterfly finger puppet that I bought when I taught preschool. I now keep it on Susannah's dresser so we can play with it while I change and dress her. Every single time I give it to her (or, as the case is now, she arches her back in order to access her toy stash and select which ones she wants), she goes straight for the teeny little "balls" on top of the butterfly's antennae. She touches them, puts them into her mouth, and stares at them with such concentration, just as she does with the screws in the window locks, the flowers stitched into her curtains, and the pinhole on the back panel of her dresser, among other things.

Though she is not yet crawling, she sure does like to use her post-nap time to practice! I adore the sight of these just-waking cornflower blue eyes peeking over her bumper pads...

Tubby Time!!!

Her favorite time of day indeed! Susannah spends her every-other-day bathing sessions kicking, splashing, exploring her toys, and loudly squawking at her rubber duckies while staring them in the eyes! It's a wonder they stick around. I'd be terrified if someone got that close to my face and let out those kind of high-pitched pterodactyll squawks!

Evening approaches in our snow-covered neighborhood, and our sweet girls sit at the front door together to watch as the sun sets.

Our days go so quickly, it seems, so I make it a point to cherish each and every one. I daily regret that time cannot be halted, and that this baby cannot be kept so. But each stage and change brings with it immeasurable new joy and boundless new love, and so I set my heart on this precious truth and recall it each time I realize how quickly she is growing...