We've Come Full Circle

Another month down... how!?

Two days ago my sweet baby girl turned nine months old and has now been alive just as long as I was pregnant. Such a crazy realization! And my sweet baby takes a step (literally) away from being my little newborn and growing into toddlerhood every day.

Well, Evie girl there's a reason this last month flew by so fast--it's because we've had a blast!

The biggest change over the past thirty days has been you becoming mobile! You've wanted to move so badly for so long. You finally figured out how to crawl with both legs and you are everywhere and into everything. People warned me not to encourage you moving too fast because of this but I'm so glad daddy and I did. Now I can watch you chase down what you're thinking about whether it's Lucy napping on the floor or the broom as I sweep.

Now that you're a master crawler--even Lucy runs away from you!--all you want to do is stand and walk. You hold Mommy and Daddy's hands and walk around the room.  You pull yourself up onto everything you can get your hands on: the oven door and kitchen chairs, the piano bench and the sliding glass door, boxes and bookshelves, into my lap and onto the couch...

You. Are. Everywhere.

I love to watch you crawl around and get into trouble. Except for when that trouble is getting into Lucy's toy bin (which even my barricade doesn't stop you). Or opening the oven tray to pull out pans. Or sneaking into the pantry to play with grocery bags. Or spreading Lucy's dog food across the floor and popping a few pieces into your mouth.

You still love to read. The only difference now is you pick which books you want Mommy to read to you. Which is all of them. Every morning you crawl to your bookshelf and pull out every single book within arm's reach for us to read.

Lucy is still your best friend. She likes to lick your hands when you pet her feet. And, against our training, she likes to lick your face, too. She'd get in more trouble except you laugh and laugh and laugh when she gets your cheek. We play fetch with Lucy and you often crawl to meet her when she brings her toy back. She drops her toy for you...

And licks your face.

 

You love going to church and despite missing your morning nap every Sunday, you are a rockstar and stay awake for the entire three-hour block each week. You go to Primary with Daddy to sing Primary songs. Then you come to Young Women's with Mommy and crawl around distracting all the Young Women.

You have a new favorite toy: a green light up ball and a shaker bottle Mommy made for you (full of purple rice). Oh, and you love the princess legos that Aunt Alyssa and your cousin, Morgyn, gave you.

This last month you became an honorary member of a UBOC (Uintah Basin Orchestra and Choir) performance as Daddy and Mommy rehearsed for hours for a fireside. You'd sing along while we practiced and all our new friends in the choir told you that you were pitchy haha. But your little singing voice always sounds twenty times better than Mommy and Daddy's.

Your learning sign language, slowly but surely. We're teaching you "more" (you just clap your hands), "mommy" and "daddy" and "dog" (which makes you smile without fail every time).

You braved learning a new skill and completed your first class of swimming lessons. You're a pure natural! You were nervous during the first class, but every other one you shined! Even when Mommy would accidentally get your face wet. You love the water! Between you and me, you did way better than a lot of the older kids in the class.

You love peanut butter, strawberries (it took a few tries), and watermelon. Mostly, I think you like just tasting what Mommy and Daddy are eating although we haven't given you much. You love to make noises with your mouth and try out different sounds, but you usually settle on spitting. And girl does the spit fly.

It's the worst when you do it while you're eating.

You're good at helping me clean up--sweeping, laundry, vacuuming--and I'm happy putting you to work.

You love talking to Alexa (our Artificial Intelligence) and playing hide-n-seek with Lucy (a daily occurence at our house). You're the best napper in the world, which I'd never have guessed after your first few months. You play with your front two teeth all day long and I think you have another coming in!

Most of all, you are the light of our lives! Every day and every night is the best because you are so much fun to be around. We love you more than life itself, Evie!