Things to remember

Oh, my sweet Zachari Jane...

• She does this little fake cough/laugh/gasp to get laughs out of Blinn and I. I finally realized that she was imitating me when I gasp to get her excited about something or I act surprised by something she's done. Its hilarious and usually works to get a few laughs out of her papa and me.
• A few weeks ago she found her feet and loves them. When she's in the Bumbo, she wants to play with her toes. When she's on the changing pad, she wants to pull her toes to her mouth. When she's sitting up and playing, she reaches for her feet. I love those feet, they remind me of her brother's. Their toes are just like daddy's.
• My hair - she sure loves it. I'd heard of children forming an attachment to their mothers' hair before and now my baby is one of those kids. If we're playing or taking a nap together or if I rescue her after she's been crying a while she'll often bury her little face into my hair. She's got a death grip too! She holds on to clumps of hair to steady herself when she's losing balance. It hurts, it makes my 'do a little off, but I sorta love it.
• She continues to wrap her daddy around her finger and the bond they form each week is precious. She smiles at him all the time, looks to him for approval, loves exploring his face - especially his scraggly facial hair, and just overall enjoys her time with Papa. Just a couple more reasons for me to fall head-over-heels for both of em, I tell ya!
• Her eye-hand coordination improves all the time. Blinn really gets a kick out of sitting back and watching her reach, reach and then finally get the object of her desire. Much of a baby's life must be so frustrating because everything is brand new and hard. But there are some moments when they finally achieve what they're obsessing over and its sweet to take part in that triumph.
• Her hearing and vision are excellent. She flinches at the tiniest sound in the house or outside and if Miles is around, she's all about him. She doesn't cry when he barks anymore. Her eyes just get really big and she turns to me to make sure everything's okay. She enjoys watching the trash truck go by each week and often stares out the window at the teenage skateboarders across the street or the neighbors walking their dogs.
• She still really likes being outdoors. Today I tried to warn her that our days to just sit outside for hours were rapidly coming to an end. I'll have to come up with a whole new routine once the colder temperatures hit. Being outside is so much of our week right now!
• We still practice her drinking water from an open cup and she's getting better. We even let her sip from our glasses once in a while which, of course, is much cooler to her than using a kid's cup.
• At Storytime every week she pays attention really well and will sometimes babble along with the other kids. She likes "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Shake My Sillies Out" - probably because they involve lots of movement.
• The drool! Oh geez, let me never forget the insane amounts of drool this child produces! We average two outfits a day right now with at least that many bibs.
• Her babble is sounding more like words. "ga ga ga" or "da da da", "ohhhhhh" and "ahm ahm ahm". When she talks you can see into her mouth and some days I think I see little toofers wanting to come in. This teething process is long though and we're still waiting for tooth one to break the surface.
• Often times when she's nursing and really tired, she swipes at my breast furiously, scratches the top of her head to the point where skin flakes off (ouch!), pumps one leg against my forearm or whatever's nearby, and what's my favorite: she puts her arm over her face as if to block out any light and just be able to focus on the task at hand. I absolutely love our breastfeeding moments, they're so rich and sweet.
• She often has a flirty little smirk on her face when she looks up. Sometimes it turns into a full-blown grin and giggle, other times its like there's a little flicker in her eyes that says "I'm gonna take you on the ride of your life today. Hold on!"
• She's finally sleeping better and has been sleeping in her own room for a solid week. Its still hard for me not to have her by my side most nights, but its been good for her as well as for Blinn and I. I won't lie. I've scooped her up a night or two before I settled into bed just so I could snuggle her, kiss her chubby cheeks and breathe in her goodness. She won't always be this small. I'm taking every chance I can get.
• She's a great eater and has yet to reject anything I've offered her! Our latest adventure is with kale. She's not sold on it 100% just yet, but takes at least a few bites each time I try. The other things she eats are applesauce, oatmeal, peaches, nectarines, green beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, avocados, blueberries, strawberries, great northern beans, spinach, yellow squash, zucchini and soon we'll try bananas.

Maybe I got a little too cocky on that point about her sleeping better. She's upstairs crying after only "napping" 45 minutes. Oh no, little lady. You're not getting up yet!