Fields of Green: 8 months

Dear Sweet Baby Girl,

Today you are not only eight months old and one day; you have also, at 36 weeks and five days old, officially spent more time outside my tummy than inside.

I literally can't believe it. Sometimes I miss having you all to myself and feeling you grow and squirm in my belly, but you have been so much fun to play with here in our arms. And my back sure does hurt less!

You are so very busy all of the time. Everything is something to investigate, and you are getting faster on those little legs every day. You are pulling up to standing on your own, which you actually prefer to crawling. You love to crawl over to me and pull yourself up on my arm. You even started "cruising" on Friday, which I am calling "creeping" because you do it so carefully and slowly. You also added "woof" to your words that day while playing with your talking puppy dog that woofs when you squeeze his ear.

You ate a lot of grass during this shoot...or at least tried to.

You want to play with my camera so badly. Sorry, kiddo, no dice.

We just celebrated Mothers' Day, and Gigi and G-pop came home from Florida. We had so much fun passing you around. You love being held by anyone who will hold you, although lately you don't like it very much if you can't see me or Daddy when someone else is holding you.

I thought about you so much on Mothers' Day, how you are the one who made me a mama, how I thought being a mama would be harder than has been so far because you are so sweet, and mostly how much I love you. I love singing you to sleep at night, playing with you, cuddling you close and reading you books in my big bed in the morning. I love the way your two fingers are always in your mouth, and how any time you fall and cry and get picked up, those two fingers of your right instantly go to your mouth and the two fingers of your left hand instantly go to play with my hair. I love the way you cuddle with your Gigi blankie at night and how much you love kitties and doggies. I love watching you play with your cousin. I love how much you love swings and that silly little Dora baby doll at Nana's and your little fish in the bathtub. I love the way you smile so huge and sometimes laugh every time I say, "Mama!" I love how ticklish you are and how you laugh when we say, "I'm...gonnna...getYOU!" I love that you cry so dramatically when I take away something that you want to play with; usually electric cords. I love how you look at Daddy and refuse to laugh but we can see that you're laughing with your eyes; you learned that one from me for sure. I love the way you attack Koala Krisps when I sprinkle them on your tray and how you always kick your feet with excitement when you hear music. I love how excited you get when your Daddy gets home and how much you love to play with him. Your giggles are the best part of my day and your cuddles melt my heart.

You won't smile for me anymore when I've got the camera. Good thing we've had Grandpa to help out!

You could rule the world with your ruffles, Bunny Bear. You certainly already rule our hearts. It's a beautiful kingdom we share and we wouldn't trade it for all of the rest of the world.

Happy 8th month!