Growing Like a Little Weed

It's been nine months since our little girl has blessed our lives- everyday has been a mixture of joy, fear (of the unknown, of what am I doing wrong, of what if's period...), learning, laughs and most of all love.  It's funny that when you have dreams of having a family that you seem to imagine the larger milestones like walking, the first day of school, a first date, etc. and not so much everyday life with your new little person.  I know that my heart will swell with pride when we do experience the "big firsts" but it's the little daily activities that I truly relish.  An average trip to the grocery store is always interesting, especially now that Kiera is so interactive.  She always seems to draw attention from at least one person when she flashes that little four-toothed smile;  Mommy is biased and knows that she is cute but the positive reinforcement helps!  ( :   I like to spend the time in the store showing her things- a bumpy, round orange; bright purple flowers with the crinkly wrapping; soft, warm bread....  sometimes I get strange looks- both from her and passers-by, but I don't really care.  Part of my job is to enrich her world and let her experience 'things' and learn in a fun, easy way.  I've been trying to also integrate the baby sign language that I know if appropriate.  I imagine that someday she's going to stand up in the cart and ask for a warm crinkly orange..... 

Kiera likes to go shopping!  YAY!  (Daddy says, "Boo!")  I let her experience the world upright from the seat of a shopping cart (as opposed to her car seat attached to it) a few weeks ago (love, love the shopping cart/high chair cover by Eddie Bauer) and she was so funny to watch.  She was totally excited about this really cute baby that she met... who just happened to be herself in the mirror at Old Navy!  She's a 'people person,' I tell ya- tries to engage with anyone that she comes across.... this is great for making new friends but a bit frustrating when you are trying to feed her and she just wants to chat with a new friend! Between Old Navy/ Target, Grandma BB and her and I were out for a few hours and she didn't make one protest- I'm sure that she felt like such a big girl hanging out doing Mommy stuff! ( :

Kiera is right on par with her development; I sometimes think that she's grown just from the time I dropped her off for daycare at Grandma's to when I pick her up to go home!  She's not yet crawling- pretty close- but rolls everywhere like a little speed demon.  (We're set to baby-proof- I mean parent-proof- the house within the next week or so.) She's been sitting up unaided for a few weeks, but only sits up from lying down every so often....ya- why work the abs on your own when one of your peeps will prop you up!?! 

I love to hand her a new toy and watch her turn and investigate it from all angles- her favorite, of course is to taste it. Now that she has sprouted four teeth (she waited until eight months and got them all within about 10 days...) everything is going in her mouth, which means we have to be diligent in watching her.

No matter what we are doing, the three of us just have a blast together.  She's mostly a happy baby girl- a few rough days here and there when her "teefs" are bothering her (bless you Hyland's teething tablets!) or she's ultra-tired and doesn't want to go to sleep in fear of missing out (Mommy much?) on something good!  Little Kiera is our little sunshine- we both beam when we see her, but the way that her Daddy melts in her presence is just amazing- we're some lucky people!  But is it going by so fast- she's growing like a weed, the time is flying by;  everyone tells you to enjoy it while you can and I think I'm finally realizing why!