Teeth and parties!!

Well, I am finally going to have to say goodbye to that gummy little smile of yours.....

Teeth have emerged!! Two little sharp white teeth are just poking up from your bottom gums! Today you are 11 months and 12 days old - I wondered if you'd ever get any. Everyone who stops us out in public to compliment you or gush over you - in the grocery store, at the mall, everywhere! - they all see your drooly little chin and your fingers in your mouth and say "Oh, she must be teething!". Then we patiently explain how you've been "teething" since your were 3 months old - ha! People keep telling me that the longer it takes for teeth to come in, the better off you'll be. Not sure how reliable that is, but I'll take it! Plus, I have to say I really love your cute gummy smile - it makes you look very baby-like which makes mommy happy. You are growing up waaaaay too fast! So anyway, I wasn't really stressing about your teeth not being here yet. Now that they're here though, I am so excited! It's a big milestone, and it is really going to change how you look. My big girl. How I love you!

I tried really hard to take a picture of your new teeth, but you absolutely do NOT like having your mouth messed with....so this is the best I could get. See how mad you are?? Sorry!! :(


We also finally got a walker for you. Grandma has had one and says you do really well with it, so we decided it was time to get one for you too! We got it at Wal-Mart, and you LOVE it! It has really cool music on it which you like to dance to. So flipping cute! You are a pro at pulling up on it and walking, but still haven't gotten the steering part down. :)

Running into the wall.....

So since my last post, you have grown and changed so much! Your hair is coming in longer and thicker every day - it's very light and wispy, and oh so soft. When I ask you where mommy's hair is, you pat my hair/head, and then I ask where your hair is, and you rub the back of your head and make this cute little "eeehhhheeeehhh" sound. I love it! You are also learning where your nose and toes are. You are really smart, and you pick up on stuff super fast. You know who each family member is, you know the animals, you know bottle, yogurt, puffs, TV, cheadle, picture, and of course the fan. You wave really well now, and can blow kisses and give squeezes! Those are my favorites (obviously). You have a pillow that I bought for you in the shape of an owl. It's pink and is probably supposed to be a girl owl, but we named it Mr. Hoot Hoot. You seem to really love Mr. Hoot Hoot and will go get him and hug and kiss him.


You've always loved the book "Hippos Go Berserk", so of course daddy and I now have it memorized. Sometimes we'll just start reciting it without the book in front of us, and you'll stop whatever you're doing and just stare at us - like you're trying to figure out why what we're saying sounds so familiar. :) It's so much fun being your mommy and daddy!

I've been very busy planning your 1st birthday party! It's going to be birdie themed - "Sweet Tweet" - and so much fun! I'm planning to make the cake myself, plus a special little one just for you. I highly doubt you'll make much of a mess or eat a whole lot of it (you are still not all that in to solid food yet), but it will be fun anyway. Now if I could make a cake out of pickles, that might get you excited....

I'm also busy getting ready for Auntie Beth and Uncle JJ's baby shower. It's going to be on December 3rd (which is not so far away) in the same place she had our baby shower. Wilmot Gardens on the UF campus. It's a beautiful little building with gardens all around. I'm planning to buy a brick with your name on it to go in the garden in the Alumni section. Then you will have it there to go and see someday when you're all grown up - maybe you'll even go to college there too!

The baby shower is going to be butterfly and garden themed. I ordered the invitations yesterday and they are so pretty! I still have a lot to do though. I want to make this a stellar party for Beth and Justin. They both really deserve it. :) Oh, and I got to feel your cousin Charlotte kick for the first time the other day!!!! It was amazing! I cannot wait to meet her, and I can't wait to see your reaction to her too!

Here's Charlotte in Auntie Beth's tummy! Less than 4 months to go....

One last thing - we got a new camera, and it's a really good one! Below are some pictures that I think turned out AMAZING. I only wish we had been able to get it sooner....

Swinging at the park - I love your expression!

You like to drink the shower water. :)

I love the way you can see each little droplet of water...

I love you more and more every day my wondrous little girl. You surprise and enchant me on a daily (hourly) basis. I am the luckiest mommy in the history of mommies. :)

Lately these are the songs/poems that I have been singing/reciting to you. You seem to get really relaxed when you hear them....

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (my Grandpa always sang this to me when I was little...)

"Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe---
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!"
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea---
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish---
Never afeard are we";
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam---
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
'T was all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 't was a dream they 'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea---
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod."

And...

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

I love you, my sweet daughter.

xoxo,

Mommy