Month 9

You’re on the downhill slide of your first year. 9 months, baby Bird. You’ve been outside just as long as you were inside.  It’s been another month of amazement, but I guess that’s what first time mommyhood is all about. It’s been a month full of baby skirts and flip flops, play grounds and picnics, water play and bare bums.  Every morning after daddy leaves for work, we crawl out of bed still in our PJ’s and sit on the back porch soaking up the morning sun. I drink my coffee and you occasionally sip on juice in between chasing the boys and picking grass. It’s my new favorite time with you. 

Your adventurous spirit is shining through more and more, and even more so you’re becoming quite the adrenaline junkie.  There is no bigger smile then when daddy throws you in the air. Your independence only goes so far still, but if by chance you crawl out of sight I know right where to find you- with the boys eating dog food.  Nonetheless, you follow commands extremely well for not speaking the English language.  Dare I compare you to a dog? You come when you’re called, redirect when told “no”, and respond well to treats. We’re working on sit and stay, but somehow I doubt you’ll master that.  Zip is quite your mother hen, wherever you go, he’s right behind you. I’m not sure if he’s keeping you out of trouble or leading you to it; but you and those boys sure are bonded. 

But some things never change….you are reminding me of a funny story as I (try) to type.  Right now you are prying and prodding at my laptop. You’ve done this since you first laid eyes on it. You have a hardcore obsession with the keyboard and you will not leave it alone. You’ve even gone so far as to delete the entire keyboard system and change the desktop picture. So two months ago, to encourage your sensory skills Auntie Andrea bought you a toy laptop.  And you hated it. You hated the noise, the lights, but most of all you hated it open. If that thing is open with in a 20 foot radius, you’ll stop all current activities to shut that danged thing. I just wanted you to have your own, but apparently you like to push mommy’s buttons instead. J

Tractor rides with Grandpa, tennis with Nana, chicken coops with the great’s, and late night phone calls with the Aunties…you’re in high demand, Bird. You are so close to walking. I can see the desire in your eyes every time you stand up. Just one step; that’s all it will take and you’ll be off. I love watching you problem solve. You are so smart and continually way ahead of the curve. It seems baby toys, food, etc. are a thing of the past. You want what the bigs have…especially our food.  Since day one you slept right with us in bed, and everyone said the transition to your crib would be hard. But just like everything else, it was easy. I wasn’t emotionally ready to let you sleep alone, but then as if a switch turned on, you and I were both ready for this transition.  You took so easy to it. We started putting you to bed in there at 9, and then when you woke up around 2am we would bring you back into sleep with us. And then, all of the sudden, you stopped waking up. You just kept sleeping right on through until 7:30. But that doesn’t mean I don’t sneak in your room in the wee hours of the night to check on you. I miss you at night; I miss watching you sleep so soundly, I miss the intermittent snoring between you and daddy, I even miss waking up to you climbing over my head to get to the boys. But as independent as you may be, know that I’m always close by.

I’m in awe every time I rock you to sleep. Remembering when your entire body fit across my chest, and now it seems there are miles of legs dangling at my side.  Everything about you is growing, from your size, to your smarts, to your smile….everything except your hair. No matter how big you are, I’ll always make room for you in my arms for you’ll always be my baby.  I love you Bird.

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The Stuff You Thought You Didn't Need To Know

For my sanity and your entertainment value, here’s a non-gushy sentimental update on Bird’s every moment. Instead, this will entail very random notsoimportant facts about everything else.

• We finally have a backyard. With grass, might I add.
• And a porch. Can you guess where we spend 95% of our time?
• Brent has been promoted to a Safety Specialist. His computer desk sitting, research doing, supervisor position, not outside manual labor office dream job has finally come true.  He’s in 7^th heaven. The perks come with a major raise, company truck, and is home by 5:00 every evening…clean.
• It’s summer. The boys are shedding and my house is covered in dog hair.
• It’s also covered in slobber…Bird is working on her 9^th tooth.
• This Wyoming soil is seriously testing the limits of my green thumb. It’s more or less a brownish color…ya know, to match my dying plants.
• We are bike riding fools…like every night. It usually entails a trip to the canal for the boys and speed racing down the big hill for Bird.
• It doesn’t even get dark until 10:00pm, which makes me feel like even more of a loser for going to bed at 9, so I force myself to stay up later. I think I’m getting better at living the night life. I even caught half an episode of Letterman once.  
• I’m really frustrated with typing on an actual computer keyboard because I expect it to autocorrect everything for me like my Iphone. Alas, it does not.
• I’m back full force working on the Ambulance. Bridger Valley, feel free to hurt yourself in any way possible. I would like some good calls please. (Too harsh?)
• Brent and I have started the Paelo diet. He’s lost like a million pounds in a week and I don’t even bother stepping on the scale. Probably because I’m the worst dieter ever.
• I feel like it’s probably safe to officially say I’ve stopped biting my nails. After 24 years of being a relentless nail biter I finally told myself that MILF’s don’t bite their nails…not that I consider myself a MILF but it was a nice thought. I’ve been 6 months in recovery and haven’t relapsed once. I paint my nails every other day. I had no idea what I was missing out on.
• Because of our obsession with our new porch, Brent BBQ’s every night for dinner. Thank you Pinterest and you’re great recipe section.
• Lilly is a pro at swimming lessons. She loves it all.
• My sister in-law Ashely has decided to NOT move home for the summer and I couldn’t be more disappointed in her bad bad choice. Family means sacrifice, and if she’s not willing to sacrifice her entire social life for me then boo on her. (I kid Sholly…)
• And on that note, in July I’m going to a family reunion in NC and then to Atlanta to visit Hillary…if I didn’t hate the excessive use of exclamation points so much you would see about a million of them here. But here’s a small taste of my excitement: !!!!!!!!........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.