Kyla is 8 Months Old!

Eight months ago today, this was me:

Fifteen hours and fifty-three minutes after checking in at the hospital, I got the first real-life look at the beautiful child that had been responsible for so many strange happenings over the previous nine months. 

Now, eight months later, I cannot imagine my life without that child in it.  Every day is a new adventure in learning, watching, and marveling.

In case you read this someday down the road, Kyla, here is an abbreviated look at your life at eight months:

• You love to eat crackers, cheerios, bread, applesauce, squash, and sweet potatoes.  You are very skilled at picking up even small pieces of food with your fingers and putting them in your mouth.
• You have no teeth and no sign of any showing up anytime soon.  I have heard that the later the teeth come in, the better they are.  You are a smart girl.  You must know that.
• Your favorite thing is pulling yourself up on anything that you possibly can.  You grin that goofy smile and look as pleased as can be about your accomplishment.  Then you scope out the new above-ground territory to see what you can now reach.
• You sleep much better now that you are in your crib upstairs in your bedroom.  You only woke once last night.  You had a nipple snack and went right back to sleep.
• You never mind riding in the car.  You usually take advantage of the time to catch up on a little sleep.
• You wear primarily 6-9 month clothes but are starting to outgrow some of them.  You fit some of your 9-12 month clothes.  When you wear a disposable diaper, you wear size 2; but in a pinch size 3 works too.
• You thoroughly enjoy your baths.  You crawl from one end of the tub to the other jabbering the whole time.
• Speaking of jabbering, you are starting to form more sounds.  You are adding consonants to your vocabulary.
• You are a morning girl, just like your Mommy.  You wake up early and happy.  By late evening, smiles are much fewer.
• You are best friends with your pacifier, though we usually only let you have it when you are either in bed, in the car, or someplace where we'd really like you to be quiet (like church!).
• You love to put on a show for anyone who's watching.  Strangers in Wal-Mart stop to talk to you all the time because you give them such a big smile.
• You are learning what you are and are not supposed to do.  When I tell you, "No," you scrunch up your face looking for all the world like your favorite kitty just got run over.
• You are not a cuddlebug.  The only time you ever cuddle with Daddy or Mommy is when you are asleep and entirely unaware of what you are doing.  We wish you liked to cuddle more, but we understand that there are much more exciting things in your world.
• You are such a happy, beautiful, smart, sensitive little girl.  You are Daddy and Mommy's princess, and you always will be!

We love you so much, Kyla Grace!