The tooth fairy arrived!!

Yippeee! As of today, we have a tooth! Yep, our first toofie! Lower left. Wasn't too much of a struggle on the way in. About once a week or so, maybe even less frequently, we'd have a big meltdown. I was thinking this was about her tooth moving or swelling gums, or whatever. But it was never too major for too long. And we've battled some diaper rash as well. (Apparently, a rashy rear-end is a metaphorical "red flag" for teething?? I'm not sure what the two "ends" have in common...but I digress...) So again, this kid has cut us some slack and we've dodged another bit of a bullet as far as the hurdles of infancy go, no major teething issues! Yippee!

And there's more! The new tooth is not all...what a busy month we've had! Let me just start by saying being home is just beyond everything I thought it would be. I LOVE going to her in the morning when she wakes up. You just can't beat starting your day with that big gummy grin!! I love asking her what she wants to wear every day, putting her down for naps, you know...what moms do! It's SO fun!! We play awfully hard - exploring every thing we can get our hands on...leaves on the trees, the dogs, mom's cell phone, the remote control, muffin tins with toys in them, our own feet (and their freshly painted toe nails, might I add), etc. It's just fascinating watching her learning about stuff. I just sit on the floor next to her and watch her study something. I feel like I'm spying on her, because she doesn't even notice me - she's so taken by whatever it is she's examining!!

Recently we've added so many new tricks to our repertoire. Just the other day little missie started saying something that sounded like "da da da" --- I counted it as the official "first word". I'm not sure what the rules are about that...but it sounded like "daddy" to us. SO, Check: First Word! YIPPEEE!!

Oh and fun fun fun!! We got a new swimming pool and little P got to take it for a spin recently. Her little swimsuit was just TOO much! Her dad just rolls his eyes at the insanity of an infant "bikini". As he puts it, "what is that thing supposed to be covering up?!" I guess he has a point, this little bikini top so dang funny, like two little triangles covering something that will later be not only exposed, but also covered in a mushy, gummy cookie and gooey brown banana (more on this later...). Just funny. Anyway, the fancy schmancy pool has a lot of bells and whistles when in reality she just likes to watch her feet wiggle in the water. What?! I thought for sure she would want to use the "Whale Slide"!? Ride on the "Inflatable Dolphin"?! Man. Kids just don't know what they're missing!!

Next item on our agenda -- little miss manners is starting to wave bye-bye, er..hi...er something. Whatever. She's moving her fingers open and closed, like waving, but doesn't quite get when to do it. But I think it's progress!

AND she's feeding herself stuff too. I mentioned this already, but I made those little whole grain teething biscuits and she still loves them. They basically look like dog biscuits (and, most likely, taste quite similar as well!) and I'm still spending most of my time fishing the big chunks out of her mouth, but I know the bits she is consuming are good for her and well, it's what babies are supposed to do, right? Another food favorite is bananas - so funny. I just strip her down to a diaper and we go to town on a big mushy handful of banana. Whoo. Little princess takes a bit to clean up after banana time - it's like detailing a car, gotta look everywhere for that stuff!

I think that's about it for now. And for anyone who mentioned "teething tablets" to me as a remedy for a teething baby ---- how right you were! Those things are amazing!!! I feel bad though, they make her awfully relaxed, it makes a mom's wheels turn... I could see those things coming in handy regardless of teething issues......and here I thought I was going to have to rely on bourbon and cough syrup for the tough times.

And now, on to the party pics! Aunt Christie is the best photog!

Mom and P at dinner being silly!





Miss P working the table for everyone at dinner. Notice the soggy dress. Who knows what she had dumped on herself at this point. She had eaten off of every one's plate and still wanted more!





Mimi's fountain in her conservatory. Paisley's first fountain! Aunt Katie let her splash her feet in it! FUNN!!!





And finally, I just found this one. This is from January. She was about 6 weeks old. She's soo TINY!! I just can't believe it. Josh said it best - and for anyone who knows Josh you'll appreciate this. For anyone who doesn't know Josh...he'll sound like a weirdo. But it cracked me up. He said - she was like a big potato with a dress pinned on it. It was so true. She was so little, but I guess that's the thing with babies. They start out really little. Then they get bigger. I know. I'm a genius. Anyway, this is just a reminder for me...time has definitely SPED up!!




Pictures of our pool party time!! Not only did she love splashing her feet but eating the rings of one of the "sea creatures" was also extremely entertaining! Oh and if you look really closely on the sideways picture, you can see a cute pink toe nail! Hee hee!!!