My Little Miss

My Maren-girl is eight months old!  She is so happy to be alive.  She is full of energy and spunk.  She loves to be part of the action, and has lots to say.  Lately, she has been noshing on anything and everything.  If she had teeth, she would have a mean bite, thankfully though, she is just working on her first tooth--in earnest.  Maren has an intensive baby aerobics routine, but is not yet crawling.

One of my favorite Maren antics is her constant attempts at "flying."  In a sitting position she flaps her wings and rolls her ankles anxiously.  In a lying-down position she flails her arms and legs up and down vigorously.  It is hilarious to watch!  Ezra and I joke that we need to get some Tinkerbell pixie dust and send her flying with Peter Pan.  I think her little spirit is ready to run and jump with Ezra, but her body is slower to respond.  She works so hard; I am sure she will be on the move soon. 

Maren is a great night sleeper.  She sleeps ten hours literally every night.  She is starting to nap more regularly too, usually an hour in the morning and up to two hours in the afternoon.  Often when I go into her room after a nap, she has pulled the bumper pad down so she can peer through the crib railing.  So cute! 

When I sing songs, Maren will now join in and vocalize with me.  When we clap and cheer, Maren will thump and holler in accord.  She loves to eat, and has never turned her nose up at anything.  Just this week I introduced the sweet potato-flavored Gerber puffs (little melt-on-your-tongue cereal bite).  I use them sparingly, if needed, to hold Maren off until I can get her food ready.  She gobbles them almost as soon as I put them on the tray.

Changing her diaper or her clothes is often a fight to the finish.  The goal: get it done as fast as possible!  She kicks, thumps, squeals, rolls, and turns during the entire process.  Cheap entertainment!  

And then, there's the hair.  Because we don't have a lot of humidity here, Maren's hair is sort of wavy most of the time.  If however, she gets sweaty, the wild-child curly craziness comes out.  I am never quite sure how to fix it, so she often looks a little disheveled, but oh, what a cute mess she is!  I love my little miss!