Sarah Bear

Yeah, that's what we call her and we just can't get enough of her! She's just a little over 8 months old right now and I just have to stop and take note of all the fun baby things she's doing. Nobody really has to read this long list. I just feel like I need to be better at recording all the little things that make our lives so wonderful. I've forgotten to do this on and off with my other kids and I regret it. So, here's a few little personal things that make living with Sarah so incredible right now. (Thank you so much for the pictures, Sarah-the Merrill Sarah of course!)

I just checked on her in her crib and I almost couldn't find her with the pink sheet, pink pjs, and pink blanket. That happens after your household has seen a lot of blue. She always sleeps on her tummy-head down, knees down, bum up. This sleep position never varies-nap or night. She is so, so soft and she smells so, so good. She does the classic bye-bye wave. She looks like a tiger cub when she crawls because her arms are so spread out. Her eyes twinkle when she sees her brothers and her dad and the wind blowing in the trees and birds flying in the sky and the neighbor's kitten in the yard and pinwheels at the store and whatever is new and interesting every second of the day. She doesn't cry when she goes to "strangers". She just lowers her eyebrows and stares with searching eyes and emotionless lips. After about 10 seconds she decides to accept or reject. If she accepts she will put her forehead in the person's chest and smile. If she rejects she dives for familiarity. Sorry, Uncle Matt.

When she's been away from me and then I hold her again she can't stop rubbing my face, staring into my eyes and giving me tons of "kisses" and then repeating that over and over until she's sure I'm not going to put her down again. She likes squash, peas, sweet potatoes, bananas, and pears and anything she finds on the floor (I'm trying to keep things clean!). Her favorite food still comes from her mommy and I'm thinking she's not giving that up any time soon. She reserves her giggles for special times with brothers and dad but she smiles all the time. She will stop at nothing to get in the bathtub when she hears the water running. She is only waking up twice during the night, now. Until about a week ago the number was 8 or 9. But, honestly, I love all the cuddle time we get when it's just the two of us in the quiet night. It's the next day around 11:00 am that I mind it a little.



She's got such a pleasant little personality. So easy going--and that's good because we are always going, going somewhere and she doesn't seem to mind at all. She just likes hanging out with us with whatever we are doing. When she's finally tired she just lays her head on your shoulder. At that point she's happy to just go to sleep in her bed. But, it's just too hard to lay her down. We just want to hold her and let her sleep all cuddled up close and warm for as long as we can. She doesn't get worked up very easy. She greets us with a smile even when we pull her from her bed every morning to take the kids to school. She likes to play pat-a-cake with her toes and gives her brothers high fives. Her smile melts us and brightens every moment of our days and nights....