half a year with leah layne

one week ago marked miss leah's 6 month birthday.

i'd like to say that the entire 6 months of her life she has been pure joy. but i try my best not to blie. (which is a word i just made up. blog + lie= blie.) i have loved every minute with her, even the difficult ones, and i do have to say that pretty much the last 3 months with her has been pure joy. the first 3 were kinda rough.

she is a happy, content, wild, curious, snuggly and independent little lady. you're wondering how i can combine content + wild and snuggly + independent? well obviously you haven't met her.

she loves to hang out on the floor with her toys and burst into spontaneous little songs. she likes to lick things. and i mean ALL things. the carpet, my nose, on sunday it was the metal legs on the chairs at church. and in case you missed my facebook status, has already shocked herself by licking our computer charger. oops.

she has an obsession with her toes. i think she is very proud of them. i don't blame her for this, and must say i feel the same way about my own toes. and hers as a matter of fact.

she is my yoga instructor. right now she is in downward facing dog position as i'm typing this, and every now and then pops her head up to smile at me. i'm amazed that at such a young age she has already found her inner chi.

she just officially started crawling yesterday, though she has been scooching around for over a month now. but i consider the real day yesterday, when she started coming a few feet toward me at a time.

several people have said to me, "ohhhhh, she's going to keep you on your toes. watch out, once she starts moving, she's going to be a handful!"

and they are right.

but some have said this in a negative way and i must kindly disagree. yes caleb was easier to maintain in one spot while he played with a circle of toys surrounding him, but i would have traded that in a second to have a baby who was mobile, who didn't have to have over a year of physical therapy and braces, who could walk before they were two.

in a second!

so i guess this is the trade off. i got what i asked for.

and am soooooo completely happy about it.

i'm looking forward to having to baby proof everything early, to having to save her life from the latest common household item that she has turned into a weapon, to kissing her bumps and bruises that occur from crashing through every room like a bull in a china shop.

maybe when she's two i might rethink this posting. but for now, ben and i just adore watching her mind work, her wanting to touch everything we touch and grab everything in sight.

though you might be tired of the endless picture of our little brown-eyed girl that is just too bad for you. since we are cheap and personally, i like candid shots a whole lot better than the professional ones (i can pick when they are in a good mood, fresh diaper, and in our own environment), i decided to catch the lady in action.

this is what she looks like 90% of the day...





5% of the day... (staring intently at something on the ground, or her toes)




and the last 5% of the day...





she was really good for me until she remembered that she now knows how to get from one place to the other and was more excited to achieve the goal of attacking the camera head on.



mission accomplished.