My daughter

I don't know what's going on with me this week.  I've been a mushy, gushy, emotional mess.  I feel like life is moving in fast forward and I'm frantically looking for the remote so that I can press PAUSE.

Nicolette is now 9 months old (technically 9 and 1/2 months old but I refuse to acknowledge the extra weeks until we actually hit the next birthversary).  She is all over the place and loves showing off her latest tricks - pointing, waving and clapping.  

She is fiercely independent which makes me proud and sad all at the same time.

She is curious about everything - carefully inspecting every detail of whatever it happens to be that has captured her attention for the moment.  She loves to point at everything and loves to carefully inspect faces with her eyes and her hands.  She loves to stick her fingers in my mouth, in my eyes and yes, up my nose.  

She is focused - once she gets her mind and eyes set on something, she's focused intently on it until she's done.  She is not easily distracted.

She is strong...I watch her literally practice squats over and over again and I have a hard time holding her still if she wants to be on the move (i.e. when changing her diaper).  She's been crawling for 2 1/2 months and pulling to standing nearly as long.  She loves standing and walks with her push toys now.  I clap and say yay and am so proud but inside a little piece of me wants to cry.  I miss the tiny little bundle who would lay quietly in my arms for hours on end out of every day while I sang to her and stared at her and am all too aware that those days are long gone.    

She is happy.  She loves to be chased and she giggles endlessly when I nibble on her toes or on her fingers.  

She is content, she hardly every fusses about anything and almost never cries.  Even if it is well past time for her to have eaten, she usually doesn't make a peep.  She'll skip a morning or afternoon nap and never make a fuss about it.  I can't believe what an easy going nature she has!

She is sweet...even with her independent streak she still needs mama to rub her back or hold her hand as she falls asleep.  Our bedtime routine ends with me laying on the floor next to her crib with one hand in between the slats as we hold hands while she drifts off to sleep.  I will cherish the memory of this ritual forever.  

She is Nicolette, my daughter, my everything

...there is none like her and she is more than I deserve.  God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.  She is my heart and our little family is my whole world.