7 months old!!!

Seriously?! Are you honestly telling me another month has passed by? I have become an official cliche; the time seriously flies by. Every mother on the planet warned me, "Enjoy her; times goes so quickly." I'd just smile politely and think, "yay, yay... I've heard that a million times." But sure enough, here I am seven months later saying that very thing. Where does the time go? How is it POSSIBLE that Marin is already seven months old?! She's a character I'll tell you. Here are some things that she's been up to:

**She cracks herself (and us) up at every turn. She is an EXTREMELY happy baby. She is constantly charming the pants of people with her ear to ear grin. It lights up a room and is completely contagious.

** She is very excitable. When she sees something she likes (dogs for sure!) she kicks her legs like crazy and squeals. Marin's love affair with Norah continues, and she has added Buddy, the 80 pound golden retriever at daycare, to her brood. Her attraction to Buddy is his fur. Since Norah has short hair, she is completely gaga with Buddy's think hair. Most days when we pick her up she is fist full of it in her hands. Luckily, Buddy is a gentle giant. Norah remains a perfect canine sister. Her ears are constantly pulled and her eyes are poked out more times that I'd stand for, at least.

** Marin is a good little eater. So far she has had peas, (yikes- remember? We tried again, and they stayed down this time), carrots and green beans. She eats her food right up, and is very interested in holding her own spoon like a big girl. Next up- sippy cups. She's definitely ready. She watches us drink out of a glass like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

** She's very strong. She sits up like a champ, totally unaided, totally unsupported. She pulls herself half way up, but can't get herself all the way up. She is even starting to try to pull herself up on things.

** She is scooting all over the place. It's not what I'd call a traditional crawl yet, but it gets her where she needs to go. She sorta swims on land. She pushes off with her toes, and then reaches her arms out in front of her and pulls herself forward. She rotates like this until she gets where she wants to be. She has started to pull herself up on all fours, and is rocking back and forth a lot! Any second now she is going to just take off and crawl.

** Her favorite toys are still the excersaucer and her brightly colored board books. She also is really into small stuffed dollies. Everything still goes right into her mouth. Everything. No teeth yet though.

** Marin is a recent gadget girl. She loves buttons. Buttons on the computer, the phone, my blackberry. She loves to push the buttons; especially if they make noise.

** We still sing songs. She recognizes her favorites now and gets really excited to hear them. She loves to dance, or should I say bounce up and down. She loves the twist. No, I'm not joking. :) "Come on baby, let's do the twist..."

** She's sleeping like a champ. We put her down sleepy but not asleep around 7:30pm and she sleeps straight through without a peep until 7am. Thank you Jesus.

** Marin is still totally chill. I'm still completely amazed by this, but know better than to complain. She goes with the flow and is easy with change.

** Marin loves the park (and the stroller ride there). She especially loves the swing!

** She loves her new house and her new yard. We take a lot of walks there and have picnics in the yard with her dollies and favorite books. (I promise pictures of the progress soon...I'm working on a little something. :))

We're loving every single second with her. She is the absolute brightest spot in both of our lives. When we go in to get her in the morning, she smiles back at us from her crib and kicks her legs and it absolutely warms my heart with the deepest love I have ever felt.

We are very blessed with our darling little Marin. We think she is a perfect little peanut. Now if only we could slow down time...