11 Months

 ...
We are now officially in the home stretch to cake

 Lu is pumped.

I really don't think that I possess the written ability to convey to you the amount of joy this girl adds to our family. She is the perfect balance to the differences between our other children and for so many reasons, I hope this never changes.

For a third child, I thought everything would follow in queue with the rest of the sibs. Our smorgasbord baby of sorts. I guess I just felt that if anything, her childhood would just be a composite of each of our kids' milestones all wrapped up in our daily existence. Yet, here she is. So many of her traits resemble neither of her siblings in any way.  She is just so beautifully unique...

Our wonderful mess. Want to test the limits of your texture aversions? Hang out with this gal for an hour.

Got a funny noise or face to make? Lucy can mimic it in an instant.

 I know that I keep saying it but I really think that this is month has been my favorite. Don't get me wrong, we definitely had some trials in there. Lucy had her first sickness this month and it was the dreaded tummy bug. Her budding independence has led to a bunch of falls and at any given moment she is attempting to eat something she shouldn't.

But the exploration of her ever-growing world, has been the best yet this month.

Lucy, this month you ate a snow cone, flew some kites and learned to "draw" vs. eat the sidewalk chalk. You did a somersault out of a swing and I caught you. Whew. You have pirated Gabe's "monkey bars" as your own and have fully established dominance over all our household animals. Somehow, they seem to love you more for it. You steal someones breakfast on a daily basis and make it look cute. This past week, you learned how to climb the ladder to the bunk beds. Believe me, we're thrilled about that one. Walking is juuuuuuust about here. You keep us busy, little miss.

Happy last month of "Zero"!