Snuggles On Demand

This little girl melts my heart more and more every day.  For awhile now she's been raising her arms up when we reach to pick her up.  But today she started something new, which takes the cake for the sweetest thing ever.  For now at least.  We were sitting on the bed, and she was playing with her piano.  This is her FAVORITE toy, and it happens to have the worlds most obnoxious microphone on it.  She said, "mom mom" and when I looked over at her, she raised her arms up.  As soon I picked her up she snuggled all over me and gave me kisses.  Sweetest. Baby. Ever. 

This is huge for me.  Of course she has her way of communicating that she's hungry, or wants milk, or is bored, wet. etc.  But this is a big one in my eyes.  I'm so incredobly proud of her.  Every day truly brings something new. 

I have a bunch of photos to share, but I'll admit, the cold weather has me slacking a little bit.  By the time we get back to the hotel, the last thing I feel like doing is messing with the camera or memory cards.  So here's a few cell phone pics.  She polished off an entire pancake at Cracker Barrel this morning.  We're talking about a pancake the size of the plate!  And she threw Cheerios every where today, and was quite pleased with herself. 

Mmmm....crackers, how come I don't eat these more often?

Oopsies mom!  Sorry...hehehehe.

Baby Snuggles and Kisses

So, I failed at blogging every day this week.  But I have a good excuse, kind of.  Kennedy's been sick, again.  I'm starting to think that our Early Interventionist is bringing us germs now that she works in a school three days a week.  The good news is that we got through our first fever and she seems to be feeling better today.  I have to admit, I did love the snuggles yesterday.  Everyone warned me to enjoy the snuggle time when she was a baby, and they were right.  It sure does come to a screeching halt.  Now most of the time she's climbing on me, grabbing my hair, pinching me, or clawing at my face and neck.  I even have marks to prove it.  But the last 24 hours have been lots and lots of snuggle time.  I have to admit, I really have missed the snuggles, and I don't mind putting the housework aside to cuddle my little princess.

The topic of baby snuggles brings me to another one of my favorites.  Baby kisses.  This has replaced snuggles as Kennedy's new favorite thing to do.  She grabs your neck and face (sorry to anyone she's scratched) and comes at you with a big, wet, slobbery, open mouth.  It's so completely adorable - even if it does leave you with claw marks. 

It's seriously hard to believe that in 2 weeks I'm going to have a NINE month old.  When did this happen?  It seems like yesterday I was pregnant.  And it seems like I was just trying to figure out how to take care of a "special needs" baby.  I have to admit, I had no idea it would be so easy and that for the most part, life is just like I expected it would be.  Now I find myself giving out my phone number and email address to talk to new moms going through a life changing diagnosis or facing open heart surgery with their baby.  It's amazing how quickly things change. 

I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.  But that's a very long post that I'll save for another day.