Chatterbox

6 months ago today we held our little girl for the very first time.  6 months ago today we began learning about our little girl. The months of waiting finally turned into the moment we had anticipated for so long. 

Oh how different life can be in just 6 short months. Daily life has taken on a whole new look. Yet, I can't seem to remember what life was like without her. This is the new normal. Drool stains on our clothes. Milk stains in the car. Poop-related conversations more frequent than I care to admit. I know more about coconut oil, cocoa butter and hair souffle than I ever thought possible. Mornings watching/playing golf have been replaced with swim lessons. Meals have become events. I am floored by how much Bailey has grown. I guess I could brag and also say I'm amazed at how much I've grown from this guy in the airplane bathroom (scroll way down...). But that's not nearly as interesting as talking about her. These 6 months have been a joy. 

Bailey's talking up a storm these days. Her vocab is growing and now includes a bunch of words - bubbles, cookie, cooler, and ice, to name a few. She still has a very healthy dose of unintelligible "words"...see for yourself.  

LL 111. Her decibel level is increasing as well, especially out at restaurants. How does such a small child create that loud a sound??

LL 112. Bailey's got this southern-ish accent when she says some words.  It's most noticable when she says "bye" and "baby". We'll try to get video - so cute! Jenny would say that she gets it from me. She swears I've got an accent, especially when I say bull, dull, full, etc...

LL 113. Bailey was "helping" a friend of ours tickle her baby the other night and now she can't stop tickling.  Here's how a conversation went tonight in the car:

Bailey: Mama!
Jenny: Yes Bailey?
Bailey: Tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle. (I think she's tickling herself as she says this)
Bailey: Dada!
Travis: Yes Bailey?
Bailey: Tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle

And repeat x20. She loves tickling and being tickled, but she can turn it on and off! Another way she's smarter than I am.

LL 114. Jenny and Bailey had their first mommy and me swimming lessons - 20 minutes of nursery rhymes in the pool. Well, it would've been 20 minutes if Bailey hadn't decided to pee all over Jenny 10 seconds before the lesson started. Perfect timing. 

LL 115. My resume as a writer is growing!  This article was picked up and published in the Southwest Kansas Faith and Family periodical.  A friend on vacation stumbled upon it! Not quite the NY Times, but I've got to start somewhere!

 

 
Hear are a few more pictures of her adventures.  She's so much fun!

A girl and her dog

"Abby, Abby, Abby, Abby."

This word seems to be filling our house these days. Bailey has developed quite an affinity for Abby, although I'm not sure Abby shares the feelings of her new best friend.  Maybe it's because Abby's the only other creature in our house in diapers or because she is closer to eye level than we are. 

It seems that Abby is never far from her mind. While we'd prefer "Mama" or "Dada" to be the first thing she says in the morning, it usually tends to be "Abby". It is so darn cute. Bailey has now begun trying to put Abby's diaper back on when she comes back in from the backyard and she follows Abby around the house.  She has been caught more than once in Abby's crate and bed and we just hope she doesn't crawl in either of those when our social worker comes over for a visit!

This is just one of the ways we see Bailey's personality continuing to blossom.  She is such a happy and funny little girl. She's adding more words to her repertoire each day and surprises me with some of the things she says! Today's word was "bubbles".  No matter how many new words she adds, we've quickly learned that OUR favorites are still the sweet sounds of "Mama" and "Dada".