Thankful for our Little One

Giving thanks is about saying even the things that go without saying, I think.  Our lives were turned upside-down in a good way almost a year ago now by the birth of our little one, and we are beyond grateful for her.

Personally, I'm full of thanksgiving for how beautifully her birth went (story here and here). Anticipating labor was a real anxiety for me, but God showed us how needless my fears were. 

Now, she is over eleven months old, and they have been eleven months filled with joy.  As she gets older and her budding intellect begins to reveal itself, my heart is also filled with a deep sense of stewardship.  We know that this precious child is ours for a time only, that her life comes from, belongs to, and will be directed by God our Father.  And yet, humanly speaking, the decisions we make and the actions we take will tremendously shape her character in the coming years. 

Since it's been quite a while since the last update, perhaps you'd like to hear what she's been doing lately!

• There have been some big changes!  Gemma no longer uses a pacifier (not planned by us) and now sleeps through the night (not without some tears, but thankfully it only lasted one night).  And, yes, those two things are related . . . 
• Army crawling is still her preferred method of motion, though she's also started climbing!
• She's still not pulling herself up to a stand, but she does love it when we stand her up holding onto a piece of furniture.  She'll play with whatever is nearby and practice standing for several minutes!
• What Gemma lacks in gross motor skills, she makes up for in talking!  She's been our little babbler for months, but now she also consistently says, "Buh buh!" for "Bye bye!"  She also knows who "Da da" and "Ma ma" are, and often tries to mimic my words when I'm talking to her.
• She loves to play in the laundry and, in general, take things out of whatever they are in!
• She also loves "reading."  A board book with lots of pictures will keep her busy for a while (it kept her busy for an hour in the car once!).  She flips and flips and "reads" aloud ("oooooh").
• And of course, there are lots of adorable things she does like clapping her hands, wrinkling her nose, and shaking her head!  Sometimes it seems to mean "no," and sometimes we're not sure!  
• When she hit ten months, she suddenly became more interested in food, but she's still very attached to nursing, which makes me profoundly glad.  Some of her favorite finger-foods are Cheerios and beans (black, kidney, it matters not!).

We took Gemma to a bonfire recently, and she looooved it!  She wanted to get in!

There were several more pictures I wanted to share, but for some reason blogger won't let me keep vertically-aligned pictures vertical today.  Perhaps John can help.  What a great guy . . . I'm so thankful for him . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself.  ;-)