Somewhere between the hustle of Christmas and the bustle of New Years, this little creature turned seven months old.
She's the magical little smile machine that has always been here, but yet was super late to the party.
Funny thing, that late thing. I have a feeling that over and over again, she's going to prove that it's fashionable to be late to the party. She's going to strut into rooms with a grin on her face and a glimmer in her eye, never apologizing. She's going to be that woman who can make everyone think it's their fault they were waiting for her.
Which we were.
We were waiting for her infectious smile that spreads all the way to the corners of her eyes. We were waiting for her crazy determination and the way she can destroy ALL OF THE THINGS in her path. We were waiting for her laugh, for the way she gently places her head on her favorite people's shoulders, and for the way that she refuses to let go of your finger once she clenches it in her fist.
She is assertive, strong, independent, bossy, and focused.
This week's project has been trying to figure out the crawling thing. It's a fun little game that Mila has mastered, but then forgot. She knows she can go forward, she has done it, yet she can't remember what she had to do to get it all started. Place her on the floor and she will try EVERYTHING in an effort to recreate her moments of forward momentum, but nothing seems to be working. She ends up crumpled into a pile of tears and fury until someone saves her from herself.
She says "lalalalala" and "bababababa" and "dadadadada" but she doesn't need to add any other sounds to her vocabulary because YOU GUYS SHE CAN SCREAM. Mila is inventing her own language and it is made up of staccato screeches every. ten. seconds. The shrill sound crescendos over and over and
you guys
I
can't
handle
it.
But I know she will stop once she finds some other sound that is equally entertaining.
(I hope.)
(She will, right? Because ear plugs aren't cutting it.)
(So much screaming.)
Right now, in her 7th month, she's a TERRIBLE sleeper. She's worse than her big sister, even, but she wants to do better. She is going to stop waking up every two hours at night sooner or later. She's not broken, just a little off kilter because of multiple ear infections and the way she doesn't trust anyone who tries to hand her a bottle.
She thinks daycare is stupid.
She knows her sister is the best (I'm pretty sure "lalalalala" is "Alexis" in Mila-speak).
We all know she's exactly where she belongs.
