meanwhile, back at the ranch...

My last post sounded a bit glum. And although I'm a fan of embracing sadness (we all need a good cry sometimes), I can't stay too gloomy with a giggly four-month-(almost-five!)-old in the house.













Baby girl certainly has some reasons to be happy this summer:

#1. Her reflux is gone! Mostly, anyway. For a while, she wouldn't nap in any position but upright. And she cried while she was a awake with a why-does-being-alive-hurt-so-much-and-can't-you-do-something-about-it-for-me-Mom sort of cry. But these days, she eats like a champ and doesn't spit up so much that we have to use a receiving blanket to catch all of it.



















#2. Summer=outdoors. This girl would spend every minute outside if she could. While we wrangled reflux, she only calmed down when we took her out on the porch to look at trees. So, we've taken her on bike rides and hikes and walks. And when we've actually had to get something done around the house, we've just opened the door and set her in front of it.



















#3. Trees are her favorite things to look at. Books are her second. (And—I feel like a horrible parent—I think the TV might come in third. She stares and stares when we turn it on. I think her favorite show might be Glee.)


















#4. Being a baby is just plain fun (aside from the spitting up, lack of motor control, and crapping yourself a few times a day). I've told her a hundred times that she's fun to play with, that she has a cute face and a tasty thumb. But she just needed a summer to figure those things out for herself.