Nicole: a photo update

Nicole is now 9 1/2 months old and she's hitting milestones faster than ever.  Today, I invite you to peek inside Nicole's adventurous life by looking through some of the photos that capture the joy and energy she has been investing in her growth.      

When I started scrolling through the hundreds of pictures I have of Nicole in order to decide which photos to include in this post, I couldn't pass this one up.  I feel like this is quintessentially what childhood is all about. Nicole will play for extended periods of time in and around cardboard boxes.  She's especially happy when I hand her some of my kitchen tools to play with while she's at it.   

Seeing the world through the eyes of a tactile baby is so much fun.  Nicole is especially interested in anything soft or fuzzy.  One of her favorite activities of the day is sitting on my fluffy bathroom rug while I get ready in the morning.  

Watching Nicole pause whatever she's doing to exercise throughout the day has made me wonder if the majority of yoga poses came from studying the movement of babies.  Don't let those squishy baby features fool you, our girl has abs of steel! 

If Nicole could talk, I'm sure one of the first things she would tell you about it how much she loves her dad.  Nicole knows what time Shawn usually gets home from work and starts looking around the room as she anticipates his arrival.  When she sees him walk in the door or realizes he's home, he is the recipient of her biggest smile of the day.  Shawn and Nicole's favorite activity to do together is listen to music.    Shawn is already looking forward to Nicole being old enough to attend NEEDTOBREATHE concerts with him.  

I am pleased to announce that Nicole can now crawl! She's been moving herself around her environment in very creative ways for awhile now but didn't start crawling until a week and a half ago.   Nicole's curiosity paired with her increased mobility has required me to really step up my housekeeping game.   If there is something small on the floor or anything interesting within reach, she will find it! 

Nicole's been sitting up independently for about 3 months now but she wasn't able to get herself into that seated position without some adult intervention.  One day, out of the blue, she got herself from laying down to sitting up completely unassisted.  After watching her try to accomplish this very movement for months,  it was truly miraculous to watch her effortless sit up.  Only a few days after learning how to do that, she started independently pulling herself to a stand as well! Now when Nicole wakes up in the morning, she crawls to the edge of her bed closest to the door and waits eagerly for me to come and get her.  Nothing could be sweeter!

So there you have it.  Nicole's days have been filled with playing in boxes, cuddling her softest animals, moving in every which way she can, listening to music with her dad, exploring whatever she sets her mind to and sitting and standing up all on her own. In some ways it's hard to believe that we've been a little family of three for 9 months already.  In other ways it's hard to remember what life was like before Nicole joined us.  Excitement surrounds our days as Nicole enthusiastically grows and changes.  We take our responsibility as parents very seriously but we also take great comfort in knowing that God will give us the wisdom and stamina we need to raise Nicole one step at a time.  He knows exactly who He created her to be and we couldn't be more thankful that we get be part of introducing Nicole to her Creator and sharing in her joy along the way. 

I hope you are well! 

Love, 

Erica