Lilian has started talking. She has the sweetest voice I've ever heard! I say that now, of course having never heard her scream and yell horrible things during a temper tantrum. But I'll enjoy it for now. My Mom and Dad still like to hear my voice every now and then, so maybe there is hope after all. She says many words for her little age. She said da-da first and then ma-ma. Well, at first it was more like mamamamamama, but she's narrowed it down finally. She says "gock" for clock and "gog" for dog. She even said "baw" a few times for ball. She now has started saying be-be for baby. I look forward to many more words soon! I will let you all know when they start. Love you all!

There are many things I think when I look at this little gal. One of them is, "I wonder who she'll be most like.." In the back of my mind I'm sorta keeping tabs on the things she does that are like Sean and the things that seem more like Carlyeisms. She has his sweetness. Not to say I wasn't sweet, but she has this unadulterated love that just gushes out of her and she's happy and content and so completely vulnerable. She just lets it all hang out. I love it. On the other hand, she has this temper and determination that seem so much like me that sometimes I wonder what I'm up against. (myself it seems!) She has this furrowed brow when she's concentrating or when she's mad or confused that is so me that I can't even believe it. She is stubborn...in ways that only a stubborn person like me can understand. I can hear you laughing, Mom. It's a battle of wills at times. You think she doesn't understand no yet? HA! Foolish commoners! She understands and looks at me - and when I look at her she frowns and goes, "aaaAAAAH!" Ooh boy. But man, I love her. I mean, didn't I want her to be a strong woman? One that can withstand the evil in this cruel world, remember who she is and know that above all she's loved? YES! She is strong. Strong and sweet. A little while back I was lamenting that she might be too much like me and someone said to me, "Good! I hope she is! You're a kind, fun, strong person and she would be lucky to be like you!" Good friend. And he was right. We should all be proud of our kids. Rather than worrying about them being like us, let's cultivate it and grow it into something beautiful. We are, in fact, all made in God's image right?

My apologies for those of you who are frequent readers of my post. I know it's been a long time. But, a whole lot has happened in the past month and a half or so. I basically sprained my wrist and couldn't do much of anything for quite a while. I guess that's what picking up a 20+ lb baby will do to a mom's unsuspecting wrists. I'm a lot better, but I still have to go to physical therapy to make sure it doesn't swell up like it did before. Our family as a whole has been through a whole slew of night shifts (Sean is about to finish one of his many 7 nights in a row weeks) and we're trying to make sure he gets enough sleep and can help me if my wrist is aching badly. *sigh* it's been long, but we're better because of it. Lily (and I DO know this blog is about her) is doing famously. She is growing like a weed. She sings, she laughs, she hugs, she (sortof) crawls, she is so smart!!! I just love seeing what new things we can discover every day. We've planted flowers on our porch and that's the only place she wants to be now. She has to come out every morning to water them (or mame them) with me and she just soaks it up. I am getting really good at not minding if she messes things up. Who cares? She's a baby and the smile on her face is worth it. Who am I to say that having a little potting soil on every inch of your body is a bad thing? She seemed to love it! That's my girl! She is starting to touch the flowers very softly after about 5 million times of me showing her how to touch them. She even uses this little whisper voice when she touches them sometimes - I wonder what she's telling them? No wonder our flowers look wonderful, they have extra love and drool from my girl.
We've been going to the park a lot lately. She can't really do much yet because she can't walk, but she loves to have me walk her around, back bent and aching, around and around and around the kids playing. She squeals when they run by her and smiles and points to them when they come over and say hello. They're so sweet with her. I can't wait for her to make her first friend. She loves the swings. No no, I mean LOOOOVES the swings. She sits in those seats with the little leg holes and I just swing her nice and high. She loves it. No fear at all. She usually starts one of her long "songs" during that time. Her smiling mouth open wide, she finds a note and just sings it out loud and clear until the drool strings go all the way from her mouth to the ground. It's not like yelling or squealing - it's very much like singing and she started doing it in church when we're having worship. Who knows, maybe she'll be a great singer like her Daddy.
Well, those are the most recent events. I'm sure it's quick sailing from here to her first birthday. I can't believe she's almost 8 months old. Pretty soon I'll be walking her into her first class at school....ok, no more, I can't take that yet!