ONE YEAR

OH MY GOSH. We are done with these photos! Haha. But more importantly, Indiana is ONE YEAR OLD. What what what!

I obviously am full of lots of feelings about this. I will try to keep it "brief". But truly, I am just really excited. I'm a bit nostalgic, but I'm not really sad. I want her to be my baby forever, but I'm not sad that she's growing up. I'm more very proud of her and us and excited for what's to come. Every stage gets more and more fun!

And contrary to the faces she's making in these photos, this is a very fun stage and she was actually having a blast taking these photos. I was not! She thought it was a game; eat the letters, move every time mama tries to take a photo. You know. I just seemed to capture the serious moments, no doubt contemplating her next move.

Indiana has been learning all sorts of stuff lately. She has been "using" silverware, fetching things we ask for (when she's in the mood to listen), waving to people, standing for a few seconds unsupported (!!!), and daddy swears her first word is "cat". I've heard it, and it does sound like cat! But I've heard her say it to a ball so I don't know. She looks to the window and door whenever I say, "Dada's home!" or "BB is here!" She follows me around the apartment like a puppy, but she also ventures off on her own. No fear in this little girl.

I think we're slowly transitioning to losing her morning nap, which is sad for me because less free time, but also yay because that will give us a BIG chunk of time to do things in the morning! However in the mean time, nap times are a mess and very much hit or miss. Which makes evenings sometimes a little rough. But I know as all things are with babies, it's just a phase. This too shall pass. And something else crazy will take its place.

She's got five teeth and her sixth looks like it's about to pop through! We're still very far from walking, but I am in no hurry. Still a pretty good eater, I think her favorite food right now is cheese. If she even hears a bag of cheese open she starts pointing and grunting. Babies are so much like cats and dogs it's crazy. We've done a whole year of breastfeeding and have no plans to stop! She still nurses quite a bit, but she recently dropped her late afternoon feed. So we're slowwwly slowing down, but I'm in no hurry to quit.

Being Indiana's mama is the best job I've ever had. She is funny and silly and so happy and fierce and brave. She is observant and curious of the world around her and she makes me slow down and see the little things. She is an excellent teacher, I am learning so much from her. She is not an introvert. I don't know how I ended up with such an outgoing baby (ahem... Brendon), but she makes me talk to strangers every time we go out. She smiles and waves and flirts with everyone and conversations inevitably happen which are 100% outside of my comfort zone, but that's such a good thing. She makes me better. And she's ever watching and learning from us, so I've gotta be on my good human game! Being her mom makes me be better. It makes me look at the world differently, see things differently. And it gives me a much lower threshold for unnecessary BS.

But truly, this year has been so good. My first year of motherhood has been an adventure. An eyeopening and humbling experience. And not nearly as bad as some people make it out to be! I swear the way some people talk it's like, "JUST SURVIVE THE FIRST YEAR" and I mean, there's something to that I guess. There are hard parts, so much sacrifice, and I can see how the adjustment of having your first baby could be extreme, but I just really didn't find it that bad. Maybe because I expected motherhood to not come naturally to me and so many folks told me it was going to be rough so I prepared for the worst and was pleasantly surprised? Maybe because I was fully prepared to lay it all down for this little one? But I loved this last year. It was a year of learning and bonding and not much sleep, but who needs sleep! Maybe that's it. I've never been a good sleeper so maybe that helped ease me in. Who knows. But if you're about to be a parent or if you're in the newborn days, or if you're thinking about starting a family; do not let anyone scare you. It is as bad as you want to make it. Of course it is NOT easy, I meant it when I said sacrifice, but it is also fantastic. And fun. And just soak it and enjoy it! Even the crazy nights and the crying fits and the blow outs. These are good things. It means you are a parent. And you have your baby. And you care. And that is such a gift.

Blurry, but booya, I got a year of photos of her laying on her back. GOD, that was the hardest photo to get. She thought it was such a fun game. BUH, so glad we're done with these photos.

Farewell first year of babyhood! You were a good one. I don't know how much I'll miss you, but we sure had fun and we made all the memories. Bring on the toddler years. Although, we gotta learn to toddle first I guess.

And now it's complete. THE WHOLE YEAR!

11 Months

OH MY GOD TAKING THESE PHOTOS IS THE WORST. So glad we're almost done, ha! She is not about staying still, which is totally understandable, all she wants to do is eat those felt numbers and letters and my patience is like zero and by the end I'm just like UGHHHHH why did I decide to do this every month again??

But here we are! Eleven months with my wiggle worm. One more month until the big ONE. Surreal. I keep thinking about this time last year, getting ready for Christmas and being so so pregnant and thinking there was no way I'd make it another month. Gah, I was so uncomfortable. I'm much happier with Indiana outside my body. And I thought I'd be sad about this upcoming birthday, but I find that mostly I'm just really really happy and excited.

Every month she gets more awesome. Indiana is so SILLY! She loves loves loves to play. She's started initiating things and it's so damn cute. She likes hiding behind things, peekaboo is very in right now. She has started crawling over to me and then pulling up next to my shoulder when I'm sitting on the floor. Then she almost always either head butts me or pulls the heck out of my hair, but I don't care, I love it! She is incredibly observant and way smarter than I expected a baby to be. She notices everything. Fooling this baby is tough. She has always been pretty independent, but she's becoming such a brave baby. She'll crawl off through the apartment on her own (boo); usually she'll stop in the hallway and wait for me to follow, and when I don't she just goes on without me. Her stranger danger is almost gone, she warms up to people so fast and still loves to smile and flirt with random folks in public. This stresses me out.

You can't tell in any of these photos but she's got two top teeth to match her bottom teeth now! They're still kinda in the awkward nub length stage, but they're there and they're adorable. I'm sure she appreciates the help with eating, which she still loves to do. Although she has definitely gotten pickier recently. Her favorite foods are eggs, spinach, pinto beans, mushrooms, rice, and oh my gosh, BREAD. She loves bread. And water, homegirl is always hydrated.

We don't have any actual words yet, although she can say "dadadadada" and "mamamama" and "babababa" and "sssssssssss" though it means squat, to me anyway. She's crawling like a champ and pulling up and cruising on everything. I think it will be a while before she stands or takes her first steps. She's a wobbly little thing. Probably my fault, I am the definition of clumsy.

Can you tell she's over it? (IS GREG PUKING??)

I can see a flash of the little GIRL that's growing out of that baby chub in this photo. It both breaks my heart and makes me unbelievably happy.

Indiana is just super awesome. I feel like I say that a lot, and how annoying is that, but goodness I just love her so much. Parenthood is strange and hard and there's sacrifice, but it is great. She is great. It's everything I imagined and yet somehow so much more and so much better. Sometimes I catch myself laughing/freaking out when Indiana is being ridiculous in a shopping cart or trashing my kitchen and I'm like, "OMG I am that parent with that baby." But then I'm also like, "OMG I am that parent with that baby!!" Even in the crazy chaotic moments, this is what I dreamed about while waiting for her. It's not all sunshine and rainbows (but y'all, so much is) but even the rough stuff is still so good because it means I am her mama! She is my baby! Indiana is here and healthy and even though she might be acting a fool, she is the best best best. I love her, I love her, I love her and I am so lucky she's mine and I'm hers.

That baby face. The best thing I've ever made. And I have made a lot of things. ;)

Here's the rest of Indiana's almost complete first year!

10 Months

Okay, yeah yeah, I am late on this post. Indiana's 10 month birthday was the day before Thanksgiving and we were heading out of town and then my laptop refused to cooperate so, whatever. We did take photos on the day though, and I've got a fancy new laptop that WORKS, so here we go!

Ten months is dangerously close to a year, is it not? And these last months of the year always fly by. I am honestly in shock that it is almost December.

THIS BABY THOUGH. She is a mess. The craziest, happiest, silliest, most fierce mess. This past month has been a wild ride; she is everywhere. She has fully conquered crawling and will pull up on anything she can grab onto. Baby proofing has commenced; outlet covers, bookshelves bolted to walls, I got rid of a table purely because it had sharp corners (it was also ugly), and we have a baby gate??? Parenthood, man. I never would have thought this would be me, but GAH I LOVE IT.

Indiana is a silly silly baby. She is always down to laugh and play and cause general mayhem. Playing is her favorite. Daddy does all kinds of fun tricks where he tosses her into the air and dangles her upside down and she laughs and shrieks and is in heaven while I'm seeing every possible scenario of how badly these hi-jinks could end because I am a paranoid protective mama bear. My brave baby stresses me out! But she is brave. She is very very into exploring. Now that she can crawl whenever we are out she's like, "put me down, put me down!" which is frustrating, but understandable. Indiana has a sixth sense for things she shouldn't get into and moves at lightening speed to get to them. If it didn't stress me out so much it would probably be pretty impressive, but like, I understand why people get leashes for their kids. Ha ha, kidding. But really.

Indy is a pretty independent chick. She likes to play on her own and keeps herself pretty occupied. With her mama sitting nearby of course; me leaving is obviously not okay and causes panic when it occurs. She is still the biggest flirt and smiling at strangers is her favorite. Being held by them is a different story, but we are getting better! Still loves to eat, although she's figured out how to spit out what she doesn't want to eat. She's becoming a bit pickier, which I knew was inevitable but buhhhhh. Still going strong with breastfeeding! That baby hasn't had a drop of formula and I'm so proud of us. Still rocking the two bottom teeth, and although she's been "teething" her entire life, no sign of any other toofs. Still thinks daddy hung the moon. She watches him leave in the morning and when she hears his car pull up in the afternoon she looks towards the door. So sweeet! And of course, Indiana is still heartbreakingly adorable.

I think my favorite thing is that when she needs mama, she turns into a different baby. Indiana is not a cuddler. But when she's sleepy or grumpy or scared or not her usual perky independent self, she looooves her mama. She wants to be held and will put her head on my chest and suck her thumb and sometimes I can even sing to her and rock her like when she was teeny-tiny and I LOVE IT. She's beginning to show real signs of affection and it is the best. I love that she reaches for me and crawls to me and hugs me and smiles at me from across the room. It makes me very very happy to know that I can make her happy. That was a big struggle for me with newborn Indiana, I just had no idea if what I was doing was alright because she had no way to show me. But these days thankfully I've got a better idea. Although the flip side of that coin is she's finding more (and more) ways to tell me when she is NOT happy. But I'll take the good with the bad, because the good is just so so so good.

I am seeing less and less baby and more toddler (waaahh) everyday. I mean she's definitely still a roly poly baby, but sometimes she'll pull her self up on something and give me the most triumphant grin and I get a big fat glimpse of the little GIRL that's growing up like a weed before my eyes. It is the weirdest, most amazing experience watching your child morph into a bigger child. Also very humbling.

Taking these photos is like pulling teeth. She wants to eat the letters and play and NOT stay still, and I'm just like ASKLJFIOVBSDK. But we struggled through and did the damn thing, with lots of bribery and help from daddy. And I know it will be more than worth it later on.

She is NOT about those photos on her back. But for continuity's sake, here they are, blurry as can be.

TWO MORE MONTHS. One year is looming ahead. I am equal parts excited and sad. Actually, I think I'm more excited. Indiana gets better and better, and as much as I adored those days of having a tiny soft newborn snooze on my chest (CRY FACE), these days of laughing and playing are pretty unbeatable.

Here's the rest of Indiana's first year!

9 Months

Nine months, y'all! Nine months with this little monster and these photos are getting harder and harder to take! Luckily daddy was home this go round so I had some help in getting her attention. She's just so wiggly!

I got a whopping two photos of her on her back before she flipped over to eat those letters.

This past month has been WILD. It's been a really good month, but it's also been challenging. Indiana has been the feistiest she's been in months, and her sleep has been wacky which definitely hasn't helped. But she has been developing like crazy and with developmental leaps comes some growing pains. It's all worth it, she's morphed into a whole new baby in the past month. And "grumpy" Indiana is still mostly a happy camper. She's just very... intense about how she feels. If she's happy, you know it, and if she's not... well, you know it!

Her face is like, Mom. These photos are BORING.

So here's the fun stuff! In the past month Indiana has started sitting up on her own, army crawling everywhere, and pulling up on stuff. And she'll "walk" if we hold her hands and help her. She is everywhere and into everything. She can clap and "dances" to music. She's learned to drink out of a straw and oh my gosh that girl can put away some food. She loves to eat and she eats pretty much everything we do! We stay away from processed/packaged food, salt, sugar, and allergen type things (and we're vegetarian so no meat) but otherwise she's a little piggy who will grab whatever you put in front of her and shove it in her mouth. It's a lot of fun.

Indiana is a goof. Her personality is blooming by the day and it's been a blast to experience. She still loves being out and about and people watching, although she's all into burying her head in my chest and peeking out to give shy flirty smiles when she meets new people. (I LOVE IT.) And I love her "hugs". She'll wrap her arms around my neck and I just die. Right before I lay her down for her naps I sing her "Edelweiss" and sometimes she'll snuggle into my neck and lay her head on my shoulder with her arms around me while I sing. I never ever want to let go, laying her down is nearly impossible!

Climbing on mama (and everything) also a new favorite hobby!

She's so wonderful. Slightly exhausting, but wonderful. And every time I think, "oh my gosh, I'm tired" I make myself remember those days around 3-4 months when she was up every hour or so at night and would only fall asleep if I rocked her. Bleh! This is nothin'!

We're rapidly closing in on A YEAR of life with this wonder baby, and it's blowing my mind! It feels both like just yesterday that she was born, and also like a million years ago! I can't imagine life without Indiana, she's da best.

Here's the rest of Indiana's first year so far!

Eight Months

THAT FACE. What a goof. Eight months! Goodness time flies when you're having fun. Every month gets better and better and this age is so so fun.

Little homie had strawberries for lunch and I thought I'd got them all off her face, but it looks like maybe I didn't. Whoops! Also holy hell these photos are getting hard to take. She does not want to stay still! And all she wants to do is eat those letters, which she did. The "M" is now rather misshapen. Lucky she's cute.

Big development this month: we have teeth! The first appeared a week ago, a little bottom toothy! So for aaall the folks who told me, "Oh she's definitely teething. I bet she'll have a tooth in a couple weeks!" since Indy was probably TWO months old... that tooth is for you. ;) The matching tooth started peeking through yesterday. They're just little stumps at the moment, but they're there! I'm excited for teeth so she can get down on some more food. She does pretty well with her gums, but teeth probably would help a little in the chewing department. And man, that baby likes to eat! Or at least play with her food and make a giant mess. She has still yet to meet a food she's not a fan of, I am loving it. Girlfriend chows down on raw spinach leaves. She'll eat anything. I know that wont last forever, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

SELFIE, photobombed by Sophie the bear cat. 

No crawling yet (not complaining), but Indiana is a champion wiggle worm and roller and somehow still manages to get her little butt all over the place. We're working on pulling up. She can pull up to her knees! And she's started pulling herself into my lap; obviously I love that. She has started pointing at stuff. Cutest thing ever, that tiny little finger and that chubby hand kills me every time. Still loving books, every time I get one out she flings her limbs around in excitement. (Classic happy/excited Indy move: jerk around like you're being electrocuted.) Slowly getting better about just reading and not eating the books, and she can turn the pages! When she's in the mood. Thinks all the cat toys are hers. But really, I mean aren't cat and baby toys similar? Dogs too. Our cats have this crinkly tube thing Indiana has stolen, also into the cat scratching pole? Why not? Indiana adores ALL animals. When she spots one she smiles and does her excited dance and tries to "pet" them. Working on petting versus slapping/grabbing. We've been visiting the kitties for adoption at the pet stores here in town; it's heart breakingly cute to see her put her hands on the glass to try to touch the cats. I hope she loves animals this much forever. I'm obviously an animal nut, so to see my kid love them too makes me real happy!

Indiana had two overnight trips this month, and did great. First longish road trip. And first swim in the ocean. Still obsessed with water! She's been "talking" a ton, and the noises she makes are getting more and more varied. And are obscenely cute. She even makes some "mama" sounds, although not at all directed at me. Loves smiling (and staring) at people, although she's still a little wary of being held by new folks. Loves being out and about, next to looking at animals people watching is her fave. We're regulars at Starbucks, HEB, and Target. 

  

Lol, clearly these on the back photos are the worst for her. She rolls over immediately. I just need them for continuity's sake. 

Definitely used Sophie the Giraffe (who we call Gilly since we have a Sophie the cat) as a photo bribe. It made me think of on A Goofy Movie when Goofy does all sorts of crazy things to get that baby to smile at the photo studio where he worked. Throw back! Mad kudos if you know what the heck I'm talking about. That movie rules. "It's the leaning tower of cheese-a!" Yeesh, when was the last time you thought about Pauly Shore?

Back to business. Honestly this age is kind of the best! Indiana is so happy and fun and all about exploring and playing and learning. She's started reaching for (or throwing herself at) us and when she's reeeeally sleepy sometimes she'll grace us with a head on the shoulder. And she's started nuzzling our chest when she acts "shy" around people. EEEE! 

I just can't handle it sometimes. She is the best. So fun and silly and gah, CUTE. I love her, love her, LOVE HER. I am super sad that time is going by and she's growing so quickly, but it's also the coolest thing ever. I find myself sometimes spiraling down this black hole of "oh my gosh she used to be so small, I don't want her to grow up, why can't she be a newborn again??" (usually prompted by photos) and I have to stop myself because Indiana is awesome. As she is now. And she's getting more awesome everyday and I suspect this will continue for years. And as much as I miss and wish we could go back to the tiny newborn days (so much sometimes that my heart hurts), I love my silly rolly-polly baby days more. Gotta soak it all in. 

But talk to me around her birthday and I might be singing a different tune and working on a time machine.

Hi Greg, ya creep. See the rest of Indy's first year so far!

Seven Months

Lucky number seven, here we are! Seven months of Indiana. We're on the quick trip downhill to one year. I am in denial.

This last month was a goooood one. They're all good, but she's getting more and more interactive which is fun fun fun! I think aside from the big milestones like crawling, standing, walking, etc, the developments are a little more subtle these days. The biggest thing Indiana conquered this month was FOOD! She loves food. I mentioned before we're doing Baby Led Weaning which in a nutshell is, since I've had people ask, no pureeing and no spoon feeding. No "baby food". We give Indiana food cut into sticks and she does the rest. Unless it's naturally soft, I steam the food so it's soft enough to squish between my fingers. She does the feeding and the eating! And it's been so much fun watching her get better and better at it. At first it was mostly just chewing and spitting out and throwing on the floor (that still happens, a lot), maybe some accidental swallowing, but more and more is making it into her tummy these days. She doesn't eat a whole bunch, barely anything really. It's more of a learning/tasting experience. Plus great practice for her fine motor skills. She's had carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, watermelon, zucchini, bananas, and peaches. Avocado is her favorite, but there hasn't been anything so far she doesn't like! I know that wont last forever, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Indiana's personality is really starting to show these days. She is silly. She loves playing and smiling and getting into everything. She makes the funniest (weirdest) faces. Her newest one is where she scrunches up her face into this slightly evil looking smile/grimace and makes this sort of pig snorting/grunting when she's excited. It showed up out of the blue this past week and it's been hanging around a bunch. I think it's hilarious.

Unfortunately I think we're entering the stranger danger zone. She used to be able to be passed around no big deal, but these days she's a little hesitant if it's not her parents holding her. She is a big fan of her mama and daddy. But if we're holding her, strangers are totally cool! She'll smile at you all day long! And after a little warming up, she'll hang with other folks too. She just does that crying thing when someone new holds her at first. And then she reaches for her mama and I secretly LOVE IT. Mwahaha.

This last month we had our first real medical "scare". It really wasn't even that serious, but when you're a new mom everything is serious! Indiana had a low grade fever one day and then a couple days later an insane rash showed up. It started on her arms and knees and then eventually she was a tomato. It didn't seem to bother her at all though, thank goodness. She just looked like a mess. I took her to her pediatrician and she prescribed benadryl which cleared it right up. Some random virus I guess. Nothing like seeing your baby sick though, I cannot handle myself.

HA. She is not into laying on her back these days.

I've been trying to trick Indiana into saying mama (since apparently most babies say "dada" first) but all I can get out of her is a "mmmmmm". But hey it's a start. She still shrieks in excitement but thankfully the screaming nonstop for fun thing has died down. Still a huge fan of the cats. LOVES water. Bath time, the big pool, her little plastic pool; she loves it all. We got caught in the rain at IKEA this past weekend and she was in heaven. Smiling and making happy noises. Little fish. Loves going out and she loves Starbucks. We go at least once a week and hangout in the lobby for a while. She's even made friends with some of the regulars. Am I a regular?? AT STARBUCKS? I swear I still like good coffee.

Indiana still sleeps pretty well. Gets up to eat like a ravenous wolf once or twice a night, then promptly passes back out. And she's randomly slept through the night a few times! I think we're close to going from three naps to two, which I'm both happy and sad about. Less mama time, but more baby time! No crawling yet, but I think maybe we're on the way. I'm in no rush. She's a champion wiggler and rolls around everywhere and gets into everything without crawling. I'll have my work cut out for me when she gets around to it. Loves sitting up. Really into sitting in shopping carts at stores, she loves looking at everything. Loves the wind and the rain; we've been sitting on the patio a bunch now that it's slightly cooler. I can't wait for fall when we can start playing outside more!

She's just the biggest ball of sunshine. And so darn cute. This next month brings her first beach trip and I am so excited! She's gonna eat so much sand.

The rest of the monthlies here!

Six Months

Holy cannoli! I actually just had a cannoli, so I feel extra special saying that. But now I'm sad there is no more cannoli. Anyway, SIX MONTHS. Half a year! Indiana's Half Birthday! What the heck? Another six months and she'll be a year? No. I wont hear it. Time flies when you're having fun!

And man, this last month was fun. As soon as we figured out Indiana's sleeping thing, she became the happiest baby. I mean, even happier than before. That baby needs her sleep, and when you give it to her, she's happy happy happy. I think in her five month post I mentioned we did some sleep training with Indiana, which was life changing. This past month we also nap trained, which was waaay harder, but had a similar effect. Where sleep training took her about a night to get the jist of things, nap training took about a week. It was ROUGH. But sooo worth it. And her naps still aren't perfect. You just gotta watch her like a hawk and if she starts getting sleepy, put her down to nap! And boom, an hour to two and a half hour nap! If you keep her up too long though, it's more of a struggle. She gets crazy and then when she does fall asleep, it's usually a crappy 30-40 minute nap. Respect the naps! Anyway, sleep training is a hot topic but I'm a fan. Indiana too. Nothing like laying your baby down, her falling asleep without a fuss (this does NOT always happen), and then picking up a happy well rested baby hours later! Plus, FREE TIME. What?! I'm still terrified to turn on the sewing machine for fear it will wake her (one day we will not live in such close quarters) but I have cut out a pattern for a baby sized dress. Eeee!

Aside from Indiana conquering sleep, she's done lots of other fun stuff this month! Not quite the dramatic changes from month 4 to 5, but she's still developing like crazy. No major signs of crawling, but she can roll all over the place now. It's her preferred mode of transportation. Front to back, back to front. Which means she's been sleeping on her belly about half the time. More specifically, face down into the mattress. Which means we've been paranoid as hell. But I'm trying to roll with it! Ha ha, punny. She can stand if you prop her up next to something, like the couch. She's really great at sitting up on her own, no hands! Everyday she can do it for longer, and I'm talking a while. She has to be in the mood though, sometimes I'll sit her up and she's just like nope I'm a floppy newborn again. She found her thumb! Some might think that's a bad thing but really we're all about it. She's awful with a pacifier and I mean, if babies suck their thumbs in the womb it's gotta be natural and okay, right? She doesn't do it all the time, but when she's sleepy she does and that's the important time. She's all about grabbing faces and giving open mouthed tongue-y kisses. Gross but sweet. Still very into putting evvvverything into her mouth. We are SO ready to see what she does with solid food. She watches us eat and even mimics chewing motions with her mouth. That girl wants some food. She starts this weekend and we're doing baby-led weaning. Here come the fun poops!

Overall Indiana is just generally pretty dang fun. Smiles and chuckles like crazy when we play with her. We haven't had a full on laughter session, but I'm eagerly waiting. "Talks" more and more. She's learned to scream, recreationally. Like with all her lung capacity. It was really funny at first but now I'm like... dang, my ears. It's awesome when she does it in public. She is very into the cats. She screams and smiles whenever they come into view. And then tries to grab them and give them open mouthed kisses. She loves them. They're still on the fence, but pretty tolerant. Greg is more patient than Sophie. We've started listening to classical music for an hour or so everyday. She mostly seems to not notice it, but I'll dance with her and every now and then I swear she's really listening. I love classical music, I'm hoping if we start her young she will too! I've got a baby piano on her Amazon wish list... I mean, if she's a child prodigy I wont be mad. She likes books, but mostly she wants to chew on them. We read all the time, and every night before bed. Likes to swim! Her little legs kicking in the water are probably the cutest thing to ever grace a pool. And Indiana LOVES her daddy. I've said this before, but y'all. You should see her face when he comes home from work. Daddy is the cool one. Maybe not as cool as the cats, but cooler than me for sure.

The rough parts? She still loses it if you walk away from her. She needs someone close, but oddly enough if there's a cat by her she's probably cool. Hasn't really had any fear of strangers yet though. She flirts with everyone. Oh and this has been happening her whole life, but she cries if you sneeze. It's sad but so cute. Indy gets psycho in the evenings. Not like crying or anything, but just like legit, a crazy baby. It's kind of funny, but also scary. No one needs sleep more than Indiana, I swear. Really this last month has been a good one. Such a change from the month before, that month was HARD. I know we'll have hard phases again soon enough so I'm just trying to soak in all the relative "calm" while I can. We still have rough days where I am just counting down the minutes until bedtime, but mostly it's been goooood.

Size-wise she's bigger? Still wearing six month clothes, but we've moved on to size 3 diapers. I have no idea what she weighs because our scale at home is super inaccurate. She's got a check up on Tuesday (and the dreaded shottttsssss), so we'll know then. She's getting more hair, finally! She's got lots of light brown fuzz coming in, looks a bit like a buzz cut. Still extra golden in the sun. And here we are at six months and she still has blue eyes. I think they're gonna stay. Tell me they're gonna stay!

AND WE'VE EXCLUSIVELY BREASTFED FOR SIX MONTHS! WOOOO! This is a big deal for me. Breastfeeding was something I wanted to work so badly and it hasn't always been easy but I'm so glad we've gotten as far as we have. And we're gonna keep on going! I love it. Indiana is so not cuddly, so our nursing time is the closest to snuggles I get. And I love that I am totally responsible for growing and nourishing that little marshmallow baby! It's a good feeling. I know breastfeeding isn't or doesn't work for everyone and that is so okay, but I love love love it. I'm proud of us.

I think that is my current favorite photo of her. She's such a goof. A goof who cannot stay still.

So happy half birthday, Indiana! It's been the most radical and wonderful six months of my life. You da best baby, and we love you so so so much. Thanks for being you and don't you ever quit, ya cutie-patootie.

And it was only a matter of time before this started happening:

These photo sessions are going to get more and more challenging interesting! ;)