Is she always that happy?

This is the question I am constantly asked when out in public with Delaney. And the answer is always, "Yes!" This baby is genuinely just so happy from the minute I am greeted by a big smile from her crib in the morning until the last little cuddle we share together before bedtime. Delaney has smiles for anyone and everyone who asks for one, and actually sits and waits with a smile on her face for someone who isn't even looking at her to pay her some attention.

She has developed all her own little signs of affection, too. The best continues to be her big, open mouth kisses that she usually aims at my nose. She loves kissing her stuffed animals, too. Unfortunately, she also enjoys giving those kisses to Brady, who sometime mangages to give her one back...but they say dogs' mouths are cleaner than humans, right?

My favorite time of day is at bedtime while I am nursing her, and she will twirl my hair around her fingers. This is when I feel the closest to her. She truly enjoys everyone around her, especially other children. I feel so blessed to be her mom.

There have been a few firsts over the past week. On Sunday, August 17th, D stood on her own for the first time, and she took one step on Tuesday night. She has also started walking just holding onto one hand. The pictures below are from her first time "feeding" herself with her spoon, where she developed a signature move that involved putting the spoon in the jar, throwing it over her head, then sticking the spoon in her mouth (notice the baby food above her head on the high chair).

Busy Times...

Although I am not sure this entry is necessarily blog-worthy, the fact is that keeping up with our now-mobile super crawler has really taken up all of our time recently. Door latches, corner protectors, knob locks...this is life as we know it these days. I was convinced Delaney would walk before she crawled since she didn't show too much interest in crawling and was obsessed with pulling herself up on everything, but I was wrong! Her new favorite thing to do is chase after Brady while cracking herself up the entire time. Even though recently she has had a bit of a cold and a stomach bug, she hasn't slowed down a bit. In a more bittersweet development, she is even becoming less interested in nursing. Sitting still long enough to get a full feeding is just too boring for this girl on the move. It is definitely ironic that while I have been counting down the days until this phase was over, I am feeling very sad that this special time for D and me is passing. Especially as we are beginning to plan her 1st birthday, it reminds me that we truly must appreciate every stage of her life rather than wishing to move on to the next.