50 weeks, 6 days

On discovering the cupboard where the blankies are kept.

50 weeks and 3 days: Farm

A friend of ours works on a little goat and sheep farm in Lafayette, and on Monday we went out there to buy some eggs and she was thrilled to give us the grand tour.  She took these photos with her phone.

This is me and Devyn meeting Heartbreaker the pony.  Dev was enchanted by the horses and goats!  

And this is us with friend Wendy who came with us to get the eggs!

And this one I took yesterday in the back yard while Devyn was busy picking flowers and trying to eat pea gravel.  Love the rays of sunshine.  

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Changing Perspective

It continues to amaze me how being a mom has changed my perception of just about everything from art to news items to pop culture.

Just as an example:

• When I saw Les Miserables again with family at New Year's, I was surprised to be most moved by Fantine's story, of a mother just trying to do anything to ensure her child's survival—when before (as a heartsick young teenager), Eponine was always the character that moved me the most.
• Right after Devyn was born, I could not watch the news on TV, because they were talking all about the horrific plight of people, and specifically children, starving in Africa.  I could not watch because I ended up sobbing and clutching Devyn to me.
• I saw The Hunger Games this weekend at the movies.  I read the book before I was pregnant, before Devyn was born, and while they were certainly not HAPPY books, they didn't really disturb me.  I found myself having to pinch myself hard in the movie theater not to dissolve into tears when the youngest of the "tributes" met their ends.

And today, I found out that a girl I went to high school with has been arrested in a horrifying child abuse case that ended in the death of the child.  I'm so viscerally appalled by this, I can barely put words to it.  

And I have no doubt that the twisting, agonized gut reaction I'm having to the story has a great deal to do with the beautiful baby girl playing nearby.

I've always been an empathetic person, but it appears Devyn has multiplied my empathy for mothers and children a thousandfold.  

49 weeks, 3 days: Photo Dump!

Just a quick update with a little of what we've been up to!

As soon as the weather got warm, we took Devyn to feed the ducks and geese at a nearby park.  She was a little nervous about all those big birds!

This was just a photo I snapped the other day while she was playing.  I thought the light on her hair was awfully pretty.

Devyn has done her first chalk art on the chalkboard doors in her room!  I think she enjoyed it, but she didn't enjoy being told not to eat the chalk or draw on the walls.  I was trying to get her to pose with her masterpiece, but she was bouncing around like a crazy monkey, and this was the best one I got!

And this is pretty fun: This weekend we bought a bike seat and helmet for Devyn!  How cool is it that she can sit up FRONT with me instead of behind me?  I think she enjoyed her first ride.  Please don't tell her that her bike helmet is for little boys; we couldn't find another one in a small enough size! Oh well. She could like race cars, too, right?  ;)

11 Months Old

Dear Devyn,

Oh, child.  Beautiful, wonderful child.  After I took this photo, as I was processing it on the computer, I found it took my breath away.  Who, I wondered, was that big girl smiling back at me from that picture?

You are changing faster and faster every day, it seems.  Your babble and talk sounds almost like words.  You point to everything you see and seem to "ask" what things are.  And we are thrilled to tell you. We play peekaboo a lot now, and you love to clap your hands. You love to explore and go anywhere you can.  You're becoming more and more affectionate, giving us hugs and kisses.  And you are such a flirt!  You make friends with everyone you meet.

I can't believe you're almost a year old!  I hope you'll forgive me if I cry a little on your birthday; it's a little bit of sadness for the baby you were, but so much more happiness that I get to meet the little girl you are becoming!

I bought you a little birthday photo outfit today to wear when you have your pictures made for your first birthday!  You love to shop. (Which works out, because so do I!)

You've got two new teeth poking through on the top, but they don't show up in pictures yet. And, as you can see from the photos, you are incredibly close to standing up on your own without support.  Last week you stood up and grabbed your walker toy and took off on your own.

You are a fearless eater.  You'll try anything we put in front of you, from Korean lemongrass beef to tandoori chicken.  Zucchini is a favorite lately, as is any kind of protein.  We're still nursing three or four times a day, but we've finally given up your middle of the night feed, and you've done really well with that.  You still wake up around 4:30am, but you usually put yourself back to sleep pretty quickly.

I can't tell you how proud I am of you, Devyn.  You are such a joyful little baby.  You make our lives so amazing, and I'm so grateful to know you.

So, until next month when we're celebrating your first birthday, my love!

Always and always,
~Mommy

Ramblin'