Happy 8 Months and a Barrel of Laughs

We have a real live 8 month old living in our midst.  For 8 whole months we've loved her, cuddled her, watched her learn and grow.  Everyday we watch in utter adoration as we continue to get to know her unique and beautiful  personality. Avarie is a remarkably joyful baby. She can rarely be found in a bad mood and is generally very easy to convince that a good mood is a lot more fun. She is adaptable and very easy going. She has a fun and flirtatious personality with a giant dollop of sweetness mixed in to round things out.

She is also quite precocious and has always met developmental milestone well ahead of schedule. She started crawling at 5 months and pulling to standing at 7 months, she is now working in pulling herself along the furniture. This kid is going to be walking way too soon!
I love how Avarie uses her gleeful gusto for life to tackle new experiences with determination and a smile, always a big, gummy, smile.

Avarie is a great imitator. She watches my or Adam's mouth intently when we make a new or interesting sound that she wants to try. As she stares at us with furrowed brow, she gets her little mouth working to try to figure out how in the world we are accomplishing such wondrous sounds. She usually comes up with a really close approximation then gets a HUGE grin when we "Hooray!!" and applause.  There is pretty much a constant stream of "Hooray"-ing and applause over here.  She is a celebrity at our house.

Avaire also loves dancing. We've been favoring the "waltz" as of late. The dance sessions usually begin with Avarie and Mama twirling around the kitchen while Daddy works dutifully on homework and job hunting. However, he can never resist the urge to join in the fun (we're a pretty enticing pair, she and I) so he jumps in and we make an Avarie sandwich with Mama on one side and Daddy on the other. We then proceed to glide across the floor to the tune of our own made up ditty and trills of Avarie's infectious giggles.

Avarie is also an avid reader- she's very advanced for her age.  She loves having story time with Mama and Papa right before bed and before naps. She has now figured out how to turn the pages, so that is the new highlight of story time these days. She thinks it's rather inconvenient to have to wait until after all the words on the page are read before she gets to turn it.

She also loves music of any kind, especially when Adam and I sing to her at bed time and when Adam plays his guitar for her. Any time singing is to be done, she feels it's her duty to join in. Even, say for instance, during her cousin Kara's voice recital...Avarie "sang" with gusto so enthusiastically that we had to relocate to the hallway so that the audience could actually hear the kids singing on stage.
Singing along to hymns during church is also a favorite for her. Adam and I routinely have to hide our faces and feign reverence as we try to refrain from raucously chortling at her very loud vocal stylings.

Avarie loves her daddy and she is the apple of her daddy's eye. You should see the way both of their faces light up when they see each other- so adorable. There is nothing more precious to me than a father who adores his daughter and dotes on her accordingly- and this Daddy treats his little girl like the precious gem that she is.
I simply cannot get enough of her. I love our playtime together everyday. I love going to get her from a nap, when I walk into the room she gets a HUGE grin on her face and immediately starts to laugh- like she just can't wait for our next adventure together. Some of my favorite times with her happen as we crawl around the house chasing after toys together, splash in the tub during her bath time, and when we read stories and snuggle at sleepy time. She has captured my heart completely and I can't imagine life without her. I adore this little girl.

Adam and I frequently "ninja snuggle" her while she's asleep. We sneak into her room, scoop her up and take her into bed with us just so that we can stare at her and marvel at how precious and perfect she is and how lucky we are to have her as a part of our family. Abundantly blessed.