Whew...honestly. I am going to say it every month so just get used to it...but WHY is the time going so fast and HOW does it get even MORE fun that it just WAS??
I knew we were going to have a BLAST this summer with you and because we have Daddy home with us but I didn't know how MUCH fun it was going to be :) We have spent COUNTLESS hours at TiTi's pool,
many trips to the lake, shopping in the middle of the day and time in our garden here at home.
This month you managed to get your first either serious bug bite or bee sting... you handled it like a champ and Mama thought it was fine but we called the Doc anyway just to be certain... a couple days later and you were all back to normal.
This month we tried something NEW with you. When we got home from your first camping trip I put you down for a nap with just your bink and your blanket. No rocking no loitering in your room and you went RIGHT to sleep. We tried it again that night and I had to go in once to replace the bink and not another peep out of you. You are SUCH a big girl now to go to sleep all on your own. Sometimes you still struggle with it but for the most part you know what you are supposed to do in that crib and you do it.
Last week we spent some time with your friends at Phoebe's house because she lives on a lake...One of my favorite shots of the day is you playing with your BFF, Dani in the water. You both pick up the dirt but you my friend, are the one who tries to EAT IT :) Dani has figured out that it doesn't taste great so she just plays with it :)
For the most part you and Pheebs just sit and play while Dani crawls and climbs circles around you two trying to get to whatever she wants :)
Your typical schedule this summer is to bed between 6:30-7 if we are home, sometimes you are waking in the middle of the night but you just want your bink and your blanket and you go back to sleep then you are typically up for the day around 5:44 but if we are lucky we can get another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes of you sleeping. If not, one of us gets up, changes your dipe and brings you in to sit on the floor in our bedroom to watch your SportsCenter and play with your toys until around 6:45-7ish when you are hungry for breakfast.
You eat cereal and fruit first and then usually eat about 6-8 oz of formula. Have a nap again around 8-8:30 and are up again around 9:30-10. You eat "lunch" around 10:30-11 and that is typically two veggies and another bottle. You have another nap around 11:30-12ish and sleep until 1-2ish.... have another 8 oz bottle and hang out typically until 5ish when you have dinner of another veggie, cereal and another 6-8 oz bottle.
Of course that is all dependent on what else is going on around you, how much swimming you've done, how hot it is outside or what is distracting you :) you HAVE to be all up in EVERYONE'S business :) you are the NOSIEST kid around!! When we hold you in a hip carry you literally turn your body so that your entire waist is facing front and you are pitching forward. Makes it tough to hold onto you but you are SO afraid of something going on behind your back that you don't know about :)
As usual, what they say about 6-9 months being the "golden" age for a baby is true. You are SO happy, you are napping better, sleeping better at night, eating better and generally just a sweet girl. You are still not crawling yet and it is driving everyone ELSE crazy but ME :) You can scoot where you want to go but it takes you a little while. You can sit up forEVER and I caught you just the day before your b-day pulling yourself up to standing in your crib. You thought you were SUCH a big girl :) You are wearing 6-9 month shorts and 9-12 tops for the length. I think you are a size 2-3 in shoes but who can tell. We never have you in them :) it's SUMMER :) I honestly think this is just the BEST time to have a baby your age. We are having SO much fun with you Minnie!!!
One thing that is definitely noteworthy this month is that we have stopped our nursing relationship. I got a sinus infection this past month and was put on antibiotics. I didn't think anything of it until you woke up with diarrhea and a raging bum rash. It took me two days to realize that it was ME that was doing it to you and after 16 months of my body effecting YOUR body I was all done. We were down to nursing only in the morning and me pumping enough for your cereal at night so that quickly ended when I realized what was going on. It was a struggle from the get-go for us babe and for most of the 7 3/4 months but I'm glad that we stuck with it and I feel good about the work that I did to make it that long. We didn't make it a year like I had dreamed and prayed for but you are getting all the snuggles and caloric intake that you need in other ways now and we will be just fine.
Minnie, we love you more and more EVERY day. Your smile, your chunky thighs, your sparkly eyes, recognizing our faces and voices and all the milestones you have reached and will continue to reach make it all worth it. You are a blessed little girl and we are the lucky ones to call you ours.
Love Mommy and Daddy
Yum.
We posed for pics...
A Lot. Of poses. and pics :)
We went to a secrect hidden place for a picnic with the Sunshine family... ssshhhh can't tell but it was FUN!!
At least until we saw the water snake. BLECK. NOT a fan of SNAKES. 
I told Minnie she was down right SPOILED...
she agreed but doesn't know any other way so I guess it's ok :) (Thanks S.B.H. for the fun new dog... she LOVES it!)
We wore our Red Sox hand-me-downs...
and she shares her opinion of Papelbon...
some of us took naps in the back of my car... on TWO SEPERATE DAYS...
BUT who can blame them with how hard they have been playing this summer!?!?!
and last but not least...does anyone see the "celebrity" in the picture frame that is in a store in the "big city" mall??? I do I do :)
