our girl is funny, funny, funny.
case in point:
she shuts herself in her closet. like completely dark…and pulls both doors shut until they “click.” and she’s not scared. she buries herself into layers of hanging clothes and yells for me to come find her. …and i open the door to find a pair of legs just hanging out under all these clothes…and then a little hand…and a sliver of a smile…and a beaming little face…and then she’s all “RAAAAARRRR!” …and i guess i just thought they didn’t do that kind of cute stuff until they were four or five. so, i’m pleasantly surprised.

she is dripping personality these days. there’s not enough paper towel in the world to sop it up.

…and these posts just seem to keep coming back to this great big part of my life right now. she’s the cream that rises to the top these days and despite all the tangents that make me happy, i would throw them all away if i had to.

and my favorites these past days:

~she finally learned to bend her arms all upturned and cock her head to the side and make this cute little “i don’t know” noise when you ask her something. it’s the i-don’t-know face, and it’s always been one of my favorite baby things. looked forward to it since day one.

~she “gets” time-out. just a little here and there, but if it’s bad enough–a fit, a blood-curdling scream–we quietly and calmly tell her she needs to go sit in her chair and pull herself together. and she immediately quits fitting/screaming and smiles like “oh, i know this…i have a job to do”…and runs to her chair and sits. quietly. and smiles. and the fit’s over. and it doesn’t really make any sense at all, but it works. distraction. and she likes it and i like it and…we’ll just see how it goes.

~she puts toys away. really good. and she knows where everything goes in her kitchen…and puts it right back. and i can give her anything–clothes, diapers, toys, books–and ask her to please put them away, and i watch, in awe, as she takes them right to their spot.

~about twenty times throughout the day she randomly stops what she’s doing, runs like heck to me and holds her arms up. and i say “awwww….does da baby need some luvins?” and she smiles. and i pick her up, kiss/nuzzle/whisper/love the bejesus out of her…and then she shimmies back down and runs to play. and it leaves me numb for about a minute every time. just paralyzed with love. wheelchair, anyone?

…just needed to spew some love tonight. there. all better.

i’m feeling completely criminal for posting on top of my birth story. ‘cuz i could have left that up forever…because i think it’s my favorite post ever…in the history of mankind. and just very, very dear to me. i still can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write it. and since i wrote it, i find myself rereading it…and still crying…and then going back and adding more and more…like the little purple crown that someone put on her head in the warming bed. or the craving for a bottle of coke i had seconds after she came out…and the way i savagely sucked it down in three seconds flat when i finally got my hands on it…and reached for a basin straight after. or how she sounded like a baby pterodactyl with her little newbie screeches when katie welcomed her with her first bath in the tub next to me. or reaching for the phone minutes after she was born to call our family…and hoping she’d give a little cry so they could hear her, and–what i really want to say is this: if you haven’t taken the time to write your birth story…no matter how old your babies are, or how long you’ve waited. just do it. for them.

i suppose i’m going to have to move away from this birth story thing eventually…

so…some little sumthin’s we’ve been doin’ round here:

my friend leah and her family raised $7200 for the american cancer society last year, and they’re trying to beat their goal this year. her boy adrey is a cutie…but i haven’t edited his pics yet! so, in the meantime, here’s her sweet little nieces…helpin’ them with some advertising.

…and then gracie & ellie today: peace & love, baby.

…and another one of my beloved sister & her girls from last week…

…and, finally, tisha…i won’t let you down. a post without lainey is just no post at all, is it?

…from our walk last friday…at my dad’s place down here…this beautiful boardwalk trails into this serengeti-looking field and then ends at a tiki hut hangin’ right over the gulf. beautiful. and while we were on our walk, this little old man and this little old lady were ridin’ their bikes in opposite directions…we were smack in the middle and, to avoid hitting us, they both swerved their bikes and like majorly crashed into each other…we’re talking, tangled handlebars and loud bang/crash noises. no one was hurt…promise…which is why i can guiltlessly tell you i (waited until they pedaled out of view and then) bent over and laughed ’til i cried.

oh, and see that last bottom-right picture? yup. she skips. skips, i tell you. she doesn’t talk much, but she skips…and holds a pencil like we do. that’s right. tightly gripped above her ring finger and perfectly held into place with her middle and thumb. and yesterday, she drew an “n.” not kidding. in fact, this picture proves, she not only drew an “n” but, if you look closely, a “y” and a “c” as well. swear, this was all her. hello? the girl quite obviously wants to go to new york.

so we might not be verbal until five, but her her fine motor skills are on fire. i’m thinkin’ artist. or maybe writer. a little right-brained mini-me, perhaps. which would suit my fancy just fine. (though i would love an analytical little thinker just as much).

…enjoying the birth-stories-still-trump-every-post things.

oh…and lastly…singalong junk is such a great song. i’m just sayin’.

yes…it works for every post title.
but this one especially…

some “love” from a few valentine shoots.

she’s hilarious, she’s kind, she’s animated, she’s fun…but most of all…she’s a love of a mommy.

meet donna and her babies…she’s surprisin’ her man with these ones…

and i just suggested they kiss their mama for this shot, and they happily obliged…just tackled her and mauled her with love.

and then sweet little alan and samantha took turns lovin’ the lense…

and a cute one of my niece, savannah from last week:

if you’re in the naples area…valentine special: $100 mini shoot includes 15 minute sitting, a CD with 5-6 edited images and 25 premium pearlized 2-sided custom designed 5×7 valentines with envelopes.
e-mail me: kascryder@yahoo.com

love, love and more of it your way…
xoxo~k

oh, and p.s. the comments on the last post? seriously. thank you.