number three

this little girl has changed and grown a lot in the last month or so. like, a lot. she is finally getting some teeth after not having any for oh, 16 months. and by some teeth, i specifically mean 8. 8! all at once! which maybe explains a little bit of her feistiness. but only a little bit. she has become increasingly... what shall we call it... vocal. vocal about her opinions, about being super frustrated when she doesn't get her way or what she wants right that very millisecond, vocal about being done with whatever she's doing... just vocal. in a weird way she's actually really good at being very communicative. if she wants me to do something for her she's actually really good at telling me what that is - i rarely have to guess or have no idea - so i appreciate that about her. however, she has quickly learned the art of getting mad and screaming to tell everyone on the planet about it. sometimes she just seems ornery.

don't get me wrong, it's not like she screams all the time or anything. generally speaking she's content and happy and just does her little thing. but she did used to be kind of a roll-with-it type of gal when things didn't go her way, and that's the part that has given way to the new leah we are becoming familiar with. which is awesome. just what i needed. because my other two kids have totally grown out of fits so it's perfect. not.

there is just 10% of yuck that's no bueno. but the rest of her is awesome and of course i love her to bits. i love that she is insanely curious and interested in everything right now and that she wants to be big like her brother and sister and do everything that they do (even though it causes major frustration that she can't yet). i love that she's learning some independence - like how to feed herself - and also that she is really starting to understand things i say like, "give it back to hyde please", and she does right away, or "go get your shoes", and she'll grab a perfect matching pair every time. i love that she still wants to sleep for 20 hours a day. i love that she's her own person, both looks-wise and in personality. other than that orneriness that manifests every once in a while, she is becoming a fun little girl to get to know.

that's the other thing. she's a little girl now. she was my baby for a long time. i don't know if it's that we're having another one (exactly four weeks from today, holy cow, thank you), or if it's the fact that she's finally getting some teeth and cruising around on her own, trying to be a big kid like her brother and sister, but she's turned into a little girl overnight and it's nuts. in some ways i'm glad - i honestly don't want to feel like i have two babies at once, just one at a time is good for me - but in other ways you realize how fleeting those early days are where they are so new and dependent and just tiny little babes fresh from heaven, never to return to that phase ever again. those days are truly precious. i've loved watching her "grow up" this summer into the little girl that she's become. though feisty and stubborn at times, she also loves to laugh and play and do things on her own.

a few from early march, and a few from late august: