Babyproofing Time

Wow - 12 days since the last update and Penelope has grown so much! I was talking with my dad on October 27 while Ella chewed on my finger during her bath. All of a sudden, I felt something hard when she chomped down - a tooth is coming in! She's barely 5 1/2 months old and her first tooth is coming in! I know it's the normal age for teeth to begin arriving, but...didn't we just bring her home from the hospital? By the time I my mom got on the phone with me, I was near tears that my baby girl was so grown up already.

Another crazy, cool accomplishment - she's almost crawling! When I came home from school yesterday, Matt informs me she's crawling, sort of, and he got it on video. The parents reading this can relate to the significance of both sort of crawling and catching it on video. Learning to crawl is such a big milestone. Crawling will give Penelope some independence from being toted around everywhere, and keep me and Matt on our toes. I guess it time to baby-proof the house. =) It's so neat watching her attempt this. She'll raise up on her hands and feet and topple forward, planting her face on whatever she's on at the time. I'm betting she's crawling by the time she's 6 months old. Once she starts doing something, she picks it up really fast. She turned over for the first time the day she turned 5 months old and was a pro at it just a few days later.

I am constantly in awe of Penelope and how amazing and beautiful and perfect she is to me. Her outlook on life is so simple and sweet. There is fun and laughter in all she does. It's so refreshing to glimpse into her world and see it for all of its wonders and innocence. I feel that I sometimes get caught up in the stresses and the not always important and necessary tasks of life and work. She helps ground me and allows me to live in the moment when all that's really important is how fun it is to laugh at the dogs for just walking by or the surprise when Mommy or Daddy suddenly appear or the joy in picking up a toy and then throwing it down over and over.