Abigail

You are 7 months old, and the highlight of our life. Your smile not only lights up the room but our hearts, too. Your joy and delight in every little thing is so refreshing.

You love your Daddy beyond measure. In the mornings you would rather look at him fixing his hair than eat your breakfast. And then you wonder why he makes that loud sound when he turns on the blow dryer. It scares you every time, and you look a little concerned. But you just can't wait til he comes around the corner to grab his shoes. Because then you get to smile at him. You have a little plan to catch his attention and steal a little kiss. And it works...every time.

You love kissing Blaine and grabbing his ears. Watching him play basketball or the wii entertains you for hours. He's great about laying down on the floor with you and giving you hugs. He wants to dress you in the cutest clothes possible and empathising when you cry. He sure does love you.

You get excited when Rebecca comes to play. Especially when she's been away at gymnastics you get hyped up to hear her say, "I miss-t-ed YOU!" over and over again. That's makes you laugh. She seems to know just what every baby would want to play.

Elizabeth loves caring for you and comes running when you start fussing. I suppose she's my second pair of hands. She notices every new thing you do and delights in it all. She picks the best toys for you to play with, too. You and her have lots of fun games you play like "peek-a-boo" and "look at the cereal box".

And for me. Well, I love it when you hold out your arms like you could never live another second without me. When I'm not home and you have to take a bottle I'm told you clutch it for dear life and say mama repeatedly. That makes my heart melt like chocolate on a warm day.

You have learned to stand up in your crib by yourself. When Rebecca found you like that we all were in disbelief. But as I stood there and watched you do it again and again I cried. My little girl, my little baby was all grown up. So now you can't sleep in your crib. Why? Because you are 27", and the crib is only 20" tall. I tried taking the bumpers out, but you got your legs all tangled up. So we are buying you a net to go over the top of your crib!

At 5-1/2 months you got on your knees. You still rock back and forth, but yesterday not only did you learn to stand in your crib, you learned to push up to a sitting position. You are working on grabbing Daddy's chair and pulling yourself up. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon. Just a few weeks ago you learned how to get your toes in your mouth. You worked on that for a while, and now you have it down.

Your favorite toys are your electric piano, books, teethers, your rabbit, and your nursery rhyme talking books. You have bitten me a few times with those two cute little teeth. You weigh about 19 pounds and can hardly squeeze into 12 month clothes. You love rice cereal and will eat no other kind of cereal. When you ran out and we bought you some more you were so excited and said, "Mmmmmm" over and over again. You don't like applesauce or bananas. You have tolerated green beans but sometimes refuse to open your mouth. But at least you don't make that face that says, "I'm going to throw up if you give me more."

All in all you have amazed us. You have accomplished things well before any of the other kids. While this astounds me, it scares me, too. I hope you know we love you and think you're amazing even if you couldn't do these things. I imagine God has great things in store for you, and He has given you a wonderful family to witness your beautiful life.