here we go...

It's official...Cecilia is a full time crawler! This is not a new development either. She has been crawling for about three weeks, but just recently started picking up some speed. Now whenever we leave the room she is not far behind. She has begun exploring all of her surroundings and pushing her boundaries a bit too. Watching this sweet girl learn to get around all on her own makes me so proud. She has been patiently waiting for her little body to allow her to do what she has wanted to do for so long. Well the time has come and there is no looking back now. She is on her way!

You may not remember but Olivia was a bit of a strange crawler. She would drag her right leg out to the side, while the left leg would scoot normally. She crawled like that from the start and continued until the day she took her first steps. I remember being worried about it at the time, but it obviously has had no effect on her to this day.

What amazes me the most is how much I have forgotten in the 5+ years, since we had Olivia. I feel like I am doing this again for the first time. I have enjoyed watching Cecilia learn to crawl. I get excited for each of her milestones, knowing that this will be the last of the "firsts" that I will experience. So because Cecilia will be our last child I am making sure to stop and enjoy all of the little, big things that are taking place in her life.

So let's see...what else has Cecilia been up to? She has recently started feeding herself. She has been working on this for awhile. She would try so hard to get little pieces of food in her mouth only to be confused as to why they were stuck in her fists. She finally figured out how to get those pieces of food into her mouth and it has opened up a whole new world for her. She is slowly starting to take bigger chunks of food, which opens up many more possibilities for Cecilia and makes for one happy little baby!

She has her two bottom teeth now. It is near impossible to catch a glimpse of them, let alone try and get a picture. Because she is now a crawling fool. There is no stopping this little pumpkin. The second I walk out of the room, I look back and she is only a few steps behind. Of course that means she is starting to get into everything, so we also have to be on our toes at all times. If we need to corral her we put her in her walker. She likes to push herself around the kitchen while I get things done. But my favorite recent development of Cece's is her kisses. When you ask for a kiss she leans forward, opens her mouth wide and plants a sloppy wet one, right on your face. It is the sweetest thing and it makes me just want to gobble her up!

Our little girl's personality is just blossoming lately. She is becoming very expressive and vocal. During a mini photo shoot on our family room floor I caught a variety of facial expressions in just a few short minutes. Look at this sweet girl...

The most exciting thing happening around here lately is our weather! It's March, but you would think it was the middle of the summer. Our temps have been unseasonably warm and we are loving every second of it. I never thought I would have Cecilia bare foot in the grass this early, but what fun it is! Watching her explore new surroundings is so fascinating. Now I just need to keep her from putting handfuls of grass into her mouth every chance she gets.

One of our wonderfully warm, sunny days last week we took the girls to the park. Olivia made a mad dash for the playground equipment and Cecilia was completely content watching her. I think Cecilia would have loved nothing more than to be able to follow Olivia up the ladder and down the slide. She had to settle for doing those things in Daddy's arms instead.

Olivia would be up for a trip to the playground on the daily basis if time permitted. She is fearless and will climb to the top of anything. Makes me nervous, but she always proves to me that I have no reason to be. I have a feeling this was the first of many trips to the park this season. By the end of the summer Cecilia will probably be trying to chase after Olivia, hoping just to keep up with her big sister. For now she is completely content just watching her.

It may only be the middle of March, but the weather has been so nice that we decided to put the swings up on our swing set. That has made for two happy little girls. Cecilia squeals with delight when we push her and Olivia has mastered the skill of very high swinging. I think we have been out on the swing about half a dozen times already, and I think it will be a regular occurrence through the season.
Ok, so catch a glimpse of this. Just a few short weeks ago we took Olivia ice skating for the first time. Yes, ice skating! We have a outdoor rink that is open each season and we finally got around to taking her for the first time, on the last day it was open. I wasn't sure how Olivia would do on ice skates, but she picked it up quickly and did surprisingly well. The best part was that she had the assistance of a "walker" that she could hold onto while she made her way around the rink. By the end she was getting confident and trying to lift up one leg. We went with Olivia's little friend Laurel, and her family. It was fun to put ice skates on again after what was probably a 15 year hiatus.

This weekend our sweet Cecilia will be baptized. We are looking forward to celebrating this special occasion and celebrating with our friends and family. I am most looking forward to seeing Cece in the beautiful baptismal gown that Olivia wore for the same occasion. And in three short months we will be celebrating Cecilia's first birthday. It does not even seem possible. My baby is literally growing up in front of my eyes. She even started holding her own sippy cup this week. My sitter, Holly was sweet enough to share this photo with me. The moment I saw this photo I realized that before long my baby will no longer be a baby. I better get those baby snuggles in now before she is too big to fit on my lap!