Our Willow-Baby

Journey at 10 months.



Willow 8 1/2 months

I'm not sure how it's possible, but Willow is now 8 1/2 months old. Aspen and Journey call her
"Willow-baby". They really love her. The older she gets, the more she looks like Aspen, except for the blue eyes. Anyone have a guess what color they will be?

She is pretty much Journey's opposite. Where Journey was laid back, content and pretty low maintenance, she's definitely more demanding and well......needy. I spend much of the day holding her while she's awake. She loves the camera and even if she's fussy, she immediately smiles when I bring it out. Journey, even to this day, is very hard to get a good picture of. She rarely looks at the camera or gives a real smile.

She's been teething on and off for the last month, and when it's bad, life with her is rough! She's been waking 4-6 times a night and not sleeping much for her naps. I'm so thankful for my mother-in-law who comes every other Tuesday to give me a break so that I can go help out in Aspen's class or do some shopping (I don't usually leave Willow at my mom's on Wednesday morning since she won't sleep at her house). I'm also beyond thankful for our neighbor girl who is also our babysitter. We are able to go out most weekends because of her, and that goes a long way to me keeping my sanity :)

Even with the last month being so rough, I love her so much. She has the brightest smile and loves to laugh. She squeals when Mark gets home and makes sure that he comes over to give her love. She's far more interested in him than Journey was at this age.

We always laugh because one or both of her legs are constantly kicking. Literally, not even joking. They are constantly moving. If there's music, like at church, she waves her arms and legs as fast and hard as she can. It's hilarious to watch and hard to hold on to her!

She loves to swing at the park. Is starting to not like the Bjorn and jumparoo so much. Four thirty to six thirty is the hardest time of day with her (and for me). She's sitting up really well and loves to take showers with Journey and I. She loves cats and dogs, doesn't mind sitting in the grass (Aspen & Journey hated sitting in grass at this age), likes long walks on the beach and cuddling. Oh wait, scratch the last two :)