Oh She's Lucky She's So Cute...

Man, I know my kid is growing and learning new things each and every day, but sometimes being right there with her makes it hard to see. But we've hit some benchmarks recently that have really made me realize how quickly she is growing up.

First, I finally was able to turn her carseat around so that she is now front-facing. This is a wonderful thing for oh so many reasons. Then this past weekend I made the executive decision to take down the baby gates in the house. Up until now Baby Girl has pretty much been corralled up in our living room when we've been at home during the day. There are still a few areas that are no-go (such as the laundry room and our bedroom, where there are kitty boxes, and the bathroom and office, where there is stuff we'd prefer she not get into). She doesn't seem bothered that she can't go everywhere yet though. Indeed, if I leave a door open to one of the no-go areas (or even to her bedroom, where she is totally allowed), she will happily close it for me. Sometimes she closes the door with herself or both of us in the room. Sometimes, when I am in the office and leave the door open so I can keep an ear on her, she will come and shut the door with just me in the room and then wander off.

Yeah, she knows she is adorable.

So, she has pretty much taken to this new freedom like a duck to water. Basically, her new accessible areas are the front room (which serves as the dining room/sitting room/library area), the hallway, and the kitchen. And her room, but like I said, she usually just closes the door to that room and leaves it alone. Mostly I am okay with this choice. She truly does seem happier being able to explore and play in more of the house. Plus, I really like not needing to step over baby gates on a regular basis any more. My toes and knees are quite thankful for this development. My aging kitty is also appreciative (mostly--one of the kitty boxes is still blocked off by a gate).

However, my darling daughter has managed to find several new ways to drive me absolutely batty with her newly found freedom. Some examples include (but are certainly not limited to):

• Taking every book off of the shelf she can reach, one at a time,  and bringing it into the living room, usually piling it all in my lap.
• Taking her alphabet letters off of the fridge and rinsing or just piling them up in the kitties' water dish. (My husband has suggested this may be because she has some of those foam letters for the bathtub that have to be wet to stick to the wall and maybe she thinks these are the same thing. It makes sense, but this makes it no less frustrating to me or to the kitties.)
• Pulling everything out of the Tupperware cabinet and arranging it in various places in the house (her favorites are the kitchen floor and the living room floor). 
• Taking the basket of kitty toys and pulling out each toy, arranging them in the middle of the floor, and then carrying the basket around and seeing how it looks in different places.
• Opening the dishwasher when it needs to stay closed and alternatively, repeatedly shutting it (often without pushing the basket back in) while I am trying to unload it. Also, playing with the knobs and buttons on said dishwasher.

Isn't parenthood such a joy and wonder? Sigh. She also is quite fond of playing the piano in the kitchen nook, but this actually doesn't annoy me at all. She's better at it than I am, after all.

I like this toy a lot.

I am not really complaining, per se, but it is taking some adjusting to get used to her getting used to what she is now able to do. She realized she could reach my stuffed cardinals that live on the bookshelves, and I keep finding them in various places now. I am not worried for her getting into them, but I am slightly concerned a cat will find one and decide it looks like it could use some killing. Also, that bookshelf is never going to be in the proper order again (I guess it is a good thing that shelf mostly has my husband's books and not mine).

So, it is has kind of been a long and crazy week, and I have to say, I am utterly exhausted. If she is inclined to let me, I will definitely be trying to take it easy this weekend.

In other news, I have gotten my butt a little bit back in gear with working on my second draft, huzzah! I have typed up all of the notes and separated the general story and research notes from the notes that pertain to specific chapters. I have also put each chapter into its own file, to hopefully make it easier for me to get others to read and give feedback when I get going full-steam with the rewrite. I am also halfway through fixing all of the typos and errors I noted in my readthrough. I am sure it is not all of them by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a start.

I think we might head to the Botanic Gardens after lunch today. She can run around and explore and wear herself out well and good for naptime. 

Go swing by and check out this week's Gronk. Journey into the imaginations of monsters and kitties. It's super cute. Also, completely 100% accurate.

Take care and have a fantastic weekend!