8 months and time isn't slowing down!

Little Ya-ya, it's your 8 month mark today, and though we are constantly wishing you would slow down and quit growing up so fast, watching your personality develop and your abilities increase brings us the most pure joy that only a parent can experience for their child! You have an automatic cheering squad at your disposal every day as we laugh and shout and praise your every little change! We hope you know that there is not one single day that goes by that we don't pray for you about 50 times, that we don't worry and wonder on your happiness and your sense of worth in our family. We contemplate on a regular basis how your adoption will effect you and we hope and pray that as you grow and as you hear your special story and learn about your amazing birth mother and her family, that you will have the understanding you need at various points in your life. We try so hard to have the Spirit in our home so that you can feel safe and secure and blessed by His influence. One of our favorite times of day with you is when your dad and I lay you down in your crib at night and say a prayer together as a family and then sing songs to you. I admit to peeking during so many of those prayers and it always touches me how you just stare at us. Maybe it's your mom's singing voice that silences you (and not in a good way), but I feel so strongly that you already are a strong spirit and you are aware of spiritual things. I often wonder how much you know and see that we cannot and I get sad sometimes to think that the veil is probably becoming a little thicker for you as time passes on. You are such a talker, Miss Kaiya! When you are in the mood, which is quite often, you will sit there in your own little world and just gab and and gab and gab!

You have the softest, sweetest voice, but when you get into a real good story, you squeal and your voice gets really high and loud! Man, you can make us laugh when you do that! You have learned the art and fun of blowing your slobber and making funny noises with your mouth! You have always loved that tongue of yours and that hasn't changed! Now you suck on your bottom lip as well, and you look like an old woman who forgot her dentures! It is too cute!

You LOVE your dog. Every morning when I come in to get you out of your crib, you give me a huge smile, and then immediately look down at my feet to find your buddy. He is always there and you always smile when you see him! You are also fascinated by your cousins, who are so, so sweet with you. And as always, you ADORE your daddy and he makes you laugh like nobody else can! And a little secret for you: you have him completely smitten over you and wrapped around your finger about 20 times! It's the sweetest thing in the world to watch you two together!

You are really close to crawling, except that you get frustrated when you go backwards, further away from the thing you are trying to get to! You skipped rolling over altogether and have never done it once! I love to watch that determined look on your face as you zero in on something and will do anything you can to get to it! And while you love to explore new things with your hands and taste EVERYTHING with your mouth, you are at a very cautious stage too. You don't like mom or dad to walk out of the room and you are pretty unsure about most people picking you up! Oh how I wish you could understand sometimes that mom and dad will ALWAYS be right back and that we wouldn't let anyone pick you up that would hurt you! But we also understand that security is a really important feeling to have in a big world like you're in, so if you need to go through this phase, we're right here to support you and teach you how to cope! You're growing so fast. Each time you grow out of something, I think, wow, you just started wearing that! How can it not fit anymore?! I love your little toes that remind me of roley-poley bugs, your feather-duster pony-tail, and the way you kick your little legs like crazy when you are excited about something. I love your beautiful eyes and long lashes, and your kissing lips that often part into the biggest, happiest smile with two teeth on the bottom! I love how you hold your bottle and when you hold toys in your hands, your wrists twist every which way. I love how when you fall asleep, you always have to hold something (your blanket or a soft stufffed animal) right up next to your face. I love when you wake up in the morning and you just sit in your crib and talk for awhile until you're ready to come enjoy a new day. I especially love how you love to sleep! And I love your cheeks that just SCREAM for kisses, which is why I find that I just can't stop, even when you get that look on your face like "enough, enough"! I'll even venture to say that I get a good chuckle at you when you eat -- as soon as the spoonful of food goes in, like a reflex, you send most of it right back out and down your chin. Yes, it drives us crazy when we're trying to get you to eat something, but it IS pretty dang funny! Most of all, little Kaiya-bear, we love you, EVERY little part of you and your adorable personality. We just can't get enough of you!

So, on you go to another exciting month ahead and we'll be right there to watch every exciting moment of it! Will you crawl? Will you get some more teeth? Will you laugh a whole lot? (We hope so and we're guessing you will!) One thing is for sure -- you WILL be more loved with each passing day by your mommy and daddy! Happy 8 months, sweet pea!