We've got steps, people!

There's not a whole lot of baby left in this one.

She wants nothing more than to do what the "big kids" are doing.

Not only does she not want any help in feeding, she doesn't even want you to cut up her food! She prefers the whole of it, thank you very much.

She has officially taken steps (5-8 at a time), though we can't call her a walker quite yet. She is still happily booty-scooting her days away. She has callouses on the outside of her ankles and permanent stains on the rear of her pants to prove it.

Her baby days are quickly vanishing which makes me ever the more thankful for her blankie and our nursing sessions. The more independent she gets, the more I cherish the knuckle dimples and silky skin, the baby belly laugh and the thigh rolls.

At just over 14 months, she is learning faster than I can believe. She is such a little observer and mimic. And becoming quite the communicator, with sign and new words right and left. "Mama" (which often is shortened to "Mom!" which has an uncanny resemblence to Luke's call); "Dada", "Papa", "Nonna", "Bye", "Ni-Night", "Yah" (for "yes"), "Hot" (always said in a whisper), "Hi", "Cat", "Wa" (for water, always in tandem with the sign), "Moy" (more), "Ba! Ba!" (ball), "Uh-oh", and "Buh-da" (for brother).

She loves doing the motions to "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and yelling "Pa!" during "Pop Goes the Weasel". Luke learned songs at VBS this summer that have hand motions and she tries her darndest to copy him.

She will find dirt wherever we are and I have given up trying to keep her little outfits clean. She wants to be outside, getting dirty, wet and sticky. She has loved the kiddie pool this summer and has no qualms about the water being freezing. She has never met a popsicle she didn't like and forget putting bows in her hair. Thanks to her older brother, she is one tough cookie, busy all day long.

Laney is still taking two naps a day and doesn't seem to be ready to drop that morning nap. She is really ready by 9:30 or 10am to go down for a snooze. She takes her second nap around 2pm and goes to bed each night around 7:30. Ever since she got her one-year molars, her night waking is worse. She cries out once or twice a night, very briefly, but long enough to wake up mom and dad. I've actually started leaving her monitor off so that I don't wake up the second she cries out. Anyone else's little ones do this?

I am so in love with this little (big!) girl. Sometimes I look at her and all I see is God pouring out His love for us through a gift like her. She delights us, and enchants us, and she causes me to love God even more. Yes, she has her spunk and her independent streak; yes, she fights me every time on diaper changes; no, my sleep isn't as good as I'd like it to be ... but isn't that the definition of love? To love despite?

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8