smooch!

this poor baby has to put up with A LOT.

i just can't help myself.

she's fiiiiiiiiiive!!

oh, whitney. what to say about whitney?

i think she was a cat in another life.

evidence: scaling six foot walls...

wearing roller skates?

but she LOOOVES the water, so maybe a fish?

catfish?

and endless energy. forever and ever and ever and.....

monkey, possibly?

this is totally typical : smearing her older brother and sisters in a foot race. she's got speed.

which feeds my anxieties of taking her to public places.

she never walks. every jaunt from A to B is accomplished at a full sprint on the balls of her feet.

plus she's stealthy. speed and stealth. a very bad combination, for me.

especially while shopping.

but then there's this sweetness,

and this goofiness,

and this readiness for whatever,

and this curiosity

that make all the anxieties and frustrations that her little quirks bring to her imperfect and less than patient mother over and above worth having and loving her.

and we do love her.

happy birthday, baby.

over and over and over again.

three months

today gwen is three months, which is so hard to believe. it's gone so fast. too fast.

this little dab is such a joy! she's perfect, really.

she's been smiling for a couple of months and i've even tickled a few laughs out of her.

she loves to be talked to and almost always rewards you with goofy smiles and coos.

her new favorite spot, other than her bed, is the high chair in the kitchen where she can see what's going on and, as a bonus, where she's out of danger of being hauled off by her three-year-old sister.

she's rarely fussy, and when she is it's because she wants to sleep.

i love this baby.

i feel intensely connected to her.

like we understand something about each other that's been there forever.

(plus she slept 12 hours last night)

we're keeping her.

today you're "free"

happy birthday, my dear sweet little baby girl.

not so baby anymore.

every day i look at your fat little cheeks

and your round little nose

and i laugh at how lucky i am to be your mama.

so now you get to hold up a trio of chubby fingers

and exclaim for the next year

"i'm free!"

i must be special

last weekend we took gwen on her first camping trip. the other kids came too.

we pulled it off without a hitch because the kid likes to sleep.

this is how she spent most of the trip.

i didn't take tons of pictures.

just imagine a herd of filthy little blond kids running amuck.

we went with a big group of friends and practically ran the rest of the campers out.

the camp host was so glad when we left.

max successfully got reprimanded by the camp host once, the ranger twice and then got pulled over by a cop, with lights flashing and everything.

do not let your nine year old operate (child sized) motorized vehicles on public property.

wade's never been so proud, and i didn't know who that kid's parents were.

notice jordan lounging in that chair?

well, jordan made it very clear that he brought that chair camping so his wife would be comfortable. and when we went down to the beach he asked me a couple of times if i wanted him to bring it down so i'd have something nice to sit in.

notice who's doing the lounging.

there's no shame in wanting a comfy spot to sit your rump.

this is the only picture i got of wade. sorry if this is offensive.

poor mallari saw wade's butt twice.

once was my fault because of a tent mishap

which involved me falling on the tent while wade was changing inside,

and the other, well, let's just say wade's not always as careful as he should be.

and one more exciting bit. little gwen started smiling at me last week.

i didn't believe it was a for real smile at first.

i don't remember my other kids smiling as early as 3 weeks, i'll have to check my records,

but she is really truly smiling at me.

not that lolling in and out of consciousness, milk-drunk grin babies do,

but a real eyes locked, alert, happy to see you smile.

i don't know.

i must be special...

or her food source.

baby gwen

i love these pictures.

my good friend, amy, took these for me last week

and i think they are perfect.

thank you, amy.

thanks, guys!

just wanted to say a couple of thank yous.

thank you, gwen, for sleeping through the night the other night.

not bad for not quite two weeks old.

i think we'll keep you.

and thanks, jordan, for the black eye.

nothing like catching a ski rope in the face for

achieving that sexy smokey eyed effect.

the surfing was worth it anyway.