A new outlook on life.....

Today was the first time that Sequoia got to ride in her papoose facing forwards. This gave her a whole new vantage point for our trip through the woods. Now she is able to warn me before I trip on a root or walk into a cob web...of course it also means that now she can get the cob web in the face - so I need to be a bit more careful....

It was a lot of fun having her facing the world while we walk, even though it means I can't actually watch her expressions to know if she is enjoying it.

I'm pretty certain she did. Plus I can still feel her little legs go when she gets excited and the little raspy grunts she makes when she is laughing. For the most part she just sits there taking it all in.

The dogs have certainly become fond of her and are huge fans of any development that makes it more likely that they will get to come along on more of our outings.

Sequoia has recently discovered her feet and has been having a ball trying to figure out what they are and why they are always following her around. She has gotten very animated lately and is only a small fraction away from rolling over. She does these very energetic sit-ups/ leg lifts and stomach crunches as part of her voyage of discovery.

With all of the increased activity it should not be surprising that she has begun to really enjoy being held up so that she can practice standing up. She can take all of her weight on her legs for a few seconds with just a little (ok, a lot) of help with the balance.

These past few weeks have been seeing some of the most dramatic developments yet in both her personality and coordination. She is really getting control over her arms and is reaching out and hitting things like her toys and her feet. She is interacting with us more directly - laughing and playing silly peek-a-boo type games with us.

Mostly she is just being a normal and healthy little baby. Not measurably different in any significant sense from any of the others we know. That being said, she amazes and astounds me in ways that I never would have dreamed possible. If she isn't perfect, at least she gives me a glimpse into what perfect would look like.