Daily Rhythm

Zuri loves to get up when I do.  :)  Or, more often, I get up when she does. 

Then she watches me wash my face, brush my teeth (she brushes, too, with her little bitty tooth brush dipped in xylitol).  We make our way into the kitchen where she asks for food.  Into the highchair she goes and usually begins with some yogurt and fruit.  Frozen blueberries are her favorite, but she also enjoys a good pear.

At this point, she's content cruising around the house playing and exploring.  As her brothers start to get up, she greets them all with a "hello".  Then, it's back into the kitchen for the boys' breakfast, and Zuri's round 2 of breakfast, which now includes something hot.  Her favorite right now is scrambled eggs with cottage cheese.

Now, she follows a brother or two around while and then will come to find me when she's feeling sleepy.  We've been taking long walks to put her to sleep, which is nice, because then I just wheel the stroller right into the house and let her finish her nap while I hang with the boys, or get lunch ready, or clean up the kitchen, or hang clothes out, or... you get the picture.

She's saying more words every day.  just started with Naama.  So cute!  Out of the blue, she'll just start talking about Grandma, so of course, we call Grandma, so they can chat.  Zuri likes this very much.

Oh, our Sweet Girlie!!

Zuri is a *BLAST* these days.  She has me laughing aloud on a daily basis, and many times each day.  Her newest thing is saying, "I love you".  Only it sounds kinda like... "all laaaal lal"  and her tongue gets all rolly polly on her lips when she says it.  Adorable.  I have it recorded on my phone and will upload it here sometime.  Oh, and she calls *all* food :::  coo-key.  Said just like that.  coo-key.  She's so flippin' awesome.

She and I spent some time outside this morning, before anyone else was up.  It was a gorgeous morning, very still with bright sunshine.  She asked to go outside the minute our feet hit the kitchen floor, so I said yes, of course we can go outside, then we got dressed, and out we went.  We sat in the sun on the patio for a while, then she wanted to get on the tramp.  Once on the tramp, she needed balls (another word she says very clearly), so I fetched a couple for her and we rolled them around together.

Late this afternoon, when John got home, I was walking Megan and Maksim to their car and Zuri had just gotten out of the tub, so I left her in the house --  For a moment, that is.  She yelled out that she needed to come outside too, so I wrapped her up in my sweater and brought her out.  She was happy inside my sweater until all her brothers came dashing out the door and running around the yard;  she needed to get down and join them, of course.  So, there she is, with her little bare butt just a jigglin' as she ran down the sidewalk.  Showing off for her papa a wee bit, I'm pretty sure. <3  Still makes me giggle thinking of it.

She says "hello" very well now.  And she says "down" when she's going down the stairs.  And when Ruka is clawing at her wooden high chair legs, Zuri tells her to "stop it" pronounced: top it.  I wish I could have a running cam-corder in my brain, that I could just switch on and off a hundred times a day to catch all of the little beautiful things that happen here.

She's laying here beside me, sleeping right now.  She's very much like the boys with her sleep habits.  They all sleep just fine...  *if* I'm right there beside them or have them in my arms.  Once in awhile, I can get her to sleep and then get up again for a short while, but before long, she's calling out to me, and I come a'runnin :) back to my sweet baby.

It's been a wonderful gift to parent this daughter of mine.  I've sure grown and learned a lot as a parent over the past 12 years.  It feels good to have the calm, quiet patience that I have these days.  My children deserve that.  Sometimes, I stumble.  I can always do better, no doubt about it.  I just love the life we live, and I think it comes through in the peaceful home we've built together... ALL of us, each and every one. 

New People & First Words

Our sweet little daughter is such a Joy. She's funny sometimes when there are new people around. She really just sits back and watches, with a very serious "gotta check this person out" demeanor. She's so outgoing, too. She spends a lot of time pitter pattering around the house talking in her own Zuri-speak. There are lots of words that we can understand, though, like:

on
off
puppy
baby
pee
poop
diaper
Ruka
Stone
mama
daddy
more
hi
bye-bye
uh-oh
no

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but she is quite the little talker.

First Entry

I will share moments of Zuri's life here. It'll be wonderful to look back over the years and follow the amazing growth from now forward.