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.