How Fast They Grow!

It is amazing to watch my daughter grow. I am just so proud of her. It was just Thursday that my sister and I walked into Target, and I was telling my best friend, Stephanie, that Dakota was working on sitting up by herself. Then, not five minutes after we got home, Dakota sits up all by herself! Chad and I were just watching TV, and he looked over at her, and she was just pulling herself up into a sitting position! Now we cheer her on and encourage her every time she does it. It's just amazing to see how fast she can do it now, and how quickly she learned how to do it. Now if only she would crawl! She still insists on rolling everywhere, so she'll probably be one of those kids who walks before she crawls. It's especially funny to see her sit though, because she's really doing the splits, I understand that's how it starts out, but it's just interesting to see. I am just so proud of her every time she figures out something new. Her ability to learn new things is fascinating, she's so smart already. It means so much to me, like I've done something absolutely right, and that I don't have to feel bad for any of the things I think I've messed up on because she still manages to do the right things. She still improves by leaps and bounds. Before I know it, she's going to be walking, running, jumping...and I'm not going to believe how quickly she's learning so much right in front of my eyes.

Last week Dakota went swimming for the first time, wearing my old baby swimsuit. She was a little scared at first, she hadn't gotten the sitting thing down yet, so she still managed to get a little water on her face. Now I don't think I'd get her out of the water if she had a choice. She loves playing more in the bathtub; she splashes and plays now, and knows what it means when I put her in her new swimsuits. It reminds me of what everybody says about me being a fish when I was a baby and a kid. I still love swimming, and it's exciting to get to swim with her now. Even if it's just that she gets dipped in her baby pool or carried in the bigger pool, it's fun because she enjoys it so much, she gets so excited. She gets into her suit, gets all greased up with sunscreen, and is ready to go. She's laughing and giggling the entire time we're in the water, and when we decide it's time to get out, she doesn't want to. Sad thing is, I think she has more of a tan than I do. She must have gotten some of Chad's Cherokee coloring, because she's already darker than me. As you can see, I desperately need a tan, I am white, white, white. Except for my shoulders now. When we went on our 4-wheel drive run last weekend, my right arm got a little toasted, so it has some color, but now I'm all lop-sided, I need to even out. Luckily, we have some time at the beach coming up, and another 4-wheel trip next month, so I'll have some time to tan a bit. That's the plan anyway. If I have a good few days in Pismo, I can get myself some good color and hopefully be my usual beautiful summer bronze for the first time in a few years. That's my goal, get in shape and look more like my slender self by Christmas, complete with a good summer tan.