Update

I have been trying to write about our experiences right before Aerin's birth, but it is proving to be more difficult than I thought. I am still working on it, but it might take a while.

In the meantime, Aerin is super. She is growing like a weed - her legs stick out over the seat of her high chair now. When we first got it, they didn't even come to the edge. She is extremely agile and graceful for such a little baby. She can get herself into a standing position, even if she has nothing to help her. She can somehow stand up in her Pack n' Play now. Her arms stretch over her head hanging onto the top of the "wall," but she doesn't seem to mind. She can stand for split seconds and she can walk the length of her crib while holding onto the rail.

She's making a lot of momma-like sounds, but nothing that I would assert is an actual word. I am pretty sure she said "elbow" the other day, but Andrew doesn't think so. She understands a great deal. She knows "Uppy?," "Do you want to go to Momma/Daddy?" and "Where's the doggy?" She also knows "ba-ba," "vitamins," "meds," and "dolly." Aerin loves books, which makes me so happy. She can turn pages (the right way and without ripping them), which amazes me. She does have a distressing love of ripping and crumpling paper - the other day she tore a page out of one of Andrew's work books.

Aerin has already gotten many wonderful birthday presents, especially from her grandparents. You can see in the picture that her Grandnana and Great-Gramma have gotten her just about every book on her Wish List. Her Aunties have sent her presents, which they really shouldn't have. We're going to let it slide this year, since she is a miracle baby after all, but we're going to have to talk to a lot of people about spoiling this child. Of course, Andrew and I have gotten her lots of presents ourselves, but that's different ;).