Amelia and Annie's Awesome Adventures: It's the Little Things

Amelia has started to hold onto me when I carry her. She puts her little arm over my shoulder and digs her fingers in tight enough to turn white at the tips. Someday I will surely curse the day she learned to cling to me, but today I enjoy it . It's so cute. . . and really just a lot easier to tote her around. Soon, I'll sling her on my hip and off we'll go.
There are so many little things like this that come and go quickly without ever a remark. Like when she stopped howling every time we changed her. When they're brand new, it's a total stress that baby screams bloody murder every time you try to get them a clean diaper and then one day, they stop and you forget how awful it was. She still howls at times, but it's not every time we pull something over her head, thank goodness.
Another little thing is how she has come to recognize and love her parents. No matter what she's doing or who she is with, she has to keep an eye on mom and dad. Every ten or seconds catches her sneaking glances in assurance. I've heard the comment, "Yes, the food is still in the room" and bitten my tongue from saying, "I'm not just the food! I'm her, you know, MOM!" I know it's not as personal as it sounds, but I also know that it's not the food she's looking after when she watches me. When Justin gets home at night, she turns herself inside out trying to find his voice. She can be the crankiest baby ever when he walks in and two minutes later, I'll find her chuckling in his lap.
I just realized the other day that it's been a month or so since her eyes cleared up. They had infected/clogged tear ducts for the longest time. We couldn't see her eyes well, her eyelashes were all goopy, and she woke up with her eyes crusted shut. It was such a pain every day and now that it's gone, we've completely forgotten.
My newest favorite thing is that I'm finding myself with a new best friend. I can't explain it--I mean, I don't even know what she has to say or what's going on behind those eyes. . . but she's my little partner, my buddy, my heart, my soul. When it's just the three of us, it's something so complete and joyous and truly soulful.

There are so many little things that slip through the days and then weeks and months without getting a big howdoyado even though they are momentous at the time.

Lastly, (and off topic) when I was pregnant, I swore that if I had a little girl, I wouldn't treat her like a doll and dress her up for my own pleasure. I don't want a daughter who believes that her clothes are the most important thing in the world or that her value resides in the perfect pair of jeans or a push-up bra. That being said, baby clothes are ridiculous. They are the cutest things ever and the only opportunity that I will have to impose my own sense of her style on this child. If she's anything like me, dresses and skirts will be no longer acceptable by the time she's 3 and she'll be too busy and dirty to put in anything nice. . . so I figure that I may as well take the opportunity now!

These pics may seem a bit repetitive, but humor me. I couldn't edit any more than what you have below because I feign no objectivity whatsoever.

My new hat's a little big, but I love my shirt. In fact, I need to claim it with my slobber.