Wolf Child; Raised by Dogs

How many different dogs can you count in the following pictures?






Walking--almost! Climbing stairs--full tilt! 3.5 teeth and counting. More pics and a few stories to come...

Funniest comment to date from a friend who did not put this on the blog so I will:

"Thanks for the blog link. I've now caught up on the past 5 months of your life [...] and was a little astonished to not see one photo of you or your husband holding her, cuddling her, etc. Are you photophobic? I know that Grace is darn cute, but from all the pictures, I would guess that she is being well cared for by a group of dogs."

>

[With apologies to my husband, who cares for her very well.]

And there were five different dogs -- although a yorkie, a pit bull, two beagles and another dog-of-indeterminate origin were all lurking just outside the shots for a grand total of ten. She's not afraid of any of them.

The Many Faces of Grace

No photos right now; just a musing on how hard it is to capture any particular expression she has --she is in a constant state of motion and emotion. I hope we get all of them on film before she gets any bigger....

On that point, she is now well into 9 month-12 month clothes. Thankfully, our dear friends and neighbors (no names but you know who you are) and family are keeping her well-clothed and shod. We are so lucky to have the support of all of you. And to those who send gift cards, rest assured we are putting them to good use (mundane essentials like formula, diapers -- but all of us appreciate those things). We have a library of board books and some precious ones we'll save for her later years. We have blocks and blankets, homemade quilts and rockers to take her into
her elementary school years!

I am LOUSY at thank you notes. Ah, but you know that by now.....My current plan is to sit down at Christmas and properly thank all of you with a hand-written note (and somehow squeeze in a birthday party for Grace). I don't think I ever sent ones for our wedding gifts, though, so my deepest apologies to those for whom this is an unpardonable offense. Know, though, that Grace is getting great love from us and that your thoughtful gifts were very much appreciated.

We can't wait for the first SNOW!

Grace is gurgling, hiccuping and crying out in her sleep tonight. Par for the course. She is never a restful girl.

Fear the Turtle!

Happy Halloween!

Grace stayed awake the whole time (and then some; too much excitement)

We trekked around the whole block, stopping in to show her in her finest Terps gear (apologies to all our North Carolina friends...they don't sell Heels/Wolfpack/Devils gear at the local Target! Or Steelers or Sox or Patriots or Bills)... and collect a bit of candy for Daddy.

Actually, when we got home, we added it all back into the bowl for redistribution as the neighborhood kids had cleaned out Ma and Pap (paternal grandparents who came for the fun and to help out while Daddy recovered from his piranha attack).

Here's our sweet baby eating marigolds and dissecting her shoe pompoms (courtesy of Grandma Honey) prior to the outing.