Wow. That was fast.

So my sweet little Girly Pie is eight months old today.

Yes, the same little Girly Pie that I swear I just gave birth to last month. Seriously, wasn't I just in the midwife's office for my weekly prenatal visit, packing up to head out the door with three little boys, a big belly and four centimeters dilated? Didn't I just call my Mary Grace and E. at 2am to come over and hang out for the +/- hour in the middle of the night before this mystery baby came so smoothly into the world? Wasn't it just yesterday that my husband said those words I will never in all my life forget... "It's a little girl."? I know for sure that in utter awe I held this little girl in my arms for the first time just moments ago, no name picked but there she was regardless, beautiful and pink and small and perfect.

But no. It really and truly has been eight entire months... my little baby is a big baby.

And just in case the physical age wasn't enough for me to just know she is heading out of all those new little baby months and moments and hurtling towards that bigger still-kind-of-a-baby-but-soon-to-be-toddler (thanks for the reminder, MG!) part of life, she decided to prove it outright last night and today.

My baby girl has been scooting in that cute army crawl/inchworm/alligator type way for weeks. She's been mobile for what seems like ages with just rolling and wriggling around. She’s been fast for a couple of weeks now. And she's been toying with crawling and pulling up on things.

And last night for the first time she full out crawled. Hand over knee and off she went.

It was not a fluke, either, because this morning she was right back at it. And then, just to really rub it in just that little bit more, she also threw just one more big-baby milestone at me, too. When she crawled to me as I beamed at her and cheered her on, she caught onto my enthusiasm and decided that was the moment to sit up on her knees and try out her first clap, too.

So my sweet little baby girl... that newborn teeny tiny little thing of mine... is getting bigger.

And she is oh so sweet. And she is adorable and eager. Her smile is so engaging and endearing. She loves people and is so sweet to always want to reach out and touch the face of any person willing to take a moment to engage her in conversation. Her eyes are so bright and that girl so wants to get moving and explore this world of hers – just as long as she still has her Momma in sight. She adores her big brothers with a passion that just delights my mother's heart. I love how she heads straight for the dog food bowl and grabs handfuls of it in lightening fast speed and then throws them wildly to the floor so she can get yet another handful dumped out before I get to her and ruin all the fun. It's so dang cute, too, how she does that sweet little baby bird thing when I am feeding her. She just patiently sits there with her mouth wide open, a serious look of communication on her face as she stares me down, willing me to pop the next spoonful in there as I take just that little bit too long in between all the distraction of life with a few big brothers around. It’s so darling when she sings into her little blue kazoo. And we all love hearing her little sing-song voice as she babbles the day away.

So, always reluctant to embrace change, I sit here with that bitter-sweet feeling as I see change coming none the less. I am so thrilled to see her reach these milestones and to be thriving and alive and so full of excitement and joy. I love to watch her grow and to get to know each little bit of her. She’s this mystery to me. A daughter. My daughter. A young woman in the making. I know so little about this world, and I really am in awe as I watch this world unfold in her. I know nothing of who she will be, who God created her to be, and really, who she was before is already fading. She just is who she is today. And I just love her, every little bit of her. I’m a little sad to think that today will not last forever. But not too sad.

Does that even make sense? I don’t know. I am just enjoying the bejeebers out of this little girl.

But it is going wildly fast this time around.

So my Girly Pie is officially crawling now. She also began pulling up on furniture today and even decided to try and cruise around the coffee table this evening. That girl is gonna be a fun one to watch. I can’t even imagine the adventures that are on the way with her.

So now we move on… to the next stage, the newest adventure. Soon it will be real talking and walking, running, jumping and defying. Soon enough she’ll be the crazy two year old and Goose will be the mellow four year old. Finny will be six and Punky will be eight. It’ll all happen in the blink of an eye, just as the last almost seven years have happened already.

But today I have the cutest little crawling baby girl on the entire planet. My babies are all tucked snug in their beds. And I’ve got a picture to paint. So I’m a happy woman. (no one but Mary Grace will know what that last part means… but MG, I know you’re chuckling at me!)