wagon!

Eliana's Gran gave her one fabulous gift for her first birthday. It's this lovely wooden wagon, which is the perfect height for her to push around. She loves to put her books and toys inside, get situated on her feet, push and go. The only unfortunate thing is that our house is too small for her to go very far before she bashes into a door or a piece of furniture. I may let her try it up and down the sidewalk after she wakes up from her nap. It's just so lovely to see her upright and vertical, like the little big person she really is.

There is something so lovely about her new independence. Every day is filled with new adventures, every minute a new exploration or sensation. We went to the swimming hole up by the farm yesterday. Eliana sat for over an hour and played with river rocks, tossing them into the water, listening to the different splashing sounds of different sized rocks, finding big, flat stones to put in her mouth and munch like giant cookies. Her top two teeth have finally broken through her gums and she loves to test them out on new and unusual hard surfaces. Each time she would bite into a rock, she would look up at her new boyfriend, uncle Matt and make this big, satisfied laugh-grunt as if to say, "Did ya see the size of that one? Can you believe I got my chompers down on that thing?" When it was time to leave, her bottom was soaking wet and she had all sorts of dirt and river debris on her innocent little limbs. She didn't cry. She didn't complain. I think she understood that being a bit damp and grungy were part of a summer afternoon on the creek, part of the fun of the package.

Pushing, maneuvering, exploring, kissing, biting, throwing, laughing, talking (though "mama", "bob" and "cracker" - pronounced "crack HUr" still seem to be her favorite words). So much wonder to behold in this shiny world. It keeps every day fresh for me, reminds me that the greatest joys come from the simplest things, keeps my laughter loud and my heart absolutely full.