Just a quick note

So, we've become negligent when it comes to creating new posts on this here blog. You'll be pleased to know, however, that we have not neglected to dote on, worship, feed, clothe, sing (off-key) to, carry, bathe, wipe, burp, rock, throw into the air, and otherwise LOVE our little Minya. She is now just over eight months-old and growing bigger each day. First, let's talk about her mobility. She is not crawling yet like others in her cohort, but she has mastered the guerrilla crawl, which is mostly glorified rolling. But, she uses this preferred method of movement to reach objects of her desire, which right now seem to mostly be cell phones, dogs or cats, mama, and daddy. Her ample baby belly allows her to pivot in different directions in order to better aim her roll. She is getting quite good and can already out-roll her parents. Crawling is something that we have tried to interest her in, but for some reason (see above, "ample baby belly"?) she is not able to balance herself just yet, and does not get far. Standing seems to be the next best thing aside from rolling. She stands leaning on an ottoman, or sometimes the coffee table. We think that walking is next, but not for a little while, which we are thankful for.

Otherwise, Minya has been surprising us each week with something new. About a month ago she woke up one Saturday morning and began clapping, probably from spending time with her baba and aunts who all sing that old Serbian baby song, "tussi, tussi, ta, na, na...". Just a couple of weeks ago she learned to wave - so much fun! Of course, we're still perfecting the timing of the wave, but she's pretty much got the motion down pat. Then there's also the shaking of her head, which started out as dancing and has morphed into saying no to things...uh-oh! We are learning to try and think ahead before teaching her other things that initially look cute but may backfire on us later. Ah well. Most recently, just this past weekend, she started to growl. Yes, growl. This is mostly in response to animals, and now includes responding to humans with a growl. Cutest growl ever! We keep talking about how we are going to record all of these milestones and post them onto the blog, but can't promise you when that will be. Since we are still looking for a house to buy, we are less settled than we would like to be, but once we are we promise to provide everyone with a full update complete with photos, video, and a new play-by-play and commentary about Minya's little life so far. Stay tuned.

Oh, and we do have a few photos below, just to keep you coming back for more.