Dahlia is so joyful! I have no idea where she gets it from. She is always laughing and smiling, from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed at night. She seems to find excitement in any old thing, from her pumpkin that she has been playing with since she started moving her hands and fingers to a magazine, she treats all equally, as if it were the most exciting, fascinating thing she's ever seen. I love to watch her move around and explore the world. It's a contagious kind of joy that makes one want to squeeze her until she pops! I must be careful to resist this natural inclination.

I believe Dahlia made her first sign yesterday, for milk, squeezing and releasing each of her little hands, open and close, and crawling up into my lap, tugging at my shirt. These changes are just miraculous to see in your own little self-extensions. Even though they mark the beginning of the end of babyhood, they also signal the beginnings of another exciting phase, as we have certainly experienced with Elias. I must try to really appreciate this time, as this will be my last hooray in baby land.