authoritatively certain

A recent trip saw we-the-family enjoying a long car ride and the subsequent conversation that usually happens on longer than your average trip to Target car rides.

We'd been camping and discussing the wildlife we saw on our adventure.

Cardinals, snakes, orb weavers, armadillos, raccoon, and squirrels.

"Mama, are squirrels food?" asked Boo's big sister.

"Well," replied Mama, "some people consider them a food source".

"Mama?" she asked again.  "But, Mama, do *we* eat squirrels?"

"NO!" shouted the baby, without pause, from the backseat.

The rest of the family was shocked, stunned into silence and then laughter.

It was the loudest "no" we-the-family have ever heard.  In fact, it could possibly have been the loudest, clearest, statement of anything we've heard from our tiny Isla.

And she is, of course, correct.  *We* do not eat squirrels.
"Iwah nah eah woowuhs".

eleven months and one day old

And for the first time since her birth, she spent the night in her very own room. She's 'napped' in her crib for quite some time during the daylight hours, but last night she went solo and did a great job. She woke three times, but each time was able to soothe herself right back into slumber.

It was a strange night for we-the-parents, or at least it was for she-the-mother. It took Mama quite some time to drift off, and then, right on queue, her body awakened for that three a.m. feed ... only to find the baby didn't want it. Sleep was not easy for a body so used to waking and going without. Here's hoping this night is even better than the last.

Eleven months seems like an impossibility, especially considering that in only a few weeks, this baby will celebrate one full year of life outside the womb. She still feels like a bitty little baby to us, and it is hard to wrap our minds around the idea of counting her age in years instead of weeks and months.

She loves to play with her sister, and is almost always happy if she can sit near her and play with some of the big girl toys. Isla, like her older sis, loves dinosaurs and hotwheels. She likes to follow sister around, and especially loves crawling in and out of the forts that Mama makes in the living room.

Though she said a form of it long ago, she has near perfected the word "Mama" and adds to her vocabulary 'kih-kah' and 'ah-da', for 'kitty cat' and 'dadoo' respectively.

Here she is, cute'n it up outside Fort Adorable. Check out those teef.

six weeks old

Our sweet girl is smiling now, especially when she has the chance to hang out with her big sister. Those tiny smiles are amazing.