Maddie is 8 months old!

Guess who's 8 months old?!

This pretty baby!

*Peek-a-boo, her new favorite game.

Forgive me for feeling a bit sentimental as I compose Maddie's 8 month old post.

When you lose someone you love, it makes those you still have with you all the more precious. It also makes you overly attached to photographs, as if they impart the ability to rewind time and make it stand still.

(Sometimes that's all we really want, isn't it?)

Madeline, you are 8 months old. For the few times I've wondered if we were a little nuts-o for adding you to our family so quickly, I've been thankful 100 times over that you have been with us exactly when you were supposed to be.

You have always been a source of joy and peace in our home and to our whole family.

You are growing so fast, although I don't know exactly what you weigh or how long you are.

You are in 6-9 month pj's, size 3 diapers, 6-12 month clothes (although they're big on you), and yet again this month who knows about shoes! You rarely wear them.

(Can you blame me? Don't hide these adorable toes!)

You are so expressive. Lately you've become more assertive about what you want and if someone takes something from you, or you can't get to a toy you're after, you fuss.

Yes, I just used the word fuss in the same sentence I was talking about you. There's a first time for everything.

Overall you are content, happy, expressive, and interested in all that is happening around you.

You still love to sing with me, even if it's not bedtime.

Your favorite people are Robbie and Ellie, hands down. You love to try and get your dad's attention when he's home from work in the evenings, and often flail your arms, wiggle, and make faces at him across the dinner table until he looks at you... and then you beam.

You will sit and play with toys by yourself for extended periods of time. The exersaucer is great fun for you, but you're getting a little rambunctious in it.

(What, this sweet little thing?)

We all still think you are the spitting image of your mommy when she was a baby.

Give or take 20 pounds.

(I was a huge baby. Like National Enquirer would have paid my mom for my photo, huge.)

A few months before you were born, your great grandma Jessie moved here from Cincinnati. Just weeks before your birth, she moved into a nursing home not far from our house. We loved taking you and your brother and sister over to visit her.

These are the last pictures I have of you together.

You had to know Jessie to really read her expressions and how she was feeling. In the picture below, she is looking up at me as if to say, "Can you believe this sweet little girl!?"

She adored you and would hold you for the duration of each of our visits. She would smile the entire time, gazing lovingly at you, holding you ever so tenderly but securely. I would periodically ask her if you were hurting her (she was very frail), and she would never admit to it if you were.

(I think she would tell me anything I wanted to hear in order to keep you on her lap!)

Just after this picture below was taken, you became interested in her oxygen tubing and pulled it out of her nose. Little stinker.

Madeline, when you look at these pictures as you get older, I hope they speak to you in many ways.

You were always loved, even by people you'll never meet or remember.

You are so important to us, and your worth and value isn't based on anything you can do.

You have the ability to soften hearts and bring joy to places that are dark and hopeless.

Words, especially eloquent ones, are not necessary to communicate.

Thank you for being even more accommodating than usual (if that's possible) each time we went to visit Jessie. I swear babies, or maybe just you, have a sixth sense about situations like that.

A little attempt earlier in the month at getting Christmas pictures at Mima and Papa's house...

You and your brother have a special little bond - he has a soft spot just for you! And you laugh the hardest for him.

And these folks? Head over heels for you. You're even forgiving Papa for being male and have warmed up to him more recently.

More sweet moments from our 8th month with you:

Your buddy Hannah (and her mom and brother) came for a play date the other day. Her mommy is a special friend of mine and we are lucky that all of you kids enjoy each other. No one is ever left out when we spend time together!

Quiet moments with your Papa.

I am savoring these feeding times while I still have them with you.

Teething on everything, even things that gross us out.

Prunes. We have a lot of jars of prunes.

Typical mealtime.

Waving goodbye as I leave you for sleep with your paci, lovey and teddy bear.

The sweetest cheeks I've ever seen.

Oh, honey. You are so precious to us. How did I get so lucky to be your mama? I love you!