Better late then never

* This has sat in my inbox for 3 months!!! So may as well post it right? I have a bunch of updates to slog through but you gotta start somewhere**

I just had a thought of Echo at 8 years old and my breath caught in my throat. It makes my eyes well-up to think of her journaling, reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time, writing in her friends yearbooks, and checking out book after book after book on dogs or chinchillas or whatever she is obsessed with. Maybe she won't do any of that stuff, but I sure did. Looking at Echo really makes me think about my own childhood and how imperfect it was, but also consider the fact that for most of it I was so earnestly happy.

Echo at 11 months is climbing stairs up and sliding down again and again. She started wobbling around at 10 months and is now trying her hardest to run, often falling flat on her face. She grabs a trophy: a whisk, a lego, a sock, and carries it around. Walking back and forth, exploring every nook, and now climbing anything she can. After a walk the other day I bent to unleash the dog, and in a second she had pushed the stroller to the front door, scampered to the top and started grasping for the doorknob.

Shes also had a cold for weeks and is the snottiest kid on the block. Ever tried to give cough syrup to a congested spider monkey? *update she had- and still has!- RSV*

A few first steps.

We got a new behemoth car seat. It looks launch-ready and I'm certain she will be the cutest thing in lunar orbit. With the new car seat came a realization that holy crap we have 0 space in our car so....something else? Wanna buy a Ford Focus? The minivan looms in the distance, but my wallet and ok a tiny bit of my pride isn't quite ready for that yet. People are very passionate about minivans, did you know that? They are even more passionate about giving a 1 year old the right to face forward and see the wide open road for what it truly is! She deserves it, darn it! But I say through gritted teeth that she is very petite and install the car seat rear facing just the same, while feverishly reciting the Consumer Reports study I poured over in my head. I try to think of all the unwanted advice I have been given and swallow my opinions as often as I can, which is not easy for me. *update- we got a CR-V*

When I think about why it's been so hard for me to blog lately, I look to the last few paragraphs. My life is work and Echo and Jared. Not so many fun little romps lately. In fact, many really boring romps! Many treks through adulthood. But still nuggets I want to remember and a life that I am so grateful for.

Our family turned 4 on January 21st. Jared and I, and Echo. My team. Jared is a really good dad and a great partner. I love him a lot and I still have a big crush on him.