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Dear Friends Friend? Self,

Let's face it, I'm probably writing just for myself at this point as it's been so long since I posted anything. Still, here we are! August 2013. Maddy is 8 months old today. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and since I'm likely the only one reading this anymore I won't apologize for my repetition) "Where has the time gone??"

We've certainly kept ourselves busy and had lots of adventures over the last few months. We've had family in town, we've been traveling, I started working again, and Maddy, well, she's been working on some major life skills - like, crawling, pulling herself up and teeth growing. For those of you that don't have children and don't remember what it is like to grow your own teeth, it's quite the painful process. There's a reason we don't remember anything from before the age of 2. I've tried to explain to my sweet daughter that the Wolverine goes through this kind of bone-piercing-flesh ordeal all the time and he doesn't feel the need to scream at the top of his lungs or salivate on everything... but it's no good. To be 8 months old is to have total freedom of voice. Maddy usually saves her best stuff for our most public moments. Whether she's screaming from the pain or practising her Chinese opera, it never fails to attract some attention. Usually unwanted.

One place you will not find my little dragon in squeals of delight and/or agony is at the playground on the slide. We couldn't even get a "wheeeeee" out of our usually noisy one. This was her first time on a slide (and she's in her swimsuit).

"Mum, I'm not sure about this guy, I don't think he knows what he's doing" 

"No I'm really not sure"

"Is it over?"

"Meh. Slides. Whatevs."

This, however, this is the payoff.

The girl LOVES a ride on Dad's shoulders (and a lick of his almost nonexistent hair - um, can we talk about that? The day (read: one hour before our flight) Derrald set the razor guard to a one and shaved his head! Geez.).

Here's a closer look - one smiling girl, one buzzed Dad.

You can just barely see the top teeth coming in in that last photo. There are four top teeth and three bottom. I love that toothy grin. And Maddy really is a "grinner". Not so much a smiler or a laugher but a grinner. She'll grin anybody down. Just eyeball them real hard for a while and then hit them with a grin. It's usually when they aren't even looking at her. It's hilarious. I can't help but wonder what is going on in that mind of hers. Calculations of course.