My little Lou (it's just about your only name around here),

You're well into your seventh month by the time I post this, but I still want to celebrate 6-month-old you. On your six month birthday, you decided it was the right time to start crawling. So you did. You'd been pushing up and rocking for weeks, but finally put one chubby hand in front of the other and crawled across Liam's carpet to a lamp cord (of course). And I smiled with tears in the corners of my eyes because a) I was so crazy proud of you and b) you spent so little time being a baby. 

You're the most joyful little girl I've ever met. You wake up in the morning and light up every room with your gorgeous smile and, lots of times, you're smiling even when no one's looking your way. After your first few horribly difficult months, this new Lanie is so surprising and delightful. And now, it's the only way I know you to be.

Some days, I want to tell you to slow down. To let me rock you. To sit still for just three seconds. But that wouldn't be true to who you are. I can already tell you're eager to explore the world around you. To create and learn and experience and be right in the middle of it all. What a privilege to get a front row seat to such a courageous spirit bundled up in one beautiful little girl.

I love you deeply,

Your mom

Free printable: Watercolor peonies.

During Lanie's morning nap, Liam and I have some rare one-on-one time that I try to spend intentionally. Some days, it's the only time I have to shower before work and Liam ends up playing with his trains. But on other days, we do little projects together. When I tell him, "I have an idea," his face lights up and he asks, "What are mine options?" Recently, we've been watercoloring. It's easy setup and cleanup, and both of us have fun. We share the same tray of nothing-special-paints and brushes, but the time we spend creating side by side is just magic. The other day, Liam painted a dinosaur (can you see it?) and I dabbled with some abstract peonies.

It is so tempting for me to keep meddling with a painting, but this time, I kept it stark and simple and let the unpredictable bleed of the vibrant colors do all the work. The whole painting took less than five minutes, and I think if I would've added more time and thought to it, I wouldn't have liked it as much. I scanned it today in hopes of enlarging it for Lanie's room, and thought a few of you might want a copy, too. If you do, just click on the photo above and it should direct you to a size that's big enough to download and print as an 8"x10" piece to frame. To make it even more realistic, trim a piece of watercolor paper to fit your printer and print on the watercolor paper itself. It'll look like it just came off the drying rack.  

PS - Print or gift as many copies as you'd like. It's here for the taking. Just don't sell it (does that even need to be said?). Thanks friends.

DIY: Toddler tissue paper art.

This is one of the few toddler art projects I'd be happy doing over and over again. It's low mess, super colorful, and the result is something I'm excited to hang in our playroom. It also helped Liam to learn the difference between a cool color and a warm color. Not that it's super important for a 2-year-old to know, but he liked figuring it out. 

Here's what you need: 

A toddler 

A paint brush 

Water

Tissue paper*

Watercolor paper or a canvas

Scissors or a paper punch in a shape of your choice

*In order for this project to work, you need tissue paper that's water-soluble, that will bleed its colors onto the paper. You can find it at an art store like this one.

1. Cut the tissue paper in an assortment of shapes. We chose squares (and used a paper punch) but you could do long strips of paper, punch out circles, or even tear little pieces in random shapes. We liked using the paper punch so Liam could get involved with this step.

2. Paint a spot of the paper or canvas with water. 

3. Place a piece of tissue paper onto the wet spot.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 again and again.

5. Let it dry completely, then peel off the remaining pieces of tissue paper to reveal the pretty colors underneath.

For this last one, we used a scalloped paper punch with lighter colored paper on canvas. Love the difference it made!

The adventurer.

"As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen." 

 - Winnie the Pooh

Oh, Liam. The adventurer in you makes my heart beat wild. Sometimes your morning greeting sounds like, "Hi Mommy. I'm a parasaurolophus! Raaaawr!" You're always up for a trip to the nature park, a messy project, a crowd of new people. You're confident and (mostly) fearless. But there's still a sweet, cuddly side - at least with your Mommy - that I hope you never lose. The side that hugs me while we're playing and says, "I just like you." Oh, buddy, I like you too. I like you a whole lot.