Leap Girl

Kendall Virginia is 6 months old.
Today.
February 29, 2012.
Leap Day.

I owe her some pictures. Real pictures. Not sub-par cell phone shots like the one you have here. And I will get some of her, as soon as the camera is charged. And the planets align.

I have been looking for the camera for days. It was last seen in the hands of a certain toddler who chooses to remain nameless. This morning I asked her where the camera was. She laid down on the floor of my room, peeked under the bed and ran down the hall. "Uh Oh!" Giggles. I should have trusted her, but a quick glance under the bed showed nothing. Tonight I realized that the day had gotten away from me. No camera. No pictures. I offered a $5 dollar reward to anyone able to find the camera. A mad search ensued. Nada. I grabbed a flashlight and decided to give the under bed one more look. And tucked WAY back against the wall I saw a silver glimmer. There is was (much to the chagrin of two older girls who have both asked to share in the reward). My guess is that Avery was looking at pictures (she loves to turn on the camera and look at the pictures) and dropped it down between the crack that is between the mattress and the headboard. And she knew it. Hence the "Uh Oh!" and the looking under the bed. The running and giggling? That is just her maniacal sense of humor.

When you drop a camera in a crack when it is on? It is found with no charge. Which probably didn't matter, because during the time that I was smashed under my bed trying to reach the camera, Avery was busy drawing on Kendall's face with a pen. Which, after much scrubbing, left Kendall with a marked up face and a bad attitude. Not the lovely one you see above.

And with a sister like Avery, Kendall is lucky to have reached this milestone. And will be luckier still to reach a year. Avery tilts her head to the side and makes the sweetest sounds of "Aw, baby." While whacking Kendall over the head, burying her with pillows, sitting on her, or trying to stab her eyes out with a pen.

Kendall will just need to learn to get up and RUN. And she needs to do it soon. It is a matter of survival.

6 month stats:
Height: 25 inches (50%... Say WHAT? Can this be??? Here is our TALL one. No one else has ever peaked over the 10% for height.)
Weight: 14 lbs even (5-10%... the words long and lean were used. Considering the thighs on this girl, I laughed)
Head: 15 3/4 (5-10%... Smallest head of any of my girls. But she is already smart enough to get a look of terror on her face when approached by Avery.)

She is already scooting herself around. On those rare occasions she actually gets put down. She must know that her survival depends on movement. She babbles a lot. Some days more than her big sister. I hear Mama A LOT. Again, learning to call out to the one person who can rescue her. She is sweet tempered, cute as a button and downright charming. She is the fourth chamber of my heart. The one that beats outside of my chest. I cannot imagine my world without her.

And so, we embark on the next 6 months with a great big LEAP of faith.