Dolls and giggles

A few days ago a package arrived with this picture of Joshua and his dad enclosed.

His darling cheesy grin and this sweet post from Candace have got me thinking about how quickly the time will pass before Rosalind grows up and begins a family of her own.

It seems like just yesterday we were holding our fragile little princess in the hospital, and now she's nearly sixteen months! Though I wish time would simply slow down, I'm learning just to treasure each new day together.

Here are sixteen of our favorite things to do together.

1. Cuddle: She's especially cuddly first thing in the morning. As I get her out of the crib, she puts her chubby arms 'round my neck and covers my face with kisses.

2. Read books: Rosalind would be perfectly happy if I read to her all day long. Though there are generally other things that I have to do, I love getting to teach her the names of animals and what sounds they make, let her find things on the page and instill in her the basis of a good story.

3. Give her a bath, just for fun: What a delight an inch of water and a few rubber toys can be!

4. "Work" outside together: Which invariably leads to favorite thing #3, of course. :)

5. STEPS: Yes, I know, they're not all that exciting to most folks, but the moment we've reached the top of the steps, she grabs my hand and wants to go back down. Which is why it can take five minutes getting from the car to the front door.

6. Tickle time: Starting with her forehead, we name the parts of her face ending with tickling and giggling when we reach her neck. She loves it and has started pointing to my face saying "eye- nohhhse-eye..."

7. Put away toys together: From the time she was old enough to pull toys out of the basket, she's helped put them away. Now she grins when I say "time to put the toys away" and hums as she drops them one by one into the basket.

8. Play with her doll and teddy: What child doesn't love you playing their toys with them?

9. Work on memory verses: Though she loves all her books, this one is best. I sure don't mind that. :)

10. Dance together: A friend recently told me about music lessons offered to little ones that help them learn rhythm from infancy. Since real lessons certainly aren't in the budget right now, she said "dancing" with your baby will still help instill a good sense of rhythm. At any rate, she loves it when I turn on the Mozart and dance around the room with her.

11. Go to the park: It's our afternoon ritual. When she wakes up from her afternoon nap we head over to play in the sand and on the slide.

12. Look at pictures of family and friends: After moving far from family and friends I realized how important it is for Rosalind to have pictures up of her grandparents, cousins and soon-to-be 18 aunts and uncles.

13. Do the laundry together: After attempting to get the laundry done with her "helpfully" picking up the folded clothes and handing them to me to re-fold, I realized it was not working. Now, she gives me clothes from the basket and we work on learning the colors as I fold laundry. Much better! :)

14. Take a walk: Whether she's in the stroller or pushing her dolly around in her dolly stroller, we love taking walks together.

15. Shopping: As I've mentioned before, this little girl loves to shop! Her new thing is telling each person we meet (whether or not they're half way across the parking lot) "hi" then grinning and saying "bye".

16. Rock her to sleep: Oh! How I love watching her slowly succumb as she lays her head against my shoulder and wraps her little fingers around my arms.

Check out Susanne's blog for more favorite things. :)