six months!!

it's hard to believe that Sasha has already reached the mid-point of her first year of life! what an incredible journey it's been...and oh how much we love watching her develop her own little personality - equal parts quiet observer and talkative spunky cuteness...like here in her red hot chili pepper costume! :)

so many firsts...and in the past two weeks a few more...

Sasha is not always fond of the bath (to put it midly), so a week or so ago we had our first shower together...what an adventure! she seems to like it well enough and perhaps this will help her become a water baby after all ;)

While keeping me company in the office (I'm on a mission to organize this space one pile at a time so I can work in it again!) Sasha had her first accidental injury! I had been looking out for her not to roll into any corners...but in one moment of not looking she rolled her head under the filing cabinet and wedged it nicely...ouch! She howled in protest (rightly so!) but within a few minutes of rescue and comfort she was giggling away again!

I'm glad we made it to about six months before her first accident...though she had another just a few days ago...a lovely "I've got springs in my butt" launch over my leg into the coffee table! Again she was giggling moments after recovery! If she is even half of an accident-waiting-to-happen that I have been in my life, this resiliency will certainly come in handy! LOL!

Sasha was a welcome positive energy last week when we attended the funeral of Julie Cullen, who I worked with at First Call. She spread smiles to everyone who looked at her and she was calm and observant through the whole ceremony. Julie lost her struggle with cancer...but I will always remember her for the extraordinary life she lived. She leaves behind a wonderful legacy as a champion for children and community. I feel privileged to have known her, and am grateful for what I learned from working with her. With every passing of someone I know (sadly this was the 37th funeral I've been to since I was 12) I take time to reflect on the knowledge shared with me from each person...and Julie challenged me to identify my skills and make sure I was putting them to use for the better good of my world...a life-long challenge that people like her continue to inspire me to live up to. Another touching thing was that a gentleman from the church gave Sasha a beautiful pink stuffed bear on our way out...we named her julie bear.

For Sasha's first halloween we hung out at Shannon's 'cuz her house is always completely decked out and it's extra fun to see the kids freak out when they come for candy there! ;)
Granma picked up the most adorable chili pepper costume which happened to be a perfect fit. There are soo many great pics of her in it, so I chose my faves to share below.

And since parenting is all a big learning curve I have to share my thanks to Granpa who lived through the beginnings of Sasha's separation anxiety. As I had a physical at the doctor's (conveniently only blocks from his place) I thought leaving her there for a couple of hours would be easy...however next time we now know to arrive much earlier so she has time to acclimatize to the environment! She was not a happy camper when I left, but Granpa worked his magic and they made friends not long after. :)

along with a few other faves from halloween (with Shannon, Granma and the jack-o-lanterns), the pics below show Sasha getting a quick sponge bath from daddy; moments after her first accident...you can see the red mark at her hairline above her left eye; already more interested in boxes than the toys on the other side of the room; hangin' out and eating her feet; asleep with julie bear on her head :)