Dear Violet,

We went on a road trip with you this month to see friends in Chattanooga, and we all had so much fun!  We went to the Aquarium in Chattanooga, then spent Saturday in Atlanta, going to Ikea and Trader Joe's, 2 of your mommy's favorite places.  :)  Rob and Petrina's little boy, Evan, is just under 3 months older than you, and it was SO much fun and SO interesting to watch you two interact!!  You took a little while to get used to him, you silly, sensitive girl.  :)  But you ended up having so much fun with him, and he taught you a few things- sitting in a high chair at a restaurant (you were in your stroller, and wouldn't stop fussing until you were next to him in your own highchair!), eating more than just a little bit in the morning (he eats a whole lot, and you were so interested in watching him, he had to share some of his food with you!), and you wanted to crawl around with him so terribly bad...  I feel bad because I know you're so close to doing it, but you just won't seem to keep those knees bent!  I try to help you out, and you know what to do with your arms, but those knees just flatten, fall and swim around everytime you decide to try crawling.  You've been close now for quite a few weeks, but you can already pull up to standing by yourself and you're starting to cruise around your crib and pack-n-play, so I'm starting to wonder if you'll just skip crawling altogether!  You stood by yourself today for a good 6 or 7 seconds at nana's house.  It was pretty amazing to your mama, who thinks you stole the moon.  :)

Here you are with Evan after a few minutes of warming up to him.  You two were so cute!

Here you are at the butterfly farm, seeing a butterfly for the first time.  I'm so glad I got something like this in a photo.  It's a memorable moment!  ...even though you could've cared less.  :)

Here is your family!  Daddy, your sweet little self in that cute outfit, and your proud mommy, with penguins behind us.  They had their backs turned toward us and wouldn't swim... such a rip off!  You liked seeing them though.

Oh, I love this photo.  This is you and your daddy, watching the fish swim around in a huge water tank.  You were very interested in them, and they were making you sleepy.  They should've had cots lying around that place- it was so relaxing!

Here are you and Evan "playing" on the bed at the hotel in Atlanta.  You liked him about 2/3 of the time.  :)

Here you are in your first pair of sunglasses!  Such a HILARIOUS baby you are.  Look at that pose!

You were pretty stinking jealous of Evan and his crawling abilities.  You were determined to practice until your limbs were shaky, and you still didn't get it!  We tried!  So close though, as you can see...

I LOVE PHOTOS OF YOU AND YOUR DADDY...

Here are you and Evan in your monkey shirts...  I swear Petrina and I did NOT plan this either!  You two were so cute.  We had to wave something above your heads to at least get you both to stay still.  Too cute!

I love this face of yours- it's so inquisitive and eager to learn.  We were impressed that you were interested in this toy!  You're such a little genius.

There's that face you made 2309843 times while we were there.  You were a little whiny baby!  It's okay, though, he was a new friend and he could do more things than you so you were frustrated.  I understand, sweetheart...  :)

This is one of the cutest pictures I've ever seen.  I really think he's trying to help you crawl here!  He stayed there like that for a long time!

 Here we all are, the McGarvey's and the Guice's.  Look what you two are doing...  :) 

Here you are, being so so so so incredibly, wonderfully sweet and good on the way home.  You are such a good traveling buddy.  It was a near 8-hour trip, and you didn't break into a full-on cry a single time!  Parents all over the world are jealous of me...  :)

You'll be 7 months old tomorrow, and holy moly, time is flying!  I can't believe you're growing so fast, it's hard to keep up!  It's so amazing to watch you learn.  You really take everything in.  You fight sleep a lot and I think it's because you just love to learn and explore, and you don't want to miss a thing!  Nana and I went jogging tonight while you stayed with papa, and you hadn't had your afternoon nap.  You were red-faced and tear-stained when we got back a short 25 minutes later.  Poor thing, you're such a mama's girl when you're sleepy.  I was talking to them in the kitchen before we left, and you ended up literally "falling" asleep on my shoulder.  Your head was up and you were on my hip, and you just suddenly slumped over and passed out!  It was so cute.  I just love that warm, heavy, soft weight of you sleeping on me.

Speaking of sleeping, you slept all night in your crib last week!  We're trying for you to do it again tonight too, but we'll see.  Mimi and Aunt Amanda came to visit with Kepler, so we had you sleep with us again, but we're trying to see if you'll do well in your crib for the whole night.  I think your daddy wants his bed back...  :)  He's worried he'll hurt you while he sleeps, and I think you may sleep better without having me right there next to you.  We'll see.  I do miss you, though.  It's funny, because I see you every waking second, but I still miss you while I sleep!  That's love, little missy- don't you forget it!

I Love You,
Mom