Will you stay like this forever please?

Liesel is growing so much these days that I know if I don't stop and write it down, she'll be past this and on to the next stage! I feel like I find myself looking at her and saying, "man you are SO cute!" like 50 times a day. Is that normal? I'm sure it's normal. I wish I could keep her at this stage forever. 

First and foremost, she is curious about everything. She'll study the carpet, the camera, a pinecone, the straps on her carseat. . . you name it, she'll study it. She doesn't just look at it, she turns it over in her hand, rakes it, tastes it, moves it to the other hand and does it all over again. 

She has to feed herself. She doesn't want me to give it to her, and if I do she'll push it right back out again with her tongue. She likes to eat what we eat mashed up. She liked the enchiladas, but not the garbonzo/basil/bleu cheese salad (I barely liked that one). She likes all fruits, especially pears and she loves yogurt and smoothies. But who doesn't? If I'm eating something, she'll grab my hand quick as lightning to see what it is and then take her little fingers and grab some also. 

She is always moving now. Rolling, crawling, creeping and scooting around the house. She loves to look out the window and play with the curtain and she especially loves standing up, but hasn't learned how to pull herself in that position yet. I love putting things on her head (aunt Jemima? Pirate? Cowboy? Bloomers?). She loves bath time and will obsessively turn the light off. I'll turn if back on, and she'll reach behind her and turn it right off again, then go back to playing with her duck. This happens about 20 times during bath time. 

I'm not kidding when I say she loves being outside. She really does. If she's upset and I bring her outside, she stops. If she's been inside too much, she lets me know. She loves sitting in the Chariot and looking out the side window while I jog or bike. She really likes her backpack carrier when I'm hiking (as long as I don't do more than 5 hours) and doesn't mind the feel of grass, sand, dirt or stones. 

She's still really into the nose scrunch face and after letting her cry it out for a couple nights at my parents house, she is finally sleeping through the night. She looks like a little angel when she sleeps and I usually find her in the strangest positions. She' s still a fairly light sleeper and if I go in and look at her, 9 times out of 10 she'll wake up. 

She loves Brian. If he's home, she's usually in a great mood. And she has a death grip. She likes it when I hide, make her clap her hands, dance with her on my hip and sing. She doesn't seem afraid of anything yet. And lastly, she's going to be amazing at hand jams. She still keeps her thumb tucked (like making a four) when reaching for just about everything. We figure she's almost ready for the Creek again. . . and so are we.