DARK HAIR

I just know I'm jinxing it by writing about it here, but my baby girl's still got dark hair! In fact the top of her head where it initially fell out, has been slowly growing back in DARK. You can imagine the excitement I feel at seeing this. There's still plenty of time for this to go another direction, but for now I'm clinging to hope. Everyone thinks she looks to have a darker complexion. Wouldn't that be nice?!

On the other hand, there's still the observation from many that she looks like Blane. Which of course translates to looking like Grumpa (Redd). Sigh. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. I just hope she looks more like Kristen than Grumpa...

Oh, and just as a matter of record, for now her eyes sure look like they're going to end up Blue as can be.

Desite the outcome, she's the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen. She's already a princess in our home, and I'm honored to hold her every chance I get.

SLEEP

Sleeping babies are great on many levels. The obvious being the chance to catch some rest yourself. But that's not the point here.

Watching Allegra sleep is singularly the most calming and lovely thing I've done lately. The peaceful look on her beautiful face, the gently clenched fists nestled close to her cheeks, the grunting/wheezing/snorting noises she makes - all these things make it the most mesmerizing thing to behold. I could do this all day, but alas, she doesn't sleep all day. Or night...

On the other side of the coin is when she's awake. She's so easy to care for, and spends much of her time just taking everything in through those large dark-blue eyes. On several occasions I've found myself nearly drifting off just watching her eyes. With her crazy brothers, we needed something calming in our lives. So far, Allegra's fitting the bill just fine.

OUR BIG GIRL

Taking the title away from Niki, Allegra is getting to be our Big Girl awfully fast. Too fast for us - especially Kristen. Being the last little one for our family, Kristen wants to cradle this little baby as much as she can. It's amazing how she's already outgrowing the things we brought her home in just over 4 weeks ago.

Her face is getting a little pudgy, and she's already doing so well at trying to hold her head up. It's so wonderful having a baby that's so easy to care for and enjoy. We definitely didn't know the joys of an easy baby on the last 2 rides on the merry-go-round. I don't know if it's because she's a little girl and doesn't have the chutzpah that her brothers were born with, or if she just knows she's the last one. Whatever the reason, she's an absolute pleasure and we are so very blessed to have her in our family.

Now operation protect-her-from-her-brothers-who-are-going-to-love-her-to-DEATH must continue...

HER FIRST AND LAST MINI-SKIRT

Some friends from church (newly-weds without their own little ones yet) gave us one of the absolute cutest outfits I've seen. It was a nice little onesie with an itty-bitty denim mini skirt. Unbelieveably adorable!

So Allegra was decked-out in that outfit for Church today, and was just as cute as you could ever imagine. I was all smiles as I carried her around throughout the Church Block. Smiles because this was her first little skirt - and as long as I have a say, it'll also be her last!!!

So yeah, I have to admit that I'm getting into the fun of dressing our little girl up. She's so beautiful, and picking out the fun little shirts and dresses and hats and all that is just too much fun to pass up. If I'm enjoying it, I can only imagine the delight Kristen's finally experiencing with her little girl.