[somehow this one never got published... so here you go...]
Baby Kate knows what she wants and she's not afraid to tell you. Let me share a few scenarios we've had reoccur daily...
Naptime: We start off reading books and then she gets a bottle to snack on before nap. She won't sleep without the bottle, and will cry until you come back and give it to her if you try to skip it. Well, lately, she's begun to dictate how many books are read. You read her one, and she leans over to the bookstack to pick another one. Then you read that one and she leans over to the stack and grabs yet another. It goes on like this. If you try to give her the bottle she just shoves it away. Eventually she signs "bottle" and accepts the bottle and goes to sleep. Pushy little thing, huh?
After nap: Three days now Kate will crawl over to me, climb to standing and pound my leg. I look down and ask "bottle?" She signs "bottle" and then sucks it down when I give it to her.
So, we got the bottle sign down.
Today Daddy P was giving her lunch and he paused to feed himself while Kate ate her finger food. Well, eventually he looked up and saw Kate clapping her hands together crazily (her version of the "more" sign) and an empty plate before her. He gave her more peaches and she ate them all up.
She's a busy little thing. Here's a short video of her crawling to go watch the puppy. (Nothing earth shattering, just an update!) :)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
A little update
If you look closely, you'll notice it is only growing on the very top of her head, not in the front or the back.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Pool Day
Here are some pictures from Kate's pool day a while back. She was getting used to the water as well as getting used to keeping her hat on!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Father's Day
Happy Father's Day to my sweet Daddy P who I love so much!
He shared his father's day with our friends today. We started our day with our normal Saturday run/coffee/breakfast taco outing. Then I sent Daddy P off to get a massage while I put the baby down for her nap and cleaned. When he got back we went to look at some open houses and found the very nicest, greatest realtor ever. I've never seen a realtor put so much work into making very gorgeous pamphlets to hand out. The place was amazingly staged, the pictures were professionally done with a wide-angle and all, and the whole thing was just beautiful. I joked on the way home that I wanted the realtor more than the house. He was so nice you just wanted to wrap him up and take him home with you! But I loved the house too.
We've been torturing ourselves a bit by going to open houses before we're really ready to buy. There are some very pretty ones that is for sure. The market is starting to pick up for the new homeowner market. The last two we have seen that we liked had contracts on them within a week!
After that we decided to go by Conn's on the way home since it's just up the street from us. Daddy P had recently declared that he has decided that we don't need a TV, but we had a $50 off coupon in the mail, so we went.
Happy Father's Day! We bought a big ole TV. It gets to the store on Tuesday. We'll finally be able to read the subtitles on foreign films! Very exciting. It's a whole 10 inches bigger than our 22 inch! I don't know if we have room for it!
I hope all you daddies out there had a lovely day!
Happy Father's Day to my Daddy! I love you lots and have had so much fun watching you with your little grandbaby.
He shared his father's day with our friends today. We started our day with our normal Saturday run/coffee/breakfast taco outing. Then I sent Daddy P off to get a massage while I put the baby down for her nap and cleaned. When he got back we went to look at some open houses and found the very nicest, greatest realtor ever. I've never seen a realtor put so much work into making very gorgeous pamphlets to hand out. The place was amazingly staged, the pictures were professionally done with a wide-angle and all, and the whole thing was just beautiful. I joked on the way home that I wanted the realtor more than the house. He was so nice you just wanted to wrap him up and take him home with you! But I loved the house too.
We've been torturing ourselves a bit by going to open houses before we're really ready to buy. There are some very pretty ones that is for sure. The market is starting to pick up for the new homeowner market. The last two we have seen that we liked had contracts on them within a week!
After that we decided to go by Conn's on the way home since it's just up the street from us. Daddy P had recently declared that he has decided that we don't need a TV, but we had a $50 off coupon in the mail, so we went.
Happy Father's Day! We bought a big ole TV. It gets to the store on Tuesday. We'll finally be able to read the subtitles on foreign films! Very exciting. It's a whole 10 inches bigger than our 22 inch! I don't know if we have room for it!
I hope all you daddies out there had a lovely day!
Happy Father's Day to my Daddy! I love you lots and have had so much fun watching you with your little grandbaby.
Friday, June 19, 2009
A little dancy dancy
I put on some Man Man to see if Kate likes them as much as she did when she was in my tummy. She didn't do much until the laptop stopped playing the music, then she suddenly got concerned and went to investigate. She was much happier when the music started up again.
Here's the before video:
And here's today!
Here's the before video:
And here's today!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
First Word
Kate used her first sign today. She was acting fussy during play time and I asked if she wanted a bottle. She immediately signed "bottle" and then downed the bottle I presented her. She did it again later in the day. She had finished her bottle off completely before her nap and I put her down after reading some books and singing to her. She wasn't having that. I went back to her room and picked her up and she signed "bottle". I gave her another bottle, she finished it off, and promptly went to sleep.
The flip side is that right now "more" seems also to be the bottle sign... sometimes she wants the bottle but other times she just wants more food. But it's a step. :)
She also had some fun at dinner tonight. Daddy P is out of town, and I have had a rough day. So I decided to let Kate do what she wanted for dinner. This is what resulted:
The flip side is that right now "more" seems also to be the bottle sign... sometimes she wants the bottle but other times she just wants more food. But it's a step. :)
She also had some fun at dinner tonight. Daddy P is out of town, and I have had a rough day. So I decided to let Kate do what she wanted for dinner. This is what resulted:
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Love Those Milestones
Yay for crawling!
It meant the end of Kate waking up every 2 hours and crying. She doesn't get stuck sleep-crawling in her crib anymore and is back to sleeping through the night.
But.
(Always that darned "but"...)
Now she doesn't go down for naps or bed without a good fight. Some combination of "too much fun to sleep" and "don't leave me alone!" that crawling has triggered has made recent nap and bed for us quite the trial. It's getting better. Slowly. (Very slowly.) She desperately wants to be rocked to sleep again, which I thought we were three months past. And just generally seems a little miffed that she has to take a break and sleep when there are way more fun things to do.
Ah, can't wait to see what walking brings....
It meant the end of Kate waking up every 2 hours and crying. She doesn't get stuck sleep-crawling in her crib anymore and is back to sleeping through the night.
But.
(Always that darned "but"...)
Now she doesn't go down for naps or bed without a good fight. Some combination of "too much fun to sleep" and "don't leave me alone!" that crawling has triggered has made recent nap and bed for us quite the trial. It's getting better. Slowly. (Very slowly.) She desperately wants to be rocked to sleep again, which I thought we were three months past. And just generally seems a little miffed that she has to take a break and sleep when there are way more fun things to do.
Ah, can't wait to see what walking brings....
Friday, June 12, 2009
No Top Shelf, gimme the cheap stuff!
(I'm looking to the doctors on my informal advisory panel to advise me on this one. Doctors?)
At Babies R Us yesterday, Daddy P and I stood staring at the Wall O' Formula. It's daunting! Enfamil always has discounts. In fact, if you buy that stuff without a coupon the company's screwing you. Good Start hardly ever has coupons, but Babies R Us has a rewards card for it (buy 9 get the 10th free). So your $25 a can goes a teeny bit further. But then... there's the brand new Babies R Us brand.
Now in the grocery, I hardly buy name brand anymore. I mean, some stuff you know you'll get stuck with cardboard if you buy generic, like cereal for example. But you can save a pretty penny most times and still taste plenty of yumminess.
But formula, this is a different matter. This is, you know, healthy stuff. It isn't about flavor. So we stood there and stared. Then we started shouting ingredients to each other. I held the Babies R Us brand and Enfamil (which it is based off of and compared to on the can). Daddy P held the Good Start by Nestle.
"This one has less iron, but more Calcium. And this one has 100% FDA recommended suchandsuch."
"Okay, this one has just as much suchandsuch. Wait. Which one has less iron? This one has 60 g of fairy dust."
So on and so forth. Our heads were I think actually spinning by the end.
We bought the Babies R Us brand. I reason, Babies R Us is selling it to get you in the store. The cheap price is just to get you in to buy it so you'll pick up another ten things on the way out the door. (Like groceries selling diapers.) Meanwhile, Nestle and Enfamil mark it up like crazy since that's their product, said and done. I mean, it's hard *not* to want to save $60 a month by buying Babies R Us's brand. I mean, really! That's $720 a year! That's a Cancun vacation right there!
So, yeah, it might sound bad that I'm buying generic baby food so I can go to Cancun. And really, I swear it, that wasn't what I was thinking about when I stood in the store.
But geez, it sure is sounding persuasive now!
At Babies R Us yesterday, Daddy P and I stood staring at the Wall O' Formula. It's daunting! Enfamil always has discounts. In fact, if you buy that stuff without a coupon the company's screwing you. Good Start hardly ever has coupons, but Babies R Us has a rewards card for it (buy 9 get the 10th free). So your $25 a can goes a teeny bit further. But then... there's the brand new Babies R Us brand.
Now in the grocery, I hardly buy name brand anymore. I mean, some stuff you know you'll get stuck with cardboard if you buy generic, like cereal for example. But you can save a pretty penny most times and still taste plenty of yumminess.
But formula, this is a different matter. This is, you know, healthy stuff. It isn't about flavor. So we stood there and stared. Then we started shouting ingredients to each other. I held the Babies R Us brand and Enfamil (which it is based off of and compared to on the can). Daddy P held the Good Start by Nestle.
"This one has less iron, but more Calcium. And this one has 100% FDA recommended suchandsuch."
"Okay, this one has just as much suchandsuch. Wait. Which one has less iron? This one has 60 g of fairy dust."
So on and so forth. Our heads were I think actually spinning by the end.
We bought the Babies R Us brand. I reason, Babies R Us is selling it to get you in the store. The cheap price is just to get you in to buy it so you'll pick up another ten things on the way out the door. (Like groceries selling diapers.) Meanwhile, Nestle and Enfamil mark it up like crazy since that's their product, said and done. I mean, it's hard *not* to want to save $60 a month by buying Babies R Us's brand. I mean, really! That's $720 a year! That's a Cancun vacation right there!
So, yeah, it might sound bad that I'm buying generic baby food so I can go to Cancun. And really, I swear it, that wasn't what I was thinking about when I stood in the store.
But geez, it sure is sounding persuasive now!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Cause and Effect
Kate may be smarter than Elly.
I think we're at that point. She can consider cause and effect.
Case in point: drop food, dog appears. If you've watched Kate you know that there is little that excites the little kid more than seeing the dog appear. She goes bezerk. So she is finding some happiness in being able to control Elly's movements.
I think we're at that point. She can consider cause and effect.
Case in point: drop food, dog appears. If you've watched Kate you know that there is little that excites the little kid more than seeing the dog appear. She goes bezerk. So she is finding some happiness in being able to control Elly's movements.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Our Agreeable Russian
Everything out of this baby's mouth is positive.
"Da. Da. Da da."
Our cute, sweet, agreeable little Russian baby.
She's also quite the help in the kitchen these days. If "help" means laughing at her reflection in the oven.
"Da. Da. Da da."
Our cute, sweet, agreeable little Russian baby.
She's also quite the help in the kitchen these days. If "help" means laughing at her reflection in the oven.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Defense Day!
Please send Daddy P a good luck wish on his defense day! He is off on a run this morning with Kate, and I am going to make some pancakes to get his tummy off on the right foot.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Job Update
It is official! Daddy P got a job with a small company out of New Jersey. They are willing to let us stay put for now and see if he can make working from home work. He and his new boss will re-evaluate in a few months to decide if we need to move or if we can stay.
Very exciting stuff!
Very exciting stuff!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The eyes... they are a changin'...
Kate at 4 months vs. Today. Gonna be a brown eyed girl I do think!
Carrot Protest
Kate refused her first food yesterday. And frankly I can't blame her. Carrots? Yuck. She avoided all the carrots and ate everything else on her tray besides the yucky little orange things.
Then today, when we gave her some pancake she was especially careful to make sure to taste it before getting too involved with it to make sure it wasn't a carrot.
Then today, when we gave her some pancake she was especially careful to make sure to taste it before getting too involved with it to make sure it wasn't a carrot.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Oops - let me back up
Last Friday, Kate learned to crawl. :)
She only went a foot. At the cajoling of her great aunt, and the luring of a bouncy fluffy dog, she crawled.
Yesterday, she crossed the rug to reach the dog ... at which point Elly became an official outdoor dog.
Today, she was everywhere that would help her to stand. All she wanted to do was stand.
She only went a foot. At the cajoling of her great aunt, and the luring of a bouncy fluffy dog, she crawled.
Yesterday, she crossed the rug to reach the dog ... at which point Elly became an official outdoor dog.
Today, she was everywhere that would help her to stand. All she wanted to do was stand.
My New Life
Reality set in today. I had this really pretty picture of what Kate crawling will be like. She'd scoot around. The house is babyproofed so she'd just explore everything.
Not.
Apparently crawling and standing go hand in hand. Today she crawled to everything that would allow her to stand up. The couch. The ottoman. Her toy basket. A chair. The oven. The dog's bed. It was exhausting following her around. Which I did eventually do when she fell so many times I started to worry someone would call Families and Children on us because of all the bumps all over her...
Not.
Apparently crawling and standing go hand in hand. Today she crawled to everything that would allow her to stand up. The couch. The ottoman. Her toy basket. A chair. The oven. The dog's bed. It was exhausting following her around. Which I did eventually do when she fell so many times I started to worry someone would call Families and Children on us because of all the bumps all over her...
Monday, June 1, 2009
Whirlwind Trip
We are back from our trip to Cali. Kate was quite the trooper. She adjusted well to the time change and handled the flights pretty well. It was a busy few days but she soaked up all the attention. Here are some pics of her enjoying Cali life. At happy hour on the harbor she decided she was a bit too cool to wear her sunglasses on her eyes, so she pulled them up to look even more hip.
Kate got to meet a new friend, Maddie. They hit it off instantly! They sat and sounded like they were honestly talking to one another. They would look at each other and one would say something, then the other, then the other... it was hilarious.
Kate got to meet a new friend, Maddie. They hit it off instantly! They sat and sounded like they were honestly talking to one another. They would look at each other and one would say something, then the other, then the other... it was hilarious.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)