How it is executed

Make a song about THIS, JT.

I turned around, and little Miss was sitting in her book box. She then wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to climb into and out of anything climbable (boxes, cupboards, etc). It made for some funny faces and a couple wicked spills.



We went shoe shopping for the little one now that she hates being seated. They are a little big on her so we've only made her wear them when she's walking out in public. But here she is all gussied up, ready to go to lunch. The hand up is her new way to ask "W" questions. When she drops something I used to go "where'd it go?" and hold my hands up. Now she does this when she's "asking" a question.

Free Horsey

Kate decided that horsey should not have to stay penned up. She's a girl after her free-range auntie's heart.

Garage Sale Weekend

Grandma and Grandpa came over Saturday to help us with the garage sale. They brought bagels which Kate loved.



Mamacita manned the money and merchandise while the grandrents entertained the baby, and Daddy P worked.

Mooo Oink Bagooock!

We went to a farm today. Kate was most interested in carrying around a pot she found everywhere as she made me finger-walk her around the place. That was seriously about 20 minutes of the outing. She was less interested in the baby ducks, or the other kids, or the animals. As far as animals... Kate liked the dog the best, and the chickens were runners up. The real show-stealer was my straw in my water cup.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday, Kate took a few steps and sat down. Today, she's crossing the room to try to get to things. Daddy P said that when he came home she was playing with the nanny about 10 feet away and walked right over to him.




Problems include: her father's lack of awareness of his foot position. Kate believes she can walk over anything. Yeah, not so much.

She also ate her first banana all by herself. She's enjoying use of her two front teeth, and I'm feeling a little braver in letting her try to use them. Although, I still chop most everything into teeny tiny pieces.

Budding Football Fan

Kate's first real chance to watch TV...





Don't let the get up confuse you... she's a Texans fan.

What? No internet?!

Our internet at home is down (has been for two days!!) so we are a little besides ourselves with not being able to communicate in written form with the outside world.

So, while I have a few seconds at this here coffeeshop, I will update you...

It has been a whirlwind weekend. We have hired nannies. That's right. Nannies. No one nanny is good enough for our Kate! No, actually, we found two that we really liked, but neither had a schedule that worked for us entirely. We asked them if they'd be willing to each do part-part-time, and they said yes! Woo hoo! They are both students, and both sweet, intelligent ladies, so we are happy to make them a part of our lives. We hope that by having two nannies we'll have more flexibility next semester when their class schedules change so they'll still be able to work the hours we need. Fingers crossed.

Our move is proceeding along. We close on the 30th, but probably won't move until mid- to late-October due to some repairs we want to make and what not.

And now, a baby Kate anecdote.

Kate is down to one nap consistently at this point (although she'll sleep in the car in the morning if given the chance). So today when the cable guy came at lunchtime she was already out. Daddy P reports that the dog created such a fuss when he got to the house that Elly actually woke Kate up. Kate stirs, says "Elly Dog" (which in Kate sounds like "Ehee daaa") and goes back to sleep.

I'm still waiting on "Mama."

Oh no she didn't!

These days, Kate pretty much only wants me to hold her fingers so she can walk around the house. She hasn't tackled walking further than five steps at a time, and those usually involve a lunge at the end. But this finger walking is her favorite. This began while Grandma was babysitting, continued while Grandpa was babysitting, and now that MOM is the one babysitting it's not really feasible. Unlike the Grandparents I have to, you know, do stuff. So, today, when I pulled my fingers away (gently) so I could cook dinner, Kate decided to tell me exactly what she thought about that.

She collapsed to the floor, head to the ground, sprawled out, and SCREAMED. A new scream. An almost-toddler scream. A holy-hell-the-world-is-ending-because-I-am-deprived scream. (Is she 13? No, just 11 months.) No wait for it... it gets better.

And then... she began to pound on the floor with her fist. I kid you not.

I was feeling kinda like a bad mom. I mean, you know, she's a baby! You aren't supposed to just let them cry and feel all sad.

I tossed her a plastic spoon (I was doing dishes, folks! What am I supposed to throw her!). Nothing. Pound pound.

I tossed her a bowl (plastic, again). Nothing.

Wooden spoon?

Bingo! She instantly sat up, looked at me, looked at the spoon, and gnawed on that thing for the next fifteen minutes.

So if you are feeling like your spine is too straight, and you would like to come over and pace the floor, please. Do. Kate will love you forever.

She walks! (Three steps at a time)

Baby Kate has spent the last three days walking from Daddy P to me, and from me to Daddy P. She pretty much limits herself to three or four steps and then throws herself into our laps. I would call her "stable" necesarily, but she's definitely got the right idea.

Her use of her signs is broadening, too. Her auntie was impressed with her signing and insisted that we further impress her by teaching Kate more signs. I've been trying. I figure "cheese" is our next best bet since it is hands-down her favorite food. But tonight Kate realized that she can use them for different things. For example... she's been a little under the weather today, and was really ready for bed. She and Daddy P were reading a book while I listened. Kate's eyes were drooping. Suddenly she signs "all done" (which has only been used at dinner until tonight) and then when I asked "are you sleepy? time for bed?" she signed "sleep." So, we said goodnight, stuck her in the crib, and that was that.

A girl who knows what she wants.

Belated 11 month pic

A picture from her 11 month day...



Compared to last month...

And of course... a retrospective:



Kate's been having fun playing with friends this weekend. Although she gets a little overeager sometimes and pats them too hard, or uses them as a stepping stool, in general she is a very good friend.

Here she is chasing her friend, Derek:



Reading with her friend Eleanor:



Today I think we finally nailed nap. She went up at 11am for her name routine, and was fast asleep by 11:30am. Next time we heard from her was 1:45pm! Excellent. And she made it through the evening pretty well. A little fussier than normal, but not like last week when the only nap she had ended at 10:45am, or when she decided to only sleep 30 minutes. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be as good!

Discombobulation

Some of you may remember that Kate has not been napping for the nanny. All last week though she was taking a good solid morning nap, but refusing to go down for her in the afternoon.

Well, the nanny is off getting married this week so I thought it would be a great time to try to figure out what's happening. Friday she refused to nap in the afternoon. Saturday she napped in the morning, but refused the afternoon. So, I decided, let's do one nap and make it official so that when 3pm rolls around she isn't a miserable sad baby.

Sunday she resisted an afternoon nap, but took a short one. Monday her afternoon nap lasted 45 minutes. Yesterday it lasted 30 minutes.

As each day has passed she has also been getting up earlier and earlier and having more and more trouble going to sleep. Which means that ALL sleep is bad and decreasing, and I am getting more and more frustrated with not having a clue.

Today I decided to swing the other direction. She woke at 5:30am this morning and talked until 7am when I went in to get her. So, she must be tired, right? I put her down at 8:45am after a busy morning to tire her out.

As I type she is furiously banging on the crib railing.

Ah well. Maybe she'll settle...

Fingers crossed... I am hoping this is pre-walking sleep problems. This happened before she started crawling, and walking seems close, so I am just blaming that for now.

And I know I said no more house stuff, but... we're under contract on house #3 and hope to be keeping this one. :) Hopefully me saying that won't curse it. It's going to be a busy month! Hopefully the change and move won't be too hard on the baby. We're also going to be changing childcare all in the same month. Whew! Our friends we are nanny sharing with decided it was just not working out as they'd hoped, so we will be figuring out what that means for us in the next weeks.

Wait... the crib rocking ceased... could it be...?