look at me, mom!

Beginning right before vacation, Rachel started to make some real spurts in mental & physical accomplishments. The funniest is that she has now started walking. It all started with our well check-up to the pediatrician the week before vacation. The Nurse Practioner asked if she had started walking yet. "Nope. Not really. I mean, she can walk, but she just doesn't choose to do so by herself." The NP replied that if she didn't start walking by the next month, to give her a call; she might need some physical therapy. (What??!!) Not one minute passed from this conversation when Rachel took about 5 steps by herself, going towards the NP. She sure showed that (very nice) NP that there was NO WAY she was going to have physical therapy at 16 months old! During vacation she really started to take off & everybody kept showing off by saying things like, "Rachel just took 10 steps toward me from that coffee table over there." She still crawls some, but she also walks when she finds it convenient for herself. So, we're gradually making the transition.

Her communication skills have also started to take off. Her babbling sounds a lot more like words now, even if I still can't understand most of them. Be-be is her newest cutest word & of course was learned with having her sweet cousin Norah stay with us after the vacation. Rachel sure LOVED to have a baby around & would try to pat her head or give her kisses all of the time. I am surprised, however, that she doesn't called babies "GENTLE" because that's really all she heard when she approached Norah. I wish I could describe how she treated Norah & Levi when they were at our house. She wanted to pat their heads & give kisses but all with an ecstatic squealing & jibber jabber; some be-be's interspersed as well. It was as though she was saying, "I can't believe the adults are letting me so close to this little human being! EEeeeeeekkkk! They are so cute! Wait, she has my toy! I want it back! And I also want to pat her head in a REALLY EXCITED way because I love her so much!!!"

She has also started to love baby dolls, & Kate is having to relinquish her control of the doll family & give some to Rachel. She loves to hold, rock & give kisses to them. She has moved towards saying Mo-mee instead of Ma-ma. After I wrote that she said Ray-ray one day; she hasn't said it again... but has started to use "Shishy" or something similar to talk about Kate. She loves shoes. She has started to bring shoes to me & try to fit her cute feet into my shoes as well. Just last night she learned (in a day or two) to hold up her cute little finger when I ask her how old she is. I have started giving her a spoon, which she is learning slowly but surely how to use. She really likes to participate when the art supplies come out; but currently her participation is making a few marks on the paper & then eating the crayons. :-(

My baby is growing up. I suppose it's inevitable that when I held Norah & Levi, it really banished the phrase "Baby Rachel" from my vocab. She's not a baby anymore, although her chubby cheekies say otherwise.

my baby is one!

Sweet Rachel Claire turned one today! We'll have her party later on, but I wanted to write a quick update. Rahel is so proud of being a bigger girl. Yesterday, I gave her a whole cracker, and she looked at me with these eyes that said, "Yes!!!! I'm so glad you finally see me for the grown up that I am! Whoopee!" She doesn't say many different words, but her eyes (and eyebrows) can be very expressive. Her favorite word is da-da-da, and it can be used to express all sorts of things. Kate often turns to me and interprets what that da-da meant. "Mom, she said she's finished." or "Mom, she's wants to play with me." She's said a few words very few times (like papa, ba-ba, ah-duh, and ank-yu -- this last one is mostly an intonation, not really formed syllables of sound). She does sign for more & all done when prompted.

Just the other day, she stood for the first time by herself. It only happens when I'm holding her hands & let go. :-) I can tell she's trying to work on standing up by herself. She scoots her bottom up really high in the air and I can tell she really wants the top half of her body to lift itself up to standing position. But, she hasn't worked it out yet. She cruises quickly and is proficient at switching from coffee table to couch and back again. She likes to play with her walker & is very good at it. Kate helps her steer and off they go! Her favorite things are still her books, which she takes one by one out of her shelf almost every day. Recently, she's started crawling into big sis' room to play with the Little People house. When I was cleaning up breakfast dishes today while Kate finished up eating, all of a sudden I was a bit disconcerted to hear a huge flushing sound. Then, I realized it was from the play house. :-)

She is an extremely easy going baby. She still takes two naps a day, nurses four times, and eats three times. She loves bananas & sippy cups the best. You'd think for a girl who ate bananas (several of them) every day, she'd be over them by now, but NO. . I forgot to mention that she also rarely says a word for banana. We know she's excited when she starts flapping her arms & bobbing her head from side to side or up and down. The head bobbing is also her "dancing" and is very cute to watch. She is nowhere near as shy as her big sister was, and will even give smiles away to total strangers.

She loves riding in her stroller, especially if I go fast! And, she just moved up to her big sister's car seat, although it's still rear facing. With the fruit basket upset in the back seat, we had to move her over from the center (right next to sister) over to the window, and I think she really misses being close to Kate.

She's a great sleeper. Example: We go to prayer meeting at the Baileys on Wednesdays. At her normal bed time (8), I put her down there. About an hr or hour and a half later, we get her up & move her to the car. No cries. She stays awake usually for the entire ride home and then gets put back into her crib at home, and falls right to sleep again. She sucks her thumb quite adorably, but only when she's tired. This is a handy cue for mom! She likes to have something cozy to hold in one hand while she sucks the other thumb. Few pictures of this b/c who takes a picture of their kid when they are also trying to get them into bed (not me!).

As far as food goes, she's an eating machine! She frequently eats until her tummy looks HUGE and is hard as a rock. And sometimes, that's because I've cut her off! Today, for her birthday breakfast, she had 4 pancakes and some scrambled eggs. Sister had to be forced to finish her eggs & 1 pancake. She eats all table food these days and is very good at getting into her mouth. No plates or spoons for her yet, she's still using her God-given utensils, her fingers.

If you'd like to see her slideshow, I've linked to it on facebook.

4 Months

Two girls at 4 months
Turning Over: Rachel is proficient at turning over both ways, and has a predilection for one side. Kate didn't roll over from back to belly the first time until she was 5 months old.
Eating: Rachel has the same *basic* schedule that her sister did, but instead of taking 1 hour to eat, she eats in about 10 minutes. What?!? I can't believe I birthed her!
Playtime: Unlike her big sis, Rachel enjoys playing on the floor both on her tummy and her back. She's started to enjoy the few toys I put out for her to push around the floor as well. My eye hasn't witnessed it, but I believe she can do some sort of traveling across the floor because she's always in such a different spot. In fact, she's so happy on the floor, that I haven't moved up the Exersaucer or the bumbo.
Personality: Rachel is starting to smile A LOT! If she sees me in the room, or passing by her bouncy seat, she gives a huge grin. She's also fairly content. Some days this week, she's had much more fussiness, and I wondered if she was beginning to teeth. The few little teething tabs I gave her seemed to help, but I haven't seen any signs of teeth cutting in yet. She gets along pretty well with big sister, too, and tolerates quite a bit of cheeck smooshing, kisses, scooching, toy management and general expressions of toddler love from Kate.

Rachel

Kate

Kate obviously had way more hair, and the more I look at pics of them, I see so many distinctions. However, when I'm holding Rachel, I just get dejavu!

growing up is fun to do. . .

As Kate rounds her 2nd year and heads toward the 3rd, I'm amazed by the weird connections her synapses make. Case in point, we were going to Gramma's to eat lunch with her in her downstairs apartment, but Kate was most concerned about where everyone was going to sit. You see, Gramma only has 2 chairs in her pad, and Josh was going to eat with us as well. Well, not only does she think about logistics & planning ahead sort of things, she also is pretty observant. For instance, she noticed that Rachel had a wet diaper. I'm clickety clacking at the computer, happy that my two children are letting me get some e'mails done. I turn around and look on the floor and find THIS!


*Helpful* Kate took Rachel's diaper off & headed off to the nursery to deposit said diaper. I think I interrupted her before she got the replacement diaper. She had found a disposable diaper trash bag & was waving it in the air, trying to get it to open. It'd be great if I could harness this awareness of diapers & train her to get the new diaper out BEFORE she takes the old one off.


Another funny example, I was doing an exercise video at the house last weekend. Kate has probably NEVER seen me exercise like this in her memory. Immediately she's enamored with my mat, and thinks there's something very obviously missing -- can you find what she brought to the room to complete my exercise kit? Then, she started watching the video herself and attempting some of the moves. I was laughing so hard, it was difficult to finish some of the stretches. Lastly, she saw that I was sweating and became so anxious for me. "Mom, you're sweating! You don't want to sweat!" (ha!) She ran to the bathroom and grabbed a tissue and even proceeded to wipe the sweat off of my face. I guess I haven't let her see me work hard enough. . .


Just plain cute! Rach is now rolling over from back to tummy. So, now she likes tummy time because she can make it whatever time she wants -- back, tummy, side, spinning, whatever.

quick shots

Johnson girls, next generation! My sister Becky came for a visit last week & we got a pic with all of the girlies. I chose one that featured Becky & I in our better moment, although it left Kate & Lydia in the unfortunate position of looking pretty weird! :-) Oh well, they don't have self-images at the ages of 4 and 2 1/2 right? We had so much fun with Becky (and Susie & Patrick), and can't wait until my mom and dad come up and S & P come for a longer visit. The best thing about Becky's visit was seeing how much the girls fell in love with their auntie all over again.

Rachel with her auntie! We still think that there are some strong similarities between Rachel & Lydia as a baby, but these days I do see more family resemblance to her sister, as well.

A quick Rachie update: After a few small bumps in the road, she is sleeping through the night (10-8 ISH) every night. I can't tell you what a difference it makes in my life! She's about 12 pounds, I believe, but will get an official weigh in at the peds this Thursday. I can scarcely believe she's already 2 months. Time really flies. She has really great head control, and I would swear to you that she's already trying to pull herself up to a sitting position. She hates having a messy dipe, and LOVES to have her diaper changed. She also is very good about taking her naps during the day time & falls asleep on her own extremely well. I couldn't have asked for a better little girl! And, due to her chunkiness as well as her cute diaper buns, she's moving up in some clothes to 3-6 monthers. It's actually a great thing, b/c Kate actually has 3-6 month clothes from Spring that are doing a great job for Rachel now. I just can't believe that some clothes I remember Kate wearing in August (when she was 6 months) are fitting her baby sis already!

*One other fresh post follows.

two months (ish) to go

One side of my mind knows that "two months" is a LOOONG time, but the other side of my brain has a list of all of these things that need to be accomplished in two months time, and that list makes the time seem QUITE short. Especially when counting weekends! I've made some moves toward getting Kate's big girl room ready, and so the great rubix cube resorting of furniture in the Bailey home is about to begin. Two weekends ago, we celebrated Jen's birthday by going on a girl's shopping trip! It was so fun to shop and not have to worry about diapers, potties, child containment, manuevering strollers, or even particular meal times. I made a fantastic find at Pottery Barn Kids on Kate's bedding. Her new quilt & old one actually look REALLY similar. This week we picked up a bed from a church family who are moving away . . for FREE! Now that's a steal! The bed will be a great transitional bed for Kate because it's still quite low to the ground, like a bunk bed, but holds a twin size mattress. I went bed shopping with Kate & we picked out her new mattress, too. She's so excited to have her bed "like Lyyyydia!" Of course, it's still downstairs in the storage room, but she still likes to go see it. Next step: paint selection & execution. I do NOT enjoy picking paint colors. I am too visual of a person & would prefer to see the whole room painted before I made my choice. Thankfully, I've only made one really BAD paint choice in my short career -- but it was enough to scare me silly! (For those who have followed the blog for awhile -- the "pool" room). The other sad thing is that I actually love the current color of the room, but it's just not the right shade of green. Josh is picking up some paint samples from Benjamin Moore today, and hopefully we can make our selection & get the paint actually made at our neighborhood Home Depot for painting this weekend. My goal is to get Kate moved into her new room early April. Our current plan is to move the desk currently in the office to our guest room & make that a multi-purpose room. We still have an extra room downstairs that needs some finishing work to make it a usable room, but we're still in wait & see mode about what exactly we should do with it. It would make a great playroom, but I've heard mixed results from people about how utilized playrooms really are. The only thing I've bought new for baby Bailey is a glider for the nursery & two SwaddleMe's. I'm so excited about how much "cheaper" baby #2 can be, especially with the help of a great s-i-l who has had 2 summer babies.

New Aquisition for Baby Bailey -- A chair! This is sooo overdue. We never had a chair in Kate's room & I definitely needed one when we breastfed. Even now, it's great to have a place to sit & cuddle & read before bed (or whenever). My star of a hubbie picked it up at a local kid's resale shop. Woohoo! Laid over the back of the chair is the crib sized quilt. She doesn't use it sleep under very often, but I have put it in her crib as a cozy layer to sleep on top of.

To go into Kate's big girl room -- her table!

New bedding. I think I got the quilt for a few dollars cheaper than the sheet set. (both under $40) The flowers are on the pillow sham. The pink is the reverse side of the quilt. If you look back at the crib quilt, you'll see what I mean about being quite similar. :-)

Kate's headboard (and footboard right next to it).

A picture that captures the chaos which is our office usually. This is Kate's future bedroom & I thought I'd capture a before. We'll probably keep the bookshelf/storage on the left, and move both the desk & bookshelf. I've been assaulting craigslist every day to find a dresser for her.

An update on Kate at 2 years 2 months. She made a small step into potty training, but got a horrible stomach flu right after that and sort of retrogressed after that. Because of my pretty regular visits to the doctor & two very recent ones to her pediatrician, she has a pretty great attitude about making visits to the doctor, and even likes to play "doctor" at home. Right now, she has gotten ready to go to Dr. Pohl's office. This includes getting socks and shoes on, and a purse. Earlier, she had to have her stethoscope, thermometer, doctor's pager, and her baby in order to go to the doctor's. We "examined" the baby by taking her temp & then looking at her buns (this from her doc's visit today -- I thought she might have a UTI). She also used her stethoscope to listen to the baby in the baby's tummy. Talk about a bit confused! She listens & says "fump, fump."

She is also REALLY into clothes right now. She is very particular about what she wants to wear. Not two shirts, not a sweatshirt, not jeans, but cozy pants, the green shirt, not the pink shirt, etc. Not the khaki crocs, the pink crocs. Favorite shoes right now are her Keen sandals. Convincing her that the weather is such that she NEEDS to wear two shirts or needs to wear shoes without holes or that green shirt & orange pants don't match is like wrestling a hippopotamus. The good thing about this new phase is that she's also become interested in dressing herself. At this point, she is learning to put on some more complicated shoes & is getting comfortable getting her pants on & off. The hardest part is pulling those pants over the buns when your arms are a little bit too short!

Picture taken at Auntie Jen's birthday dinner at our house. She had been sampling the "creams." Look at her looooooooong hair, another thing she has some real fixations about. She doesn't want a pony tail or clips or bows. She tells me, "I'll just do like this, mom," as she sweeps her bangs back with her hand. Oh really! I feel like I'm dealing with a teenager. I remember having the exact same conversation with my dad about my horrible trying to be trendy bangs that always fell over my eyes. I hear myself echoing dad's words: But I want to see your beautiful eyes.

say what?

The other morning she woke up full of stories about Curious George & marshmelons (marshmellows). Then, she threw this line at me, "The man in the yellow hat is a good little man." What???

K: Mom, you don't have so much stuff! (after I returned an item to Old Navy, thereby getting rid of the bag)
M: Well, I gave the pants back to the store.
K: Oh, how nice of you!

Her favorite thing to do is decide about footwear. . favorite footwear for every day: fancy shoes. These shoes are supposed to be "church" shoes, but are casual enough to wear with jeans. She also pays attention to socks. Should she wear them? Can she take them off? On Sunday afternoon after lunch, we let her change into cozy pants, and her choice of footwear -- Naked Shoes (her bare feet). She went around pointing out mom's naked shoes & dad's. It was too funny!

indidan (princess) -- Ever since Lydia dressed up as an "Indian Princess" on Halloween, Kate has gotten the two inextricably muddled. Yesterday, she found her tiara and said, quite proudly, "Momma, is an Indidan!"

This morning when I put her on the potty, she took an abnormal stance. She put her hands on the ground & lifted her buns off the potty. I asked her WHAT in the world she was doing. She said, she was going potty like mom! After I finished laughing hysterically, I told her that I only did that at stores, not at home. To clarify, I DO NOT put my hands on the floor in public bathrooms.

Phrase that let's me know she's doing SOMETHING in her diaper. . "I not doing anyfing!" This declared out of the blue without a question being asked on my part.

She knows me too well. Out of the blue while at the grocery store, I let out a, "Rats!" Immediately, she asks, "What you forgot?"

We bought a dress at a consignment shop that looks like one that her friend Aden Grace has. .
K: "Jus like Aden Grace. . . . .How sweet the sound!" So, apparently, Kate thinks AG is named Amazing Grace. (That one's for you, S!)

I'll tell one on Lydia Grace. She was over on Saturday playing for awhile. I was cleaning up the lunch dishes when she & Kate came into the kitchen holding hands. Lydia said, "I'm going to be the sister, and Kate's going to be the brother." I asked, "Why can't Kate be the sister?" Lydia, "Because I'M the sister." She wasn't phased when I pointed out that there can be TWO sisters in one family.

things I hear

Kate's verbal ability has just exploded over this summer. At the beginning of the summer she was saying a few phrases & words & many of them were quite babyish (tank-a-da, etc). These days you can carry a conversation with her that (for the most part) makes a lot of sense. She also comes up with her own combinations. She talks a lot & practices words a lot. For instance, she typically calls a computer, "puter", but this afternoon, I heard her whisper "com" and then say "puter" loud. She was trying it out!

One of the phrases that isn't that particularly endearing is "no like." She certainly didn't learn THAT from me, but she uses it all of the time. It has a variety of applications beyond its most basic meaning. It can mean she doesn't want something, doesn't want any more of that thing, doesn't like what a certain person is doing, etc. This can make for some frustrating (and amusing) conversations.

Kate: "no like Lydia."
Mommy: "say sorry Lydia."
Kate: "Sorry Lydia."

even funnier.
Kate: "no like nakies." Thinks mom will get after her so quickly follows up with: "sorry nakies"

singing at bedtime.
Kate (requests): Jesus
Mommy: Jesus loves me, this I know.
Kate (interrupts): no like Jesus
Mommy (thinks to herself): Not good!

counting
Mommy: Let's count, Kate.
Kate: one, two three, four, nine, six, eight-nine-ten (she says the last three all together)
Mommy: Kate, can you say FIVE?
Kate: I can't!

She loves patterns in speech. She loves that I say You're welcome when she says Thank you. She loves that I say, I forgive you, when she says sorry. She loves it so much, she can carry on the entire conversation by herself!

Kate: Sorry, momma.
Kate: 'Give you.

Kate: Tank you.
Kate: Welcome!

Kate: Read to me?
Kate: Sure!

And, last but certainly most endearing. . . she says, "Hold you" instead of "Hold me." And, boy, she says that a lot!

major milestones

A quick update from the Bailey residence. A couple of monumental changes have occurred in Kate's life over the last few weeks. A month ago (or perhaps a little bit more), Kate shifted seamlessly out of babyhood & into official toddlerhood! She stopped nursing. She had cutely begun to say "nush, nush" when she wanted or expected to nurse. I was reminded by a friend that we had always said that when a kid is old enough to ask for it, it's time to quit. In my mind, I was thinking ask for it would sound more like this. "Mommy, may I please nurse now?" So, when I heard the cute "nush, nush," I didn't think of this at all! Well, for this and other reasons, I decided to do it. Kate had absolutely no trouble. I think this really means she wasn't getting much milk really, and was just having a nice time cuddling with mom.

Related to this issue of nursing was the paci! At Kate's last checkup, I asked the pediatrician when a good time to take away Kate's paci would be. She said as soon as possible because the longer you wait, the harder it usually is for them to make a new pattern for going to sleep or soothing themselves. So, we started the very next day & removed it from her whole daytime experience . She didn't typically use it very much during the day, but if she happened to see one lying around, usually lying under the crib, she would pop it in & use it for awhile. She had used it for naps, but she seemed to be pretty content without it & didn't really brook a fuss about it. Two nights ago, we made the last move & I didn't give her one before bedtime. She went down like a champ! The only real distress this has caused us is some serious backtracking in our church behavior. The paci was a mighty convenient way to enforce silence during pray & sermon. So, now we have to train her to keep her own mouth quiet -- quite a different task. The pediatrician suggested replacing paci with snacks and still occupying the mouth with something different than talking. We had already started this fun idea, but the only thing about snacks during church is she eats practically her lunch's worth of cheerios AND it doesn't really preclude her from talking. We've made people chuckle several times by some of her outbursts. If she sees anyone she knows, she calls their name. "Hiya! I-A (Lydia)!" My favorite is that she loves to thumb through the hymnal, but now she likes to sing "Ho-lee" even after the songs are over. On the whole, however, I'm quite excited that she had such an easy transition & I'll be happy for her to learn quietness without a crutch at church, even if it means a few (or a lot) more Sundays sitting outside the sanctuary.

Lastly, for the past two months, Kate has had a growth on her ear. It started off quite small, like a pimple, and after a few weeks of rest, it began to grow. This was a bit alarming, so I eventually was recommended by the pediatrician to visit a dermatologist. My little research prepared me for the fact that they would probably remove it inside the office at that first visit. I dreaded Kate's discomfort and pain more than anything! At our visit, Kate was the perfect little patient! She didn't cry or wiggle ONCE! I was so proud or her and so happy that God had answered my prayers! A couple of tricks to getting her to be calm-- I did bring out the secret weapon PACI for this occasion, and they also let me hold her and had both of us lay on the table. Then, they administered a numbing gel, then some local anesthesia in a syringe, then the dermatologist removed the growth, which by this time had grown to be about the size of a pea. It was pinky/red most of the time. They took a biopsy to send to a lab, and we'll hopefully hear the results this week. I rewarded her immediately with lots of hugs & kisses and then I took her to Chick-fil-A for some lunch AND some ice cream. I kept thinking that she didn't even know why all these yummy things were falling into her lap, the whole doc's visit was so non-traumatic for her! Praise the Lord! And no, I haven't taken any pics of it, not really wanting to preserve it for posterity. The bandaid came off on Sunday and the wound looks okay. The dermatologist cauterized it, so it looks a little black (like a cigarette burn, said Josh). The spot was on the tragus of the ear. (I just decided that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to describe it, so I'd find the scientific term for it and YOU can look it up here! :-0)

All this means that Kate is growing up before our very eyes. Today I gave her a bath & I could just see Little Girl instead of Baby. I'm not really sure that I'm ready, but I'm so grateful that God has given me this bright eyed explorer to me and Josh.

One of her latest words is "tank-a-da" -- which means Thank You (maybe the da is dad, but she says it to everyone). Super cute. My favorite thing is that she now (sometimes) uses peeze & tank-a-da all on her own. This morning, I gave her a piece of my cereal and out she comes with "Tank-a-da." So cute!

talking, singing, and running (practically)

The last few weeks have seen a huge transformation in how many words Kate says & learns each day. It seems like it takes a much shorter time for her to learn a word (that she's ready to learn) than it used to. Of course, I've tried to teach Please & Thank You, but she must not be ready for those yet.

"What does a cow say?" Moooo
"What does a monkey say?" Oo oo
"What does a dog say?" Wow Wow

Of course, she's having a hard time realizing that not all animals make one of these three sounds. We were reading Goodnight Gorilla and she wanted the giraffe to say wow, wow. I told her that the giraffe didn't say "wow-wow," so she insisted that he must say "mooooo" then. Of this sound she would not be dissuaded.

She says "ni-ni" when we read one of our copious books about nighttime. Listen to this list,"Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Gorilla, I Love You, Good Night." We have more, too, but they aren't the favorites. We also have an inordinate amount of books about cows, too. I guess that children's book authors know a good thing when they see it. Moo Baa La-la-la, Moo Moo-moo Brown Cow, etc. I must tell you all that if you do not already own Goodnight Gorilla you run to the store & buy a copy for your child or children for Valentine's Day! It is the cutest children's book that we own. It's whimsical -- listen to the list of characters: gorilla (of course!), armadillo, hyena, lion, giraffe, mouse, zookeeper & zookeeper's wife. I have two favorite parts of this book. One, there is a page that is completely black & has only two small eyes staring out at you! How great is that! The other is that the mouse & gorilla are friends, and the mouse carries a banana on a string wherever he goes!

We haven't added any new songs lately, but she sure loves to practice them. She can actually listen for her part in the song & then say her word at the appropriate time. Example:

Mama: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (waiting......)
Kate: Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai
Mama: O! And the on that farm he had a cow. . .... . . . . . (whispers ee-ai to Kate)
Kate: Eee-Ai--Eee-Ai
Mama: O! With a . . ... (whispers mooo)
Kate: mooo

You get the picture. Another favorite is POP goes the weasel. Of course, she inserts her pop in lots of places that aren't right, but usually gets one it on the right beat.

Mama: Round & Round the (Kate interrupts: Pop) Mulberry Bush, the (Pop!) Monkey chased the weasel. The monkey (pop!) thought twas all in fun (Now, Kate, Now!)
Kate: POP!
Mama: Goes the weasel
Kate: POP!
Mama: Goes the weasel
and REPEAT.

The favorite song of all is Row, Row, Row your Boat. I never knew that I could sing so many permutations of this song. I practically deserve a DJ name like L-mom or something. I'm so hot. I always start out traditionally, but then I just tire of singing the same old thing, so I spice it up. The best person at this little game is Josh. This is usually a night time activity when Kate is soo tired & fussy and just can't wait to get home & get to bed. So we distract her with our awesome rap mixes & we usually arrive at home a-okay. If I had a tape recorder... you'd all get to hear, just so you could laugh until your sides ached.

Also, Kate's confidence in her own walking skills have increased tremendously. Unfortunately, this has meant a sight more bonks, bumps, and bruises. She has handled these with aplomb most of the time. My favorite thing is to see her do a 180 degree turn. She plants one foot & then "spins" almost out of control, but somehow manages to land the other foot on the floor. She then regains her balance & proceeds to toddle in the opposite direction.

what i'm up to

Life sure is different for my one year old girl than things were last year. She has learned to do so many things for herself and doesn't depend on mom (and dad) for taking care of need. We've taken care of eating, drinking, locomotion, communication, and entertainment -- she does most of those pretty well for her age. It's amazing that 12 months have changed

this
(sleeping most of the day, nursing exclusively, reliant on mom and dad for everything else including putting to sleep, making silly noises, and changing gobs of diapers)

into this
(feeding herself, eating all sorts of grown up foods, loading the dishwasher, playing by herself with dollies, strollers, push carts, necklaces, and books, crawling and walking on her jelly legs from place to place wherever her own whim takes her, and relying on mom and dad for many things, but not everything)

Kate's personality has taken an interesting turn here in her 12th month. She has started to become a little explorer. I believe I mentioned that she was discovered eating dirt on her birthday -- well, that encapsulates this new aspect of her personality. She wants to explore every corner of the house and often isn't content to explore the ground level corners -- she wants to go UP. So, in the above photo, she attempts to climb into the dishwasher. She wants to climb into her mail cart walker (NOT a ride on toy), onto the hearth, into adult chairs that are too large for her, etc. It's hilarious to see that leg hike up when the object isn't climable (like through the backdoor). She explores the cabinets in the kitchen, she "discovers" and "rediscovers" all of the clothes in the bottom drawer of her dresser by strewing them all of the floor. She has a little intrepid streak that is quite likable, and thankfully hasn't led to any injuries so far.

Besides taking her first shaky steps, she has just turned another corner in her quest for independence. I decided to see what she thought of a spoon in her own hand two weeks ago and this was the result!




I couldn't believe how well she did! She hasn't let go of the spoon since (figuratively) and feeds herself at every meal. Sometimes it's time for a bath afterwards, but it's fun to see her wield that spoon like a real tool! Of course, it's really funny when she sets the spoon down; I can just see her thinking, "Now I need to bring out the big guns -- my fingers!"

Another fun aspect of her personality that has really grown this last month is her sense of humour. She has always loved to laugh, but she has recently started making her own jokes. Most recently, when we play the "Where's so and so game?" she consistently points to herself and loves it when we say "No, that's not momma, that's Kate." She giggles with glee that she's has told a little joke. So, now matter who we ask about, this is always her answer.

Eleven Months And Counting

This is her serious, observant face. Her cheekies sort of poke out.

Dad took down the dead twig wreath from the outside door and hung up the beautiful live wreath he bought. Kate thought the wreath just perfect for peekaboo.

You may think I'm cruel, but I NEVER have gotten a picture of her crying, so after naptime the other day I decided I wanted to do a photo shoot BEFORE we nursed and this was the result. :-) I only took 3 pics.

Lydia & Kate giving each other some loves.

Kate is quickly leaving her babyhood behind her and growing into a little girl. She eats lots of table food, and wants to eat even more. In the morning, she usually eats her cereal while I eat mine. She usually asks for my cereal instead of hers! Her chief pursuits each day making me laugh and smile. Her sense of humor is so lively. She loves to hide under blankets, behind doors, or anything she can toss over her head. She recognizes pictures of herself and thinks it's so funny to look at them. Reading is actually one of her favorite pursuits. She's content to read on her own, and always points at the pictures. And of course, she loves it if Dad or I read her a book. She's fascinated with putting things inside other things and she's usually pretty good and matching things together. For instance, I allow her to play in our plastics cabinet and she finds sippy cups and tops and "puts" them together. Right now, she's hiding behind the laptop as I type and then popping out from behind the screen and seeing if I react. She has become an expert crawler & cruiser and several times has stood independently until she realizes that the toy she's holding isn't connected to the floor or a piece of furniture. She recently fell in love with her monkey, Jeremy. She loves to have him with her all of the time! She started giving us loves by laying her head on our shoulder & giving us pats. She also gives Jeremy loves and that is a killer to see! Currently, she is LOVING our Christmas tree. I hung baby friendly ornaments on the bottom and she can't resist taking them off (and then can't figure out how to put them back on.) Her personality is observant, friendly, cheerful, and VERY loving. She learns new games quickly and particularly enjoys reading books about babies (another new if infrequent word). Her latest trick is pursing her little lips together and saying, "Whoa-whoa-whoa" over and over with the most hilarious inflection. The pursed lips is my favorite part of the act. Of course, she also shows us her stubborn side accompanied by some unattractive squeals. So, I'm constantly reminding her to use a gentle voice & help her remember that saying mama attracts my attention in a much more positive way than squeals. :-) She consistently uses her own signs for all-done & more. She loves to sign because she KNOWS she's communicating. We're trying to improve her consistency in the "Where's Mommy?" game. She is about 75 percent I would say. And, we've dropped one nursing time, so we're down to 3. She hasn't complained in the least. Although I would say that during Thanksgiving, her nursing times were completely weird and she definitely let me know when we finally got around to nursing regularly that BOY, she was glad we were doing that again! I think my goal is to pare it down to 2 and then let her keep doing that until she doesn't want to. I think. These things change frequently. Well, for those who wanted an update on baby girl Katie-boob (Lydia's new nickname for Kate), I hope you enjoyed!

10 Months

Mom, I know I'm cute, but do you HAVE to keep taking pictures of me?

I can hardly believe that my darling little girl is already ten months! The day crept up on me, but we did manage to acknowledge it before light completely faded. In fact, we took Kate out to Johnny Carinos, so mom & dad could have a pretty good Italian feast. We've reinstated "Date Night" with a slight change to the name. It's now "Family Date Night." We can still get in a good bit of talking & catching up since Kate can only distract us by tossing her food on the floor or grabbing the hair behind her right ear & making it stick straight out with gook on it. When SHE starts talking, date night as catch up night might altogether disappear.

Two funny things from last week. Found: little girl inside of end table, crying because she couldn't climb out. Unfortunately, I chose to save my child from distress instead of capturing the moment. Too bad for you. Found that afternoon: little girl hiding in the dark dining room NOT answering mamma, scooping out dirt from mom's potted plant onto the floor (and maybe a bit into her mouth). Once again, I chose to intervene immediately instead of walking back to my room & grabbing the image for everyone's enjoyment. Besides, I had already made TWO rounds of the entire upstairs without laying eyes on her. I was beginning to wonder if I had any large gaping holes in my house that she could have fallen into.

Latest tricks. Two new games. The "I Have a Question" Game. Dad instituted this game, I believe. It starts with Dad or Kate raising one of their arms HIGH into the air. Then everyone else in the room is compelled to do the same. Once everyone has done it, the arms can go down, until Kate starts the round all over again. The cutest part is that if she doesn't perceive 100% participation, she'll lift her hand HIGHER. Second game is sticking out her tongue & touching it with her index finger. I think she's just a ham and will do anything for a laugh. Clapping, LOTS of verbal play, definite use of the word "mama" are all routine now.

I've been learning a lot at GCA, but I still have LOTS of questions.

My favorite part of the day is when Josh comes home. As soon as Kate hears the garage door, she gets very quiet and starts to "listen" for sounds of daddy coming home. When the footsteps sound on the stairs, her hands start flapping and she gets soo excited that her papa has come home! She jumps into his arms as soon as he is visible, and rests her head on his shoulder for a little hug. This scene just melts a mother's heart, I tell 'ya.

Kate is the squirmiest baby on the changing table. The fact that she looks happy in this picture is a mere ploy for the camera.

My shirt says "I love Daddy." I do LOVE him.

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

My 9 Month Old Girl

This picture taken this Sunday. It's our 5th family picture in 9 months. Pretty sad!

Kate turned 9 months today. These last few weeks she has really started to look older. I guess cutting two teeth can make a girl grow up. She is crawling around at twice the speed as when she started. The other morning, I left her in the living room while I finished getting ready. She was "supposed" to be watching a DVD. Ha! I walked out into the living room, and she wasn't there. The first funny thing I did was call her name. What is she going to do? Answer me? I looked in the kitchen, nope. The bathroom, nope. I walked into her room, still no. I then backtracked and saw her in the office. She was sitting there with a sort of guilty look on her face. Her hand held a crumpled piece of paper.

She isn't content hanging out on the floor all of the time. She loves to pull up on anything that looks sturdy enough: her diaper bag, her collapsible laundry bag, the sofa, coffee table, kitchen trash can (ew!!!), mom's bed, anything! She went through a rough time lying down in her crib immediately after she learned to pull up on the slats. I think we've made the transition back to easier bed times now. Tonight I put her in the crib and she just lay there, happy as a clam to be going to sleep. What a relief! I was beginning to despair that my easy to put to bed baby had just had a major personality shift! It had turned some of our sweetest times of snuggling into nightmares. But why should I dwell on something that is hopefully now in the past.

Kate has also made great progress in her diet. She really loves to self-feed, so I try to give her a lot of practice. She loves little peas and small bits of banana, and most recently, bits of bread. She's so proud when she picks up a piece and gets it straight into her mouth. She's also pretty good at tracking a piece if it falls off the high chair. She'll sit there looking over the side like, "Mom, are you going to get it?"

She is taking after some of our Johnson family members and LOVES to play games. The second you say "Peekaboo" she knows what game you are about to play with her. Her cutest peekaboo game is when she gets a ring (from a stacking ring toy) and puts it in front of her face, usually with one eye poking through. She's really got the whole "peeking" thing down. She also loves Pattycake -- she's an accomplished clapper all by herself, but she also loves holding mom's hands and making them clap. Her latest fun trick is playing with one of my touristy Mexican toys. It's a wooden cup with a ball attached to it. An adult tries to hold the cup and get the ball on a string to jump into the cup. (I know that is a really BAD explanation, but it should suffice for those of you who have actually SEEN one.) Kate has started grabbing the ball and dropping it into the cup--quite an accomplishment for someone so young.

Well, that's about it. I should have some more adorable pictures to post tomorrow. (I dropped my film off at Wolf today).

Seven Moons Ago

Katie-boo always loves when cousin Lydia comes over to play. Note that Lydia has also invited pink baby to play. In Lydia's most recent stay at our house, Lydia was a real mom to that baby doll. She let the baby eat, and then gave the baby some spanks. It's interesting to see her process her world by repeating things that she sees (or experiences for herself).



Kate discovered the fun of folding laundry with mom! Needless to say, she wasn't much help. I stacked the clothes on the coffee table, and she persisted in pulling them down about as fast as I could get them folded. She really wants to stand up now, so the laundry basket provided a perfect opportunity. Her falls were cushioned by fluffy, clean, baby clothes.



This is about as close as we get to crawling. She still can't manage to get her legs & her arms up at the same time. As I mentioned, she seems to be much more interested in pulling up and walking. Her personality develops each day. She loves me so much; it's enough to make your heart melt. Of course, at the end of the day when dad comes home and she's fussing because she still wants to be with me, it becomes less cute. She's growing more able to communicate with her body language what she wants. She plays on the floor most of the time, and if I walk by and she wants me to pick her up, she waves her arms in the air and sort of rocks her body, as though she were saying, "Hey, Look At Me!!!!!" She still takes 3 naps, 2 hours each in the morning and afternoon. The evening nap is undergoing construction, sometimes she'll take it, and sometimes she won't. Although she CAN say both mamama and dadada, she has moved on to practicing other sounds now, like papapapa, and bababa.

What a Fix I'm In!

Aaarg! Shiver me timbers!

Momma, a lily pad is on my head!
I sat her ON the lily pad when I left her. When I came back, this is how I found her. I think she was trying to get the tag. She has a BIG thing for tags!

She sure loves to get her head into everything! What a daddy's little girl! Josh is right, momma's girl doesn't sound quite as nice. She's going through a "Ma-ma-ma-ma" phase right now.

Fun Facts:
1. I can say ma-ma-ma-ma and mean it. Sometimes I say "mom" and sound really grown up.
2. I love to drink out of a big girl's cup. Forget the sippy cup thing. I'm skipping it!
3. I still go to bed at 9:30 and wake up at 8:00. Yeah for mom!
4. I'm nursing 4 times a day for about 5 minutes each time. It just dropped down from 1 hr to 5 minutes. Mom wasn't really prepared for that. I think her feelings are hurt.
5. Although she is proficient at rolling all over and sitting up quite well, she has shown NO ability at getting up on hands & knees and therefore is several steps away from crawling. Unless she skips the step altogether, I don't think Josh's goal of walking by 8 months will be attained.
6. Food favorites: Avocado mixed with peach. It's yummy, you should all try it. (I have!)
7. She loves to play itsy-bitsy spider, peek-a-boo, This little piggy, and How Big is the Baby?

Speaking of which, I overheard Josh playing with Kate: " This little piggy went to Publix. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy went to Ingles. This little piggy went to Kroger. And this little piggy was hungry and cried, 'Wee, wee, wee, all the way home.' " Sometimes, he just throws in one original one and keeps the rest the same. My favorite one was, "This little piggy went to Autozone. :-)

Random Movie Recommendation: BBC Series North and South -- It is NOT about the Civil War. It's based on a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell and is set in England. I watched it on my computer and stayed up late one night finishing it IN BED. I'm sure my soul will go to perdition, but it was sort of like reading in bed, right?

6 Months

Kate turned six months on Sunday. As I scan over old pictures, it is so much fun to see her personality growing and showing itself on her face and body. Her well-baby check up went great! She now weighs 14 lbs 7 oz, so she is maintaining her somewhat petite frame. Her latest accomplishments are eating in a booster seat (instead of the bumbo), saying mamamamamama, drinking apple juice for the first time (quite messily, I might add), and being more loveable than ever!

Sometime last week, almost without my noticing it, Kate started sitting up like a proper English schoolmistress taking tea. Jen had suggested that I put a boppy around her and let her just sit and play on the floor. What a great idea! This gave a bit of a cushion in case she did fall, but let her have the independence and different view of the world that she has been craving. Since last week, she has grown more sturdy. Boy, does she love to sit up and play with her big girl toys. I brought out a ring stacker and Fisher Price telephone and her bag of links. She is so over her rattles and 'baby' toys!

Kate loves her books. She loves mommy's books even more. There is something completely satisfying about 200 pages of paperback novel melting in your mouth that can't be replaced with cloth books, plastic books, or even board books.


Cousin Lydia loves to be with Kate anywhere she is. So, if Kate sits, Lydia tries to sit right next to her. I think we convinced Lydia to read that "Taggies" book to Kate. She can, too!

Look, Mom! Even though this book has tags all over it, I know where the "real" tag is! No kidding. When I gave it to her the first time, she discovered the real tag in a few seconds. There's no fooling kids about real tags and fake tags, that is for sure!


Gagi, Mima, and the grand daughties. I never thought that I would let my kids call their grands by such funny little names. The important thing is, that the Grandma's are happy, so I guess I'll be happy too. I grew up with a family of Grandma's and Grandpa's -- no nana's, papa's, pawpaw's, or gam's. I think that it may be a Southern thing to come up with so many derivations. What do ya'll think? What do you call your grands, and, more importantly, what do your kids call theirs?