Our Baby is a Big Girl

Kaitlyn has been up to a lot recently. She really has become such a big girl!

She is very helpful, she will follow directions. Put this back, give this to daddy, give Bailey a kiss, pick that up please, lets clean up etc. She understands so much. Shaun and I had a conversation last weekend about when we will have to start watching what we say around her so she doesn't repeat it to the wrong person. I can see it now XX mommy and daddy said your a punk. Can't wait for that...(SARCASM). Kaitlyn has been VERY talkative recently. She will talk all day and sometimes just wants to stand there and tell you all about it.

Kaitlyn has moved to a big girl bed over the last two weeks. She has done OK. I know she fell out one night because I heard THUD...CRY. The first week was very easy because she didn't realize she could get out once we put her to bed. This week has been more challenging, you put her in the bed, tell her night night, leave the room and you immediately hear feet hit the ground and crying heading toward the door. I think that teething and not feeling good has played a large part in her not falling asleep/staying asleep as well. But she knows that if she is out of bed and crying we come right into the room, so she uses it to her advantage. Shaun decided to move her to the big girl bed because she is really starting to climb on things and he was afraid she would climb out of bed.

I think my favorite big girl bed story so far was one morning this week Shaun had to get up early to go to a meeting. We ran out of toilet paper in our bathroom and there was none in the hall closet, knowing there was extra in Kaitlyn's bathroom Shaun decided to sneak into the bathroom and get some. He snuck into the room, into the bathroom, shut the bathroom door, turned on the light, got the TP, turned off the light, opened the bathroom door and there is Kaitlyn standing in front of the door looking up at him with the "what do you think you are doing" face. I can only imagine how funny it was to actually be there!

Shaun also turned Kaitlyn's car seat around, so now she is facing forward. She seems to enjoy it, she can see out the window a little bit better and we can talk to her when we turn around. I have a hard time seeing her in my rear view mirror (I think it's because I am so short) I really have to angle it down if I want to see her. Shaun says she dances in her car seat on the way home sometimes. (More on dancing later). Kaitlyn is very good in the car she is pretty content to sit and look out the window. She likes to take her shoes off while we are driving as well, mommies girl!

Kaitlyn is starting to show us all that she has learned. She will sing songs with you. When you sing Old MacDonald she says "E-I-E-I-E" she will woof like the dog and say quack quack for the duck. Sometimes she will do something that resembles a moo. She really likes reading books with animals and making the noises. She will say Kit Cat when we get to Faye's in the morning and point to the cats. She also waves and says Hi to dogs and cats on tv, which is really funny. This weekend Kaitlyn started to spin in circles and sometimes "fall down" when you sing ring around the rosey to her.

Kaitlyn LOVES to dance. She swings her arms, shakes her butt, spins around, wiggles, moves her feet, bounces, squats, sways and claps to the music. I tried to get some good video tonight but she was more interested in the video camera then dancing at that point. You can ask her "Kaitlyn do you want to dance", and she will start dancing right away no music necessary. She does have her favorite songs though. Currently her favorite jams are OMG by Usher, Who let the dogs out, Dynamite by Tao Cruz, and she still loves Follow the Leader by the Soka Boys, but she will "get jiggy" to almost anything.

Other things that Kaitlyn has been doing. She will make you food in her kitchen, she stirs the pot and then feeds it to herself and says UUUMMMM, she also feeds her babies and will share with you if you ask. She pushes her babies around in the little stroller (she is determined when she wants to go somewhere she will find out a way to get around that corner or through that door or through the gate with her stroller). She hugs and kisses her babies and will pat their backs, very cute. She loves playing with her "Little People" she has a school that Eva gave her for her birthday, I was amazed the other day when she put the people in the merry go round and then moved them into the desks, she gets them to fit in the circles where they go with no trouble. It's amazing. We now have a play group of kiddos from the Little Gym, we have our second play date this week.

Kaitlyn is very determined, when she wants to do something she does it! She will throw a mini fit if it doesn't go her way but then takes her time and tries again. Neeno thinks Kaitlyn is going to be an engineer. She is very interested in how things work. She likes to open and shut things, looks at the screws, bolts, connections, figure out how it opens, shuts, folds, fits, feels etc. Sometimes you can see on her face, what happens if I do this. She is such a little explorer.

It is very surreal to look at pictures of Kaitlyn when she was just born and only a few months old and look at how much she has grown and changed. It's already hard to believe she was ever that small when you see a newborn! I had to put away most of her 12 month clothes because she is too long in the torso so they are really stretching to cover her or the head holes were too small and she would SCREAM when you were trying to get them on and off.

Kaitlyn still likes her bath time. She likes the pool (as long as it's not too cold) either her little one in the back yard or a big pool. We took her out on the boat a few weeks ago and while she hated her life jacket she didn't mind the noise of the boat. I can't wait to take her to the beach next week for vacation!

Kaitlyn is growing up so fast! Every smile is precious she won't be this little for long! She is so much fun!

Pictures from the trip to Ohio

Kaitlyn and Daddy at the Splash Park in Ohio.

Click the picture below to view the whole album

July 2010

What does the Doggie say?

Kaitlyn is starting to really interact with the world around her. She picks up on little things that you tell her and ask her. She understands little things, like "can you bring that to mommy", "Show daddy the ducky" and she will do it.

The newest things are:
Kaitlyn what does a doggie say? She will make a noise like blowing air that is definitely "woof woof".
She will also mimic the inflection in your voice and copy you when you say "I love you". Just about melted my heart tonight when Shaun and Kaitlyn did a demonstration tonight.

Our little girl is AWESOME!

Baby's First Road Trip

Kaitlyn went on her first real road trip this 4th of July. We went to Ohio to visit some family that I haven't seen in about 9 or 10 years. It was really nice to get to see all of them and to let Kaitlyn get to know her Mommom Betty & Poppop Fred. Poppop Fred was her BUDDY! She would randomly wander into his office and climb into his lap where they would talk and talk.

Kaitlyn did very well on the 9 hour drive! We had snacks and drinks and DVDs to keep her entertained and we left after dinner on the way out so she slept most of the ride. We left around 4 on the way back which was a little rough because Kaitlyn was awake for more of the ride, she was also very congested and didn't sleep very well. Overall she did very well and is no worse for the wear.

The 4th of July was right we went to Cousin Kathy's farm and got to go on hayride, see the cows babies and all. See the bunny and lots of cats and swim in the pool. Kaitlyn is such a good girl she really just goes with the flow in any situation we throw her into!

Thanks to everyone who made this trip what it was. I would like to do this trip again when Kaitlyn is old enough to remember. Shaun and I had a great time too!

Check up

Kaitlyn had her one year check up on Tuesday she is 18lbs 14oz, 28 3/4
inches and her head is 18".

She only "grew" 3/4 of an inch so we had to measure her twice they
think they might have measured wrong last time because she was so tall
and grew 2 inches from her 6 month check up. That was the only big
news.

She is 10-25% in weight 25-50% in height and her head is in the
50-70%. Dr. V says she is fine very well proportioned.

We can start giving her whole milk, she can have honey and if there
are times when she doesn't want to eat as her growth slows down that
is fine.

Kaitlyn is saying hi, uh-oh, no, mama, dada, sit down, dis (this as
she points), dat (that when pointing), she copies what you say dog,
tree etc but hasn't started to say them on her own. She has started to
say something that sounds like apple or abba not sure what that is.

She is running everywhere and has started to climb things and knows to
turn around and go backwards when getting down. She's getting so big
and so smart! She plays with her toys really well and likes for us to
play with her.

She is so awesome! Love that little monkey!