Updates

I know, I know, it's been way too long since the last update. Cut me some slack, Jack! I have a 6-month old daughter, it's Christmas season, and I just finished my semester of school...among other things.

This blog is updated and I also updated the pictures on the website. Included in the website pictures are some sleeping pictures, a naked bath picture (can we say Buddha belly?), and some nice "bed head".

1st Christmas

Katherine's 1st Christmas was memorable. She was excited the whole time and got a kick out of watching presents being unwrapped. However, she was only interested in eating the paper and bows. She handled all of the excitement and running around very well. She caught naps whenever and wherever she could. I wish we took more pictures than we did. A few are below. Thanks to Aunt Jenny for the first two from Christmas Eve.

I'm sure that next year will be crazy since she'll be more aware of the presents and toys, etc.

6 Month Check-Up

Katherine had her 6 month check-up on December 5th. She had another round of shots...5 of them to be exact. She was tough though. She didn't even start crying until the 3rd one.

We were given the go-ahead to start her on baby food meat. Up until this point, she only had vegetables and fruit. She can also start finger foods in about a month or so. We're also going to introduce the sippy cup or regular cup to get her used to drinking rather than sucking.

Her current stats are: Weight - 16 pounds, 15 ounces Height - 26.5 inches
She is in the 75th percentile for her height and weight. As the pediatrician put it, "she is in perfect proportion".

Katherine is quite the flirt and smiles at just about everyone and everything. She also cracks up laughing at the littlest thing. She loves to stand and is sitting up with very little help. She loves the swing at the park and is rolling all over the place. She'll be crawling once she figures out how to coordinate her arms and legs.

"Little K" tries to eat just about everything these days and is particularly drawn to sparkly or electronic things (remote controls, phones, etc.). Therefore, she's usually drooling and requires a bib 24-7.

Here are two cute pictures from the park. Notice her strawberry sweater and hat set.

Stress-free Santa Visit

We took Katherine to get her Christmas pictures taken and visit Santa. We were prepared for a very stressful day as it was a Saturday and bound to be crowded. The pictures at Sears went smoothly. Katherine smiled the whole time and hardly even drooled! We headed to the Santa line next. It was quite long. Katherine took the opportunity to nap in her stroller, and Rob and I enjoyed a cup of coffee during the 45 minute wait. She was quite taken with Santa and stared up at him for the first picture. We managed to get her to look in our direction for the second picture. We've already been warned that the next few years may not go as smoothly. Here's a picture of Katherine waiting to see Santa.

80th Birthday Party!

Family and Friends gathered on November 25th to celebrate Mom-mom and Pop-pop's 80th Birthday. It was a lot of fun with good food and conversation. A picture of Katherine and the Birthday Kids is below. "Thank you for inviting us to the party."

Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving for Rob's side of the family. Dawn and Billy surprised everyone by flying in from Las Vegas. A nice time was had by all. Aunt Jan and Uncle Paul could not attend, but they were in our thoughts.

Here is a picture of Katherine, Justin, and Brenna on "Turkey Day".

Chompers

If you can believe it, Katherine has second tooth coming in already! She's going to be chomping her way through solid food before we know it.

She has also become a master at rolling from her back to stomach. But she still has some trouble going from her belly to back. So once she gets on her belly, she whines for a while until she rolls herself back or we give her a hand.

It's hard to believe how much she's grown in 5 short months!

5 Months Old!!!

Katherine is growing up so fast! Before we know it, she'll be driving. She is enjoying all of the new tastes of real food. So far, she's tried carrots, peas, sweet potatos, and she's starting green beans.

And she has a tooth! Luckily, she hasn't been too bothered by the tooth coming in. We probably wouldn't have even noticed, except she bit my finger over the weekend. Ouch! It's just breaking through the gums now, but I'm sure will be very noticeable soon.

SO BIG!

Rolley - Poley

It's official! Katherine is rolling from her stomach to her back. She did it three times today! It is still quite an effort on her part, so she's tuckered out. But as the saying goes...practice makes perfect.

Happy Halloween!

Katherine dressed up as a baby vampire for Halloween. She had a cape and some "fangs". The fang pacifier was a little big though, so it became her accessory. Our town has set times for trick-or-treating. It was so warm from 2pm-5pm that we sat on the front step to give out candy. We stayed inside for the 6pm-8pm shift. But some of our neighborhood friends stopped by to say hi. Katherine and the boys had a photo shoot. From left to right are Ryan "the frog" (7 mos.), Katherine, Spencer, and Tyler (4 years). Tyler had been dressed up as Mater from the Cars movie but decided to get comfortable. There was some ear- pulling, kicking, and crying. But the kids seemed to have a good time and enjoyed holding hands and trying to to figure out what their nutso parents were doing.

Fall in the Park

Yesterday's beautiful weather and the fall foliage provided a perfect picture opportunity in the park. The pictures below are of Katherine and her friend Spencer. They weren't too thrilled about tummy time, but we got some decent pictures. They quickly decided that they'd rather lay down and relax.

Pimpin' in 'da High Chair

Katherine has recently entered the world of veggies and fruits. She REALLY likes sweet potatoes and carrots. It's funny to watch her anticipate the next spoonful and smack her lips while she's eating. Of course the bright orange color has added some extra excitement to dirty diapers and the occasional spit up.

She has an odd way of sitting in her high chair. Even if I strap her in, she manages to list to one side and put her foot up. This is how she is comfortable. I call it her Gangsta' pose. Here she is after finishing dinner tonight...she's pretending she's hanging with her "Home Boys".

Sleep-Swinging

Katherine likes her swing very much. She falls asleep in it on occasion. I captured this shot the other day.

4 Months Old!

I know I'm almost a week late, but it's close enough. Katherine is 4 months old! She has recently mastered baby cereal. It will be fun to introduce her to the myriad of other flavors out there.

She has rolled from her belly to back twice. I think both of those time were instinctual. If she thinks about it too much, she gets herself all flustered. Once she figures it out, I'm sure she'll be rolling all over the place.

Katherine is talking up a storm these days. She has even developed quite a demanding "yell" when she wants her way. She really likes "standing" with some balance help and is fascinated by faces and feeling different textures. She has recently moved to the big-girl front-facing position in her stroller. She likes this vantage point on our walks. Two pictures below are from our walk today.

Osprey Triathlon

We went down to Fenwick Island, DE two weekends ago (October 6-8) to watch my Dad compete in the Osprey Triathlon. As it happened, a nor'easter hit the eastern shore that weekend. It was quite cold and windy. The triathlon was supposed to take place on Saturday but got postponed to Sunday. The main problem was the open water swim. The conditions were better on Sunday.

Dad did a great job and we are very so proud of him. A summary of his race with great pictures can be found on my Mom's website. www.carrollandbecky.com Just go to the family blog to read all about it. All I have to say is "Nice wetsuit Dad!"

Mom, Rob, Katherine & I kept warm and sipped our coffee while Dad was exerting himself. Katherine was thrilled to watch all of the excitement. She also loved the cool breeze in her hair. Her new teddy bear fleece outfit kept her nice and toasty and the baby carrier and stroller made a great cocoon for her when the wind got too bad.

Here's a picture of her nice and warm and another one with Mom.

4 Month Check-Up

Katherine had her 4 month check-up today. It included four vaccinations again. She handled them remarkably well. As a matter of fact, she stopped crying by the time the last band-aid was on. She has been a little "needy" today and is content to be cuddled, but all-in-all she's fine.

Her current stats are:
Weight - 14 lbs. 5 ozs.
Height - 24.5 inches

The next check-up is in December.

There will be plenty of photo opportunities this weekend, so pictures will be posted next week.

Cereal!

We've introduced rice cereal to Katherine. I'm not sure that she's figured out that it's food yet. She likes to play with it in her mouth and then spit it out. She also likes to chew on the spoon. Here are some pitcures of her first taste of cereal.

Miscellaneous Snapshots

Here are two amusing snapshots. One is of Katherine watching Regis and Kelly. The other one is of Katherine and I multitasking. She was eating while I took a drill call from a Russian ship captain.

Smoke-Free Philly!

Ya-hoo!!! Philadelphia is now smoke-free!
Mayor Street finally did something worthwhile.
(Sorry, I guess my feelings are obvious.)

Winky Wednesday

Today was gorgeous! Katherine and I went for a walk with Spencer (born 1 day after her) and Hays (born 12 days before her) and their mothers. We also sat on the front step watching the wind blow through the trees for a while. She was mesmerized!

I bought Katherine some long sleeve onesies at Old Navy. I found a "days of the week" set. All seven onesies have a little animal and a cute saying for the day of the week. Today is "Winky Wednesday". It has a giraffe winking on it.

Katherine has learned a new sound. It's like "who! who!". And if she gets excited, it goes up an octave.

She has also figured out that tummy time is not Mommy and Daddy's way of torturing her. She used to grind her face into the floor and scream bloody murder. But it seems like overnight she got over her fear of tummy time and learned how to hold her head up for a while. We're working on rolling over now. A picture of her during tummy time today is below. The second picture is after tummy time was over...exhausted Katherine!

BJ and Andria Donohue!

We went to Syracuse, NY this past weekend for BJ and Andria's wedding. It was held at the Syracuse Zoo and was very nice. The ceremony was beautiful and the location was unique and enjoyable. We saw lions, and monkeys, and elephants...oh my! Congratulations guys!

Katherine was very good during the whole trip. She slept most of the car ride, needing only an occasional stop for feeding or diaper changes...don't we all?! And she did suprisingly well in the hotel. I thought she'd have problems sleeping because of the unfamiliar surroundings and the noise of the hotel. But she did fine.

I took the camera, but didn't take as many pictures as I planned. In fact, I only took one picture the whole weekend. It was of Bill O. with Katherine (below). Once I get copies of the pictures that were taken, I'll post them.

3 Months Old!

Can you believe that Katherine is already 3 months old?! It seems like just yesterday that we brought her home. We were reminiscing about how fragile she seemed then. Now she's holding her head up very well and is working on sitting on her own. She still needs a little help with balance, but she's getting better each day. We can sit her in the corner of the couch and she's content to sit and play for quite a while. Recently, she has started to suck on things other than her pacifier...her hand, Mommy's hand, her toys, etc. A picture of her going to town on one of her toys is below. She is also very intrigued when we eat near her. Today she was staring down Rob while he ate his peanut butter sandwich. I think we're going to have to watch out once she becomes mobile and has better control of her hands.

Her next check-up is October 3rd. We're very interested to know how much weight she has put on. She's becoming quite a butterball!

33 Years!

Today is my parents' 33rd Wedding Anniversary! Congratulations and best wishes for many more to come!

Labor Day

We love three-day weekends! Saturday's rain made it a perfect napping day and Sunday and Monday were beautiful! We took advantage of the nice weather to go on several walks with Katherine. She loves to see all of the trees and hear the sound of nature. Mom and Dad were able to visit on Sunday and joined us on our walk. They also attended church with us. Katherine slept through the entire service.

Katherine is very interested in her surroundings these days. She likes to sit up (with some support and stabilization) and see everything. And she's usually happy if she's moving. Katherine enjoys dancing to the funk music that one of our local radio stations plays on Fridays at 5:00pm. It's a wonderful station that is commercial free, plays a wide variety of music, and highlights local musicians. They have web-streaming so that you can listen online. Their website is http://xpn.org In our area, they are 88.5 FM. In MD you can hear some of their programming on WKHS 90.5FM, but some of their time is given to a local high school. It can be a little odd.

My classes start this week. Wish me luck as I will have 2 term papers and a group project to complete before the end of the semester. But, if all goes well, I will have my certificate in Environmental Management after this semester. I plan on continuing towards my M.S., but it's a good milestone to achieve.

Here is a picture of Katherine playing on her gym and another one of her "Buddha pose" in her boppy. It's great to use as a baby recliner. A few other pictures are on the website.

Sleep, Food, Toys...

Katherine has officially slept in her crib for a week! She is also sleeping through the night (10 pm to 5 or 6 am). Yay!

She has also earned several nicknames already. Grandma and Grandpa F. call her "Hoover" because she sucks down her bottle so fast. Her Daddy calls her "Moose 2" in reference to my nickname and her voracious appetite. She has been sucking down every drop of 6 ozs of formula every 4 hours. I can't wait until she's ready for baby cereal!

The boy down the street has also dubbed her "Kat Girl". That conjures up some interesting Halloween costume ideas. Baby plether anyone?!

Katherine has also figured out that she can use her hands and feet to hit/kick things and cause them to move or make a sound. It seems like she is discovering more and more every day. She plays hard for 10-15 minutes and then has to take a nap. It's a hard life! She also likes hanging out in her bouncy seat while I take my shower or work on the computer. She gets a kick out of watching me brush my har, so I always take the time to brush hers. She likes that.
















Resting after Playtime.




















Bouncy seat in PJs.

Long Island Visit

This past weekend was Justin's 4th Birthday celebration and Justin & Brenna's baptism. It was nice to visit with everyone and for the kids to spend some time together. The happy family is pictured below with the minister after the baptisms. The other picture is of Katherine and Brenna hanging out at the beach house.

Fever

We thought we were in the clear because Katherine was doing so well the day of her check-up. However, she spiked a fever the next day. It was to be expected and tylenol took care of it. A picture of her feeling crummy is below. Notice her "wormy".

2 Month Check-Up

Katherine had her 2 month check-up with the Pediatrician today. They did the usual exam, measuring, etc. She also received four vaccinations. We had been warned that these shots hurt. So we came prepared with baby tylenol and a bottle. Well, sure enough, they hurt. Katherine cried real tears and was not a happy camper. She even sniffled for a while after I calmed her down...it was so cute! Needless to say, she was exhausted by the time we got home. The picture below is of her napping in her crib.

Her current stats are:
10 lbs. 2 ozs.
23.25 inches
She's getting so big! According to the growth charts she is in the 75th percentile for height and head circumference and in the 50th percentile for weight. So chances are that she will be taller than me.

Katherine is holding her head up very well and enjoys being propped up in a sitting position so she can see what's going on. She has slept through the night for three days straight and will probably be moving to her crib soon!

There is another family on our street expecting a baby in September. It's supposed to be a boy. That makes four children on our street that will start school the same year! Out of the four, Katherine is the only girl.

2 Months!

Can you believe that Katherine is already 2 months old?! In some ways, though, it feels like she has been with us for a year already! She loves going for walks and "outings". She is also beginning to purposely kick her toys on her gym. She is a very determined young lady.

Her check-up is on Monday. I'll report her current stats. Here are some recent laughing pictures.

Police Academy

Dawn graduated from the Police Academy in Las Vegas yesterday. She will be working for the Henderson Police Department. Congratulations Dawn! We're so proud of you!
















Only Dawn could make the shooting range look cute!

NY Webers

The latest picture of Justin & Brenna is below. They get bigger and bigger each time we see them. Justin is going to be as tall as me soon. And Brenna has two teeth already! We're looking forward to seeing all of the NY Webers next weekend for the Birthday/Baptism/Anniversary weekend!

Life is Hysterical!

Katherine is getting a kick out of the tiniest thing these days. She breaks into a huge gummy grin sometimes for no reason at all. Although I'm sure there's something going on in her world that's hysterical. I've been trying to get a picture of it, but she's such a wiggle worm that the pictures come out blurry.

She's been sleeping more and has been waking up only once or twice a night this whole week. This could be partly due to our switch to formula. She seems much more contented at all times of the day.

The picture below was from yesterday. She wanted to get dressed up for dinner at the diner!

Putty Tat

"I tawt I taw a putty tat." "I did, I did!"

Mason is in love with Katherine. She is visibly upset when Katherine is upset and pleased when she's content. Mason comes out from under the bed in the middle of the night to hang out with me while I feed Katherine and rock her back to sleep.

Mason has been very good about keeping her distance with Katherine. She only sniffs around when we're close by. Last weekend Katherine was sleeping and Mason jumped up in my lap. Ever so slowly, Mason inched her way closer to Katherine until she was laying alongside her. I think Mason's purrs comforted Katherine. A picture is below.