5 Months Old!

Kaitlyn is now 5 months old!

This week Kaitlyn did something I totally did not expect...she starting sitting up on her own!

Look at me sitting up so tall!


Hey, sitting up is a great position for playing with my blocks!


This last month went pretty fast. Kaitlyn and I attended a lot of Christmas parties and had a lot of fun. We had a wonderful Christmas with our family. I am also happy to report that my emotional problems that were really bad last month were so much better this month.

This month was the first month that I gave Kaitlyn a bedtime. We have been doing pretty well with it. But it is still hard to get her afternoon nap to be at a reasonably consistent time to make bedtime easier. When she gets really tired and it's not bedtime yet, I have learned to take her clothes off. She immideately gets happy again and we can make it a little longer until bath time and bed time.

Of course Kaitlyn has started doing lots of new things this month. She now loves to reach up and grab our faces. She has even pulled my glasses off my face a few times. She enjoys sitting in her high chair and playing with her toys. She is getting much more mobile with rolling and inching around. She loves to find cords and hold onto them so tight that it's hard for me to get them out of her hands. She is fascinated by watching us eat. She will watch the fork go up and down so intently. She is starting to get her knees up under her when on her tummy. She is now ticklish and will laugh pretty hard when Daddy tickles her. She is now drooling everywhere. And she is doing a great job playing with her new toys that she got for Christmas.

We're now starting month 6, and planning to try some solid foods in a few weeks!

Baby's First Christmas

Paul, Kaitlyn and I spent Christmas Eve at Paul's grandparents house.


Kaitlyn enjoyed seeing her Great Grandma


and taking a nap by the tree!


Christmas Day we first went to my parents house. Kaitlyn did a great job opening presents. I did help her open them, but I was surprised that as soon as we put a present in front of her she would start trying to open it. She got some fun stacking cups.


And a ball that rolls around on the floor and plays music.


We had to try that one out right away!


Along with presents, we enjoyed spending time with our family. Here is Kaitlyn with her cousin Lori.


Then we all went over to my aunt and grandma's house. Kaitlyn opened MORE presents, including some blocks


a book


and a doll.


We had a good day.


And we were very tired when we got home.

The next day Kaitlyn was ready to play with her toys! Here she is practicing driving. This toy has lots of things that make noises and play muusic, and I was surprised how well she did.


And we enjoyed playing with her new blocks. Again I was surprised at how well she did. She knew right away how to knock down all the towers I built, and was doing pretty well at sitting up too!


We had a great first Christmas with Kaitlyn. It's hard to imagine what next Christmas will be like!

For Grandma Shari

Merry Christmas Grandma Shari! We're sorry we don't get to see you today, but here's a little video of Kaitlyn. This was just before bath time and bed time last night. I finally got a video with some giggles.

It's Christmas Eve!

Today is Christmas Eve! I have been telling Kaitlyn all about Christmas and she is getting excited!


Last weekend she got to meet Santa for the first time! I put her in his lap, and she was suddenly amazed by her feet! She did not look at Santa at all, and I could not get her to look up at me.



We're looking forward to some new toys for Christmas!

New Things

Kaitlyn has been working hard on doing some new things. Between rolling and wiggling she is really moving around on the floor. She can easily get off her blanket and get to things that are not hers to play with. I am not ready for her to be so mobile yet. I really have to keep an eye on her when I put her on the floor. She is also starting to get her knees up under her. She hasn't made it up on her hands and knees at the same time yet, but I'm sure it won't be long.


She has also been working on growing these chunky thighs!


This last week I sat her up in her high chair for the first time. Here she says, "This is fun Mommy, but where's the food?"


I haven't started giving her any solid food yet, but she enjoys sitting in her chair to play with toys. It is so fun to watch her drop one on the floor and then stare down at it.


Kaitlyn loves to listen to me sing to her. Sometimes when she is fussy I start singing and she stops fussing and smiles at me. She now can hold her own bottle sometimes. And she is now really good at reaching out to grab something and put it into her mouth. It's amazing how she does new things every week!

Gettig Ready for Christmas!

Kaitlyn is getting ready for her first Christmas!


She knows the truth: Who needs Santa when I have Grandma!


She likes to go to parties! These are her friends at our class at the hospital. Do you see the little boy trying to hold hands with Kaitlyn?


She also went to a party with friends from our church. The youngest three at the party were all wearing red and white stripes! Here she is between Ben and Grant. First Ben looks mad at her.


Then he tries to whisper something to her!


Kaitlyn and I are attending two more parties today, with food, presents and Santa!

Week 19

This last week I have been working on getting Kaitlyn's life a little more on a schedule. Up until now we have let her sleep whenever she wanted, which was easiest for us. But now I am working on getting her used to a set bedtime. It has been going pretty well, though she gets so tired in the evenings that it can be a lot of work to keep her up.

I have been thinking about trying to make this change for quite awhile, but the time has finally come. The past few months Paul has been so helpful with taking care of Kaitlyn when she wakes up at night so that I can get some sleep. But Paul is starting a new job where he is working 10 hour night shifts! We are very thankful that he has a job, but this will definately be changing our sleeping schedule. Now I will be getting up with her at night, and I'm a little concerned about getting enough sleep. Hopefully getting her on a bit of a schedule will help.

One of Kaitlyn's new tricks is to stick out her tongue and blow bubbles. It is pretty cute, though messy. Um, I guess she is up from her nap...I better go pick her up!

4 Months!

Today marks the end of another month. It's amazing how fast they go. Month number 4 was a good one for Kaitlyn, probably her happiest one so far.

Yesterday we took Kaitlyn to her 4 month doctor appointment, and her doctor was very happy with how she is doing. Our *little* sweetie now weighs a whopping 16 pounds and 11 ounces, which puts her in the 97th percentile. She is 25.5 inches long, which is in the 90th percentile. I guess she is a big girl! She also got another round of shots, which she did pretty well with. We are so happy to have a healthy baby.

The best parts of the month probably were seeing Kaitlyn learn to roll over, grab her feet, and giggle, along with celebrating Thanksgiving with our families.

Since this is my blog, and it really is all about bragging anyway, I might as well brag a little more! I can hardly believe that I have made it to 4 months with pumping my milk. The first few weeks were so hard, and I had no idea that I could make it this long. I think I deserve some sort of award. Maybe it's in the mail? I still have no idea how long I will keep this up. Nearly everyday I think about quitting, and yet everyday I keep going. Perhaps I'm a little stubborn?

This month has been great in a lot of ways, but it also has been an emotional one for me. Another round of post-partem emotions has hit me, and that part hasn't been so fun. I feel fine for a few days, and then don't quite feel like myself for a few days. Sometimes for no real reason I feel overwhelmed and like crying. Hopefully this next month will see an improvement in this department!

Next up: month 5 and Christmas!

Thanksgiving Week

This week was Kaitlyn's first Thanksgiving. After a week of snow and icy roads, we were happy that we were able to make it to Paul's family celebration. We were especially glad that Paul's parents were able to make it over the pass to spend the day with us. Kaitlyn did great being passed around and meeting lots of new family. Her favorite part was the special treat that her Grandma brought her - her first doll. Here's a picture of Kaitlyn in her pajamas after the long day, playing with her new toy. Thank you Grandma Shari!


This week I was thinking a lot about what was going on this time last year. It was two days before Thanksgiving last year when I found out I was pregnant. What a life changing day! Then we spent Thanksgiving day still in shock as we went to celebrate with both Paul's family and then my family, keeping our secret to ourselves.

I am so thankful for my beautiful happy girl. Each week she continues to grow and learn new things. This week she has started laughing, which of course is one of the best sounds in the world! Unfortunately, after the first good chuckle, she gets the hiccups, so the rest of her giggles are interrupted with hiccups. She also now loves to grab her feet! When I lay her down on her changing table or the floor to loves to stretch her arms and legs out really far for a big stretch, and then curl up and grab her feet.


And she's definately getting better at holding onto her toys and getting them into her mouth. Here's the poor little sweetie teething:


It's hard to believe we're now officially into the Christmas season! I'm listening to Christmas music as I write, and I love it. Four weeks from today is Christmas Day!

First Snow!

Kaitlyn saw her first snow yesterday at church! And today it has been snowing a lot too, so we ran outside to take a picture.

Yes, More Pictures :)

This week Kaitlyn had her first close encounter with a dog, while visiting her great-grandparents. Both Kaitlyn and the dog just stared at each other for awhile and weren't quite sure what to do. It was pretty funny.

This picture I took after I realized that Kaitlyn had been pretty quiet in her doorway jumper for a few minutes. I took a peek at her and found her passed out! And here she is trying to lick her blanket!

And Kaitlyn has a little something she would like to say...

She Did It!

Kaitlyn has now rolled from her tummy to her back quite a few times. And the last week or so she has been working so hard to roll from her back to her tummy. She would get so close and then start crying because she couldn't quite do it. This morning she was at it again, trying so hard, and she finally did it! Then she stayed on her tummy for a few minutes, and then rolled onto her back again. I'm so proud of her!

Another thing she was been doing a lot this week is "singing". She especially likes to sing with her fist in her mouth. Here's a sample of her sitting on the couch, chewing on her fist, and singing away. Sorry the picture is sideways, so you have to turn your head :)



This last week Kaitlyn and I also shared a cold for the second time. It's so nice to share everything together! But despite the cold, she stayed pretty happy this time. Here's a few pictures of her week 15!



She just smiles so much now, and I LOVE it. Even when I am exhausted or in the middle of cleaning her spit up off of myself, her big smile just warms my heart.

First Halloween

Kaitlyn enjoyed her first holiday last week. She was the cutest little giraffe I have ever seen!

Unfortunately she did not enjoy her costume too much. Each time she wore it she only lasted about 5 minutes in it before she was complaining that it needed to come off. She got to go to two parties this year, the first one at our class at the hospital. These are just a few of the babies that were there.

And here is Kaitlyn with her friends from church.

Kaitlyn didn't make it to the party I went to on Halloween...she stayed home with Daddy and slept the night away.

3 Months!

My baby girl is 3 months old today!

Kaitlyn is learning to do a lot of new things. After a few weeks of rolling from her tummy to her back, she is now working on rolling from her back to her tummy. She has been working on it for a few days now and is so close. It makes her quite upset that she can't do it, but I'm sure she'll have it soon.

She loves to sit up and stand up, and does not want to be held like a baby unless she's eating. She likes to sit up on the couch next to me and be able to look around. We also set up our doorway jumper this last week and Kaitlyn LOVES it. She bounces all around and turns around in circles, making happy little noises. She still likes her swing a lot too.

Kaitlyn loves to chew on her hands, and sometimes she manages to get both of them in her mouth at the same time. She likes to look at a few of her toys. One of them she can now grab hold of and pull it into her mouth. She also loves to watch TV. It's amazing how far she can turn her head around to try to get a glimpse of it.

She likes to listen to me talk and sing to her, and now I often get big smiles in return. Kaitlyn is making a lot more noises these days too. It's fun to talk to her and have her "talk" back to me.

Kaitlyn has been doing great in the nursery at church the last few weeks. I have put her in several times during MOPS, and this last week was the first time I put her in on a Sunday morning. She definitely gets tired after time in the nursery, with all the new things and people to look at.

Now that she is 3 months old, Kaitlyn is graduating from the 0-3 month baby class we have been attending at the hospital. We will now be with the "big kids" in the 3-6 month class.

Of course, her favorite activity is still eating. Based on how loud she screams when she wants to do it, we're pretty sure it's her favorite thing.

The pictures from lucky Week 13:

Look how much she's grown! Here she was one day old

And here she is at 3 months

This is something fun we had made at 6 weeks and just got back this week

And here she is happy in her doorway jumper!

Teething?

This week we have had a few hard days, as Kaitlyn seems to have begun teething. It's a little early, isn't it? But she has started drooling, gnawing on her hands, and getting very fussy. She will chew on my fingers too, but doesn't quite understand what to do with the teething toys yet. Oh, why does teething have to hurt so much?

Here are our pictures to share from (yikes) Week 12:
A happy baby!
Come on Mommy, no more pictures!
So tired after playing with toys

She is Rolling!

I think it's safe to say that Kaitlyn is officially able to roll from her tummy to her back. She did it twice on accident, first at 4 weeks and then once a few weeks after that.

But she has now done it twice each day for 3 days. I usually put her down on the floor on her tummy for a few minutes every morning, until she starts screaming. Tuesday I put her down and she just had it in her head, "I must roll!" As soon as I put her down she started leaning to the side and squirming around and flipped over. I wasn't sure if it was an accident or not, so I rolled her back on her tummy and she started leaning again, and then flipped over again! I put her back on her tummy and by then she was fussing too much to do it again so I picked her up. Same thing happened Wednesday and Thursday, she rolled twice in about 5 minutes, and was fussing too much for a third time. It's so funny how I put her down she just knows that she has to do it, and immediately starts leaning to the side. This morning I put her on her tummy and was going to try to take a video of her rolling and of course she wouldn't do it! Oh, I'm not ready for her to grow up!

This week I started a Bible Study with other mommy's from my church. We're doing a study called Believing God by Beth Moore. There is homework that we have to do, and I am hoping that I will be able to get it done after Kaitlyn goes to bed at night.

From Week 11, she likes to sit on the couch:

And she is starting to enjoy her toys a little more!