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!