7 Months

She really wants to get ahold of that camera!


I got Kaitlyn this new toy a few weeks ago. Since several of our friends have it, I knew it was a fun one. We put all the shapes in the bucket and set it next to Kaitlyn and she loves to take each one out, taste it, drop it, and then take out another one. Sometimes she will dump them out too. Once they are all out on the floor she's done....until we come over and put them back in the bucket for her to take out again. Someday she will get the idea of putting them back in!

Kaitlyn hit another big milestone last week. Her first little tooth made its appearance. Now we're just wondering when we will see another one. She's finally doing better at eating, and starting to get the idea of what we're doing. Now she gets really excited when she sees me putting food in her little bowl.

Kaitlyn loves to sit up. She is often seen twirling her hands and feet around in circles. We play peekaboo a lot. And she likes to laugh when we make funny noises or sing silly songs.

A few days ago Kaitlyn was in her little bathtub and figured out that slapping the top of the water with her hand created a big splash! She thought it was so funny. She made a big mess and we both laughed a lot. I thought it was pretty cute, though I don't think it will be so cute over the next few years.

Another big change for us this month is that after 7 months of pumping milk for Kaitlyn, I stopped last week. After seeing a huge drop in my supply over the last few weeks, and some other issues, we decided it was time to stop. I sure didn't know what an emotional process it was going to be for me. After 16 months of pregnancy and breastfeeding, it was hard to let go of this amazing thing my body has been doing. It also brought up again how disappointed I am that I wasn't able to nurse her the normal way. And while I'm sad that I didn't make it longer, I'm trying to just be proud of myself for making it this long when we had so many problems to deal with. I'm still getting used to the idea that my body is mine again. I can take whatever cold medicine I want, and I could have a special "drink" for my birthday this week.

I sure love these two:

Yes, This Post is About Kaitlyn

Oh, I need to catch up on the new things that Kaitlyn is doing. Here's a random list of things she does and likes:

Giggles when Daddy kisses her tummy and has whiskers
Very good at sitting up now
Loves to slap her legs with her hands, and will do it for quite awhile
Her talking now has some new sounds, especially da-da-da
Still loves to be naked
Favorite food so far are peas
Is able to get up on her hands and knees for a few seconds
Though not crawling, can move forwards somehow
Favorite part of bath time is sucking the water out of the washcloth
Had her first flu last week
Loves to play with her feet, and sometimes taste them

This morning Kaitlyn did something new. Sometimes I will put her diaper rag over her face and she will just wait helplessly for me to take it off. Today she started pulling it off herself. So we spent a long time together with me putting it over her head and her pulling it off and smiling. It's fun to learn new games!

Kaitlyn has a favorite TV commercial. It's for Quest HD internet. Whenever it comes on she looks up at the TV and smiles really big. Last week I started saying it was her favorite commercial, but thought it was maybe just coincidence that she was looking up when it came on. But now it is clear that the second the commercial comes on she is fascinated by it. A couple of days ago she was crying, and as soon as it started she stopped crying, turned around, and smiled at the TV. And this morning she was in my lap totally asleep! The commercial came on and she immediately opened her eyes wide, whipped her body around towards the TV and gave a big smile. Nap time was over! I still don't understand what it is about the commercial she loves so much!

It is so fun to watch Kaitlyn play on the floor by herself now. She is such a busy girl, and has so much to do. She will roll over a few times and pick up a toy. Examine it, taste it, shake it, and drop it. Then inch forward a bit to find another toy and do it all again. She is so intent on moving around and figuring out what things do. I just love to watch her work.

Kaitlyn tried some new rice crackers this week. They kinda just melt in your mouth. I handed her one and she knew just what to do with it!



And Kaitlyn got her first Valentine in the mail today!

The Car Seat Pictures

Here she is at 1 day, 3 months, and 6 months! Watch her grow!

6 Months

Kaitlyn is now 6 months and getting bigger all the time. At her doctor appointment yesterday she weighed in at 19 pounds and 7 ounces, which is above the 95th percentile.


As much as Kaitlyn loves her bottle, she is not such a fan of solid foods yet. So far she has tried some rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, bananas, and apples. Sometimes she will get excited about getting the food in her mouth, but she still mostly spits it out.



Kaitlyn is now sitting up on her own pretty well. She is not crawling yet, but between rolling and wiggling she can get around.



Paul thought it would be fun to buy Kaitlyn a bag of Sun Chips, with the bag that is so incredibly noisy. She will sit for quite awhile just touching it and turning it over and making LOTS of noise.


Kaitlyn loves to get her hands on our computer keyboards. She sees Paul and I both pushing the little buttons and she thinks that she should be able to do that too. A few nights ago Paul got tired of her grabbing for his keyboard so he set her up in her high chair with an extra keyboard to play with. She was so happy and banged away for quite awhile.


It's hard to believe that she is really 6 months already! I love you litte sweetie!

Food, Take One

Kaitlyn is now 5 and a half months old, and she loves to watch us eat. She will watch our fork go up and down, study us while we chew, and watch the process over and over again. This morning we decided it was time to let her give eating a try. Her first meal was rice cereal mixed with formula. I tasted it, and it was terrible. But she is used to the taste of formula, right? I wasn't sure if I was going to give her rice cereal or not, since it has no nutritional value. But I got a free box of it, so I decided to give it a try. She hated it. And here's the proof.


I'm not sure if she really hated the taste of it, or she just didn't know what to do with it. So, I'm not sure whether to try the same thing again tomorrow, try something different, or just wait a few days.

January

2011 didn't start off too great for our family, as all 3 of us were sick. I had it the worst, and it was awful. But Kaitlyn was a very good girl for me while I was so sick. she was content to sit on the couch with me and just hang out, without me having to do much to entertain her. Fortunately, we are now healthy. Here are some notes on what Kaitlyn has been up to.

She still loves to eat, and is now fairly good at holding her bottle. We'll probably be starting some solids in the next few days.


After a nice bottle, this is the best place for a nap.


After a nap, it's time to play! In addition to putting toys into her mouth, Kaitlyn now likes to shake them all around. She enjoys it, except when she hits herself in the face with them.


She also loves to listen to Mommy or Daddy sing to her.


In the last few weeks Kaitlyn has started to enjoy looking at books. She often will let out a squeal when I open a book and try to grab at the pictures. It's a little hard for me to turn the pages with her hands in the way, but I hope we will share many more hours reading books together.


This last weekend Kaitlyn and I went to several parties together. Saturday we went to my Grandma's 90th birthday party. Kaitlyn was kinda overwhelmed meeting so many new people, but we had a good time. Then on Sunday we went to a baby shower for two ladies at our church. Here she is decked out for the shower in a new outfit one of her Grandma's sent her. She is only 5 months old, but this 9 month size outfit is none too big for our "little" sweetie who continues to grow.

Happy New Year!