Movin' & Shakin'

Yup. Kate's crawling now. Not very fast, not very far, but she's on the move. I guess baby gates will now become a permanent fixture in our house.

To see Kate's 7 month pictures, check out her flickr page.

Kate's Playroom

Kate is getting so close to crawling. I encourage her all the time but she just cant go forward. She needed some bigger play space to practice, and to help contain her toys, so we made a really inexpensive 'playroom' for her in the little corner of the basement. This was where my desk moved after we made the nursery and my office was reclaimed as a guest room. But since I don't really need an office, and I usually use the laptop while I sit on the couch, this was the perfect space for Kate.

We got this rug from Ikea and a $5 door mirror from Target. The toys were hand-me-downs or gifts, and we already had the coffee table which will become her coloring/play table when she's able to stand.

It's been great having this space for Kate to play, and not having to worry about cleaning everything up every day. Plus, it'll be able to grow with her and she plays with cars, trains, and blocks. I already have ideas for storing her barbies and other dolls when the time comes.

Sheep? Llama? Pikachu?

That was literally the text of the message I sent Adam.

Why?

Kate has a new, adorable sweatshirt from her aunt Andria.

 I think it is a sheep.

Or maybe a llama.

But it reminded me of pikachu...

Any other guesses?

6 Months

Holy cow, where did the time go?

Kate is happily sitting and scooting now. She even lifts her tummy off the floor when she's playing.
She's going to be crawling before we know it, and, while I'm excited for that milestone, I am not ready for her to grow up so fast.

My big girl is now: 17 lbs 6.5 oz and  26.5" long. I'm going to have to switch her car seat out for the bigger convertible seat soon.

She's still nursing morning and night, and she gets food and some formula during the day at my Mom's. She loves every kind of food we have given her, including those nasty peas... and she's even practicing her chewing with some sweet potato puffs.

Some of her favorite things to do are: bouncing (in the bouncer or on you), playing with (and trying to eat) everything, and mickey Mouse Clubhouse (she shows no interest in Wonder Pets or Dora, but she squeals and 'talks' when MMC is on).

Check out all her monthly pics here.

Rice, Rice, Baby

playing with a spoon

Kate had her first experience with rice cereal this weekend. It was 1 Tbs of cereal mixed with 2 oz of milk; a little more than recommended but it was what I had ready, and I didn't want to waste any milk. It was basically the consistency of milk, it didn't seem thickened at all, but since it was her first time it needed to be pretty liquidy.

two spoons are better than one

A lot of the milk/cereal ended up on her pajamas, and it took 15+ minutes, but Kate seemed to enjoy eating from the spoon. At first she wasn't too sure, but by the end she was opening her mouth for the spoon and acting like I couldn't feed her fast enough (which was probably true, do you know how hard it is to move a spoon of milk through the flailing arms of an infant?).

Overall it was a success. Happy baby = happy mommy.

4 Months

My four month maternity leave is coming to an end. I love that I had all summer with my baby girl, and really don't know how other moms do it- going back to work 6 weeks (or sooner!) after having a baby. It's going to be hard, but thankfully she loves my mom and does really well there during the day. I'll also be closer to her at my new school so I'll have more time in the morning and afternoon with her.

Our big girl is now 15 lbs 3 oz. We'll be starting cereal soon and have already had her 'joining' us at dinner in her high chair with a spoon to play with. She's now 25 1/4 inches long- too long for 3 month one-pieces/sleepers, though she's not quite chubby enough for 6 months.

Highlights:
 She has rolled over a couple times from her tummy, and a few more from her back. She is also is holding her head up/ pushing her self up when she is on her tummy. She'll scoot around, too, so I'm sure she'll be crawling before we know it.
When she babbles, she likes to say 'ah-goo ah-goo' and I respond by singing "I am the Walrus" by the Beatles (goo goo ca choo). She has also taken to shrieking. Whether she is excited, playing with her toys, or just babbling she gets an ascending, really high pitched 'ahh'. It's cute, for now.

You may have noticed I didn't post a 3 months post, I'm only posting for the months we have Dr's appointments so I can update stats and milestones. But I am taking a picture every month- I'm keeping her monthly photos on Flickr.

Beach Baby

I love that I have the summers off. I love going to the beach. What I love even more is that my parents have a condo at the beach. I have taken Kate down a few times already and look forward to many more trips. She is OK at the beach, on the sand and near the water.

 What is really fun, though, is swimming in the pool. She loves it.