Party on the waves

Dec 13-19, 2009: A White Christmas

2009-12-13T15:36:00.008-05:00

Dec 15 daycare sheet: She did not like the school food [beef and noodles]. I gave her jarred food and she ate it all. For art, we made a Christmas tree with green paper. We read the book Christmastime is here and sang lots of songs.

We spent Christmas this year in Boston/NH, and it was COOOOOOLD. Katie enjoyed seeing her cousin Jack and Grandma A, but she was just not quite sure what to make of all the white stuff on the ground.

Dec 6-12, 2009: More holiday cheer

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December 9th daycare sheet: We rode the big stroller to see all the pretty decorations. The teachers waved and some talked to us. We danced to Kookaburra and The Muffin Man.
That sounds like quite the day!!

Katie got another opportunity to wear her Christmas dress when the neighbor's had their holiday party. Everyone enjoyed watching her crawl around with her festive garb.

Dec 2-5, 2009: Daddy's company Christmas party

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Daddy's company had their annual Christmas party in town, so we checked into a hotel and crashed the party for a little bit after some time in the pool. It was fun for me to see some of my old coworkers, but even nicer once we got tired of the party to just ride the elevator up and go to bed. Daddy stayed down at the party and made sure to get his money's worth on the buffet.

Nov 27-Dec 1, 2009: Starting the Christmas season

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Now that every day of her first year has been chronicled, I can start to lump some of the updates together. Below are some pictures following Thanksgiving and leading into the Christmas holiday. The highlight was meeting Santa at the mall. Same Santa as last year, but this time she was a bit more mesmerized with him.

On 11/30/2009, Katie measured 22lbs, 2oz and 27.25in.

Day 366: November 26 - HAPPY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY, SWEET ANGEL!!!!!!!

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Katie's first birthday happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year, so following our turkey dinner, Katie got another opportunity for a birthday cake, well cupcake.

I can not believe it's been a whole year since she entered our lives. It's been an amazing, tiring, overwhelming, exciting, rewarding, frustrating year, and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. My little girl is the light of my life and my reason to wake up each morning. I am madly and deeply in love with her, and I am so honored to be her mother. I can't wait to see what the next year and the year after that and the year after that bring with her in our lives.

Love you, Katie bug!!

Day 365: November 25 - Oops

2009-11-06T22:54:00.007-05:00

So the goal was to take pictures every day of Katie's life for the first year and have an accompanying blog entry. Oops! It appears we fell a little short towards the end. ;-)

Day 364: November 24 - Hanging with Dad

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With Mommy working, the pictures are a little sparce this week. ;-)

Day 363: November 23 - Sleeping beauties

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Thanksgiving week, and Daddy and Katie are home chillin' together while Mommy heads off to work. Looks like it was a lazy Monday for everyone in the house.

Day 362: November 22 - A lazy Sunday

2009-11-06T22:53:00.030-05:00

Today was definitely a lazy day trying to recover from yesterday's party. We opened all of Katie's gifts, and as always, our friends and family were entirely too generous to us! We are very appreciative of their kindness!

Day 361: November 21 - How to throw a ladybug party!

2009-11-06T22:53:00.029-05:00

Katie's first birthday party turned out awesome!! The ladybug invitations were so fun to make. For the party, we decorated in black and red, and even bought candy to match. The ultimate were the Kiss band M&Ms. For party favors, we made ladybug cookies, and the kids were able to decorate them themselves. The littlier kids got a ladybug book to take home.

My friend Marie made the ladybug cake, and it was beyond my wildest expectations. The appetizers were made by Daddy and cousin Christen and were crackers with cheese spread then tomatoes and olives form the ladybug. I'll be starting a tradition with her birthdays where I have a signature mat and all of the party attendees sign it. I think this will be really cool to watch it evolve each year she grows older.

The reason Katie's eyes are all red sitting in front of her cake is because she was NOT a fan of all of the attention being on her while singing Happy Birthday. As soon as everyone started singing, she started sobbing. Poor girl!

A highlight was that while the party was ramping up, Daddy drove to the airport to pick up Grandma A. She's spending the week with us and made it just in time to celebrate Katie's first birthday.

The final touch for her party was the one year slideshow I made. It turned out PERFECT, and I still tear up watching it!

Link to her one year video:

http://karenkga.shutterfly.com/241

Day 360: November 20 - Num, num, num

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Four pictures, three with the same nummy toy to suck on.

Day 359: November 19 - Becoming more self-sufficient

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Look at big stuff taking care of chugging her milk herself. Now if she could completely feed herself, clean up after herself, change her own diaper, etc. ;-)

Day 358: November 18 - Puzzle time

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This is such a cool invention to entertain children. It's got so much to keep them enthralled while you're waiting around.

Day 357: November 17 - More quirks

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In addition to Katie's magazine destruction addition, she also LOVES to take her socks off, and a lot of times they also find a way into her mouth. This is when she's very clearly Daddy's Girl!

Day 355: November 15 - Magazine mania

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There is just something so irresistible about a pile of magazines stacked up for Katie. She MUST find a way to topple them and spread them across the floor. One of these days I really need to train her to stack them back up!

Day 356: November 16 - It's not just prices that are falling at The Walmart

2009-11-06T22:52:00.024-05:00

Message to me from Daddy: Your daughter will not drink the cow's milk out of the sippy cup!

Katie, Grammy and I were standing in the cat aisle at The Walmart yesterday picking out cat food. I was looking away from Katie when I heard two loud THUDS. I whipped my head around to see two 35lb jugs of cat litter in the middle of the aisle. They had fallen from the TOP shelf! Had Katie been two feet over, they would have fallen right on top of her!!! I was freaked out! I told a manager who said she'd take care of it right away. Man Katie's angel was at work yesterday!!!

Day 354: November 14 - One year pictures: CHECK

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And this is why we book our official photo shoots with Laura Brett. She takes such amazing pictures, and as a previous blog entry proves, we certainly can't rely on the shots we get from Katie's daycare photographer to give us "hang on the wall" picture choices.

Day 353: November 13 - It's not easy being me

2009-11-06T22:52:00.022-05:00

Katie has been so addicted with getting my keys from me every day that I pick her up from daycare, so I have no idea what upset her so much tonight after receiving my keys. Clearly it is not easy being almost one.

Day 352: November 12 - SCHOOL PICS ARE BACK!!!

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Katie shows so much of her personality in the pictures we take, and our professional photographer friend perfectly captures her adorableness. Her school pictures though? Truly hysterical. Oh...my...GAWD I couldn't stop laughing when I picked up her packet today!

Day 351: November 11 - A cat's delight

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Looks like Bob and Packer are going to do what they can to take advantage of Katie and her attempts at feeding herself.

Day 350: November 10 - Another rough night

2009-11-06T22:51:00.033-05:00

I am one tired Mommy!!!! I attempted to do bedtime routine in Katie's room and then put her in her crib as she was falling asleep. She was not impressed with that. I took her into our room to get her settled down again and asleep before transferring her back to her crib. She stayed down for awhile, but eventually woke up around 1 a.m. crying. Daddy went in to soothe her, but she cried for the entire half hour. I went in after that and picked her up and rocked her. She just would not completely settle. I got her some teething tablets and a dose of Tylenol, and even that wouldn't calm her completely. She would just get calm and then all of a sudden start fussing again. She kept taking her pacifier out of her mouth and slamming it on the ground also. Let me just tell you, it is NOT easy trying to find a pacifier on the floor under a rocker at 2 a.m with a crying baby who won't let you put her down!

I finally took her downstairs and sat her on her vibrating Mush bean bag and hugged her [she would get upset if she didn't have the feeling of being held]. She started to settle more to the point where she even laid back. I strapped her in, and she eventually closed her head and fell asleep. I kept her there for quite awhile to make sure she was completely zonked out. Around 3 a.m., I took her back upstairs and put her in her crib. When she woke up at 4 a.m. and cried, I was done. Time to grab her and snuggle with her in our bed.

I don't know whether it was good or bad that I forgot to set my alarm clock, because while it was nice to make up for some lost sleep, it also meant I was headed into work an hour later than normal.

While we were preparing some supper, she found her way into her shelf of bottles and nipples. It didn't seem to bother her that there was no bottle filled with milk attached to the nipple she started sucking on. It was quite funny to listen to the smacking sounds she was making with it.

Day 349: November 9 - Sampling new foods

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Katie was kind of grumpy as I picked her up from school today. Miss Seyeda said she didn't get a good nap in the afternoon, so she thought maybe Katie would sleep well tonight.

When we got home, we did some exploration at suppertime. I'm trying to get Katie to eat more solid foods that she feeds herself. I'm learning that she's not a fan of feeding herself bananas, because they feel too mushy on her fingers. She will eat butternut squash though, since it's a harder consistency. We started with peas and carrots. After gagging a few times, and nearly choking on a pea hull, we scrapped that and went to cut up pears. She was OK with the pears, but embraced them much more once they were warmed up. She went crazy for the butternut squash, and also when Daddy gave her bits of a saltine cracker. She also ate an entire slice of cheese, which is a first for her! I gave her some yogurt juice to quench her palate, and while I like seeing her suck it down, I wish when she was done that she'd just hand it back and say, "Why thank you Mother, that was delicious, however, I am satisfied at this time." Umm, no, instead she choose to slam it on the ground, usually before I can reach out and catch it.

For desert, I gave her some yogurt covered raisins. We tried one or two the night before, and it seemed to go OK. The shell seemed rather hard, so I mashed it down before putting it on her tray. She quickly gobbled 5-6 of them before I decided that was enough sugar for one night. I picked her up out of her highchair and took her over by the sink to see Daddy. Next thing I know, she kind of gags and then spits out two raisins, followed by three more. Yup, she managed to eat the sweet yogurt coating of the raisins, but she held the raisins themselves in her mouth for a minute or two before spitting them all out. Note to self: not ready for yogurt covered raisins at this time.

We wrapped up our day by once again pelting Daddy with balls while he tried to rest on the couch. So.much.FUN!

Day 348: November 8 - A crazy crawler

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Now that she's got this crawling thing underway, she's going to town with it. It's funny to see her continuously change directions and go off in different directions.

Day 347: November 7 - A model Model

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Katie and I went shopping around to try and find some options for her one year photoshoot. Naturally we then needed to put on a fashion show to see how they all looked. It was exhausting to her, but we managed to find something that would work.

Day 346: November 6 - Bed head baby

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Despite a rough morning with major bed head, Katie turned it around and managed to be overly cute and adorable all day long.

Day 345: November 5 - Never leave a child unattended

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That's it, I give up! I just don't have the stamina to keep her in her own crib right now. Call me weak. Call me whatever you want. I just want and NEED a good night's sleep! Crib transitioning is off.

I had a meeting at work that I had to stay late for, so Daddy picked up Katie from daycare. I sent him a text message as I was heading into the meeting, just to confirm that he was still planning on picking her up. It took everything I had to stifle a laugh when I got this response back: Yes I am picking up the little diva so she can treat me like trash. She tramps all over my feelings without blinking an eyelash.

Daddy has convinced himself that Katie doesn't love him anymore. He doesn't quite get that she's 11 months old, and she isn't capable of making conscious decisions like that.

As you can see below, she continues to find fun and interesting things around the house to entertain her.

Day 344: November 4 - Missing our ZZZZZZs

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GAH, another hour long screamfest last night before I finally caved around 1am. Who is this child in my house??

Today's weight: 22lb 2.5oz

Day 343: November 3 - Tap tappity tap

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She ended up in our bed at 12:30 am. She went to bed so well, but it just didn't last. She fussed around in her crib for quite awhile, taking her paci in and out of her mouth, but she just wouldn't settle back down. She definitely has us wrapped around her fingers!

After supper today, we ran across the street to give Becky and Chris their birthday invite. Katie was a character making all kinds of noises and motions while we stood there and talked. Miss Becky started tickling her, and boy did Katie giggle.

She's becoming so fascinated with her drums and drumsticks. I think we have a budding musician on our hands.

Day 342: November 2 - Ready, aim, TOSS

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We managed to make it until 3:30 am before she came into our bed! That was after crying from 2:30-3:30 though!

After supper, Katie and I crawled into her ballpit to play while Daddy vacuumed. She hasn't done overly well with the vacuum lately, so I figured I'd need to be close to her so she didn't cry. It ended up working out pretty well, because she found it highly entertaining to lob balls at Daddy while he was cleaning.

Day 341: November 1 - Having a ball

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Katie had her mini football the other day, and she managed to slam it down and it yelled "Go Dawgs". She started crying. Poor thing!

After my meltdown a month ago about wanting to give up pumping, I managed to stick with it awhile longer. Without the Reglan making me mentally crazy and the stress and pressure I was putting on my body, I was able to up my production to a decent amount and then supplemented the rest of what she needed. Today, however, I started cutting down the lunch pumping session. It's been hard to be chained to that pump every day at lunch and not really be able to go out to eat or socialize with coworkers, so I'm going to enjoy my new found freedom.

Katie continues to enjoy her own personal ball pit. It's even better when Daddy tries to chill on the couch and we pelt him from across the room with the balls.

Day 340: October 31 - Happy Halloween

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Tonight was official Halloween Trick-or-Treating, so we met up with all of the neighborhood kids at the subdivision park to begin the Ready, Set, BOO celebrations. Katie did awesome with everything until all of the kids yelled "cheese" for the picture and then she melted.

Daddy took her up and down our street trick-or-treating, and she picked up some candy at each house. By the time she got home, however, Daddy discovered that for every piece the neighbors put in her bucket, she grabbed that piece out of her bucket and chucked it over the side of the wagon. ;-)

Day 339: October 30 - Our own Mini Minnie

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Today was the Halloween party at school, so Katie donned the Minnie Mouse dress Grammy bought her. She looked so freakin' adorable in it! We did some Walmart shopping and some pizza eating before Mini Minnie zonked out from a busy day.

Day 338: October 29 - Pumpkin guts are fascinating

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In the evening, we carved our Halloween pumpkin. Katie touched the pumpkin a few times, and then would check out her fingers. Daddy picked her up when he saw her crawling towards the massive pile of pumpkin guts on the floor. I'm sure she would have had a blast if he would have let her continue on her path.

At bedtime, we did our normal routine of having bedtime snack on the bed, but I was exhausted from the day, so I ended up falling asleep around the same time she did. You know what that means, *someone* did not get moved to her crib to spend the rest of the night. Sigh! It's probably for the best, because she woke up at 3am pretty crabby. I'm starting to wonder if she's not cutting another tooth, since she sure has been restless at night and she seemed more congested. Let me also say, Daddy and I should not be making parenting decisions at 3am when we're both exhausted. It's not a good combo! I guess there's always tomorrow night to work on the transition again.

Day 337: October 28 - And now transition is on hold

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YAY, Daddy's coming home again!!!! After the difficulties of last night, I am SO pleased to announce that Daddy will be back from his trip tonight! I can't wait!

After such a traumatic bedtime last night, which included screams I have never heard come out of her mouth, I wasn't sure what I could expect this morning. I knew I was tired from getting to bed so late, and I was frustrated that I didn't get done what I had wanted to the night before. Katie? The biggest smiles on her face this morning. Little stinker!

She played on the big bed while I put on my makeup, but all she had for toys was a Little People toy, the remote control and my cellphone. I was getting to my mascara when I heard the familiar tone of the speed dial on my phone. I quickly grabbed the phone and hung it up, not knowing who she had attempted to call. About 30 seconds later, Aunt Laura called to see if we needed anything! haha! Umm, no, that would be Katie that tried to get ahold of you.

I sent Daddy a picture of Katie to help him get through his day with a smile on his face. He responded back: You sent her to daycare in that. Can you say ghetto?

We were very fortunate that Daddy was able to get an earlier flight home. He was originally scheduled for a midnight arrival, and I was fearful of what the next morning would behold with both of us being exhausted. It's not historically been a good combo for us. Katie went to bed relatively easy IN HER OWN CRIB, but shortly after Daddy got home, she started crying. He went in and changed her diaper, but she didn't seem impressed with that effort. He asked me if he should go in and get her, and I said, "No, she needs to learn to fall back asleep by herself in her crib". His response was, "I'm going to go get her anyway!" haha! He brought her back into bed, and I have to admit, it melted me watching him snuggling up with her. Daddy missed his baby girl while he was gone this week! I think this crib training deal is going to have to be postphoned until tomorrow!

As you can see with the pictures below, Katie is able to find entertainment in most anything...Mommy's "products", a trash can, a cat toy. Yeah, doesn't take much!

Day 336: October 27 - Transition fail....again

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I got an email from Daddy this morning with the subject line, "How is muffin this morning?" Awww, does he love his baby girl or what!!

Today was picture day, and after the debacle of last time's school pictures, I wanted to do better this time around. I probably spent way too much energy stressing about the right outfit, but hey, she's a firstborn child! I had it narrowed down to three outfits, and this morning I decided to go with the jeans and pink top. I wanted her to look cute, but not like she spent all day obsessing about her looks, thus the choice of casual jeans. Unfortunately, when we got to school, I realized that the pink shirt completely washed out her complexion. Sigh! Maybe next time! I got messages throughout the day from my friends wanting to know how picture day went. We won't know for a few weeks when the proofs come back.

When I went to pick Katie up from school, she fell asleep in the car, as she sometimes does, so I stopped by KFC and got some takeout. When I got home, I felt bad about waking her up, so I let her sleep while I sat in the car in the garage with her eating my meal. It seemed like a good idea at the time. What I could not predict is that the short nap she got would cause her to stay up for HOURS past her bedtime!

I tried giving her her bedtime snack around 8pm, like I always do, and she was fine with that, but then she wanted to sit up and play. I tried to get her to lay down, and she was having none of it. I thought, OK, well we'll work some more on the transition to the crib, so I'll put her in her crib and let her play there. Oh no, no, no, no! She started crying with tints of screaming in there. OK, not working. Let's head back to the bedroom and try again. We got back on the big bed and watched some TV, and she calmed back down, so I tried the crib again. Oh NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! I then started thinking, OK my friends have talked about CIO [cry it out] where you walk away and let your child have this cryfest and eventually they learn to soothe themselves to sleep.

I took the video monitor with me and went to take a shower. She screamed the ENTIRE time! After I got dried off, I went back and got her again. I thought maybe getting a top off snack might calm her down and let her fall right to sleep. She took a few sips and then rolled over and perked up like she wanted to play some more. GAH!!!! Two and a half hours after her normal bedtime, she finally fell asleep in my arms on the bed. I didn't dare jostle her by taking her back to her crib, so alas, she spent another night snuggling in the big bed with me. Maybe we'll work on that transitioning tomorrow....

On a more positive note, I got Katie's first birthday invitations done. They turned out AWESOME!! Can't wait to show you the rest of the party ideas I have planned!

Day 335: October 26 - Bird Dawg is born

2009-10-07T16:06:00.078-04:00

I put her into our bed at midnight. I changed her diaper, and she still would not settle down, so I gave up and let her snuggle with us. Tired mommy = give up with little struggle Mommy.

I have been so worried about picking just the right outfit for Katie's upcoming photo shoot [school pictures at daycare]. I said I didn't want a repeat of last time, and Daddy's response was: There was nothing wrong with what she worn to school that day. Umm yeah!

Daddy sent me an email on Friday telling me to look at the red mayor signs on my way to pick up Katie from daycare. For the first one I saw, I only noticed that the guy went by "Bird Dawg". When I came upon the next one, I then noticed the dude's name is the same as Daddy's. I got quite a chortle out of it. We ended up stealing one of the signs, because well, it's just too funny. After Daddy shoved the sign in the car and started to drive, he looked in the rear view mirror and said, "Is that a cop back there?" Why yes it was! Luckily he turned off and did not come chase after us for stealing. Can you imagine how funny that would have been? So today I figure I'm going to see if I can find a website with a graphic to play with. Instead, this is what I found and sent them to Daddy:
Bird Dawg said he got the nickname for one reason: He keeps his eyes open and ears perked to what's going on. He has no prior town government experience; Sears has eight years in office, and Holleman has 17. "They've kind of got their ways set," said Bird Dawg of his more experienced competition. "You can't tell a stubborn old man nothing."---and----Bird Dawg, who has no Web site, said he's spread his platform by word of mouth. Besides, he says, people have already made up their minds."This thing's already done," he said.

Day 334: October 25 - Katiebug the Ladybug's first official debut

2009-10-07T16:06:00.077-04:00

YAY, Katie slept through the night in her crib again! I heard a noise around 6am, so I turned on the monitor to check it. She was just sitting in her crib looking around. I watched for a minute or two, but then she decided she was hungry and started fussing, so I got up to go get her. Transition worked...at least for last night!

We got to go to our first Halloween party today with all of Mommy's online friends. Katie was an adorable ladybug, but it was kinda chilly, so we had to supplement with her Georgia Bulldogs jacket. She was so quiet and sober, so I think the costumes of the other kids was a little bit overwhelming to her. It was at a local park, so she enjoyed heading over to the water and checking out the geese with Daddy.

Day 333: October 24 - Couldn't resist

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Katie, and I, made it until 2:30 am with her in her crib. She started crying, and I was just too tired to deal with it, so I brought her back into our bed where she snuggled until morning. Mommy: 0 Katie: 1

Day 332: October 23 - Trying to transition.....again

2009-10-07T16:06:00.075-04:00

I am going to begin the difficult task tonight of transitioning Katie back into her crib. As much as I'm going to miss my little snuggle bunny, I'm worried about her waking up in the middle of the night [like she's been doing lately] and crawling right off the edge of the bed. So far she's tried to crawl on top of us, but I think that's playing with fire. I know she will eventually find a way to crawl off of the bed without waking us up first, so I know it's safest to get her back into her crib. She loves to burrow up next to us when she sleeps, so I'm not sure how she's going to do with the cold expanse of her crib. I bought her some warm jammies though, so hopefully she won't wake up in the middle of the night cold like she was before. Wish us luck!!!!

Day 331: October 22 - Check me out

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How adorable is she in this funky pants!! We went to Sears after work tonight to pick out glasses, and Katie loved checking herself out in all of the mirrors of the store.

Day 330: October 21 - On the mend already

2009-10-07T16:06:00.073-04:00

She woke me up at 4am by sitting up in bed, whacking me with a hammer and giggling while doing so. She was PITIFUL yesterday, but this morning she looked much better. I hope this doesn't happen every time she cuts teeth!!

We went for walk tonight around the subdivision. She always seems to get into a zone when we do that.

Day 329: October 20 - Poor baby

2009-10-07T16:06:00.072-04:00

Definitely time for the doctor's office. We had another rough night of Katie not being able to sleep. Her nose is blocked but she still tried eating. At the appointment, her temp was 100.1 and her Pulse was 165. Oxygen registered at 97%. Nothing communicable, but she's definitely sick.

I had to stop by the office to get a few things done, so Katie took the opportunity with my quiet work atmosphere to get her nap on.

Day 327: October 18 - Still sick

2009-10-07T16:05:00.035-04:00

Katie has found another opportunity to violate the tub. Mommy found another poo in there while she was bathing. She is still sick and took two naps, which is not normal for a weekend. It may be time to look about getting her in to see a doctor.

Day 328: October 19 - Now I lay me down to sleep

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More napping, but Bob has made sure it is definitely supervised sleep time.

Day 326: October 17 - Who's your Daddy??

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I was standing outside with Katie talking to our neighbor Theresa when a black car drives by, and what does Katie ask? "Dada?" How adorable, she associates that Daddy drives a black car.

Day 325: October 16 - A sick day home with Daddy

2009-10-07T16:05:00.031-04:00

IM I got from Daddy today: "I have a hot little blonde sleeping next to me!"

She still isn't feeling completely herself. According to Daddy, she was whining when she was awake and had a runny nose and sad eyes. Ms Seyeda said Katie seemed sad yesterday too. It was a rough night last night, because she kept waking up and moaning. Around 2:30, the only thing that made her happy was to walk around holding her. Since I knew Daddy wasn't going to go to work the next day, I held her for a bit and then took her down to him. She stayed in his arms and snuggled for a bit before they both came upstairs and climbed into bed with Bob and I. Poor little sick muffin.

After work, we had some guy come over to do a demonstration of these fancy schmancy pots and pans, and in the process, we got a free dinner. The pans were wicked expensive, so naturally we didn't end up buying any, but the food was good and not having to make it was even better!!

Day 324: October 15 - A brilliant idea!!!

2009-10-07T16:05:00.030-04:00

Mommy's a genius! Why not take all of these balls that get tossed around the house, and put them in Katie's Pack 'n Play so that when she tosses them, they're still confined and Mommy doesn't have to continuously bend over to pick them up!

Day 323: October 14 - The man does follow directions

2009-10-07T16:04:00.043-04:00

I had a Mom's night out planned at Mellow Mushroom tonight with some of my online friends, so Daddy was going to get some quality Katie time while I was out. Towards the end of the day, I got an email from him asking, "So what time am I allowed to pick her up without it looking desperate?" ;-)

I wanted to try and get home for Katie's last feeding, so I sent Daddy a message telling him to try not to give her a bottle and that I'd feed her from the tap. As I was getting ready to leave, someone asked me to stay a little bit longer so we could have a mini baby shower for one of the girls, so I sent him another text telling him it might be a little longer, and I wasn't sure if I would make it or not. Eating nummy baby shower cake took longer than I thought, so I finally ended up sending him a message telling him to just go ahead and give her a bottle since I probably wouldn't be home in time.

I got home around 9pm to find Katie sleeping and Daddy watching tv. I looked around for the bottle and didn't see one, so I asked him about it. Apparently he got my first message telling him not to feed her a bottle, but then the two of them went upstairs....sans his phone. He never received the additional messages telling him to go ahead and feed her, and it has been beaten into him not to squander milk because it is so hard for me to generate more these days. Poor little baby girl cried and fussed herself to sleep on an empty stomach!!!! Knowing she would just wake me up in the middle of the night to eat, I went ahead and nudged her awake enough to get her bedtime snack and then watched her drift back into LaLaLand.

Day 322: October 13 - I wanna see, Mom

2009-10-07T16:04:00.042-04:00

We went to Michelangelos for pizza tonight, and Katie sat in a high chair and ate prunes. Then walked around Walmart as a family and bought stuff we didn't need...except the windshield wipers since the forcast doesn't look good. Katie is not fond of being pushed backwards in the cart because she's so interested in seeing and taking in everything around her.

Day 321: October 12 - Who's afraid of a big, bad shot?

2009-10-07T16:04:00.040-04:00

I got the following email from Daddy today: Last day for these pants!

We had to take Katie to her well visit, and as Daddy was in the middle of telling the nurse how he has this phobia of needles and could he please give his baby to the mother to hold while he steps away and the nurse said, "OK, it's done". It's about time he has to soothe a newly shot baby like Mommy's had to do for the past year. ;-)

Day 320: October 11 - Daddy's excuse for playing with toys

2009-10-07T16:04:00.039-04:00

We took another two hour nap together. I love our quality napping adventures. After naptime, we went shopping at Toys R Us and then to Michaels. The whole time we walked around Michaels, Katie was saying "uh oh".

The third video below shows an adorable production of Katie beginning her crawling process and then taking a small break as if to say "Ta Da".

Day 319: October 10 - Happy birthday, Jack

2009-10-07T16:03:00.043-04:00

Katie crawled to her paci at Miss Gail's office. It's what you do when you're determined. Later that day, we went to Jack's birthday party, and Katie had a blast playing in the ball pit. I see this becoming a must have for Katie's upcoming party.

Day 318: October 9 - Making herself more mobile

2009-10-07T16:03:00.042-04:00

Rest in peace, Uncle Howard!

Tonight, I was working on Katie's birthday invite on the bedroom floor, and she somehow ended up right next to me when she was originally a few feet away. She's not crawling, so she somehow navigated her way over to me.

Day 317: October 8 - Another day, another reason to snuggle

2009-10-07T16:03:00.041-04:00

Playing with Packer and taking apart puzzles is exhausting stuff, as is evident by Katie's need to fall asleep on Daddy's chest.

Day 316: October 7 - Party preparations

2009-10-07T16:03:00.040-04:00

After school, we headed to The Walmart to buy some birthday presents for Katie's friend Jack's upcoming birthday. She needed to make sure it passed the slobber test first though.

Day 315: October 6 - The adventures she makes for herself

2009-10-07T16:03:00.039-04:00

Wile we ate supper, Katie scruffed around on the floor finally finding the diaper basket. It was fun for her digging out all of the [unused] diapers to get to the fingernail clippers and diaper cream. She clapped when I was picking her up from school. Too freakin' cute!!

[Editor's note: Wish my luck on my adventure to catch up on the 169 blog entries I'm deliquent with on Katie's blog! Even if it kills me, I WILL do a daily blog entry for her first year of life! ;-) ]

[Follow up Editor's note: Today is now Nov 18, 2011. Yes, I am THAT far behind on updating Katie's daily blog. I'm trying to get it all done before I have to begin again with the next baby]

Day 314: October 5 - Don't quit your day job, Ethan

2009-10-07T16:02:00.032-04:00

Katie was busy this morning entertaining everyone. Ethan was sent upstairs to pick out her outfit. He first came down with a halter dress with a predicted forcast of 65 degrees. His mom sent him back upstairs. His second attempt was a choice of a red longsleeved onesie either with purple leggings or a pair of black shorts. He was shooed back upstairs and, with the assistance of his mother, picked out an adorable scottie dog ensemble...mainly because it was already on the hanger as a matching outfit.

Day 313: October 4 - Marble Mania

2009-10-07T16:02:00.031-04:00

Today's adventure was heading to Marbles Museum, where everyone had fun playing and testing everything out.

Day 312: October 3 - Cousin time

2009-10-07T16:02:00.030-04:00

With the cousins and Grammy in town, we started the day by hitting up the garage sales before heading out to KidsFest in Wake Forest. Katie has also come to the realization that these cousins might not be so bad after all. They love doting on her and playing with her, and she is mesmerized at watching them.

Day 311: October 2 - Who are these strange people, Mommy???

2009-10-07T16:02:00.029-04:00

Aunt Laura, Ethan and Ellie came to visit, so I thought I'd take them with me to daycare to pick Katie up. She was NOT a fan of Aunt Laura picking her up, and cried the entire way home. She did eventually warm up to them, but I think it was a lot for her to take in all at once.

Day 310: October 1 - My adorable baby!

2009-10-07T16:02:00.028-04:00

More cuteness ensues.....

Day 309: September 30 - Oh how she entertains

2009-09-01T16:02:00.002-04:00

What entertains a nine month old? Blowing raspberries on my leg in between reaching for the remote and playing with your shoes.

Day 308: September 29 - Entirely too cute!

2009-09-01T16:01:00.013-04:00

More absolute cuteness with my Baby Girl!!

Day 307: September 28 - Hip, hip, hooray!

2009-09-01T16:01:00.012-04:00

Katie's hip x-ray result came back normal and nothing to be concerned, which is awesome. The doctor said he was concerned at her last appointment that she might have a hip click, but luckily she didn't!

Day 306: September 27 - Another jam packed day

2009-09-01T16:01:00.010-04:00

Katie and I got to take another nap together, which was divine. When we woke up, her hair was a mess, but she's so cute that she can pull it off. We went for a drive in the afternoon, and she got another nap in. Oh the life of a baby!

Day 305: September 26 - WHEEEEE, it's sugar time!

2009-09-01T16:01:00.009-04:00

In the morning, our Indian neighbor's stopped by with a plate of treats for Katie. It is a celebratory day for girls in their culture, so they brought over some items. She particularily liked the rice pudding with all of that sugar involved.

We then headed to Taste of Fuquay where Mommy gave her a bite of cake when Daddy wasn't looking. We would have gotten away with it too, had she not drooled some of the red velvet on her chin. Haha!

It started raining before we could get to Dog Day in the Park in Holly Springs, but as we were driving on to Target to run some errands, Katie was chaaaaaaatering away. It appears she's a fan of being hopped up on sugar.

That evening, we started working on assembling Katie's Halloween costume. We always made our costumes growing up, so I'm trying to start that tradition with Katie. We'll see how long it lasts.

Day 304: September 25 - Chubby cheeks!

2009-09-01T16:00:00.013-04:00

Overheard from the living room..."hey, hey, hey, it's Fat Katie!" said in his best Fat Albert voice. I guess she has been pretty well fed thus far in her life.

Day 303: September 24 - I just want off this roller coaster!

2009-09-01T16:00:00.012-04:00

RARGH!!!! Being a Mommy continues to make me CRA-ZY! I am now getting more milk that I'm just pumping to relieve engorgement and not trying to keep up with Katie's consumption! Oh the roller coaster of being a mommy and questioning every decision you make! I was taking some medication to help encourage milk production, but one of the side effects is that it makes you mentally unstable. Looks like it's doing that, for sure. It could also be that now that I'm relaxing and not forcing my body to keep up with production that it's able to relax enough to produce more. Maybe we won't quit just yet.

Day 302: September 23 - So in love with my baby!

2009-09-01T16:00:00.010-04:00

I just grin every time I look at this adorable little face, and her tiny features are beyond cute. She was still napping at pick up, and I just stood there and watched her with those little toes sticking out from under her blanket. I could not be in more love with my baby girl!!

Day 301: September 22 - The end of an era

2009-09-01T16:00:00.008-04:00

I have pumped my last pump. I just can't take the stress of it. I'm crying at work again because of it. I'm giving up breastfeeding/pumping as of today, and I've cried at my desk most of the day. I told my coworkers to ignore me and just let me cry it out. They're a bunch of supportive women, so they've been awesome. Still not sure it's the right decision to do, but I had to make some sort of decision. My body is exhausted from trying to get milk out, but my heart is so very sad about having to end breastfeeding. I have tried every supplement, medication and trick there is to try and keep my supply up, and all they're doing is making me crazy. I've gotten past the fact that I wasn't physically able to make it to my goal of a year. I've gotten past the formula stigma. Now I'm just overwhelmingly sad that I have to quit doing something that's been so much at the forefront of my life for the last ten months and something that I loved so much. I have never been prouder of myself than I am for having accomplished what I have. I'm taking solace that I would probably still be this emotional if I had made it to a full year. It's just hard to let go, and it's hard to realize my precious angel is growing up!!

Day 300: September 21 - My little squirrel

2009-09-01T15:59:00.024-04:00

Katie continues to get the hang of feeding herself, but she has already mastered the skill of saving food to snack on later on. ;-)

Day 299: September 20 - A new perspective on things

2009-09-01T15:59:00.023-04:00

Katie and I took a WONDERFUL two hour nap together. I love my little snuggle bunny! Then for the rest of the day, Katie enjoyed being outside standing with her feet in grass. What a fun sensation for her! She also filled her day pushing her little toy bus around. I saw there watching her for a good thirty minutes push that thing around and watched her discover how it worked. It's fascinating to watch the world through her eyes.

Day 297: September 18 - No thanks, I can feed myself

2009-09-01T15:59:00.022-04:00

Katie fed herself today!!!! She's such big stuff. She wouldn't, however, eat her pancake. I'm thinking that will be a short lived fad. After work/school, we walked around neighborhood again. She loves being outside and going on strolls! She also has this fascination with her green insulated lunch bag! Not sure what the enticement there is.

Day 298: September 19 - Off-roading Girl Style!

2009-09-01T15:59:00.021-04:00

After playing with some fun toys, we took a walk around the neighborhood as a family. Not sure who loves going off-roading in the stroller more, Katie or Daddy!

Day 296: September 17 - NOW it's her turn!!

2009-09-01T15:59:00.020-04:00

This is how being a mom makes me CRA-ZY I got a letter in Katie's bag tonight when I went to pick her up at school. She is being congratulated for moving up into Infant Room B. I cried! I don't want her to move up to Infant Room B! I want her to stay in Infant Room A with Miss Lisa!!!! Yes, this is the same mom that was depressed two days ago that Katie got surpassed moving up! hahaha! I'm pretty sure they're not moving her up because she's ready [because she's not] but because they're getting a lot of new admissions and need the room in Infant Room A. I hope my baby can hold on for dear life in the Wild, Wild West of Infant Room B!!!!!

Day 295: September 16 - Cheerios! All the cool kids are doing it!

2009-09-01T15:59:00.019-04:00

After a nummy breakfast of Cheerios, Mommy took Katie to school where she then proceeded to have a complete meltdown over the car keys [Katie that is, not Mommy]. We also got a chance to see the Original Katie that attended her daycare. Since she was the second Katie in her class, my Katie was referred to as Kate. Once Original Daycare Katie left to go to another center, my Katie got to become Katie officially at school. It was fun to see how grown up Original Daycare Katie has gotten!

Day 294: September 15 - Getting left behind

2009-09-01T15:59:00.018-04:00

Katie just got "surpassed" at school She's not crawling yet. She's thinking about it, but she's not fully committed to it just yet. A baby a month younger than her just got moved to Infant Room B because she is crawling. Katie's still in Infant Room A, and is the eldest at this point. Half of the babies in Infant Room A already have teeth as well. I keep reminding myself that as a breastfed baby, I'm GLAD she doesn't have teeth yet. It's hard not to be affected by knowing she's getting surpassed by all of the other babies though. I know, I know, she'll do it when she's ready. I know, I know, there's a broad range of when babies hit these milestones. It's still hard though! I know I should appreciate her non-mobileness, and I do. I just don't like seeing her being surpassed. this is my baby! I want only the best for her!

I do, however, love that she is such a snuggler. We had quite the snuggle sandwich this morning between she and the cats and I. Nothing sweeter than cuddling with your adorable baby girl!

Day 293: September 14 - What fire alarm?

2009-09-01T15:59:00.017-04:00

I have in my notes something about a fire alarm happening on this day, but I can't for the life of me remember any of the specifics. Instead, I'll just leave you with some pictures and videos of the cutest Baby Girl in the Universe. You're welcome...

Day 292: September 13 - Supavisah Katie

2009-09-01T15:58:00.001-04:00

More babyproofing ensues. Time to put a gate at the top of the stairs. Katie did a great job cheering Daddy on as he did it, before taking a break and snuggling with Mommy for a nice long nap.

Day 291: September 12 - Someone's watching over us!

2009-09-01T15:56:00.001-04:00

I put my Guardian Angels to good use this weekend! Katie and I drove all over town on Saturday checking out garage sales. Then we picked up Daddy and drove from Fuquay to Southpoint to meet up with the in-laws. Despite all of that driving, especially going 75mph on the interstate with all three of us on board, it wasn't until I pulled into our parking spot at the mall that my tire decided to go. We got out of the car, and my niece said, "Umm, did you know your tire was flat?" and trust me, it was F-L-A-T. I didn't notice it driving, and they said the air was coming out of it quickly, so it had to have just popped as I was pulling in. Had it happened just five minutes earlier, it could have been BAD! I am so grateful for the amazing timing and the watchful eye of my Angels!!

Day 290: September 11 - Short and stout

2009-09-01T11:29:00.002-04:00

Katie appears to be short and chubby. For her 9mo well visit, she's 20lbs but only 26.5 inches. She's only a little more than the 10th percentile for height. I always thought she'd be a tall girl since she has long feet, but I guess not. Short and stout, just like her momma! ;-) 44.75cm head circumference, so she's gonna be wicked smaht like me too!

Day 289: September 10 - Another busy day

2009-09-01T11:28:00.010-04:00

I had back-to-back meetings in the afternoon, so I barely squeezed my pumping session in. No wonder I'm having such supply issues right now. When we got home, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and then took a bath. Another full and productive day.

Day 288: September 9 - Fun with food

2009-09-01T11:28:00.009-04:00

I got to have a nice lunch with some old coworkers today. It's always fun catching up with them. After work, I went home and made up some more baby food for Katie.

Day 287: September 8 - One, two, three, floor

2009-09-01T11:28:00.008-04:00

Katie came home from school exhausted so she flopped out on floor chillin'. I only pumped 4.5oz today, so I had to stop and buy more formula. Blah!

Day 286: September 7 - Labor dady lull

2009-09-01T11:28:00.007-04:00

It's Labor Day today, so Mommy and Daddy didn't have to go to work today! Daddy ended up putting in some hours anyway on his laptop though, and Katie was determined she was going to assist him!

Day 285: September 6 - Lovin' lazy days

2009-09-01T11:28:00.006-04:00

We had a lazy sunday hanging around in our jammies. There was no morning nap, so Katie took a long afternoon one.

Day 284: September 5 - A kid at heart

2009-09-01T11:27:00.010-04:00

I really don't know who the bigger kid is in our house some days...Katie or Daddy!?!

Day 283: September 4 - Father returns

2009-09-01T11:27:00.009-04:00

Daddy came home today from his Nebraska trip! YAY!!!

Katie continues having fun playing in Infant Room A with her BFF Lauren. Those two are so adorable together!

Day 282: September 3 - Is it my turn to drive?

2009-09-01T11:27:00.008-04:00

You know, if she gets this upset at this age about not getting Mommy's keys, what on earth is she going to be like when she turns 16???

Day 281: September 2 - Sneaky, sneaky Mommy

2009-09-01T11:27:00.007-04:00

Is it bad that I sent Katie to school today with a loaded diaper that I knew was filled with poop, but I was running late and didn't have time to change it myself? She was still asleep this morning, and flopping her head around, but oh the delicate toots coming from her behind region. ;-) Daddy's girl for sure!!

Day 280: September 1 - Mommy's having a bad day

2009-09-01T11:27:00.006-04:00

I was near tears at my desk at work today! GAH! I am so tired, I'm tired of being tired. Working full time 45 minutes from home at a new job is kicking.my.butt. I don't know if this is PMS or what, but I am just miserably unhappy! I've even contemplated giving up breastfeeding even though I love breastfeeding, it's the pumping I abhor! Any virtual hugs out there?

We stopped by Walmart on the way home from school to do some light grocery shopping. After that, we hit up KFC so I could get something to eat, since my Chef is in Lincoln, NE this week. Katie was hungry as we were leaving Walmart, so getting through the ridiculously long wait at KFC was not enjoyable. I did learn on the drive home, however, that she can be easily distracted from the growling in her belly if you roll the windows down and then roll the window up and then roll the window down and then roll the window up. Oh the creativity that comes out when you're a mommy.

Day 279: August 31 - Chubby Cheeks

2009-08-01T11:27:00.007-04:00

No, one never can have too many pacis and toys on their highchair tray! LOL!

Day 278: August 30 - Let the childproofing begin!

2009-08-01T11:27:00.005-04:00

Now that Katie's starting to get more mobile, we worked on childproofing the living room. We figure there should be at least one safe room in the house she can spend her time in.