Watch her go!!!

We started off the week with Katherine crawling about two feet, getting tired and falling flat on her belly. We were still pretty safe to put her down and find her in relatively the same position 2-3 minutes later.

One week later... Not so much so. Katherine has found new rooms of the house, new floor textures and things on the wall. The ADT thingy in the foyer has gotten quite a bit of attention. Fortunately she's avoided outlets. Whew. Not to worry though - Stephen did finish changing out all of the exposed outlets so her little fingers can't get into them. Unfortunately, I am unable to plug anything in now because I can't figure out how to hold the little slidey thing over and plug in the cord at the same time. I'm sure Katherine will be able to show me how to do it in 6-9 months.

Katherine also found the magnets on the refrigerator. A new playground. She hasn't quite figured out the slippery part of the floor but she's getting there. She's managed to go from one end of the family room through the kitchen to the other side. Getting back to the family room... came by way of shrieks and yells mamamamamamamama. She knows a sucker when she sees one.

We also had a special delivery this week from Tootsie and Pop. A basket full of 63 plastic eggs. Seems innocent enough, right? LOL This is the first, of I'm sure many, paybacks from toys I've purchased other kids. The basket said 63 eggs, but there's really only 60. (Sorry Tootsie) I counted during one of the MANY times I've put said eggs back into their basket only to have them dumped back out moments later. This provides at least 5 minutes of entertainment at a stretch. Just when I think she's done with them though, and I put them back in the basket, a little mouth yells and she dumps them all back out again. Daddy's tried to teach her the game of "putting the eggs back in the basket... weeeeee fun!!" She doesn't like that game. Alas, she is oh so thrilled with the eggs, how can you not be excited for her?! Such a simple thing and yet so much entertainment.

Cheerios are the favorite food of the week. Cheerios at breakfast, cheerios at lunch, cheerios for a snack, cheerios for dinner. They've replaced puffs. I'm thinking there's more nutritional value in cheerios than the little puffs. I haven't done the comparison yet - but it's my hypothesis.

This week will be a first for Mommy and Katherine. Stephen is going away for four days. Can you say P-A-R-T-Y?? HA!!! I crack me up. It will be interesting. Stephen's all set with Skype and a webcam so he can see his little girl while he's gone. (You just said aawww, didn't you?! Or at least thought it!)

Pictures for the week:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/033009WatchMeGo#

Let the babyproofing begin...

This week we had a couple of major events in the Aleksza house. Katherine crawled for the first time on Thursday evening and on Saturday she started picking up food between her index finger and thumb (AKA pincher grasp).

Katherine had her 9mo pediatrician appointment on Tuesday of this week. Updated stats below:

Weight: 17lb 11.5oz (30th percentile)
Length: 27.25in (40th percentile)
Head: 42.75cm (17th percentile)

Little girl still has a small noggin, but as Dr Hewitt says - Her head is growing at the right velocity. Dr H again sided with Katherine on everything. I want to know - When do I get a victory?? She won't eat her vegetables - ok, well keep trying but if she won't eat them give her something else - even if it is fruit. :-/

Dr H did recommend giving Katherine more table food. We've been giving her little tastes but he said give it to her in place of her baby food. Maybe she's just ready to move onto bigger and better things and is bored with baby food. So far this week she's had Chicken, BBQ beef, rice, potatoes, and grilled cheese. Chicken, potatoes and grilled cheese were winners. BBQ beef and rice... Not so much so. We've also started giving her some organic yogurt. Our girl is a fan. I think she likes strawberry banana. Friday night Katherine displayed her pincher grasp by picking up her puff treats. She looooves puffs and gobbles them quickly.

On Thursday night after dinner the whole family was sitting (Daddy was laying) on the floor. Katherine's toys were at one end of the room and she was at the other. She was sitting and got herself into a crawl position - which isn't new - but THEN, she took off. Okay. Took off might be an overstatement. She wobbled on all fours across the room. YAY!!! What did we do? What we think most parents do?! (We hope.) We put her back on the other side of the room and she crawled for her toys again. A proud happy moment in the Aleksza house. :) Thank goodness the outlet covers had arrived the night before. Since Stephen has replaced 25 covers in the house. Her room was already done so it just left - well, the rest of the house. Way to go Daddy!!

Today we went to the park so Katherine experienced her first dose of sunscreen and dug into the grass. She liked ripping it out of the ground. You know what came next, unfortunately. She tried to eat it. We had a conversation about how cows eat grass - not little girls. She didn't much care. She just grabbed another handful and went at it. Maybe I just go with it and consider it "eating her greens"??

Pictures for this week:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/32209Babyproofing#

Sharing and Ouchies

On Tuesday I take Katherine into daycare like I usually do. We go in, chat, say hi to the other kids and play for a minute or so and then I leave. Except Tuesday, her teacher said... Katherine has been taking toys from the other kids while playing. HUH? I looked at her and said... Katherine!!!! We must share!! She smiled and laughed at me. Hm. Not sure she got the message. And alas, every morning I hug & kiss her, and whisper in her ear... "remember to share and be nice to others"... I thought I was getting through. Apparently not. The teacher said... We think it's because she's been so used to being the youngest and now she's one of the oldest. Huh. We'll need to work on that.

Today, we received our first "ouchie" note. Katherine got a little scratch on the back of her neck from one of the other kids. Being that earlier in the week I was told Katherine didn't share I immediately wondered if the other kid decided he/she was winning regardless. But alas, the teacher said another one of the kids tried to take her Paci and in the process she got scratched. Treatment applied: a warm cloth and TLC. All is well.

But that does bring me to... Is Katherine a bully? Yikes!!! She's one of the oldest but also one of the smallest. Riley, who is the cutest little boy I've ever seen, is a couple of months younger and is twice her size. (They dig one another... I think Jacob's out... Sorry Jake. She's moved on.) They get all gooey eyed every morning when they see each other. Very cute. And what's even better is I dig Riley. Daddy's not so pleased ... we're trying to break him in slowly to the whole boys thing.

The other new thing this week is Katherine can now go from laying on her back to sitting up by herself. It was a total shock. Stephen was upstairs with a case of the "vapors" (He didn't feel well - my little drama king) and Katherine and I were getting ready to leave when she "spit up" all over me and herself. (BTW - when does it stop being spit up and start being puke??) So we both had to change. I ran upstairs to get clothes for us both while she was playing on the floor and came back and she was sitting up. I was sure I didn't leave her that way - so I laid her back down again. She did it again!! Weeeee... I laid her back down again and grabbed the phone so I could take video. Excellent. Third time sitting up by herself... caught on video.

Pictures for the week:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/3808JustHangingOut#

http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/3809HangingOut#

http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/31009Playing#

Sushi, See you soon & Alone w/Daddy time!

It seems silly to say it's been a busy few weeks. Right?! If I were bored, laying around the house, wondering what to do with myself I would have blogged sooner... right?! :)

Some of the bigger events of the last couple of weeks:
- Mommy left Daddy & Katherine alone for the first time overnight. (EEEEEEKKKK for Mommy)
- Katherine ate cinnamon apple "puffs" for the first time
- Mommy left Daddy & Katherine alone for the second time for a whole day (into the night) - again eeeeeeekkkkk for Mommy
- Katherine is standing up, while holding onto something, by herself. An occasional fall on her behind happens.
- Katherine ate a piece of plain donut, a cheese ravioli, garlic bread, a black bean, dorito (don't ask), grapefruit and pizza for the first time.

So how did it happen that I left Stephen and Katherine alone for the first time? A client. A big client. I flew out at 6am on 2/16 (Monday) and arrived back home at 11:30am on 2/17 and even though I wanted to go straight to daycare and pick up Katherine so we could go play... I had to go to a 5 hour meeting. Ick. Being a grown up isn't what it's cracked up to be! I even took our webcam and had tested out two computers to make sure that I could see my Nugget before she went to bed and I went to dinner with the client's consultants. I called and called, texted and texed, instant messaged, etc... But alas, Stephen and Katherine didn't get home in time for me to say goodnight. :( It was a very very sad night for me. The first day I went without seeing my little girl. If I said I didn't cry - I'd be fibbing. I was very sad.

I made it through the night and to the next day when I went to pick Katherine up from daycare. She might have been a little mad at me, but she got over it pretty quickly. Thankfully. :)

Last weekend Nicole came over to spend the day with us. Stephen and Nikki wanted to have sushi for dinner. We didn't have sushi ingredients just laying around the house so we needed to go shopping. And where do you shop for sushi ingredients? The Asian grocery store!! Silly!! No one who works in the store speaks English. Or at least no one we could find. Stephen even had some of the ingredients written on a piece of paper in Chinese I think it was... The man looked at him, and the paper and said "no English". So I guess he did know two words. We found most of the ingredients there but Stephen cracked under the pressure of picking sushi grade fish in the fish department where no one spoke English so we headed to Whole Foods. We say this every time we go there, but really, we love that store. Everyone is so nice, helpful and everything there is so fresh!! It was in Whole Foods that Katherine had her first piece of grapefruit. And her second. Nikki thought I was subjecting her to cruel and unusual punishment but a few weeks ago, by chance, we found out that Katherine liked the taste of lemon. I think I had some on my fingers and she bit on my finger, tasted it and then went crazy chewing. So I put a little more on my finger and gave it to her again and she loved it!! She apparently likes sour things. The grapefruit was a HUGE hit. When the first piece started to get a little too squished and was nearing prime choking chunkability I took it away. She screamed! She was NOT pleased. So she was given her 2nd piece of grapefruit. Who would have thought?! Grapefruit eaten, cookie selected (I needed something to eat) and fish purchased, we were on our way home.

Stephen and Nikki then spent the next 2 hours making sushi. I was in charge of peeling the cucumber and slicing it "julian" style... (you know little matchbox like pieces) and making wasabi. All I know about that is that it can't be watery. I think I did well. (See pictures in this week's installment. :)) hehe

While it was a fun day for all, it was also a sad day. Nikki was visiting before leaving to head to Taji, Iraq. When I asked my dear little sister where Taji was she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know." Huh. I think she fibbed. I looked up this Taji place on-line and I must say I'm not pleased. But I take comfort in the fact that she promised she would be safe. (Nikki, I'm holding you to that promise!!!) Poor Mysty (alaskan husky) is heading to FL for another summer. EEEEEKKK We know Tootsie and Pop take very good care of her and she loves it there... but even I melt with the FL heat. :P

My 2nd trip away from my loves came this past week. Head bossman made a request for me and one of my friends (and co-workers) to fly to Chicago for the day. We left again early in the morning, but I was home that night by 9pm. Katherine was in bed by then but at least I was home to peek in on her and get her from her crib the next morning. She was pretty happy to see me. :) I think, anyway!

Katherine is still trying to crawl but hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. She gets up on all fours and now is starting to go backwards, which as I recall, is often how it starts. She gets pretty mad when she can't "go". Then falls down onto her belly and rolls to where ever she wants to go. And she's QUICK!!! I moved her 4 times from one area that she kept getting into, that she shouldn't be. By the 3rd time she saw me coming and knew she wasn't supposed to be there. She kicked and squealed - You might have had to be there but it was amusing. As if she looked up and thought "oh poop!! I'm in trouble!!"

Standing is a new thing in the last few weeks. Well, standing on her own. She's been standing since she was a couple months old but now she stands and holds onto the table or loveseat. She can't quite shuffle along the side but she tries. When she does she usually falls over. We get back up, she yells at the table as if to say - why'd you do that - and hangs out again for a few minutes.

This weekend we experienced our first round of pink-eye. At least we think it was pink eye. When we called the pediatrician's office yesterday they asked a few questions and called in a prescription for us. Today (Sunday) her eyes are much better. No redness, no goop, no rubbing. Yay!! We survived. All of us. Now let's hope Stephen and I don't get it!

Nicole left for Taji yesterday and for those that don't know, she's arrived in Qatar today. She'll be there for a day or two before heading to Iraq. 6 months from now she'll be home.

Picture Update:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daleksza/SushiAuntNikkiSGoodbye#