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#