Toy baskets are more fun than toys!!

Hmmm, blogger is underlining all my stuff again, oh well- you can still read it :) Kat was being so silly with her toy basket today that I had to take some pictures. She wedged herself in there, and when I got the camera out and started laughing she got out of the basket and started clapping for herself :)


I love this kid... and I'm focusing on that to keep from breaking my neighbor's OTHER leg for him *grin*

It's been awhile!

It's been awhile since I posted any pictures, so I figured I'd share a few that I've taken in the last week or so. Kat's new favorite thing is playing outside- she crawls all over the yard chasing the 'Doggie' or digging in the dirt of my garden- seems like our time at the beach gave her a taste for digging in sand and dirt, so she has fun. She also 'helped' me weed the garden today (IE played in the dirt and ate leaves off the Peppermint) and had a blast.

Unfortunately we tried to play outside again tonight and our neighbor's pit bull came wandering over yet again, so we're stuck in the house now. I'm just not comfortable with letting Kat play in the yard when the dog is wandering loose, he seems friendly enough but you never know what a strange dog will do. Our town is working on having stricter leash laws due to the abundance of aggressive pit bulls we have running loose all over town- just last week 2 of them got into a fight with a third dog in the parking lot of the apartment building next door- it was awful. I just hope our town does something, Animal Control just blew us off and didn't help at all. Anyway, sorry about that ramble, it's just on my mind right now... luckily if we go outside during the morning, we don't seem to see the neighbor's pit as much as he's still inside- so we just play early :)

The Kat in her Natural Habitat LOL

Playing in the dirt in Momma's herb garden

Look how big she's getting! What a wonderful little monkey I have.

Inspecting the Lemon Thyme, eating the Lemon Thyme LOL

Kat and her little car- she likes to scoot around on this on our little sidewalk out back :)

WOW! Momma did you see what I found?!?!? It's awesome!

The little creek behind our house :)

This picture just chokes me up a little, I love watching her toddle around holding Tim's hand :)

Playing with her walker outside.

What a big girl! I can't believe she'll be a year old soon! Wow!

Homesick

Fall is coming, and that makes me homesick. Michigan Falls are beautiful, but short. I always get homesick in the fall. I miss the way the mountains look in the distance when all the trees are different colors, I miss the way the apple orchards smell when harvest is happening and they're making apple butter... there's nothing sweeter than that. That being said, it looks like it'll be quite awhile before I can come home again. Plane tickets are ridiculously expensive, especially considering all the stuff I'd need to bring to keep Kat happy... so the hopes that you'd all see me again before next summer are slim.

Originally, my mom was planning to come up for Kat's birthday or Christmas whichever she could get off of work for- but it looks like now she won't be able to take any time off work. So I get to spend yet another holiday season not seeing my Mom at all. She's missing out on so much with Kat- it makes me sad and I do my best to keep her in the loop, but it's just not the same. I love Tim's family, they feel like my family truly- in every sense. I still can't help but miss the people who have known me my whole life :) My move to Michigan has been a bit bittersweet... but mostly sweet. I'm honestly just feeling homesick right now. If you're reading this from the east coast, hug yourself for me because my arms just don't reach that far.

I miss all of you so much, and I wish so much to see all of your smiling faces. Hopefully I will next year sometime.

I've made lots of friends here, a few good ones even... but sometimes I feel so very far away from where I started. Sometimes it's lonely and I don't quite feel like I belong here, I won't lie... but to be truthful I'm where I need to be. Damn geography making where I need to be so far from where I wish I was! I love and miss you all. Very much.

Some of our Beach Pictures

Kat thinking she's getting away with something here :)

How we spent most of our beach time, chasing Kat down the beach. She wanted to crawl up to everyone on the beach to say hi!


Kat helping Daddy beat his level on Chrono Trigger
Giggles
The winner of the Best Mullet on Our Summer Vacation Award


The Grand Haven Pier and Lighthouse


No more pictures Momma!

Intent on playing with her sand toys

For some reason the tiny sandy feet were the cutest thing in the world to me!! I took a ton of pictures of these

Kat and Momma

My handsome husband

The only family picture we managed to take! I was too busy juggling Kat to manage to look at the camera- story of my life LOL

Kat waving at Momma

Playing in the sand with Daddy

Life in the Lewis House

Life in the Lewis House right now- I'd have to call it a little stressful, but marked with periods of hysterical belly laughter :O) Things are rough, but Kat is so so so funny- that you can't help but get the giggles, and then things don't seem so bad! She's good like that :)

We're getting ready to head to the beach (yay!) for a much needed vacation- at which time I'll have lots of new pictures and maybe some video too.

Also we have a Cone Cat right now- and she is very very depressed about it. She just sits and stares at the wall. She licked her legs to the point that they were actually open wounds- we were worried about infection etc- so we paid the vet 90 bucks to tell us she had allergies, give her an allergy shot, and a cone. So Luna has the cone until her legs heal... and we're out any kind of spending money at the beach but at least we know Luna is okay!
PB & J at the beach is still better than PB&J at home!

Cone Cat Judges You! *giggle*

This very minute...

I love her SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

PS- she's totally snoring...

Kat Walking & Being Silly Video

I finally got her walking on tape! Yay Momma!

Edited to add:
Every week I get little e-mails on how old Kat is that week and what skills she should have etc etc. I got this today:

Kat Is 41 Weeks Old!

Dear Tara,
By this week, your baby may be able to pull herself up very easily and sit down again (without just falling back on her butt). She's also likely developed enough leg strength and balance to go for a little walk with you if you hold both of her hands -- great practice for her first unassisted steps, which may happen any day now (although most infants don't start walking solo until closer to 13 months).

Hmmm... seriously? Perhaps I should stop reading this- the skills that are ahead of her are cruising and gesturing (things she's been doing for months now) this really isn't relevant anymore! My daughter is an evil genius... you always knew evil would be cute.

hahaha!

A few pictures

Kat climbing everything that is even remotely climbable in our house! She's actually used this toy to step all the way up into her co sleeper, but that's so dangerous that I didn't want to take the time to take a picture of it. Just trust us when we say she did it :) She's also scaling the side of our entertainment center constantly! She has a little red mark on her chin from one of her many climbing adventures right now!

Curled up on the couch with Momma, Tim thought the fact that she was laying down with me watching Sesame Street was so cute that he had to take a picture. Notice I look happy and Kat looks irritated that he was trying to distract her attention from Abby Cadabby!

You'll likely notice a subtle difference in my pictures from now on - we're watermarking them all now before we publish them. A friend of mine recently had her pictures stolen off her blog and found them being used on a website that was claiming they were of this person's daughter who was very sick and trying to extort donations. There was also a story I read about a woman's Christmas family picture showed up on a billboard in some foreign country (can't remember where at the moment) in an advertisement. I know some of you grab the pictures off the blog, but from now on just let me know and I'll send you the un-watermarked version!

9 Month Checkup

We had Kat's 9 month checkup on Friday- she got a vaccine and was sick for about half the day- and I had a busy few days so I'm just now writing the update :)

She weighs 18lbs 13 oz (which is 50th percentile) and is 27 3/4 inches long (75th percentile)- I added those to her baby book today and she's actually holding steady at those percentiles for every visit. The only variation was at birth- her height was 90th percentile but she's evened out since then.

Our usual pediatrician was back from a very extended medical leave, so that's a huge relief for me- we love him, Kat loves him, and the nurses are so great- plus he is a big supporter of our parenting style- I would have hated to have to switch Pediatricians.

One of the other new moms at Kat's playgroup said her doctor lectured her that she'd have to let her son cry it out and she was so upset about it and didn't know what to do. Our doctor basically told me this- Kat has a persistent personality (a nice way to call her stubborn), letting her cry at night would do nothing more than make you a wreck and have her make herself sick- I guarantee it won't work. Just go in when she wakes up, pat her back, talk to her, and if you really feel she needs to nurse- go ahead- but try to avoid it if you can so that she learns gradually to eat during the day. (which is what we've BEEN doing) so that's awesome. He told me that Mother's Intuition means more than anything a doctor can tell you.

Is he not awesome? We love him, and so does Kat. I referred the mom who has the mean Pedi to him, and she's so happy. Well, I'm sure the other Pedi is not mean, but you need to have a Pedi that jives with your personality and parenting style.

I won't lie and say I never let Kat cry- I just don't ignore her at night when she wakes up scared. During the day- I let her cry quite often, especially when it's temper tears. When she realizes I won't give attention to bad behavior and tantrums she usually calms down or gets distracted and finds something better to do. Consequently- her tantrums have dropped from about 4 a day, to maybe 1 a day, sometimes none. The trick is telling the difference between the crying that happens because she's hurt/scared/lonely/hungry and the crying that happens because she didn't get her way. The trick- if there aren't any tears- it's usually temper.

I guess that we've really found our little niche, and as Tim said- You've really got this Mom Thing down :) for now anyway :)

A Monkey and her Monster

9 Months Old!

Today my sweet girl is 9 months old! Time sure is flying :) I'm already planning her birthday party, but I feel like we just got home last week from the hospital!

I've been scrapping for a new store that is opening soon, so I've been going back through all her old pictures, and I can't believe how little she was! At the time I thought she was so big, but now I realize just how sweet and tiny she was! I'm sure I'll look back at her at 9 months old someday and feel the same way... that's just parenthood.

So 9 months old, in the world for exactly as long as I carried her. I still feel just as close to her. She's so independent and wants to do her own thing most of the time, but if I sit down on the floor with her she almost always crawls into my lap and gives me a hug and a kiss before she toddles off to do something else. She might be independent, but this girl loves her momma :)

My update for 9 months is pretty similar to my 8 months update... her daily schedule is roughly the same with the exception of going on playdates occasionally and going to Lap Sit every Wednesday morning. The only differences between last month and this month are:

~She's walking now... not well, but she's doing it. It just started in earnest about 3 days ago, she just walked halfway across our living room to get a toy, sat down and started playing like it was nothing. Of course I scooped her up to hug and kiss her for bring so precocious, so she registered that it was special. Now if she's feeling motivated enough (ie- me or Tim are a few feet away holding out our hands) she'll hold her little hands out and walk to us. She can only go about 5-10 steps without falling on her best try, but we officially have a toddler!

~She eats more and nurses less. She is eating bigger portions at mealtime, including more of the daily foods we eat. As a consequence Tim and I are tending to eat better since it's easier for me to cook once for everyone, than once for us and once for her. We're eating more steamed veggies, lean meats, etc. She loves pretty much everything, except eggs. I've tried egg yolks for her a few times, and even with a little cheese, she still spits them out. Tim hates eggs too, so she's definitely taking after Daddy with that one! We found out she loves hummus too :) I have lunch with my friend Karen every Thursday, and we had hummus last week, so I gave Kat a tiny piece of pita with Hummus on it, and she gobbled it down and started pounding the table for more. I'm sure the spicier kinds of hummus might not be as well received, but the lightly garlicky kind sure made her happy! Even though she's eating more and nursing less, she's getting clingier when it is nursing time... it's like she knows the end is near and she's holding on for dear life. I've started slowly weaning her, but she likely won't be fully weaned until closer to 1 year old. We're still taking it day by day, and she's not ready yet- for that matter neither am I!

~She is chattering much more, and sometimes she actually means what she says. It's still really hard for people that aren't myself or Tim to understand her, but she makes herself known on lots of things.

She says (and understands)
Dada
Mama (sometimes I'm still NiNi)
Up (Which she says as Upee since I always tell her to say Up, please)
Hi (She's not really occasion specific with this, she'll say it if she notices you looking at her, if you left the room and came back, or just over and over while she waves since she likes it)
Doggy (which she still says as GiGi- or just pats her leg since that's how I taught her to call the Dog)
Kitty (which sounds more like Kee)
BaBa (which is what she says when she's hungry, and no, she's not saying Bottle - sometimes she also makes sucking noises at you when she wants to eat too)
No (she doesn't really get the exact meaning, but she knows I say it when she's doing something I don't want her to do- so she applies it that way- I get told no a lot when I'm changing diapers or she's having a temper tantrum)

My little Imp is growing up! :) Happy 9 months Miss Kat!

Playing at the lake

Yesterday we went to the lake with Ken. It was Kat's first time at the lake and she absolutely loved it (even though Tim thought the water was cold LOL- apparently his daughter is tougher than he is!) We took Kat's floaty boat and she kicked around in the deep water, and managed to get where she could touch... so then she just walked her little boat around the shallows and really thought she was getting away with something! She looked like a little tugboat, it was so so funny and cute! She just motored around all over the place (including running away from Momma) What a goofy kid!

And no, I'm not in any of these pictures. Seeing myself in a bathing suit made me wanna hide in a dark room somewhere LOL and NO way am I sharing that! :)




See the boat completely out of the water? She's just walking with it :)

Life and stuff- with pictures!

Ah- so it's check in time huh? How is life in the Lewis house? Things here are settling into a predictable pattern -which when you have a 'high spirited' kid (Tim's description which fits her perfectly!) is a good thing! She's totally into whatever is going on- whether completely happy or devastated and sad, or insanely angry. There's not much grey area with her, but we kinda think that's a good thing! Nothing is more sad than a kid with a beige personality :)

Mostly Kat is happy, we were trying to put a percentage on it- so like 85% of the time she's happy, which honestly is more than I see out of most kids her age so yay!

She's sprouting up SO fast! She's getting tall and putting on baby fat in all the cute places- she has roly poly legs, a round little tummy, and chubby cheeks. She's so fun to hug and kiss, and unless she's preoccupied with her own little games she'll actually let you cuddle her for awhile which is SO sweet! She just curls up in my lap, rests her cheek against mine and pats me. That's her new expression of affection- she pats you. I realized she totally got this from me as everytime I pick her up I pat her back and hug her, so now she just pats you and gives you kisses. It's the sweetest thing ever.

She's still not walking, she just hovers on the border of wanting to do it and being too scared. Truly any day now, but who knows with Kat? :o) She's her own kid, and she'll do things when she's good and ready. Honestly I feel like she could wait awhile, she's just now starting to get fewer bumps and bruises from crawling and cruising. She has, however picked up a new reckless behavior- Climbing. And not just climbing up, but stacking her toys (I kid you not!) and trying to climb up them to get to stuff that we've put out of her reach. I've had to pull her down from some rather precarious situations- so we can't turn our backs for a minute!

Tim is working overtime tonight, so it's just me and the Kitten hanging out. She's missing her Daddy though, she knows he's supposed to be around about 5ish, and at 5:45 she was inconsolably crying- so I called Tim and as soon as she heard him she smiled and kissed the phone- once we took the phone away she started crying again- it was so pitiful and sad!

She's doing better now though :) We went to the playground and played on the swings and that fixes everything.

Now here are some pictures from the last week:


Hiding behind the baby like a coward! LOL


Kat with her new Monster :)


Playing in the Blanket Fort with Daddy (still in her Abby Cadabby jammies since Mom is lazy LOL)

'Reading' her book

Sleepy girl!

Happy Lughnassadh!

A day late but wishing you one none the same! We haven't done our ritual yet, we've planned a ritual with the other family we practice with for next weekend when their kids will be in town and can participate.

As I was writing our ritual out, I found this super cute set of instructions to make your own Kitchen Witch Corn Doll (on the Disney Channel Website nonetheless! LOL) I've been following my friend Dawn over on her blog: Domestic Witch and today's tip was hang a Kitchen Witch in your kitchen to prevent burns and fires, I thought I just had to share!

And here is the link for directions on how to make one of these! I think we might just be making them at Lammas with the kiddos :)