All over the place

I can't write for very long today, as I'm on Kate-Patrol, and she is EVERYWHERE, as evidenced below.

What you can't see in the video is her falling down off the chair. She's slowly learning the skill of the slow fall, which is much less scary. And probably hurts less, too.

Extreme Close-Up

Family visits

Jill's parents and Doug's sister came into town this weekend for Kate's baptism. Much love was showered upon dear little Kate. Here, Jennie and Kate are reading the "Yummy/ Yucky" book. Smiles and good times with Grandpa.

No baby can resist Grandma's water bottle!

Smiles all around!

Kate's Baptism

Kate's baptism took place today. She was immersed (hense, the naked baby!) It went very well, especially for the little girl who just really wanted to take a nap, but she just couldn't bring herself to falling asleep when there was just so much to see!

We figured she is the 10th girl to wear this baptism dress. It was given to Jill's Mom's sister for the baptisms of her 4 girls, Jill & her 2 sisters have worn it, and Kate's two girl cousins have worn it. This picture was taken when we got home, after a small power nap in the car, but before the change-out into warm jammies.

Catch-up

This is an entry with a little bit of this. A little bit of that.

1. Weather observations. I noticed a new term this snowy season. "Winter Mix." A new phrase to describe a rain & snow combo. So, when we experienced, we've made it into a verb - "Winter Mixing." As in, "It's winter mixing outside."

2. On Sunday, when it changed from the winter mix into actual, straight out snow, the prediction was that it wasn't going to stick. 5 inches later - really? Not going to stick? Well, we got a 2 hour delay for school on Monday. It made for a nice, relaxing start of the week.

3. On Monday night, I was making myself some hot cocoa. Using my standard procedure, I put water in a mug and microwaved it for 2.5 minutes. It was a favorite of mine; Scrabble themed. With a "J" tile, and a lot of Scrabble-legal "J" words. Well, apparently, I haven't nuked this particular mug before. When I went to take it out of the microwave, the handle (and the rest of the mug) was nuclear hot. 2nd degree burn on my index finger. Crazy hot.

4. Our internet has been out of commission for the past few days. Not for any technical reasons, but we had to take down our computer (and the modem) because our built-in desk is FINALLY being assembled. It's not done yet, but it's together enough for a temporary re-assemble of the computer. Pictures of that project will be posted in a later blog entry. But, just to let you know about some of the craziness in our house, we had to pull up a bit of rug in the Theater to run some cords underneath it. And the old carpet was underneath. That's right, the old carpet was fake-brick looking. I've seen linoleum like this, but not carpet.

7-month self-portrait

Kate turned 7-months old yesterday. She was a little bit tired when we entered our photo session, so it took a while to get pictures where we both looked decent. I'm happy with the results!

Lil' Monkey

Kate is all about crawling up and over things, if possible. So, it's only appropriate that she's wearing monkey pj's (Thanks, Grandma!) The action sequence below is a typical thing these days when she's playing on the floor. Only a couple of minor rug burns on the face in the process. Note in the 3rd photo, no limbs are on the ground. It's all belly!

Zerberts

Kate has become a prolific zerbert noise maker. Very skilled at it. In the video (which has poor visual quality - sorry), you can hear what she was working on for easily 10 continuous minutes last night. I find it so funny.

On a side note, I left the new camera in Oregon. So all the recent holiday photos will be shared in a couple of weeks, when my parents come up for Kate's baptism. Good thing we still have the other camera. :)

I KNEW better

I have a few rules about the holiday season. First, let it be known that I live ridiculously close to a mall, with all the accompanying stores. Which makes traffic HORRIBLE during the time right before Christmas. So, rule #1 - don't go out to do any type of shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course, we need groceries, so rule #2 - if you must go out, do it on a week day.

However, because of the weather, I broke both rules yesterday, and trekked out to Costco. It was the window between snow fronts. We needed kitty litter and toilet paper if we were going to be snowed in for a few days. Fearing a power outage, I didn't buy any perishables. (Though Suzi reminded me that since it's so freakin' cold, I could just put everything outside).

1st sign that it was going to be bad - traffic was backed up 2 lights just to get into the parking lot. That was a new one. I battle my way to a parking spot, walk across the compact-snow covered parking lot, get into the store, just to see the check out lines backed up to the clothing area.

Remarkably, I didn't ankle-bite anyone with my cart as I traversed the mayhem. Truly, the worst part of it was getting back to my car, wielding a cart that easily wielding a 200+ pound cart (remember, I was getting kitty litter. . . . .) The cart had a hard time keeping traction. And the wheels would get caught on the icy bumps. Fatigued arms and gasping for air, I arrived at the car hardly able to unload the cart. At least I kept the cart from sliding into other cars along the journey.

Fortunately, the freeway was very clear. That is, until the exit to get to our house, which was backed up onto the freeway itself. Those darn holiday shoppers.

Was it all worth it? I suppose so. It makes a good story, and I DID survive. And now bathroom needs for all living creatures in our house are taken care of for the foreseeable future.

Squirmy Wormy

Our little Kate is definitely on the move. It's rare now for a diaper change to go by when she doesn't end up on her tummy. Trying to crawl off, or to see the greater view of the room.

She also had a lot of fun crawling through the cat toy post. It was fun watching her reaction as the feathers tickled her face. She did make it all the way through, too.

Snow Angel

Yesterday was gloriously filled with snow all day long. I think Kate looks soooo cute in this snow outfit that is borrow from Monica. The other times she's worn it this week, it seems to have just paralyzed her. She gets so relaxed and holds so still. Sort of like Randy in "A Christmas Story." The Snow Angel she made in the snow here is really a bit more of a Snow Ball. Hey, it's what a twitchy baby will do!
Overall, she was indifferent to the snow. Maybe with the next round she'll be more excited.

Baby Food

Since Kate has turned 6 months old, she's been 'enjoying' new tastes. I put it in quotes, because the first time she tries new flavors, she makes the most horrible I-hate-this-why-are-your-being-so-mean-to me looks.



However, the 2nd time we try the new flavor, she's all about it. This is a video of her eating apple-mango sauce, mixed with rice cereal. It's the 2nd time of her eating the apple-mango. She also loves to 'help', by grabbing the spoon. (Note the near eye poke out in this video.) Sometimes, I have to have her grab my pinkie fingers, and then go in with the spoon. Very tricky.

Future Date Picture

During dinner last night, Kate got carrots all over her clothes. The change of clothes was ready to go, as clean laundry was in the basket in The Theater. And a clean diaper. So I opted to change her on the floor, rather than going Kate's room.

I got so far in the change, when Kate decided to "take off." What a perfect opportunity for a picture. I joked that it would be a good picture to embarrass Kate with when she's about to go on a date. Doug one-upped me with, "We'll show it to her date and say, 'This is the only time you'll get to see her butt like this!'".

Playing Cards

Doug and I were playing Hand and Foot (think Canasta, super-sized). Kate had just woken up from a nap, and was chilling out in our arms while we played. As she woke up, she became more interested in the cards. Specifially, wanted to reach for them and put them in her mouth!

Likes to read and play with Dad

Over the past couple of afternoons, Kate has been especially cute with Doug. They've read books. They've made faces with each other. They are so cute!

This book is called "Yummy Yucky"

6-mo stats

Kate survived another round of shots. 4, in fact. She's a trooper, but a little bit on the fussy side tonight.

So, here's the deal: 19 pounds, 11 ounces (98th percentile), 27 inches (90th percentile). Strong, alert and sociable. All the doctor's words.

She's trying to sleep now, so no pictures.

6-month self-portrait

I find myself looking forward to this little tradition each month. Our self-portrait time. And Kate is willing to smile a little bit more for the camera, too. Tomorrow we get another round of shots (I'll get my flu shot to be in solidarity with her) and official measurements. Updates with that later.

New Camera

We upgraded to a new camera over the weekend. Thank the tanking economy that everything is on sale. I like that it will take pictures in quick succession. And its slick and small. Here are a few trial pictures, just to make sure it would work.

Idahoan Adventures

Kate and I are in Idaho, awating the birth of Baby R #4.  Oh, and generally hanging out with with the rest of the family.  In the first, you can see they boys watching "Cars" while Kate plays with the pile of toys.  She loves rolling on top of the pile, though that seems like it would be quite uncomfortable!
Not the best posed picture, but it does capture the moment!
Ahhhh, finally caught some smiles on camera.

Cute Onsies

Over the weekend, I did a bit of 'wardrobe' rotation for Kate. All of her clothes fit in one drawer right now (as long as I don't have to close it). This is the drawer of Clothes Kate Wears. Down below it is the drawer of Clothes That Kate Will Grow Into. So on Sunday I pulled clothes out of the top drawer that don't fit any more, and culled the bottom drawer for clothes that she would now fit into.

I probably should have done this two weeks ago. But my life is filled with a lot of "I should haves" right now, so there's no guilt here. For example, right now I should be grading the tests I gave to my Algebra 1 students on Tuesday. But I'd rather be doing other things. No guilt, I tell you, no guilt.

I know this is a side note, but it's quite liberating to just embrace the things I actually am able to do, and letting go of the rest. Like tonight - I made super yummy Cream of Potato soup. Well worth the time.

Anyways, back to Kate. She wore two very cute onsies this week. And I tried my best to get her to smile for the pictures. We came close with the 2nd one!