ten months and counting

poor little kathryn

Today we made our second doctor's visit of the week. We went Monday because what was thought to be a really bad diaper rash that she had since before our vacation and wouldn't go away, turned out to be a yeast infection. Then this morning she woke up with icky eye boogers and a snotty crusty nose... pink eye. She seems to be taking all the medicine okay and has turned to her Cookie Monster ABC's of Cooking book and a Beanie Baby Tiger for comfort.

Now poor Mommy & Daddy... this doctor's visit makes four in the past five weeks. Not to mention Mommy's for strep and Daddy's for tests.

On a brighter note... she has slept through the night all but one night in the past week to week & half!!! Yay Kathryn!!!!

movement

Here are a couple of videos of Kathryn's recent movements...

She has actually taken a few steps (like two or three) by herself. Most of the time it looks more like a more gracefully fall into your arms. We'll try to get a few steps on camera but it isn't easy.

A dress, socks, and a slick kitchen floor make for fun crawling.

Kathryn & Buddy towering over Daddy

Loving on Kermit

Side notes. We had to go to the doctor this morning for a little check-up. She has gained a pound since the last check-up about a week and half ago. We think she hit a growth spurt just before the last check-up and hadn't had her weight catch up.

I have also decided the reason she starts off with mostly "da" sounds has to do with the occupants of this house... Daddy, Dixon & Daisy. She really tries to say hi to the kitties when she sees them.

Guess that is it for now.

shhhh....

I don't want to say this too loud, but.... it is 7:30 and Kathryn is still asleep. She usually gets up between 8 and 9, but the kicker is .... she's been asleep since around 10:30 with no wake ups!!! Yay!!!!

9 month check up

Kathryn had her nine month check up this morning. She is now 29 3/4" tall (97%) and 18 lbs 4 oz (48%). Yep I said 48%. At 6 months she was in the 75%, so they are concerned that she isn't gaining enough weight. She will go back in 6 weeks for a weight check. They aren't that concern since she nurses, and say it is common for breastfed babies to slow the weight gain as they eat more solid food or it could be genetics. I'll have to compare it to where Eric & I were at that age.

She has learned a few new things in the past few weeks. This past weekend she picked up on clapping. We can now say "Yay Kathryn!" and she will clap for us.

The scary thing she started doing while we were on vacation is letting go while she is standing. At first she may have stood for a second maybe two at the most, but last night it had to be a good four seconds before she plopped down. I can tell it won't be long before she is running around here.

It sounds like she is actually trying to talk to you now. I really think she said, or attempted to say "Daddy" the other night. She likes to try to say "uh-oh", but it comes out "uh-uh".

She is responding to laughter on the tv now. We were watching Sesame Street yesterday and Elmo started laughing and Kathryn turned to me and laughed. It was quite cute.

She is also lovin' on her stuffed animals, mainly the small ones right now. She has a monkey (I think it was actually mine in college) that she will give some lovin' too.... translation: she holds it close to her chest and smiles.

We have her to sleeping almost through the night again. She is getting up around 2 to eat. I'm still working on that one. But I'll take from 2 to 8! It still gives me time to get up before her and get some coffee and cereal in me.

She is eating a lot better...

We had 9 month pictures done as it was so close to Easter. I did not buy the disk this time, but I scanned in one of the pictures so everyone could see the beautiful dress that a friend of my Mom's (Aunt Virginia) made for Kathryn.

I said in an earlier post I would try to get a video of her voice swings (yes I know there is a big word for that, but I'm not going to attempt to pretend I know how to spell it.). Well Eric got it on video because he's that good.

update: I forgot her favorite new thing... lightswitches!! She will flip a switch to the "off" position with one finger! We have a lot of three-way switches so sometimes she is turning them on. But she will reach for a switch as we walk by.

our vacation

Last week we took a family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. It was only about a two hour drive away. We had been debating between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington (NC not DE... sorry guys). We ended up picking Myrtle because of the hotel pricing. The closer it got to vacation time, the worse the weather forecast was looking. We had sunny, somewhat warm weather on Sunday and Thursday. The rest of the week we really windy and chilly, like highs in the 50s or low 60s. We also tried to eat at places that we don't have here or haven't been to in a very long time... Below is a recap of our week.

We got to Myrtle Beach Saturday evening. We had a late start from home. We ended up just being able to eat dinner once we got there. Sunday we walked around a shopping area called Broadway at the Beach and ate a Joe's Crab shack. Turns out the best weather was while we were walking around there. We tried to walk around the beach and even though it was warm, the wind was really strong.

Mommy & Kathryn at the beach Sunday evening.

Monday we knew the weather was to be miserable. We had already planned on driving up into North Carolina to go to the Aquarium at Fort Fisher. We had a good time and Kathryn loved watching the fishies. It was kind of a small Aquarium but we thought it was worth the price (it was only $8 for adults). Below are pictures from there. For dinner we went to a place called East of Chicago. It was a pizza buffet with a really good salad bar. It also had arcade games. Eric & I played a lot of skeeball!!

Eric gets attacked by an alligator

Kathryn seems amused with this alligator


Here fishy fishy fishy

Kathryn was trying to find Nemo

After the aquarium we tried to walk around the beached again.

Mommy & Kathryn at the beach

Daddy & Kathryn at the beach.

Kathryn's first big tub bath was at the hotel. She's a well traveled baby!

Tuesday we went to the shopping area called Barefoot Landing. We at lunch at Wild Wings (it made me miss the old people (you know who you are) and Atlanta!). We also hit the outlet mall. Didn't buy anything, but enjoyed just walking around. The weather was getting warmer but it was so windy.

Kathryn enjoyed her morning nap in the king size bed!

Wednesday morning we got up to go see the sun rise. Eric & I try to get up really early at least one morning during our vacations. We then went to breakfast at one of the many pancake houses in the area. Not sure that was the best one, but it was better than the hotel breakfast. We then went back and played in the pool for a while. In the afternoon we went to play mini golf. It looked like I was going to win at first, but then either Eric came back or my game got worse. We had Fuddruckers for lunch. Yummy! We also headed back to Barefoot Landing to walk around and go back to the candy shop for some taffy. This time the tigers were at the T.I.G.E.R.S. exhibit. I think Eric & I enjoyed watching the tigers play as much if not more than Kathryn.

the sunrise

Kathryn enjoying the water




be sure to watch the end of this video closely...

Daddy & Kathryn taking a break from all the action

A family shot thanks to the family playing behind us

a quick stop back by the beach for a photo shoot

This was at the T.I.G.E.R.S. exhibit at Barefoot Landing.

all worn out from the days excitement

Thursday morning it was time to pack up and head home. This is when my day started to get bad. I woke up with a sore throat. By the time we got home, my legs and backed ached. We had a few errands to run when we got home. By that evening I had a fever of 102ish. I luckily got into the doctor's office the next morning and was told I had strep. I hadn't had it in a while, but knew in the back of my mind that was what was wrong.

Kathryn packing up the dirty clothes.

We had a great vacation and enjoyed at least being able to walk the beach. It was too cold to actually play in the water, but maybe sometime this summer we will head back to the beach to dip our toes at least in the water. It will be easier we think once Kathryn learns to walk and we don't have to carry her as much on the sand.

she was quiet

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! We hope that you took time today to remember why we are celebrating this glorious day and thank God for the miracle He has given us! We, unfortunately, did not make it to church as I am suffering with strep throat. Kathryn did, however, have a visit from the easter bunny.

Kathryn with a new butterfly car

reaching to pull out one of her three books

Eric was wonderful and made us egg-shaped pancakes (of which, Kathryn actually ate a bite or two!).

I'll be working on the beach pictures soon. Eric has been off (and been a great help to me as I haven't felt like doing anything) and we have been trying to do a few things around the house. Hopefully in the next couple of days, you'll see our trip. Until then, enjoy this day!

relaxing on vacation...

As you can tell... we are relaxing on vacation.

More pictures and details to come later.

such a stinker

You can't turn your back for a moment...