Snuggle Bunny

Now that Kate is six months old she wants to be on the move constantly. If she is awake, she wiggles and squirms and tries her hardest to go exploring. I can't even imagine what it is going to be like when she can actually crawl. I don't expect to be able to sit much as I presume she will do laps around our living room and try her best to get in to everything.

Every so often, though, she still will spend some cuddle time with us on the couch or in bed. There's nothing better than having a warm baby next to you and a loyal puppy at your knees. Here are some of our favorite pics of Kate in her quieter moments.

Kate and mommy relaxing on the couch.

Aren't I the cutest baby ever?

Daddy, can you please stop snoring? We are trying to sleep here!

Even Auntie L loves to cuddle with Kate.

Six Month Update

Can you believe it has been six months already? Half a year has gone by but it feels like just a few short weeks ago that we were bringing home our helpless nine pound newborn. In those early days of sleepless nights it was at times challenging to see the light at the end of the sleep-eat-diaper, sleep-eat-diaper tunnel. Fortunately, it seems like we have emerged and we are really loving being parents (well maybe except for the early mornings- we are NOT morning people!).

Kate is becoming such a funny, happy wiggle worm. She seems to always be on the move and not satisfied sitting still on the couch. Whether it is lunging after Willow or bouncing in her bouncy chair, Kate is a bundle of energy. From what my mom tells me, she is already taking after me as I was always on the move when I was young.

J started a new folder of pictures from 6 months on. You can check a few new pics here. It has only been a few days, though, so check back in a few weeks for more 6 month pics.

We have been working hard on our sleeping- stayed tuned for a cute blog about napping in the next day or so. J and I are lovers of sleep, not that we expect Kate to follow suit right away. We do realize that she is a baby and thus won't sleep in until noon. So, we all have been working on altering our sleep patterns. That said, Kate has always been a great sleeper. Ever since we moved her out of our room at around 2 months, she has slept at least 6 hours a night. Fortunately for us, she has slept through the night for the last few months. I guess that is one of the great things about having a larger baby, though my back would disagree. We have had a few hiccups lately, so tried a little gentle Ferberizing the other night. Night number 2 was slightly painful, but Kate gave up and went to sleep after about 30 minutes. Ever since, she has slept all night without really crying. Let's hope it sticks because she seemed very happy this morning! Naps are a whole different story that I won't get into right now.

Kate has really made huge leaps in her motor development. She can roll over in both directions and sit unassisted for a decent amount of time. She even seems to be trying to get her crawling legs underneath her. I wouldn't be surprised if she was up and cruising in the next few weeks. We have found her in countless places in her crib, and we have no idea how she ends up in some of the positions we find her in when we go to pick her up in the morning.

One of the exciting aspects of Kate sitting up is her ability to sit in a high chair at the table with us. She seems to really love being able to look around and take in everything. She also loves throwing her toys on the floor so that mommy and daddy have to go find them. We'll be looking for a solution to that endearing yet slightly annoying game in the near future.

Kate had her six month appointment this week. She passed with flying colors. She is a gigantic 22 pounds 8 ounces and 28.5 inches long. She is significantly above the 100% line for both height and weight but technically 120% doesn't exist so she is classified in the 100th percentile. It seems like she has slowed down a bit so we hope we will be able to keep her current set of clothes for awhile.

Speaking of clothes, Kate just transitioned into her newest set of clothes. We are starting her on her set of 12 month outfits. Yes, our 6 month old wears 12 month clothes. We expected a big girl as daddy is 6'4", but we never expected her to race through her clothes as quickly as she has done to this point. Hopefully, this set will last a bit longer as she starts to be more active.

In addition to the routine check up and icky shots (don't worry, she only cried for about 5 seconds) Kate got the green light to start some real solids. Kate has been eating rice cereal once a day for two months now, but we are now ready to open her up to a whole world of food and we are pretty excited. I got a wonderful gift from my sister for Christmas and I have already put it to good use on Kate's first set of food.

J affectionately calls it the BabycookER, but it is the Babycook and it is an all-in-one steamer, blender, and defroster to make baby food. Our first trial was sweet potatoes. I made a few batches, and now we have a few days worth of fresh, organic food for our little eater. I am really hoping I have the energy to keep up making baby food at home. It was really easy and I am loving my Christmas gift (thanks Auntie L!).

We have eaten sweet potatoes for two days and Kate seems to be somewhat satisfied with them thus far. She doesn't seem to LOVE them, but she ate them nonetheless. I hate sweet potatoes - a distaste which I hope not to pass on to Kate - so I started her out with them early. I can be a picky eater at times - don't even get fish near me - and I really want to eradicate that trait in Kate. We're really looking forward to introducing her to some of our favorites over the next few months.

Finally, a funny picture for those of you who made it to the end of this long update. Kate has found her tongue, lips, and mouth recently. Her new favorite pastime is sucking on her lips. She looks like an old grandma with no teeth. We keep telling her to put her dentures in, but she doesn't seem to get the message.

When You're the Best of Friends

Happy belated Valentine's Day. We hope you all had a wonderful day with your loved ones.

J and I had a wonderful combination Valentine's and birthday (mine) celebration. Grandma K came down to watch Miss Kate for the night and we headed downtown for an overnight celebration. We checked in at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, relaxed and watched a little Olympic coverage, then got ready for dinner. We had a lovely dinner at Morton's downtown. To cap off our romantic evening, we did what every parent longs for on her birthday. We went to bed and slept until 11am; we even asked for a late check out. It was a well-needed break from babyville. Though, we were happy to see Kate later this afternoon after some catch-up on our sleep.

Now for a Kate update. J has uploaded some new pics to the picture page for your viewing pleasure. Our 6 month appointment is next week so we should have some interesting updates from the doctor including a new weigh in and height check. We are amazed that our little girl will be 6 months old on Wednesday. It is incredible how quickly times passes (not to be cliche).

Kate has a new passion in her life: Willow. Perhaps obsession is a better word. Kate started to notice Willow a few months ago, but her delight with Willow has really seemed to increase over the last few weeks. Kate's little face lights up every time Willow enters the room. When we come home, Kate strains in our arms to look for Willow, and when she finally catches a glimpse, she practically throws herself out of our arms to get to her. She gets the most excited when Willow joins us on the couch and tries her hardest to lick Kate. We do our best to keep Kate kiss free, but Willow has a missile-like tongue, so it is hard to keep her away all the time. It is so wonderful to hear Kate's peals of laughter as she watches Willow.

Willow has been a wonderful, albeit costly, addition to our family. We were a bit nervous about Willow's feelings over our newest addition. She has been the only baby for most of her life- she even started out as the only puppy in her litter. Though she shows a little bit of jealousy every so often, in general, she seems as smitten with Kate as Kate is with her. We are hopeful that as Kate grows older that she and a healthy Willow will become wonderful friends. We seem to be off to a good start thus far.

Here are a few pictures and a video that really capture Kate's love for Willow.

Kate and Willow sitting on the couch. I'm pretty sure Willow is getting in a little foot lick while Kate smiles at the camera.

We're trying to teach Kate how to be gentle with Willow, especially her back, but sometimes Kate can't help herself. She just has to reach out and grab Willow for a big Kate hug.

Willow going in for the lick again. Kate loves the attention and would let Willow lick her all day long if we would allow it.

Though Willow seems to enjoy Kate, there are times when she would prefer to have Mom all to herself. She somehow managed to squeeze herself in the middle of floor time and wanted her own Willow time. Don't worry about her being too jealous, though. She was trying to lick Kate a few moments later. So maybe not jealousy but a sneaky maneuver to lick Kate.

Finally, here's a bonus video that shows how much Kate enjoys Willow and how much Willow likes to lick Kate.

Milk-a-what?

I love this little E-trade baby and the picture below made me think of this funny commercial from the Superbowl.

Our own little milkaholic!