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11 months

My mind reels every time I think of my baby turning 1 year old - only a few short weeks and she won't be my babe anymore, but my TODDLER. When she was first born, I felt like a year was an eternity away, and it really blows my mind that in mere weeks we will be reaching that milestone. I never thought that I would ever be in so much love with one little pint sized person than I am with my baby girl. She is truly an amazing and wonderful child that lights up my (and her father's) world every moment. Kaitlin is in complete "discovery zone" mode almost every second of the day. The play pin is now too confining and she wants to explore everything! We got to go to the beach this month for the first time and she was obsessed with the wet sand (we even let her go "naked baby" - which she was even more thrilled with!). Dog bowls, water, dirt, grass, wood chips, drawers, diapers, empty water bottles and anything else that she can get her hands on she loves. And, in the most exiciting news that happened this month - the little peanut has started WALKING!! I just can't believe that she is already on the go. The in-laws were in town for this month, so it was really special that they were able to witness her first steps and watch her develop into a walking machine! Some more of her new tricks are she says "tra-la-la-la" when you sing to her, she puts her hand up to her ear when you say "hello Kaitlin!" and can also understand "yes". Ahhh - she is learning something new every day, and everyone who meets her just says that she is very intelligent and bright (but I already knew that! ;) ).

Getting pictures of her at this stage is getting increasingly harder. She does do a "cheese" face, but is usually on the go when doing it and the pictures come out blurry! She truly is the light of our lives and I love the little person she is growing into be.

xoxo Kait - happy 11 months!

10 months!

Baby girl - you are growing out of your baby ways and growing into our little toddler more and more every day!

I really can't believe that she is already 10 months old. I am starting to think about how we are going to celebrate her year birthday. It never ceases to amaze me how much she is learning and growing every day. She now have 6 teeth - 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. She is completely standing up on her own and took a couple of steps yesterday, although I think that actually walking is still a couple of weeks away. This child is fearless and determined. This past weekend, I had her in her walker (which she LOVES....she toodles around and chases the cats and the dogs for hours on end!). I was doing my normal Saturday routine (dishes, laundry, cleaning...etc) and I realized that I hadn't heard the wheels of that wonderful time-consuming walker, so I went to go investigate what the little bugger was doing. And wouldn't you know that when I found her on the other side of the couch she was standing up OUTSIDE of the walker and hanging out OUTSIDE of the walker. She had climbed completely out!! So now, I am totally screwed - no more walker and she's not into her play-pen anymore....not quite sure what I can do now to keep her occupied for alittle while so I can at least do some dishes around here!!

Kaitlin has also learned how to wave hello and good-bye this month, and to clap!! She is FINALLY saying "ma-ma-ma-ma" but still not real recognition with anything just yet. And - she has finally grown some hair!! Can't wait to finally put some bows on that girl!

9 Months!

2/3rds of year!! Everyone told me that babies grow up so fast, but it rings truer and truer as the months tick by...I mean in only 3 short months Kaitlin will have her 1st birthday - that is just complete craziness!! I know I say this every month, but every month it feels like I fall in love with her deeper and depper. She is a GREAT kid, with TONS of energy. I am quickly having to learn how to put on a diaper any which way (forwards, backwards, sideways, standing up , sitting down...fight, fight, fight!) The child HATES diaper changes right now. Sitting still in one place for more than 30 seconds is apparently TORTURE to her - she wants to be on the move! This month, we have gone to more finger foods and have introduced plums, watermelon, peaches, tomatoes, and her latest favoite....Cherrios!! Yumm!! Put a couple of cherrios in front of this girl and it will make her happy for a LONG time. She has figured out how to actually walk in her walker, and will sprint toward any cat or dog around (oh - and she gets a kick out of running into your ankles as fast as she can!). MS and I just crack up at her when she is in her walker - she LOVES the thing. She hasn't made any more sounds, but has started to "share" her toys. She is into putting her paci from her mouth to momma's mouth, to her mouth again and back and forth, back and forth. Two more teeth came in (her two front ones), and she is FINALLY growing some more hair!! I am anxiously awaiting the time that I can put some bows on the child. We still have our same bed-time routine, and when I rock her she sticks her free hand in my mouth (or up my nose...whichever) to try and see where the singing is coming from.

Happy 9 months my baby girl!! I love you oh-so-much!!

Evolution of a Mom

Being a first time mom, I know that I have a HUGE learning curve, but I felt like I was as prepared as I was ever going to be to have a child. I read several books, I went to all the classes, I was involved a group with pregnant women, and new moms, and heard all their stories. I watched "Happiest Baby on the Block" and cleaned my house up and down three times over before Kait was born. Although I was nervous bringing Kait home from the hospital I thought that I had the knowledge to conquer her every whim and whimper. I wanted to make sure that I did everything correct from the swaddling, to the shushing, to the sleeping, to the changing, to the breast-feeding. I wanted to make sure that this child got off to the right start. I cleaned out her still attached umbilical cord so carefully and made sure that the wipes weren't too cold so that she didn't cry when I changed her. I thought that I knew what it took to be a great mother. But nothing slaps all of that "knowing" out of your head like a newborn screaming for you at 2am, 4am, 6am, 8am (ad nauseum). Although I thought I knew how I would handle a baby, my child still cried, my child still had sleepless nights, and most of all, and worst of all, my child ended up being formula fed. Out of all my classes, books, and support groups, the one thing that I was not going to budge on was breast-feeding my child. I even dragged my husband to breast feeding classes and made him read a couple of passages in some books to make sure that I had a strong supporter who also knew all the benefits of breast-feeding. I won't go into the details of why I ended up giving my child formula (if you really want to know email me). But the bottom line is, that was my first failure as a mother, and will always be my first failure. It is something that I am still working through, might always be working through, but it has gotten better. And it has gotten better because I know that although I might feel like an epic failure as a mother, my child still looks for me in a room and squeals with delight when she sees me. My child still likes to cuddle with me before I put her to bed. My child looks into my eyes with such extreme love and trust that my heart feels like its about to explode in happiness. And - my child is still well fed, well nourished, and happy and healthy. She is thriving with the circumstances that she has been given, and that makes this momma extremely proud of her almost 9 month old! Every day I am becoming more comfortable in my role as a mother, and ENJOYING it more and more - what intense joy a mother has been given to watch their child grow...regardless of their failures. I am evolving into a mother, a provider, a confident that she can be proud of, that she can learn from (and yes learn from my mistakes). I am learning what GREAT JOY it is to be a mother - not just the person who gave my child birth.

8 months

Yes - I am posting 7 months and 8 months all in one day, because I said before - I am LATE getting A LOT of things done these days.

So here's to 8 months!! (& yes, these pictures were really taken on her exact month birthdays...one thing i didn't fail at miserably!).

8 month stats.....

• As you can see from the pictures, Kait is crawling and pulling herself up and LOVING every minute of it!
• She had your first plane ride and made it all the way to Pennsylvania for the Watermire family reunion! (side note: I will never again to "baby on lap" for a plane ride....this was a nightmare. All she wanted to do was be on the ground crawling!! Trying to keep her in my lap for 4 hours was not so great for mommy & daddy. Not to mention that the flight attendants were not to helpful when I had to change the her - they told me I had to wait until they were done with their beverage service. I told her she was out of her mind, and she let me go through. I guess a screaming poopy baby can be pretty persuasive - needless to say, we will buy a seat for her and take her car seat so we can strap the child down!).
• "dada" was your first consonant sound. MS was thrilled, because I have been practicing for MONTHS now to get her to say "mama", but I told him that it didn't count yet because it wasn't recognition. I am still holding out for "mama" as her first words!
• We tried puffs this month, and I was scared to death that she was going to choke on them, but she did pretty good and now LOVES them.
• She is still sleeping through the night and on Saturdays she even sleeps in (which makes both mommy and daddy very happy!)
• She is just an excellent baby, and she is getting more fun every day! So many people comment on what a great baby she is (and we do feel really lucky to call her ours!)

7 Months

...Ok...so this was supposed to be posted on 6/2 and I am just now getting around to it now. Tis the life of a mom...things on my "to-do" list usually take me over a month to actually get done.

So here's to 7 months!!

My babe turned 7 months on Saturday!!

Here are some fun stats from the last months of my baby girl.

• She learned to scoot around; which means that baby gates, and locks and everything baby proofing went into effect at casa de Webber.


• She is now eating 2 solid meals a day, and will eat just about anything. She's not so sure how she feels about straight fruit, though, but will sure scarf it down if it comes with rice cereal!


• She got TWO teeth (on the bottom) and you EARNED them - wow for teething! :)


• We have graduated from bathing in the sink to the bath-tub, because someone learned how to splash at Papa and Nana's house! I am not sure who gets more soaked during bathtime, mom or baby!


• Still in size 2 diapers, but already growing out of 6 month jammies!


• She has ALMOST figured out how to sit up on her own, but can't quite do it all on her own for a long period of time.


• She recognizes her name, and SMILES at it.


• Gigggles with absolute delight at very wierd things (like herself in the car seat, and mommy saying nonsensical things when we are eating!).


• Still is not a cuddler, and would like to be on the go ALL the time.


• She is starting show some signs of seperation anxiety when she is held by someone other than either mommy or daddy.