Summertime

Since my last post right before 7 months, Max has started full-on crawling (including up the steps into the kitchen) and cruising! A couple days before he turned 9 months he really started standing unsupported and in the past week he has started standing from sitting without holding on to anything. He'll be walking in no time (Cate walked at 10 months).  Max grabs any movable object close to his height (including other older kids at daycare) and use it as his walking support. He also climbs on to anything he can - chairs, shelves, tables...he's not picky!

At 9 1/2 months, Max weighed in at 21 pounds, 3 ounces (60%), 27 inches (10%...maybe this is off?!) and head circumference greater than the 97%. He has a healthy appetite and has tried all kinds of food, pureed and plain ole finger food like Cheerios, avocado, peas, green beans, broccoli, pasta and even sweet potato fries! I am trying to get him to start using a sippy cup (and apparently lounge in chairs like he owns the place!). He is saying da-da, and sometimes ba-ba, ma-ma, and na-na. I think his fourth teeth on both the top and bottom are finally pushing through, so he won't be lopsided anymore!

Cate is still enjoying her gym time and we even went for a little extra time and took Max on Mother's Day. This summer she is doing tumbling only - she wasn't really enjoying the dance part of the spring class. She loves the balance beam!

Cate got all 3s (out of 3!) on this "report card" for the spring. Summer is more of a camp (vs school) type atmosphere for daycare, so more play, water time, etc. Cate will let the teachers fix her hair all fancy, but mommy and daddy aren't allowed! She has been so good using the potty. She still won't go number 2 at school, but otherwise she is great during the day and we are going on over a week with no  nighttime accidents (knock on wood). That is especially important since this is how each night starts...and sometimes it ends, too!

Cate is already listening to pop music - her favorite songs are Walk the dinosaur by Was Not Was and My Songs Know what you Did in the Dark by Fall Out Boy (not that I expect most readers of this to know those songs, but I look forward to telling her her first two favorite songs in 10 years!). The latter song was performed live on tv the other day and she made me rewind it 5 times so she could dance to it. When they played one song at the baseball game, Cate wanted to know why they didn't play her other song! We think she is going to be a little drummer when she grows up! One Saturday we went to Old Town and our little rockstar got to play on some drums!















The pool is open and Cate loves it again. Max has only been in  a few times so he's still getting his sea legs! Besides swimming, we are trying to go to as many baseball games as possible, although the heat may hold us back some this summer.  Erick is trying to get all of the Opening Day players to sign an authentic Nationals jersey for Max. They have "Signature Sundays" every home weekend, but you have to show up to find out who is signing!

 We are lucky to have such a happy little family  and Cate and Max get along so well! We have been enjoying visits from family and friends and look forward to some more this summer!

6 months old!!

Max has been loving jumping in the bouncer...he does this weird little jumping jack motion with his feet that is too cute! He also loves to scoot across the floor - I don't know if it is quite crawling, but he gets where he wants to.  He always makes his way over to Cate's Legos, and daycare says he will scoot all across the play area to get the toy he wants. For the past week, he has finally been starting to sit up for longer periods of time (don't mind the minky, aka nose wipes, on his head!!)

Max's teeth are coming in...the first came in a little after 5 months and the second followed closely (my original report of a tooth a couple months ago was a false alarm!!). Along with that, he has started eating! He wasn't a fan of the cereal, so we skipped right to avocado, banana and sweet potatoes.

The food had been doing Max well. He weighed in at 18lbs, 7oz - 75th percentile, while his height is only 45th percentile! Shockingly, his head is in the 95th! (For comparison, Cate was 14lbs, 11oz at 6 months!!)

Cate's gone to two birthday parties in the past month and loves seeing her friends on the weekends. She also just started a "Jazzy Beasts" class at one of the places (the same place she had her birthday party). It is half dance positions, and half tumbling/gym time. This summer we are signed up for "Super Beasts" which is all in the gym area.

Cate has finally agreed to peeing in the toilet at school! She has been wearing cloth trainers and hasn't had an accident all week. We are still working on "poo-poo" - the only time she did at school was when I was there to pick her up.

Cate was excited to get a haircut, not so thrilled once we got there. She didn't let her wash it, but was good for the cut, I just had to hold her hand.

Cate can count to 30, but leaves out 13, 14, 15, and 16. She can also say her A, B, C's, but sometimes leaves out T, U, V, W! Winter hasn't been too exciting for snow...we did have one "snow" day, but it was a wet snow that melted quickly, so she didn't get an opportunity to play in the snow! She did get plenty of play time with Auntie Jen this past weekend, though!

8 months old!

Yesterday our little Cate turned 8 months old!

Last weekend we enjoyed a nice three days off.  Cate took her first dip in our pool, although it was a little chilly.  We also took an outing to a "local" (45 minutes away) cloth diaper store for their grand opening.  Hey, at least Erick got to eat at a good restaurant while were there! He was a good sport, though, and acted enthused as I talked about the different diapers!

Cate finally will do a "real" crawl with her tummy off the floor (when she feels like it).  She is also working on her standing skills.  She has had more than one bruise on her forehead where she thinks she can let go for a little longer than she really can.  She has started to move very slowly between pieces of furniture (or mom and dad).  She is also clapping and even waving! We think MAYBE she said mama one time (and Erick insists when she cried at night she was saying it, but I am doubtful!).  Unfortunately, one "skill" she has acquired is biting, especially Erick and I.  She doesn't seem to understand the concept of "no", yet, but we keep trying!  She has only bitten one of her teachers so far.

Cate Can Swim!

Okay, she can't really swim, but she did have her first swim class.  As predicted from her love of baths, she was a natural in the pool.  She'll have four more weeks of class and then, of course, she'll have plenty of swim time at home this summer!

 I missed her 7-month update...on April 26th she was up to 15lbs 12oz.  She gained over a pound in the 3 weeks from her 6-month weigh-in!  She is starting to eat some finger-foods, including puffs and bananas, plus some waffle she steals from the older kids at daycare.

Cate has added "na-na" and and occasional "da-da" (we think?!) to her vocabulary.  She still scoots around the house, not quite wanting to lift her stomach and crawl on her knees.  Her new talent is finding anything she can to push herself up to standing, whether it is stationary or not.  Sometimes she thinks she can let go, which isn't quite the case, yet!

Six months old!

I can't believe our little Cate is already half a year old!! She is up to 14lbs 11oz now.  She isn't quite crawling yet, although she can scoot on her belly wherever she wants to go, so I am not sure at what point we can start saying it is actually a crawl.

Cate go to go to her first baseball game on Thursday (the Nationals lost, of course!).  She actually slept most of the game, and we splurged on some club level seats to keep her in out of the cold and rain.  She is looking forward to many more (warmer) games this season.

 

She has moved up to a small solid meal at daycare, and one in the evening. We just finished her peaches trial, and I think we might start bananas now (all of this is quite thrilling, I know).  Her teeth keep us guessing...last week two top teeth were definitely visible, but now they have retracted some and only one bottom tooth is visible.

Cate can...

Sit all by herself! And give kisses, and almost crawl....

Okay, so I am way overdue with a post...missed her turning 5 months old, and now we are almost to 6 months (I can't believe it!).  On Sunday, she really started being able to sit up by herself.  She doesn't pull herself up yet, but she can sit forever once you get her in that position.

She can definitely move several inches in the forward position...maybe not quite crawling, but we are guessing it will  happen this week.  She also loves to give Erick and I big wet kisses.  She will lean in with this loving little look and slobber all over us.

Cate has tried out rice cereal, avocado (loved it!), peas (fussy - won't do that again for a while!) and now sweet potatoes.

 

Everyone who sees Cate continues to just love her.  This morning when I dropped off Cate at daycare, a teacher from the classroom next door came running in and said where is little Cate?  She said the first time she saw Cate she fell in love with her because she is so interactive and interested in everything.  What can I say, we think she is perfect too :)