One last post...

for Cate as an only child! I am seriously overdue in writing a post. We have been super busy getting everything ready for Baby Boy Messing, and, of course, having fun with Cate! Cate has also been helping get ready for baby brother...she helped Erick put the crib together and helps me clean all his stuff! Erick has done most of the work, though, and the nursery looks great!!

Cate's going to be the coolest big sister ever!! She has even started giving my big ole belly hugs and kisses!

Cate has been enjoying a swim class through the county and swimming at our own pool this summer. She loves to splash around and jump in the pool. As with all of her other cleaning habits, she also enjoys grabbing a brush and scrubbing the side of the pool. No matter how many times she says "close eyes, close mouth, under-aqua" she does not enjoy going underwater at all!!

We have been to several baseball games this summer. Cate enjoys wearing her Nationals hat (and sunglasses, of course), but isn't a huge fan of the the yelling and clapping, yet! We have also been taking walks around the neighborhood and to the park a couple times.

Cate is finishing up her last week in the "Toddler" classroom at daycare, and moves into the "Twos" classroom after Labor Day. The teachers love her - she always wants to clean up, even if we are just getting there in the morning when she is cleaning and hasn't even played with the toys.  She really likes her current teachers, too, but has missed having some of her friends in the same class since they moved up at the beginning of the summer and I know she will be happy to be back with them.

Cate is starting to do some potty training - she will actually run in and use her little toilet for "pee-pee", especially before a shower.  She should make some progress once she is in the next class because they will work on it at daycare then, too.

Recently Cate learned how to jump and loves to jump up and down. She can identify probably a little over half  of the alphabet, is great with colors, and can count to five by herself. She always seems like she is learning new words.  She knows most farm animals, pets, and some jungle animals like monkeys (because she acts like one, of course!!) and elephants.

 

In between all of this, we have gotten to spend some time with friends and family, including my high school friend and her two kids who just loved Cate.  The little boy kept saying he wanted to squeeze her cute little cheeks...who doesn't?!

Moving up!

Friday was Cate's last day in the infant classroom...tomorrow, she will be in the toddler room. She has been transitioning for two weeks, and I know she will be happy there. They have more room to actually run around, plus the little girl who is a few days older than her moved a month ago and everytime I say her name, Cate gets super excited.  We finally transitioned her to drinking milk out of a sippy cup just in the nick of time!

Unfortunately, her last day with the infants was cut short by her first case of pink eye. She has had to make a couple trips over the last month or so to the doctor, including her 15-month appointment at the beginning of January. She is hanging on to the 15 percentile, weighing in at 20lbs 8ounces, and 29 1/4inches long.  Cate is eating a lot and getting her rest to make sure she keeps getting bigger!

She has added a few "words" to her vocabulary, including "awe done" (all done), "mine", "woof woof", "down", "daddy" and "I waa woo" (I love you). Who knows if that is really what she is saying, but we choose to think it is. She also knows to point to several body parts, including nose, ear, hair, teeth, eye, foot, toes, hand, knee, belly button, and even butt!














Cate can now climb onto the couches, and usually off. Unfortunately, she still tries to dive off the bed head first sometimes. Just this week she started trying to walk up and down the steps to the kitchen by herself. She is still a little unsteady and I would rather she wait on this skill! She loves to color, play on daddy's keyboard, and read books.

Cate loves to go outside. She likes to ride in and push her dog Violet (or ba-buh, as Cate calls her) in the scooter. We can easily walk to the park close by where she can go on the slides and play with other kids.

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 :)

4 months and counting...

Sorry I have been a little slow updating the blog.  Cate is now almost four and a half months old and growing like crazy! On February 3rd she went in for two shots - she fussed for about five seconds before she returned to her normal giggling self.  She weighed in at 13lbs 8oz, which dropped her closer to the 50 percentile from her previous 75 percentile, but that is pretty normal, especially for a breastfed baby.  She will have her actual four month visit this coming Monday (Erick will telework from home for the federal holiday and can bring her in without either of us missing much work).

Cate has gotten even faster at rolling over.  She really wants to crawl and sometimes can get a backwards crawl, but just can't quite move forward yet. 

After four weeks at the first daycare location, Cate started at the closer location yesterday.  We loved the ladies at the previous location, but I am sure the new teachers will be just as good with Cate.  They all love her as she tends to giggle most of the day (when not sleeping or eating, of course!).

At home, we try to keep Cate entertained with reading, playing on her gymini, and exercising in the jumper.  She is a little sad that football is officially over, but she was happy to see Green Bay win!

Our new Saturday tradition is hanging out in bed for a while instead of rushing to start our weekend chores.  Cate always seems to be in good spirits when she gets to sleep in and just be lazy!

For those of you who did not already see it, there is a video of Cate trying to teeth in the post below this!  Her teeth haven't broken through yet, but we are on the lookout for them.  Also, if you have a Gmail or Yahoo account you can click FOLLOW on the right side of the page and I think you will get alerts when new posts are put up!

Cate's First Week of "School"

School sounds better than daycare, doesn't it? Cate started a week ago today...with a two hour delay due to weather...meaning Erick had to take her by himself since I did not have a two hour delay.  Cate really seems to be happy there.  Each day I pick her up she is swinging and smiling. Three different staff members, including the manager, have mentioned that she always seems happy and that they love her laugh.  She apparently does fuss each time they change her diaper, something I attribute to her dislike of disposable diapers!  She ended up having two "first day of school" outfits due to a spitting-up incident!

 





 

Cate also rolled from back to front for the first time last Wednesday.  Over the weekend, she got a jumper which she definitely enjoys, although Erick had to put a phonebook under it so she could touch the ground (see, Bill, we did find a use for the phonebook!).  Eventually I'll learn how to post videos so you can see for yourselves!

Within the past week, Cate has slept through the night on 4 different nights! I still have not given in and fed her cereal, so I am happy she seems to be becoming a good sleeper all on her own.  She is even learning to read to herself (or at least help me read it to her!)