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!

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?!

Disneyland!

We enjoyed a wonderful trip to California a couple weeks ago. We weren't sure how much Cate would enjoy Disney at this age, but she definitely had a great time. We were there for seven full days and spent three days at Disneyland. We, of course, stuck to the kiddie rides (and ones where we wouldn't be up in there if she tried to throw a tantrum, like Dumbo!). She loved the carousel and It's a Small World. She loved the carousel so much that she threw a fit when we tried to get off. Luckily, it was early and the park wasn't crowded so the attendant let us stay on for an extra ride!

On our second day, we did a character breakfast with Cate wearing a princess tutu from Auntie Jen and a Minnie hair bow.  Cate got to meet Minnie, Chip (we think!), Rabbit, Eeyore, Tigger, Fairy Godmother (she had no clue who she was), and her favorite, Pooh!

Cate actually got to see Pooh and Tigger all three days. In addition to the character breakfast, we went to Pooh's house on two of the days and met him. We even got a picture with both Minnie and Mickey at the same time.  We naturally also have videos which we will share later.

Besides the characters, Cate found a new love for fruit smoothies. She also loves water fountains! Buses have become her second favorite mode of transportation, behind airplanes, of course! She loves to say "bye, bye airplane", "bye, bye bus", and "all done, bus".

We spent some time at the pool - Cate's first swimming of the season. She was a little nervous at first, but once Erick got her in she had lots of fun. She will start taking two months of lessons in June, plus there will be plenty of time in our pool!

Besides a great trip, Cate is becoming more vocal all the time (much to the chagrin of some of the passengers on our flight!). She can pretty much repeat back anything you say, including reciting each letter of the alphabet. She is getting really good at identifying some letters, including A, B, I, M, N, and O. She for some reason loves I and O! Cate is trying to learn her colors - she is pretty good at blue, and starting to pick up on yellow, red, orange, purple, and pink. She is becoming more particular about picking out what she is going to wear and whether she wants her "hat" (in the sun) or "hair bow".

Nine (and a half) months!

I have been remiss in posting a blog post, even missing out on the post-vacation post! Cate had her 9 month visit and weighed in at 17lbs 6oz and 26.5 inches.  She is eating more solids everyday...I am still trying to stick to the healthy, age-appropriate foods, but daycare is giving her all the fun stuff like beef ravioli, grilled cheese sandwiches and even cupcakes (my fault, I guess, since I brought them in for the teachers!!).  I don't think Cate has found a food she doesn't like.

Cate stands on her own for at least 10 seconds now, and loves to use a bin we got with hand-me-down clothes to use as her walker.  She cruises around the living room easily - she will definitely be walking in no time!  She still crawls easily up the steps, but we haven't allowed to her to try and master going down stairs.  She has a hard time deciding whether to walk or crawl, and we can't bear to watch her tumble head-over-heels!!

We still spend time in the pool on the weekends - Cate is certainly a water baby! She also likes to try and help Daddy play video games.  She still makes time to help with chores, though...like folding laundry!

For those of you with Facebook, we did enter her in the Gerber photo contest...you have to install a Facebook application, but you can vote daily!

http://apps.facebook.com/gerberphotosearch/entry/32737/cate.aspx

Unrelated to Cate (except for a new place for her to explore), but just as exciting...Erick finished the shower in the extension and it looks great!!