Earthquakes, hurricanes, and football, oh my!

After two weeks filled with fun stuff like an earthquake and a hurricane, football season is here.  Hooray for football!  The day after turning 11 months old, Cate went to her first game at Navy yesterday (her only other game was Army Navy when she was only 2 months old in Philly).  She had a great time, much too busy to take more than one nap or even stop to take a bottle! We hung out with friends, including a couple kids who are about 2 and 4 years old, so Cate had a great time.













This next weekend Cate will get to go to her first UNC game, so look forward to some more pics in Carolina Blue!  In the meantime, Cate continues to walk everywhere she can.  She is also starting to "help" me clean.  First she took a baby wipe and started wiping down the changing table, then today she used her washcloth to wipe down the floor...too cute!

So, back to Mother Nature.  Cate apparently was thrilled with the daycare emergency plan daycare for the earthquake.  Never mind the earth shaking, getting to be with all the other babies in a crib and go outside an extra time...that is her idea of fun!  The teachers said she was super excited, laughing and throwing her arms in the air.  We got lucky with the hurricane, experiencing only a flicker of the power.  The top of one tree came down, but luckily just missed the roof.

Walking!

Cate has quickly progressed from just taking a couple steps to full on walking! Last Sunday she just decided to stand up and take off.  So 10 1/2 months, we'll say, and she's off!









I don't think I mentioned that Cate is up to six teeth, four on top, still just two on bottom.  She will use them to eat just about anything,  although apparently Chipolte is a little too spicy for her!

Today we had a family outing to the Potomac National Minor League baseball game.  It is nice and relaxed with lots of other kids (and dogs) running around for Cate to watch. She seemed to have a good time, bouncing up and down to the music over the announcing system.  She even did a little walking around, but she is still trying to figure out this shoe thing.  She crashed in the car on the way home.












Right now she is fighting off her first persistent diaper rash...sadly (for me!) we have had to keep her in disposables for the last few days until we get it treated.  I miss her cute little cloth-diapered heiny!!

Two Steps!

Two steps could refer to a couple different things - including the area between the kitchen and living room that Cate keeps trying to dive off of - but in this case I am talking about Cate's progress walking.  A day after turning  ten months old, she took two steps on her own (at home and daycare, so we didn't just imagine it!).  Now I am not sure if we can call it walking yet, and she has taken at most three or four steps at at time, but we are getting there!

We, naturally, think she is the smartest baby ever.  Some of you have already seen her engineering mind at work...if you can't reach a book, find something to stand on and go for it!

She is also very adept at signing "more"...whether it be to get more food, read more books, or get more attention.  She also tries to sign water - it's not perfect, but not bad for a baby.  She points A LOT; I guess she hasn't quite figured out it isn't polite to point!




Cate will also eat anything.  She apparently becomes quite distraught at daycare if the other kids are eating something I haven't approved for consumption, and they usually give in and give it to her.  I can't say I blame them, she is quite persistent! And, yes, I do have a brush for this poor child, but her hair is always a mess (just like her mama's!)

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!! 

It's Vacation Time!!

We are so excited to be leaving on our first family vacation!  We are looking forward to some much needed relaxation - basically doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and hanging out with Cate.

Cate is well on her way to walking...she is still testing the limits of trying to stand on her own.  In a derailment of my baby proofing plans, she can climb up steps and now quite easily joins me in the kitchen when I am cooking.  On the upside, soon she will be unloading the dishwasher for me! She already "helps" me with the cloth diaper laundry and adjusts the volume on our receiver (always louder, somehow)...

 

This past week she weighed in at 16lbs 9oz...unfortunately, the reason we know that is because we had to see the doctor (aka, my boss) because she had a fever and had to take antibiotics for a slight ear infection.  Hopefully we won't have ear issues on the plane!  

Cate is one happy baby!!

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!