Movie Monday

Kaylee is pretty mobile these days. She's been on the brink of walking for several weeks now. Around her birthday she started tentatively taking steps and letting go of things. She would reach out as far as she could and then lunge and step to her intended destination.

Shortly after this, she started walking on her knees. She'd get so excited about wanting to get some where, she'd take a step or two and then drop to her knees and "walk" across the room. You can't help but laugh as this happened. I'm pretty sure she developed this mode of movement at daycare to try and keep up with her friends that are a tad bit older than her.

We've been struggling to get it on video. As soon as she takes sees me drag out a camera, she drops on all fours and crawls over to investigate. Luckily, we were able to get this on video this weekend. Our chances have been decreasing day by day as her progression of walking continues.

Next on the "to do" list, videos of walking - she's been toddling around the house pretty well in short bursts. From what everyone says, we better get moving on it too; it won't be long before she's running.

Movie Monday

11 months

Whew...another month gone by (and me late getting up the monthly comparison photo). Remember when I started posting a monthly photo with Kaylee's puppy? I've been getting these monthly photos up although they maybe a little late. Remember 5 months? or what about 6? and 9 months? How I've loved seeing how much she has changed month by month and having our little reference item of the puppy. We're oh-so-close to full out walking this month. Exploring the house and pulling up on everything keeps Kaylee quite busy. Cruising along the couches, coffee table, tv stand, and kitchen chairs makes her things she is pretty big stuff. She's getting braver and letting go more and more. Sometimes she starts to stand up in the middle of crawling across the floor and changes her mind. I think she prefers to get to her destination as quickly as possible and right now, that's by crawling.

We've also got 8 teeth this month. Little miss independent is demanding big girl food. And we don't mind sharing...most of the time :)  As long as she doesn't mind sharing with us too!

Ten Months

We reached the 10 month mark a week ago. That's just crazy. Our baby can't be 10 months. She can't be pulling herself up on anything within reach. She can't be babbling up a storm. She can't be eating "big girl" foods. She just can't be, can she?

She is, and we love it. She's got personality oozing out her ears (maybe that's why she's always got her fingers in them?). She's got smiles and laughs for everyone she meets. We're truly blessed how wonderful our little girl is.

9 Month Rundown

Who knows? Maybe by 10 months there actually may be running (probably not)! A lot of accomplishments to keep track of this month. Waving -check, So big! - check, high fives - check, and of course, pointing. While the first ones are cute and a lot of fun, I'm pretty excited about the last. From what I've read (I'm a reading kind of mom), this is the beginning to letting us know what she wants. Awesome! Kaylee is a crawling machine that is into everything. I can only imagine what walking is going to have in store for us.

Her 9 month well check went...well. She's about 30" tall and weighs 21 lbs. Kaylee also survived her flu shot and I'm happy to report dad survived it as well. We head to Peoria on Monday for a recheck with her neurosurgeon, followed by a visit with the orthotist. The stop at Plattners will involve a head scan and reshaping of the inside of the helmet. It will definitely be interesting to see how her head has changed over the past couple of weeks.

Pride and Laughter

I know time and time again our daughter will not only continue to amaze us, but make us proud. We've seen it countless times before - her first smile, sitting up by herself, the list goes on and on. The past couple of months have been absolutely a joy. Watching her figure things out for herself invokes an enormous amount of pride in a parent. Like I've said before, its incredible to visually see the "light bulb" click. After they figure things out, there is no stopping them.She loves to clap and smile at you...and most of the time will lift her arms up when you ask her how big she is. Last night we had to laugh when we saw her practice with her toys.

Kaylee has been working hard at learning to crawl. And she almost has it. We caught her working her way across the kitchen floor to get her empty ice cream bucket. Yep, I let her play with the bucket...it makes an excellent drum and she loves to hold onto the handle. Isn't it typical that kids ignore all the fancy toys and play with those random objects around the house? You can't even imagine the fun she had with newspaper :)

Eight months

Yikes! We can mark another month off on the calendar. Our little tyke is growing up so fast. This was taken a week ago today on her 8 month birthday - when waving hi, bye, and at random times in between was just beginning. In the last 7 days, she's perfected her heart tugging wave - throwing up a wave to anyone that looks her way. That's right, our little girl knows how to work a crowd! While in Peoria on Friday, we made a couple of stops before getting fitted for her helmet. At each location, Kaylee would put on her brightest smile and wave to passerby's and restaurant customers. There was even one time where she was waving with both hands. The people were eating...out....of.....her....hands.

We survived day 2 of helmet wearing. Yesterdays schedule called for 2 hours on and 1 hour off, and keeping it off for naps and bedtime. We're so glad we're approaching cooler weather. Other than a sweaty head, Kaylee is adapting well to her hat (as we call it) and so are mom and dad.

Clap-Clap

Mommy and Kaylee have been working diligently on waving, "so-big", high fives, and clapping. We've got waving under our belt pretty good (more to come on this later). So-big and high fives are pretty sporadic. Now, clapping was pretty much nonexistent until today. Kaylee has been putting her hands together and will very excitedly smile and shake them. We can almost say we saw the lightbulb go off during the Illini game. When something good would happen, we'd turn to her and say "yay!" and clap. She's been clapping all afternoon!

Houston, We Have Teeth

I had been trying for a couple of weeks to get a picture of Kaylee's first tooth. Then within the next couple of days, out came the second. She'll be eating steak in no time!

September Stats

The monthly photo with her monthly "stats" and milestones. Our 6 month check up went well with the lil miss. And she sure surprised us....we knew she'd grown, but we weren't expecting 3 inches! Kaylee is measuring 29 inches long - time to get a bigger carseat! She weighs 18.5 lbs and is right where her doctor thinks she should be.

Lots of new things this last month. Kaylee can sit by herself for short periods of time and she much prefers sitting up to laying down. She's rolling in both directions from her back to her tummy and has even made it from her tummy to her back once. It won't be long before and she'll be mobile.

Teething is in full swing -- two bottom teeth appear to be quite close. We also survived our first cold and are now in the middle of her second. Ahhh, the joys of daycare.

She loves her fruits and veggies and takes quite an interest in what we're eating too. Our big girl also loves trying her sippy cup. Not great at it, but she definitely understands what its for.

Its just amazing how much she is changing and accomplishing everyday. There's so many little things that she figures out. I can only imagine what will happen in the next month.

Sittin

I got a chance to snag a few photos this weekend of the next big milestone for the lil miss. She's been working at sitting by herself for awhile. And, she now can sit unassisted for a small amount of time. She still does the occasional face plant, but is usually not fazed by it. Something else we're working on? Teeth...The amount of drool that is coming out of her mouth is astounding. The strength that she can bite down on your finger is astounding. The high pitched screams -- you can only imagine.

Got my toes

This little lady has been grabbing her feet for quite some time. But late last week I think she finally achieved the goal she had been working towards...

5 Months

Another month...and now its been five. Big milestones this last month - eating her veggies and rolling over. In fact, she's always moving around. I'm going to have to figure out how to get her to sit still for her monthly photo

Let's Roll

Veggies

Friday night Kaylee tried her first veggies...green beans. Rice and oatmeal had been okay, but she wasn't digging plain cereal. And who can blame her, flavor please!!

Green beans are definitely a hit....more please, mom!

Cereal? Yes, Please

Well, maybe not exactly, but Kaylee did seem awfully excited as the we were getting her first cereal ready Sunday night.

Daddy gave her the first bites while sporting her Saluki bib (not to worry, mommy gets to give the first bites of real food)...all in all, things went pretty well.

She didn't exactly love it, but she doesn't hate it either. Case in point - she didn't cry or fuss, and smiled mostly.

More came out than went in that first night, but we've made a little progress the past two nights and she's slowly getting the hang of it.

Monthly Photo and Doctor Visit

We didn't want to forget our "official" monthly photo! In some ways, Kaylee doesn't look a lot different than last month. But boy oh boy, she sure has grown! And is learning things so fast!

I thought this photo was pretty appropriate. Our little princess always has lots of smiles to go around and she's really coming along with sitting up and gaining more head/neck control, she does have the occasional tipsy thing going on!

At the her 4 month check up, she astounded us with how much she'd grown. She's checking in at 26 1/4" long and 14 lb 14.5 oz. And the best part? She handled her shots like a champ and had no real problems (unlike last time).

We can't wait to see what this next month brings.

4 months

Hard to believe baby girl is 4 months old today. We've had a lot of accomplishments in the last month.

Lots of smiles and loves to laugh -- sweet sounds to her parents ears.

Drooling is common...down her chin, on our shirts, basically anywhere!

She's a regular "rollee pollee" lately, from side to side, and will soon be all the way over.

Laying down is for babies, and she definitely thinks she's a big girl now. We like to sit up - on your lap, in the bumbo, and now, in her highchair.

Pretty happy...

but not as happy as mom and dad. Miss Kaylee slept through the night for the first time last night. We're not getting our hopes up that this is the new norm. Monday was a rough day with the doctor visit, shots, and lots of crying throughout the day. Yesterday she catnapped in the morning at daycare before we picked her up at noon. After physical therapy in the afternoon, she still only slept for about an hour between noon and 10:30 last night. I suspect she was just plain tired. But we can always hope, right?!?

Two months

Wow...another month has passed. Remember the picture from last month? Little miss Kaylee has grown quite a bit. In fact at the doctor she weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs 5 1/2 oz. Mom and dad weren't expecting that! We knew she was definitely getting longer, but is now 23 1/2 in. long from head to toe.

Overall, the doctor is very pleased with her growth and health. But lets just say is not a fan of the shots (but then again, who is?)