Cate - 12 Months

Boy, these little photo shoots have gotten challenging!  Little Miss Cate is now 12 months old!  She has pretty much skipped walking and gone straight to running.  She is almost constantly on the move.  About the only time she sits still for long is when she is eating or snuggling one of her babies.    I tried to use a baby to convince her to look at the camera.  It worked....sort of.  The baby in the these pictures is her favorite. I love that she loves this one because it's the one Cooper picked out for her right after she was born.  He was so proud when he brought it home from Target and laid it down next to here.  She wasn't much bigger than the doll at the time, but now look at her!

"I need that baby."

Snuggles

There's the money shot!

 With all the running, and climbing (on and off the couch mostly), and dancing she does now, my little chubby bunny is slimming down.  She still has those epic thigh rolls, but her arms and torso have gotten very trim.  Her feet, however, are as chubby as ever.  We are finding it a bit difficult to find shoes that will fit her.  Tall, chubby feet don't tend to fit well into most baby shoes.  We have resorted to her pink chucks (which are adorable but take forever to get on) or buying shoes a size bigger than what she really needs.  She now has two pairs of size 5 sandals that do the trick, but they look a little weird with an extra 1/2 inch at the toe.  

Again, Mommy was holding the baby.

Oh, and did I mention that she wants to wear shoes all. the. time?  Well she does.  Her aunt brought over and bag full of shoes that her girls have out grown.   Cate was in heaven!  She opened up the bag and pulled out random shoes and kept trying to put them on.  The floor of her closet and her bedroom was covered in shoes for a week until finally I put the bag on a higher shelf.  And then she found the basket with all her socks.  Many days she will pick out socks (might be hers, might be some of her brother's from his room) and take them to Nana to get help putting them on.  Then she chooses her shoes for the day and tries to put those on.  If it's this bad at a year, what's she going to be like at 16?  

She only gets in her bed to sleep.  She
thought I was trying to make her
go night-night.

 Some of Cate's favorite things this last month have been swinging, makeup and Mommy.  Cate isn't too fond of the bucket swing we used when Cooper was younger.  We tried it a few times all ending in tears.  Our sweet neighbors loaned us their daughter's baby swing.  Little did we know we were creating a monster!  The girl loves to swing now!  If I'm holding and walk by the back door she reached over and tries to open it.  If we tell her we can't go outside because it's dinner time, she cries like you just stole her baby.  The inverse is true as well - if she's grumpy, take her outside to swing.  Works every time.  I'm not sure what we'll do when it gets too cold to go outside.  Thankfully, it's Oklahoma so we won't have to worry about that for quite a while. Cate continues to nurse and shows no signs of giving it up anytime soon.  We'll just have to see where that goes.

Most mornings Cate is awake by 6, 6:30 if we're lucky.  I usually go in to nurse her and then she comes and sits on my lap while I put my makeup on.  She MUST have her own makeup brush to use.  She trades it in for a new one every few minutes, just like Mommy.  It's adorable and a little scary how she already watches and imitates so much of what she sees.  Note to self:  Don't dance in front of Cate.  She is already at a genetic disadvantage. There's no need to model bad moves only for her to copy them.

More and more words are coming out of this girls mouth and a few out of her hands.  The latest phrase is "Wasat?"  She points to everything and asks, "Wasat?"  We are asked that questions at least 50 times a day.  And every time we are happy to answer our sweet little sponge.  She has learned to sign "please". She even signed "more" followed by "please" a few days ago.  Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

Cate still loves her brother and thinks he is the funniest person in all of humanity.  She has lots of sweet tickle spots that Mommy and Daddy resort to to get a good laugh.  Her laugh has changed from a tiny giggle to a deep chuckle when she really gets going.  If something is really funny she'll throw a snort in there.  Is it bad that hope the snort sticks around.  It will be useful in keeping the boys away - right?

For the majority of the month, she had a rough time sleeping.  Lots of trouble getting to sleep, multiple nighttime wake ups.  But then about a week before her birthday, very much like her brother, she started sleeping through the night.  Funny how those things just happen in their own time.  We haven't done anything differently; she's just ready.....finally.

 I found it strangely poignant how she reacted to our final monthly photo shoot.  After wrestling with her to stay in the chair, not erase the chalkboard, look at the camera, smile....  As soon as we were officially done, she dropped the chalkboard, turned around, and walked out.  It was oddly reminiscent of "drops mic, walks off stage" since there was a bit of attitude with the gesture. I just sat in her room a bit teary eyed for a moment as the weight of it all sunk in.  My baby daughter is a year old.  We conquered sleepless nights, tongue ties, teething.  She's walking and talking and becoming more independent everyday.  While I'm a bit exhausted by the "baby phase", but I'm not sure I'm ready for what's next. But, ready or not......

Cate - 11 months

Y'all.....my daughter is walking!  I knew it was coming, but good grief.  Why does she have to grow up so fast?!?!?  In the last two weeks she has really taken off.  She has become very inquisitive; she loves exploring the contents of the kitchen cabinets.  So far a few strong, well-placed rubber bands have kept her at bay.  Not sure how long that will suffice.  Cate has also found the stairs.  She is so stinking fast!  And quiet!  She's like a sweet, little, blue-eyed ninja.  We'll walk through the living room and she'll be five steps up having only been out of our sight for a moment.  We may need to invest in some serious baby proofing supplies very soon.

A few firsts this month: cow's milk and baseball.  My hungry girl keeps out eating mommy. I tried several things to increase my supply, but ultimately decided to try a little cow's milk.  She wasn't phased a bit - seemed to like the taste and no adverse reactions.  We will continue with the transition to cow's milk for nutritional purposes and just nurse for comfort/connection.  I would love to say she had nothing but breastmilk until one year.  But with all we've been through, I think our nursing relationship has been a success.  She is happy and healthy and that's the whole point.  Back to baseball - the kids and I took Daddy to a Dodgers game for Father's Day.  It was hot, but fun.  Hopefully we can go to another game before the end of the season.

Cate's sweet little personality continues to develop everyday.  She has just recently started loving on her babies. She carries them around the house with her chubby little arms wrapped around whatever baby she chooses that day.  Occasionally she chooses The Hulk; maybe he's just angry because he needs a mommy.  :)  Cate is kind enough to allow Mommy and Daddy to snuggle her sometimes too. They are short lived, but cherished.

Baby Girl continues to bless us with little surprises.  One of my favorites lately is sleeping through the night.  {Queue the Hallelujah Chorus}  It's not every night and there are some early mornings, but I'll take 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep any day of the week!  We've been doing a little bit of "sleep training" the last few days.  By "sleep training" I sometimes mean gently encouraging independent sleep habits.  However, it sometimes mean running out of patience and feeling terrible listening to her cry it out.  Thankfully she doesn't seem to hold it against me.  Still doesn't mean I like it.  Another fun little surprise is her courtesy laugh.  She has the most precious little chuckle that we attempt to elicit at every opportunity.  Sometimes she does this goofy courtesy laugh just so we'll stop acting like complete goobers trying to get a real one.  What can I say? She's a smart girl.

I never would have dreamed my daughter would be such a girly girl.  Anything round becomes a bracelet.  She loves wearing her amber necklace. Good thing it looks cute because I can't tell that it's helped much with her teething trouble.  Although, when you get four new teeth in 7 days I can't imagine there is much of anything that would help.  I still can't figure out how to keep a headband on her for very long.  Maybe when a few more of those sandy blonde curls come in she'll wear a bow... We'll see... Until next time, Lovelies!

Cate - 10 Months

Well, we are just barreling down the hill toward Miss Cate's first birthday!  I can't believe how fast it's gone!  She is learning something new everyday and getting more ornery by the minute.  She has figured out that I would actually like to see the chalkboard while taking these pictures, so of course she wants to pull it down or wipe off the words.  I finally resorted to bribing her with puffs just to get the few shots I got.

She is standing unassisted for a few seconds at a time.  Cate has become a little speed demon - whether crawling or cruising, it's always fast! I don't think it will be much longer and she will just take off walking.  It's fun to watch, but I'll admit I'm a little anxious.  Have I mentioned she's ornery?!?!

Cate is teething like crazy, but still only has two teeth.  The top four are ssssssooooooo close to coming through.  We are all ready for that.  She has been drooling, chewing, fussy (for her) and not sleeping too well.  I've ordered an amber teething necklace; we'll see if it's the miracle everyone says it is.

Cate loves reading books, bubbles, talking, and dancing.  She can now say mama, dada, bird, and cat.   She has also mastered waving bye-bye although she isn't saying it quite yet.  Watching her dance is one of my favorite things in the world!  Any sound that has any sort of rhythm gets her moving and grooving.  From songs on the radio, to her brother playing, to my breast pump - she'll dance to any beat she hears. Cate enjoys knocking down block towers; I never realized how hilarious that activity could be.  Apparently it's also pretty darn amusing to put things into baskets and take them out again.  She's honing that skill every chance she gets. 

And just in case you were wondering, she still thinks Cooper is the funniest thing ever.  I will never tire of watching her laugh at his crazy antics.  Sometimes he just looks at her and she cracks up - adorbs! 

Check out her baby Chucks.
They one of only about 3 pairs of
shoes that fit her chubby feet. 

Cate experienced her first real injury this month.  Her cruising skills, along with her ever-growing reach, has allowed her access to things she never knew existed.  Like everything that has ever been on the top of a table.  And she's....curious.  And....determined.  Her Papa was sitting down with a cup of coffee to read Cooper a book before school and she reached up and pulled the hot coffee down onto her arm and trunk.  She got 2nd degree burns with several blisters on her side and inner arm.  It looked awful!  Nana called me at work to let me know what had happened and later sent me a picture.  By the end of the day, Cate had already popped the blisters on her side when she was wrestling with her brother.  While I know it had to hurt, the fact that it didn't slow her down at all let me know she was fine.  Still, not fun to see your baby in pain.  She will probably have a couple of small scars.  They may be her first, but I'm certain they won't be her last.  Told you she's ornery!