Merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas festivities.



















Kaitlin reaching for Mommy; not a big fan of Santa Claus at this age!




















Our "big" girl hardly ever sleeps on Mommy anymore - so sweet! (Vacation is tough; especially at Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house.)




















If we hadn't already ordered our Christmas cards when I took this picture, it definitely would have been on them!

Kaitlin's 15-Month Checkup

Kaitlin went for her 15-month checkup today as well as the dreaded MMR shot. Kaitlin weighed in at 17 ½ pounds and 30 ¾ inches. Her weight is not even close to being on the growth chart, but her height is still right around the 50th percentile. There were two kids in the waiting area who were in for their 12-month checkups; both of them were much bigger than Kaitlin! She is just a skinny skinny girl. Buying clothes for her is a constant struggle. I just bought her a pair of leggings yesterday; the tag says 12M: 28-30.5 inches, 20-23 pounds. See my dilemma?

Overall the doctor said she looks great and she wasn't really concerned about Kaitlin's weight since she has started walking since her last checkup and she was recently sick for a month. She does want us to bring her in for a weight check in about a month just to be sure we're not missing something. Please pray that Kaitlin will eat well and gain lots of weight over the holidays!

Kaitlin has started to say a few words. She says daddy a lot, but rarely says mommy (although we know she can). This makes me very sad :( She also says cookie, cracker, light, and yum yum. She was trying to say please this morning, but of course it sounded nothing like it! She also makes some animal noises when she feels like it including quack quack, moo, ssssss (snake), and grrr (bear).

Kaitlin can make lots of different signs and loves to watch her "Baby Signing Time" videos! She even uses sign language to ask for them. The signs she does the most include milk, more, please, book, all done, banana, dog, hat, wash hands, Baby Signing Time, and ball. She is just now really starting to use her signs to communicate and is very good at signing "more, please" when she wants more food, especially cookies! She loves her mini Vanilla Wafers! Some other signs that Kaitlin can do are drink, eat, car, thank you, airplane, train, coat, cracker, shoe, sock, brush teeth, and it hurts. It seems like every time we watch one of the videos she does a new sign.

Kaitlin spends most of her time wondering around the house getting into this and that. She particularly enjoys putting objects inside other objects. Her latest skill is taking off her socks. Everytime I lay her down for a diaper change the feet go up and she pulls her socks off. She also tries to put them on, but it's not quite as effective! Well, I really need to try to get something done before Kaitlin wakes up in a half hour, so I should end this very long post. Here are some pictures of her trying to put on her socks!

Our Little Champ

Kaitlin has been sick for about a month now. It started with a cold that led to an ear infection and now she has a lingering cough and congestion. I took her back to the doctor yesterday and the ear infection has cleared up, but he was concerned about her wheezing, so now Kaitlin has to be given breathing treatments with a nebulizer every 4 hours. The first few times were quite traumatic for all involved, but I got some great advice from another mom and now Kaitlin lets us put the mask right on while she watches a video. We're very proud of her for being such a big girl!




















Clearly the treatments aren't nearly as
traumatic as Kaitlin first let on:

October 30

Today was a very big day for us. It was Keven's birthday and also Kaitlin's first time trick-or-treating (don't ask). First on the agenda, was PlayGym where all the kids wore their Halloween costumes. They looked very cute and had a few special treats including a jack-o-lantern bean bag toss and choolate chip cookies. In fact, that was Kaitlin's first time eating chocolate. She seemed to enjoy the cookie once we gave her one without frosting. (And no, PopPop, you still can't give her chocolate when she's at your house in November.) After PlayGym, Kaitlin and I ran a couple errands and then went home for lunch and a long nap.

While Kaitlin was napping, I was pretending to be Martha Stewart and decorated Keven's birthday cake - a train. I disovered pretty early in the process that I am not Martha! The cake turned out really neat though and I included some pictures of it because I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. For reasons I don't feel like explaining, the city of Auburn decided that trick-or-treating would be on October 30 instead of on Halloween, so Kaitlin went trick-or-treating for the first time tonight. We had our community group over and we all took our little tots out together. It was lots of fun and neat to go with a group. At one point, Kaitlin sat down in the middle of the cul-de-sac and starting going through her bucket. It was funny! She also had fun playing on the front porch after everyone left.

Trunk or Treat

We had lots of fun at Trunk or Treat at Cornerstone last night. Kaitlin played some fun games and got lots of treats. Her favorite game was definitely the pool of ducks; we had to drag her away from it kicking and screaming! But, I think Kaitlin had the most fun just walking around the church foyer after Trunk or Treat was over. She was definitely the cutest little cow I've ever seen :)

Pumpkin Patch, Round 2

We spent the afternoon in Loachapoka on Saturday at the annual Syrup Sopping and the Farmer in the Dell Pumpkin Patch. Kaitlin was in a much better mood for this Pumpkin Patch! She loved playing in the trough of corn and we weren't able to get her away from it without a fight. Fortunately, the hay ride was bouncy enough to make her smile again. They also had a corn maze which we successfully found our way out of! Hope you enjoy the pictures. The sun wasn't in a good position and I forgot the camera, so we had to make do with Keven's phone.

Peek-A-Boo

Kaitlin discovered the full-length mirror this evening (it is usually hidden behind our open bedroom door). She enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with herself. Doesn't she look super cute in her overalls and cow hat?

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch this past weekend with MomMom and PopPop. It was lots of fun! Kaitlin has had a cold so she wasn't in the best of moods, but I think she still enjoyed it. Here are some pictures.

She was walking...and walking...and walking

Now that Kaitlin is walking, that is all she wants to do. She just walks and walks and walks all over the house, usually with a toy or two in hand. She isn't going anywhere in particular, she is just walking because she can. Every once in a while something will catch her eye and she will stop to play briefly and then she starts walking again. I got a great video today, but I still don't know how to edit and post them. Maybe Keven will teach me this weekend. Until he does, a picture will have to do!
 

Kaitlin's Protector

This is how I found Harley during Kaitlin's nap yesterday.