Dear Kaitlyn: Five Months

Dear Kaitlyn,

You get more fun every day as you learn and discover. And we can tell that you're having fun too! You make us smile and laugh so much that we end up with sore cheeks a lot — so thank you for that gift! You've had a very eventful month that included parties, holidays, and trying lots of new things.

You have so much personality and spirit in your little body — it's amazing! It's as if I can already tell the kind of person you're going to be: positive, bright, curious, and fun. I love that I continue to learn more about you, even as you're learning about yourself. 

When I pick you up from daycare, all of your teachers love to tell me how smart and funny you are. It seems like everyone in that place knows who you are and loves to say hi to steal a smile. Let me tell you, it's not the worst thing for a parent to have to listen to over and over! Really, I just want to tell them, "Yes, I know. Isn't she the best?!" Some of my favorite times this month are when we finally get home from work/school. You're happy to see us, and you have so much fun giggling and playing with your Daddy and me. It's great family time and such an effective way to decompress after work! 

Sleeping: You know the story. You are a great sleeper, still! At the worst, you've woken up twice in a night. Sometimes you wake up once. (I suspect that these incidences are due to hunger or teething.) For the most part, you sleep through the night from 7pm - 6:30am on weekdays and 7pm - between 7-8am on weekends. You've gone to sleep a little later on the weekend and therefore slept in a bit, but for the most part your bedtime is very regular. By 6:30pm, you are tired and ready for a bath/bottle/bed.

You've been napping more regularly and more in your crib than you used to. We try to have you take a nap at least once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Sometimes you only sleep for 20-30 minutes, but it seems like it still refreshes you. The picture above cracks me up — you fell asleep like this in your bouncy seat. My favorite part was your body position and the one-socked look! And when you fall asleep while drinking a bottle, you inevitably end up with your lip pouted out from when we pulled the bottle out. It's pretty darn cute.

You've started rolling over on your side to sleep, and it looks so cute! You position your arm under your head and look like a little person curled up. Adorable! Plus it looks much more comfortable than sprawled out on your back.

Eating: Well, we bought a highchair this month, and you really seem to like sitting in it! I think you prefer being upright where you can see and observe what's happening around you. It's a great fit!

Katy in her new highchair

And big news (drum roll please) — you are eating solids! This was exciting for us, and you really seem to enjoy eating food! Your first solid food was sweet potato that I roasted and thinned with breastmilk. You were open to eating from the spoon, were receptive to the first bite, made a little bit of a face when you felt it in your mouth, but then immediately wanted more! By the end of your first time, you were practically lunging your face towards the spoon to get it in your mouth faster. We were so impressed! You even held the spoon yourself at one point, but I wasn't surprised that you wanted to do it yourself already.

Sweet potatoes for the first time! 

So far, you've tried and liked sweet potato, pears, banana, apples, and peas. You also tried barley cereal, which I wanted to throw into the mix for a little more substance to counter all the new fiber you were being introduced to. So far, so good on everything! I will continue to try new foods, and I will probably start to make and freeze a supply for you.

Also another change — as of about a week ago, you are only drinking formula. I've been torn about this, as it's never easy making a change! You don't seem to mind what's in your bottle as long as there's something in it!

Stats: You feel like you've gained a pound or two, but I don't know for sure. Your next appointment is your 6-month check-up, so we'll know more then about your height and weight. People seem to think that you're older than you are, but I think it's because you seem fairly tall.

Ready for school and waiting for Mom! 

Clothes Size: You can still wear a couple of items that are 3-6 months, but you have pretty much outgrown most of that size. You have a couple of things that are 6-9 months that are still a little baggy, so you're kind of in between at the moment. You still wear size 2 diapers, though I think the next time we have to purchase them (which isn't for a while thanks to a loving Grandma and aunts/great aunts!), we'll get size 3.

Katy and her "blue steel" expression

Milestones/Firsts: You are making a lot of advancements in body movement: Your motor skills are improving, you like to touch and grab at objects, and you can roll from both belly to back and back to belly. And for the most part, you can sit up! You're still a little wobbly, but with just a little bit of back-up support, you can sit on your own. We can tell how much stronger your back is getting because you can lean down to your toes (likely to pull your sock off or suck on them) and sit back up on your own. You used to just get stuck doing that! 

You are dying to crawl! We put out a blanket for you to play on, and you'll roll back and forth a few times, ultimately ending up on your belly. Then you'll spot something across the blanket and get very frustrated that you can't move closer to it. You start to push on your legs and push your body forward. And just in the last couple of days, you've started to pick up your belly to get your knees beneath you! I think you're very close to crawling...and then we better look out!

We threw your Grandma Lydia and Grandpa Charlie a surprise 60th birthday party, so you attended your first real bash! You were okay at first, and let several people hold you. But when the crowd grew and the surprise came, you were a little scared and didn't enjoy yourself as much. It didn't help that it was your bedtime and 40 people were in the house! Eventually you went to sleep though and woke up happy as always the next morning!

Katy and Great Grandma

You also enjoyed your first Christmas and New Year's this month! It must have been a little exhausting for you, because this is what you looked like by 5pm on Christmas Day:

It was so cute that we had to snap a picture. We had such a nice time with you though, and we had fun reminiscing about last Christmas, when we were still keeping you a secret!

Daddy and I shared some champagne and watched the fireworks from the roof deck on New Year's Eve. You peacefully slept through all of the shouting, banging of pots and pans, horns and other festivities going on on neighboring roofdecks.

Likes/Dislikes: You like so much right now! You love playing with me and your Daddy. You love it when he holds you, dances with you, and makes you giggle. There's just something about his voice that makes you smile! You seem to like going to school, and you always greet your teachers with smiles, which I think they appreciate! You still enjoy your baths, you love to eat, and you like playing with new toys and listening to books being read to you. And you really love a ceramic Christmas tree we had out this year. You get so excited when we turn it on and the colorful lights shine! 

Speaking of turning on lights, you love to turn on the light switch that's just over your changing table. It's become a little bit of a routine for you to turn it on and off when you're done being changed/dressed. You turn around and look up at the ceiling to see the lights you've turned on — it's so much fun to watch you!

You are a bit of a ham and definitely a good sport. Grandma had you in a hat that was too small for your head and pulled your booties/socks up over your pants. You looked like a little Swedish girl. 

You love to stand up, and you get such an accomplished smile on your face when you do! It almost seems like you enjoy the world a little more when you're on your feet. And you are so much steadier standing than you were even a couple of weeks ago.

As far as dislikes go, they include: Putting your arms in sleeves (for some reason, this really annoys you now!), getting your boogies sucked out of your nose (again, who could blame you?), loud crowds (e.g., the surprise party), when people you don't know put their faces really close to yours...I think I would be scared of that too! You could live without napping, it seems, but we think you need it! Sometimes it just seems like you're doing all in your power to keep those eyes open. You're stubborn like your Momma!

In general, you're a sweet baby and we're so incredibly thankful to have you in our lives. Each day, you bring so much joy and laughter to us — and you're not even trying! Katy Girl, you continue to amaze us!

Katy's First Christmas

This year our holiday was much different than any one before. Suddenly things had a different meaning, and nothing felt as important as spending time together as a family.

These stockings were made for my parents when I was born, and my mom just passed them on to me. I loved having these hanging in our house!

Katy met Santa the Saturday before Christmas. He made an appearance at a neighborhood restaurant called Frankford Hall, so we stopped by to say hello and to have a burger (side note: Katy did not eat a burger).

He was so sweet with her! And even though she never really smiled while he was holding her, she didn't cry either. And that felt like a success! I love how intently she was looking at him.

We spent Christmas Eve and Day at my parents' house and visited with lots of friends and family over the two days.

Please pardon the blurriness in the picture above...it's just too cute to not include!

Christmas morning was quite nice, and we all enjoyed watching Katy open up a few gifts. Then the Hollanders came over for our traditional breakfast. Sadly, we forgot to take our annual group photo!

Jack the pup Christmas morning

Christmas dinner at Great Grandma's house

We got lots of time with our New Jersey family, but we were definitely missing our Kansas family! If only New Jersey and Kansas were just a little bit closer...

Dear Kaitlyn: Four Months

Dear Katy:

I'm a broken record, but you just continue to grow and amaze us! You fill our days with such happiness, and you are a wonderful reminder at the end of the day to let go of any stress from work (or just life in general). Your smile and laugh are infectious and it's impossible to be upset for too long around you when you're happy. What a blessing you are!

This month you seem to have grown so much — in maturity, size, and spirit! We laugh because there are some typical baby things that you just never took to, so you've always seemed a little more mature than we expected. For example, you never really took to using a pacifier, and you also never liked being held cradle-style. Aside from when you were first born, you just don't like being held that way (I suspect it's because you like being held upright so you can see what's going on). The picture below was taken when we were joking around with you about being "a little baby"... which strikes me as funny because you are, in fact, a little baby! 

 

You love to laugh, talk in your own special language, and interact with people. Even though you're still a little shy when people put their faces close to you too quickly, you love to look at everything around you, smile at whoever is passing by, and observe what's going on. You're so aware of what's going on, and I love that about you! When I carry you somewhere, you inevitably crane your neck around to watch where we're headed. But you make me laugh because when I then carry you facing outward, you turn your head around to see who's holding you. I swear you already have a sense of humor! 

Sleeping: Have I said "thank you" yet for your amazing sleeping habits at night, little one? Even with starting daycare and acclimating to a new routine, you still remained a sleeping champion baby! Bath time/bedtime has routinely started at 6:30pm, and you are usually asleep by 7:30pm. Thanks to daycare, you are very tired at the end of the day and it almost feels too easy to put you to sleep. But even on the days where you don't fall asleep right away, you're very good at hanging in your crib for a little while and self-soothing until you fall asleep. I wake up around 5am to get ready, and then Daddy usually wakes you up around 6:15am and gets you dressed. You greet him with such smiles!  

On the weekends, you are even more amazing! You go to bed at the same time as during the week, but you're usually able to sleep until sometime between 7am and 8am. This is so nice for us, as we get a little extra sleep too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you're always able to sleep this well! 

As far as napping goes, you've gone through phases. You're an excellent napper at daycare and often have a 2-3 hour nap sometime during the day. When you're at home on the weekends, however, your napping is much  more sporadic. We're hoping to get a better napping routine down as we all get more used to our new routine of work/daycare. You love to be swaddled tight at daycare, which cracks me up considering you've always despised being swaddled at home! 

Eating:  You finally started taking bottles! Hallelujah! I was so relieved once you started to eat more regularly (and with less resistance) at daycare. For the first couple of weeks, you only ate 6-8 oz. per day — over a 10-hour span! But starting in your third week, you upped the amount to in the teens, and by the end of this month you were eating over 20 oz. per day. 

Through the first half of this month, you were still exclusively drinking breast milk (via bottle during the day and nursing in the morning and at night). Towards the end of the month, I added in one bottle of formula per day. You don't seem to have a preference, which is a relief. Next month we will slowly start to ween you from breast milk and breastfeeding altogether. 

Stats: You just had your 4-month well visit and you weighed in at a whopping 14 lb. 10 oz. I was sure you would be heavier, but it turned out that you did a lot of your growing in height! You are 25.5 inches tall already — in the 90th percentile for height. This must be Daddy's genes kicking in!

Clothes Size: You have a lot of clothes that are 3-6 months or 6 months and fit perfectly. It seems that you've done a lot of growing taller and not much growing wider. There are many 6-9 month items that fit you too. You're still in size 2 diapers (although I tried out the trick of putting a size 3 on you overnight since you tend to pee a lot while you sleep! TMI?).

Milestones/Firsts:  It seems as if you learn something new each day, and I love that about this time in your life! You've had a lot of firsts this month.

You celebrated your first Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This also led to your first sleepover and first interaction with a puppy! They took in a little 5-pound Maltese, Jack, so there was actually something in the house smaller than you. You didn't seem overly interested in him, but maybe you will be when you get a little older. 

You had your first cold this month. And your second. And Mommy had two colds as well! I hear this is a rite of passage when first starting daycare. Especially when you start in November! 

You also grabbed your feet for the first time, and it seems like you haven't stopped grabbing for them since! If you're wearing socks, you love to pull them off. And when you have your PJs on, you love to grab onto the feet of them and suck on the PJs. And if you're wearing nothing at all? Well then you just suck on your toes! It's pretty funny to watch you do all of this. And I now know where the pose "Happy Baby" comes from in yoga! 

You also had your first belly laugh this month, and I could swear my heart nearly burst when I first heard it! It was truly one of the sweetest sounds, and for some reason I decided to shout for your Daddy because I was so excited about it. You're a little ticklish under your arms, so every now and then I will selfishly steal a laugh or two! Daddy really makes you laugh though — one night he was giving you a bath while I was downstairs cooking and I could hear the two of you cracking each other up! It was adorable!

You lived through your first election this month. And while you didn't really have an opinion one way or another (both candidates were equally willing to kiss babies, and that was important to you!), you had a special outfit to announce the results the Wednesday following the election. (You can thank Ember for this timely hand-me-down!) 

You rolled over for the first time! You like to roll from your belly to your back, and it's fun to watch your facial expression when you do it. Ms. Debbie at daycare also said that you rolled over twice from back to belly in your crib! This is one that Daddy and I have yet to witness, however. 

Likes/Dislikes: You still just love your Daddy, and you light up whenever you see him or hear his voice. You spend a lot of special Daddy/Katy time on weekend mornings since he will often get up with you to let me sleep for an extra hour. He makes you laugh, and you love how he dances with you and sings to you. It's so special to see your relationship grow already! 

You really like your primary caregiver at daycare — Ms. Debbie. She gets lots of smiles from you, and she was one of the first to really be able to give you a bottle with ease. And actually, in general, you really seem to like daycare! You don't mind our early morning routines, and it's been fairly easy to drop you off each day. Plus, it's fun leaving the house as a family to start our day.  

You've started to love toys, especially books, rattles, and toys with lots of places for you to hold onto and grasp. Your hand/eye coordination is very good! You also like holding onto a couple of dolls (soft plush), like this sock monkey that you got as a gift from your Grandma Renee's sister, Carla. The picture with the sock monkey makes me smile...it looks like you have blush on! 

You love to stand up, and you're so strong and steady when you do! The second your feet are planted, you stand straight up, look around, and smile from ear to ear. You're so amused by it, and in turn, it's one of my favorite things that you do right now! 

You still love bath time as much as before. You love being held up above our heads (airplane). Even though you're content for a while playing with toys or a book, you just love to be held by Daddy or me, and that makes us feel pretty good too!

As for dislikes, you still aren't a huge fan of being in the carseat when you're not going anywhere. However, you have gotten much calmer these days, and you rarely cry anymore in the car unless you've got a wet diaper or are hungry. You really hate having the boogies sucked out of your nose, but who wouldn't?! Unfortunately, with two colds this month, you had to endure quite a bit of that. You're still a no-go on the pacifier even though I keep trying periodically. And one major dislike is crowds — you're just a little nervous when you're in a loud group of people, many of whom want to talk to you and hold you. It's a lot for a little gal like yourself to take in and we know why you get scared. We're hoping that you get a little more comfortable in crowded family gatherings and such because there are so many loving relatives who would love to play with you!

Visitors: Your Grandpa Gary and Grandma Renee came for a visit all the way from Wichita! You saw them several times over the course of a few days. I think they had a lot of fun meeting you, and you even let Grandma Renee hold you for a while. As to be expected, you had lots of other repeat visitors like Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Ashley, and Auntie Shannon. 

Dear Kaitlyn: Three Months

Dear Katy,

You're three months old now, and we are so amazed at how much you've grown and changed. You truly light up our days and give us so much to smile about! You and I enjoyed our last month together of my maternity leave, and what fun we had! I'm so grateful to have had so much time with you before having to go back to work. 

The weather was great for being outside, so I tried each day to take you for walks around the city. You also got to listen to (and smell) me cooking and baking in the kitchen as you hung out in your swing, and you started to be more amused by toys (you love laughing and smiling at the birds hanging from your bouncy seat!). Your Grandma was able to visit you often, and you enjoyed taking shopping trips with her! You just seemed to grow so much, both in body and spirit.

One of our favorite things is that you show joy with your whole body! You watch intently, and then all of a sudden you start to smile big and laugh, which also involves you throwing your hands up and kicking your feet. Usually you turn your head from side to side too — it's great! There's so much joy emanating from you in those moments, and it's contagious!

You also have a more serious side, and you stay alert about what's happening around you. When Daddy comes home, you turn your head the minute you hear his voice. You have the cutest expressions even when you seem more contemplative. I love those faces as much as the smiley ones!  

Sleeping: You remain the sleeping baby champion!! People don't believe me when I tell them how well you sleep. We've continued our routine of bathtime/last feeding around 7:00pm, which means that you're usually asleep by 8:30pm or so. Sometimes you have a harder time falling asleep, but even at the latest, you're asleep by 10pm. And then? Then you SLEEP! You sleep until anywhere from 6:30am - 9am, depending on the day. Mommy really really appreciates how well you sleep at night! 

Your napping routine is less exact. You usually get fussy about 90 minutes after you've woken up, and you'll often nap in your swing for two hours or so. And if you don't get a longer nap in during the morning, you almost always take a long snooze in the late afternoon. Towards the end of this month, you started taking shorter "cat naps" where you'd wake up after 30-45 minutes and be ready to eat/play.

Eating: You continue to be exclusively breastfed, and your eating is (as it has always been) stellar! The bottle saga continues though, my sweet baby! You're adamantly opposed to drinking from a bottle, and even though your stubbornness is so frustrating to us, I almost have to appreciate how much you stick to your guns! It's impressive! In your first two days of daycare, you only had a couple of ounces (and even those you drank accidentally or under protest). I had to leave work on my lunch break to come nurse you. Don't tell, but I was glad to have an excuse to come see you!

Stats: I'm not sure! Your next pediatrician appointment isn't until December, so we don't know for sure how much you've grown or gained. But we know it's happening because you're definitely outgrowing your clothes and you have the cutest little baby Buddha belly.

Clothes Size: You've completely outgrown anything 0-3 months, and even a lot of 3-6 months seem like they'll only fit you for a couple more weeks. A lot of your clothes are 6 months or even 6-9 months. You're a growing girl! 

Milestones/Firsts: The most notable first this month was your first day of daycare! You started going on Thursday, November 1st, so you (and your mama!) only had to survive two days before the weekend. You didn't cry when I left you, but you only drank about 1.5 oz. of milk from the bottle and I had to come feed you (as mentioned before, I was secretly happy to have a reason to come see you!). The first few days really tired you out, and you "slept like a baby" those nights! We were so proud of you for hanging in there those first couple of days! I think you had a couple of firsts there too — you listened to a xylophone and piano for the first time, you went for your first wagon ride, you saw your first baby, etc. 

You also found your thumb this month! For a while you were sucking on your hand/knuckles, but you've figured out how to get just the thumb in your mouth. It's pretty cute, and it cracks us up when you're slurping on your own hand! You sat in the Bumbo for the first time too — you seemed so perplexed about being able to sit upright without one of us around! Your neck is so strong though, so you don't need help holding it up anymore.

You experienced your first hurricane! On October 29th, Hurricane Sandy (aka "Frankenstorm") rolled through the northeast and left a trail of destruction and darkness in her wake. We were so lucky in Philly to not lose power, but your grandparents and other family were without power for more than a week! The weather turned very chilly right after, so we were so happy that we didn't have to worry about you getting too cold without heat.

Likes/Dislikes: You love the moment when you wake up in the morning and see me standing by your crib. You are so happy and give me lots of smiles. No matter what time it is, it makes me so happy to see you! You love when Daddy sings songs to you. Some of your favorites are Three Little Birds, A Bushel and A Peck, and the Good Morning song he sings to you. I sing to you a lot also, but I tend to make up silly songs as I go along. You don't seem to mind yet! You love to snuggle and you're starting to touch and grab things more as you learn how to use your hands. You still love bathtime, and we have fun playing in the tub each evening. You seem to like the ladies who work at daycare, and you give them lots of smiles.

You do. not. like. bottles! I will take it as a compliment for now, but I hope that you manage to get over this the longer you're in daycare. You're getting a little better about being in the carseat, but you still prefer to move vs. sitting still once you're strapped in. You still won't suck on a pacifier, but we try periodically just in case you've changed your mind (you haven't yet!). You're still very vocal when you wet your diaper, so we continue to change you very quickly thereafter!

Visitors: You visited my work with me this month, and you got to meet several of my colleagues. They thought you were pretty cute, even though you cried a little! There was another get-together with the Coulson side of the family so they could see how much you'd grown since they last saw you. And your Great Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob came to Philadelphia to visit you — how special you are! 

Happy Halloween!

Katy's a little young for door-to-door trick or treating considering it was still cold, wet, and windy from Hurricane Sandy.

However, we still had some Halloween fun and put her in a watermelon suit that was given to us when she was born (thanks Aunt Alex!). She looked super sweet!

 Happy Halloween!