Dear Kaitlyn: Six Months

Dear Kaitlyn,

Wow, it's already your half birthday! You are definitely not a newborn anymore, and — I know this sounds funny — you barely seem like a little baby. You may not be able to do things on your own quite yet, but you have enough spirit and personality to make me think you've been on this Earth much longer than six months, deciding what kind of person you'll be.

Your six-month photos perfectly illustrate the phase you're in. You are so happy, so curious, and ready to explore every last thing around you. Your motor skills are quite refined, actually, and I hear lots of positive feedback on this from your teachers!

You smile all. of. the. time. It's like you're the antidote for gloom, grief, or stress. Your Daddy and I love to wake you up in the morning and often do so together because we both want the benefits of your big, bright smile. We both try to soak up as much sunshine as possible before we head to work! 

In the evenings after work/daycare, we have our standard routine — dinner, bath, bottle, bed. Somewhere between dinner and your bath, you get feisty and giggly. It's adorable and so much fun to play with you. Those 10 minutes or so at the end of our time together for the day are some of my favorites. Our cheeks often hurt from smiling/laughing during that short time. Family time is so rewarding for all of us! 

You're doing so much more at daycare now, including painting, playing, reading, and watching "dramas", where your teachers act out scenarios to teach you about things like snow, wind, ice, different professions, etc. It sounds like you have fun, and they tell me that you are very quick in picking up on activities! Especially painting — apparently you "get it" more than a lot of the kids who are older than you. That's my girl! I love that they let you get messy, even at such a young age. And it's fun to pick you up in the evenings and see your art work around the classroom.

You have a friend at daycare who arrives on the early side, like you do. He's about 3 weeks older than you, so you two are at similar stages. The other morning when I was taking this picture, he "held" your hand! It's fun to see you bond with other kids. (Note the painted penguins hanging up in the background of this picture. You helped paint those!)

Sleeping: You remain a star. I am so thankful! For the most part, you go to sleep at about 7pm. On weekdays, we wake you up at 6:30am. On the weekends, you usually sleep until about 7:15am, give or take a half hour. You rarely wake up in the middle of the night anymore. And sometimes, if the whole house is quiet, you'll sleep in a little later, but not as much anymore. But we would never complain about your sleeping habits!

Daytime sleeping usually includes a couple of naps in your crib. On the weekends, you're now taking about a 1-2 hour nap in the morning, about 2-3 hours after you wake up. And then you take another hour or so nap mid-afternoon. At daycare, sometimes you will instead work in 3 shorter naps, which i think has to do with the amount of activity you're doing there.

You love to sleep in your Daddy's arms, and I love to photograph it! It absolutely melts my heart because you two always look so cute together.

And after an active day at daycare, we often find you in the backseat looking like this (oh my gosh — I just love that lip!).

Eating: You continue to love eating food, and we find you watching us eat more and more. You've tried a few new foods this month, including peaches, avocado, butternut squash, green beans, carrots, and oatmeal. You didn't care for the carrots or green beans, but we'll probably try them again to see if you take to them better on a second time around.

We've added food during the day too because your teachers said you were grabbing at the spoons of other kids. Ha! Now you usually have cereal mid-morning and fruit in the early afternoon. You're still drinking formula — about 24 ounces a day now with the addition of the solids.

Stats: I am sure that you have grown a couple of inches — seemingly in only a couple of days! I'm excited to find out your stats at your doctor's appointment in a week.

Clothes Size: You are mostly in either 6-9 months sizes (or if it's Gap/Old Navy, 6-12 months). Some of the 6-12 months clothes are a little baggy on you, but not so much that they don't fit. It's crazy to see how small some of your clothes have gotten and so quickly!

You still wear size 2 diapers, but I think we'll probably buy size 3 from now on. Any new diapers from your Grandma are size 3, so we're headed in that direction!

Milestones/Firsts: You can sit up on your own, for the most part! This is probably the most notable difference from last month. Previously, you would get tired pretty quickly if you were sitting up. And then it was always safer to have some back support for you. But now you're much better at balancing, and you even reach for things all around you without falling over.

Your hair is starting to grow in on your bald spots! So even though it's really short on the back of your head, it is covered and less irritated than before. The rest of your hair is getting much thicker too, and it's a beautiful strawberry blond so far!

You are starting to really like independent play, and you love an "exersaucer" that your cousin Joey lent you. It's fun watching you spin around and play with the different parts, and you're usually pretty content in there for 20 minutes or more.

You can scoot backwards a few inches when you're on your tummy, but so far that's the most mobility you've gained. Since you really want to crawl, I'm thinking it's only a matter of time now. And your muscles are so much stronger from sitting on your own, which I think will move along crawling.

Visitors: You had a special surprise visit from Grandma Kathy! She had a last minute conference to attend in NY, and she made a special point to fly out to Philly first just to see you. You had such a fun time playing with her. The last time she saw you was when you were only one month old!

You two got along so well, and I think we're all excited for your first trip out to Wichita!

Likes/Dislikes: You like so much right now. You still love Daddy and you light up when you hear him or see him. You love to "talk" to him and tend to get very chatty when he comes home from work. You love to sit with him and play, and you love to fall asleep in his arms, as I mentioned previously. You two have so much fun playing together, and you crack each other up!

You love people-watching, which I think is great! If we're in town on Saturdays, we usually go to the Reading Terminal Market to do our food shopping and have lunch. You are so good and contently hang out in your stroller, watching everyone who's watching you. We love watching how people react to the big smiles you give them.

You love songs and music, whether being played from a CD, from your toys, or your Daddy and me making up silly lyrics. You also like to play instruments — at daycare they have a tambourine and pianos that you love!

You are starting to have more decisive opinions about what you don't like, which I'm sure is just part of you growing up. Some things that you're not crazy about include putting on sleeves (still), getting Aquaphor put on your face, and when I take your little toy boats from you before you get out of the bathtub. I think much of these dislikes are a result of you being tired and ready for bed. Although the sleeves thing is just a general peeve, I think!

You are just full of joy, Kaitlyn. We are so happy and proud of our little family of three. Your love of life and overall sunshiny demeanor have rubbed off on both of us and have helped us to remember not to get too bogged down with work or stress. No doubt, you have helped us learn so much in your six short months of life! 

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...