ktg: 10 months

At 10 months, Kate is still...crazy. She is our resident nut and we love her to pieces. There is so much personality crammed into her petite little body and it is constantly exploding. 

She still just has her two lower teeth - nothing broke through this month. But we were finally able to get some good pictures of them. 

And she is working hard on that mullet. It's really filling in. 

Kate is crawling and cruising even faster. No walking yet, but we can tell she's getting stronger and steadier when we walk her, one of our fingers in her tiny cherubic hands. She still isn't in love with her walker, but she's getting better and better every day. She is fascinated by the stairs, but so far can only climb one, gets stuck, panics and doesn't know what to do. It's only a matter of time, I know...

Kate loves to be the center of attention. If you're holding her, but not really paying attention to her, she'll crane her neck and body around to see your face and when you look, she gives you her classic squinty grin. And you vow right then and there to never NOT look at her again! 

She continues to say all sorts of gibberish, but truly knows "ma ma" and "da da" now. She also sometimes says "quack quack" when you ask her what a duck says, though it sounds more like "kak kak." And she also makes a big "mwah" sound when she kisses you. Especially during her nightly ritual of crawling up to Leah and smothering her with kisses when Leah is lying on the ground getting her jammies on for the night. Be still my heart. 

She's learning to clap, wave and throw a ball...and we're so close on all three. 

Kate eats everything we eat. Seriously. Everything. She helps me clean out the fridge every day at lunch. She'll eat veggies, fruits, carbs, meats, sides, you name it. While she eats, she enjoys showing off her new lip and tongue smacking skills. We eat it right up. And in between bites she often daintily rests her head and arm on the side of her high chair and stares longingly into space. We're working on transitioning her from formula to milk, but so far she's not to into cold drinks. Hmmm...

She is beginning to really love her dolls, binkies and blankies in her crib. For awhile, she'd didn't really show interest in them either way; they were just there every night. Now, every morning when we come in to rescue her, she puts her binky in her mouth, her doll in one hand and her blanket in the other and then stands up. Binky can come in the car, but other than that, all three items stay put in the crib.

She still sleeps from 7-7:30 each night until 6:30-7:00 in the morning, with two naps each day.

I love watching and listening to her play. She has a silly little personality, is constantly on the go and makes the funniest noises all day long. She still loves the dishwasher, tupperware drawer, me and the mirror. And socks. She loves, loves socks. And usually, when she's crawling around, you can find a big wooden puzzle piece hanging out of her mouth. She doesn't go anywhere without one.

Ten months has come so quickly. And so far, I'm not pining for any previous stages nor wishing for future ones. I'm really just loving where she is at right now. I love watching her learn, explore, succeed, fail and try again. She brings so much light and joy to our home and we love her to pieces!

 

10 month stats:

Weight: ??

Height: ??

Head Circumference: ??

Diaper size: 3

Clothing size: 12 months, some 12-18

Longest stretch of sleep: 12 hours

NEW Nicknames: It's getting ridiculous around here.

the things I'll do for friends

I just wrapped up a season of watching that-show-I'd-never-watch-because-it-was-so-ridiculous {the rose in my mouth will give you a clue}. And I was right: it was ridiculous. Completely. And yet so very entertaining. Especially when watched with this bunch of girls {with occasional input from their husbands and mine}. 

These girls can obviously get me to do anything! Let's not talk about how much I'll miss them...

digital melatonin

Sleep is a precious commodity in our house. After going without, you realize just how important it is. Leah, at 6 years old, still naps. Usually. And it's because she NEEDS it. In the past few months, she has started to give it up. She no longer sleeps at school and often not on Saturdays either. It's a good sign, really. To me, it means she isn't overextending herself and she is getting enough rest at night to carry her through her exhausting days. 

Sundays are different. 

On Sundays, Ryan and I impose naps for all members of the household. We could just put her in her room for quiet time, but Kate's in there now. And really, Leah needs the nap once a week. 

After a few weeks of no rest, we started to let her watch a show or two for some down time. She really likes fish and other sea creatures, so we let her watch the Blue Planet series on Netflix. Soon, Ryan realized that every time he turned it on, Leah was asleep within minutes. And so our Sunday tradition of naps was back on. After church, we eat our lunch and flip on some fish on Netflix and she's out like a light. 

We call it digital melatonin. And it's well worth the $7 monthly fee. 

sunshine

The strangest thing happened today. A big, bright ball showed up in the sky. It melted lots of the snow and made everything warm and happy. 

I'm not sure how long it's going to stay, but we're going to enjoy it while it lasts. 

wild and crazy week

In conjunction with a literacy week at Leah's school, they had five wild and crazy dress up days that coordinated with reading. I think I enjoy these days more than Leah, but she's a good sport. 

*All pictures were taken with my iPhone, in a rush, when we were already supposed to be out the door. Sorry, that's how we roll in the morning. 

Kate wanted in on a bit of the animal wild and craziness. Instead, we caged her in and tried to tame her already wild hair.

little lunch date

The cold winter days can get long and lonely for Katers and I. So, we decided to make our way up to campus and have a little lunch date with dad. 

After he treated us to a warm meal, we crawled to, walked with, rode on, and played by him. Great way to pass a Thursday! And we think he had just as much fun as we did!

 

things that work

I often find that it's the simplest things that work with Kate's body that catch me off guard. Don't get me wrong. I'm still flabbergasted with the way her body moves overall. She wants it to do something and it just...does. She wants to learn to crawl, so she does. Pull up to the couch? Done. Take her socks off? Easy. Give mom a kiss? You betcha.

But it's the smaller things that catch me off guard and simply amaze me. 

Like the snag in the carpet. 

Yup. The snag in the carpet. It's up in her bedroom and she is so interested in it. She cannot crawl by without inspecting it - often for a few minutes at a time. I catch myself staring at her - watching her tiny little fingers rub back and forth, pull, tug, softly touch, twist and twirl that tiny little snag. 

And then I count my blessings that those tiny ten fingers work. That her brain tells them to do something and they do it. 

It's amazing to me. 

And I hope it always will be. 

tuck.500

Through most of February and into early March, I participated in an event called Tuck.500. Basically, teams competed against one another to be the first to get to 500 points earned by working out. Various point values were assigned to running, biking, spinning, crossfit, yoga, skiing, hockey, etc.

I joined a team with five other Tuck Partners and, after looking at some of the other teams, was certain we wouldn't win. But, win or not, we were all excited for some extra motivation to work out each day - especially during the blah month of February while it was icy and frigid outside. 

After the last day to submit points, the results came back and our team, the Pretty Pretty Partners, came in fifth out of 22 teams! I was so proud!! Some of the teams were comprised of seriously fit people - some who are spin instructors, yoga instructors, etc., and were working out all day anyway! Our team was comprised of two full time employees, two full-time employees/moms, and two full-time moms. Between the six of us, we didn't have a ton of flexibility in our schedules or a lot of spare time. 

AND, most of my points came from running, obviously, but there was a cap on running each day and individuals couldn't submit more than 10 miles. Two of those days were long runs of 18+ and 16 miles and I still only got 10 miles counted.

So, basically, go us. 

Pretty Pretty Partners rule. 

(Thanks to Claire for the matching headbands.)

 maren, sandy, michelle, claire, stella, olivia

toilet paper rolling

Miss Kate has found the toilet paper in all it's splendor. 

As soon as she sees an open bathroom door, she wiggles her body to the edge of the counter as fast as her arms and legs can take her. 

She reaches for the wisp of paper dangling from the roll and giggles.

As soon as she hears the stern, "Katers...", she peeks her head around to find out where it came from and knowingly grins. That sneaky grin that says, "I know exactly what I'm doing mom. And it's fun. Join me!"

And so I grab my camera and let her have at it. Toilet paper was meant to be unrolled, right?

p.s. Mom, notice I followed your lead? TP is hung in such a way that if she just spins it, it won't actually unroll.

february in an instant

I understand that February is, literally, the shortest month of the year; and as such it would seem natural that it should fly by. But I still can't wrap my mind around how fast it actually flew. We packed a lot into this short little month. Two bouts of sickness for most members of our family {poor Kate was hit the hardest}, two birthdays {a 32nd and a 6th}, two holidays, a week long break{for Leah}, a carnival, a birthday party, ever increasing long runs, horse riding, football, hockey and much, much more. 

February had never been a month I looked forward to. But now, with so much {and so many people} to celebrate, it has become one of my favs. 

I {heart} February. And here it is in an instant.