The Little Climber

Kate discovered the stairs in our house a few weeks ago. Now when we catch her sneaking off to the foyer, we now exactly where she's going. She'll climb all the way up, then tried to turn around and come back down (which she's not mastered).

11 Months Old

So, I'm running a few days behind on my blogging, but Kate was 11 months old on Sunday. I snapped a few pictures of her outside on Sunday. She had fun pulling up the flowers as I was trying to take her picture. Kate's had a big month. She gets more verbal (and louder) as each day passes. She's also coming into her personality quite nicely... ha. Yesterday when I picked her up from school, her teacher said she is starting to get "strong-willed" as she put it. I laughed and thought, oh no, her stubbornness is starting to show at school. She's learned how to wave bye-bye, but instead of waving to the person leaving, she waves bye-bye to herself. She's also starting to hear "no" on a pretty regular basis. I can't believe she's almost a year. It's gone by way to fast!

Swinging at the Park

Since it was such a nice day last Saturday, we took Kate in her wagon to the park in our neighborhood. At first, she didn't know what to think about the swings, but she loved it. She had so much fun and the higher Sam pushed her, the more she laughed. With nicer weather about to be here, hopefully we'll take advantage of the park more. After we were done playing, we stop by the ice cream shop and she got a taste of my ice cream and thought it was pretty good as well. It was such a fun day watching her experience new things.

Watching for Mattie

Lately, Kate loves to stand at the door and watch Mattie when she's outside. She just jabbers and bangs on the window to try to get Mattie's attention.

Snow Day!

I didn't think much of it when the forecasters were calling for snow yesterday, but we woke up to it snowing all morning which is a rarity in Alabama. It finally stopped snowing around noon and we got about 3-4 inches of snow. Unfortunately it was melting as soon as the sun came out about 30 minutes later. Kate didn't know what to think of the snow. She didn't last long outside because it was so cold and windy.

She's not sure what to think of the cold snow in her hands.

Sam thought it would be funny to throw a snowball our way. It didn't cross his mind that it could hit Kate! Mattie loved it though! He was trying to get "action" shots as he calls it....

Warming up inside. Maybe next snow, she'll be more excited....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kate had a fun morning on Valentine's Day! She got her first balloon and loved hitting it.

Thanks for all my Valentine's Day goodies!

Off To The Races

We didn't know if Kate was ever going to crawl! She would normally crawl about two steps, then have a seat. If she really wanted something, she would get on her belly and roll around until she got to her destination. Finally over the past week, she figured it out and our house hasn't been the same ever since. She's now into everything and everywhere. The days of staying put are officially over. Her favorite thing lately is to crawl to the chest in the foyer and play with the drawers!

10 Months Old!

Kate was 10 months old yesterday. She had just woken up from her nap & in such a great mood.

Our Sweet Girls

These are the two loves of our life. Our sweet girls.

Kate and Mattie were playing before bathtime on Saturday night. Mattie would love to get in the tub with Kate if we would let her. Below, I put Kate on the floor while I was getting her bath ready. She decided to play a game of peek-a-boo with her towel.

Kate's 9 Month Pics

After a long week of our household being extremely sick, it was a nice surprise to find Kate's 9 month slideshow in my inbox this morning. Kate wasn't as cooperative during this session a couple of weeks ago with Erin, but she managed to get a few smiles out of Kate.

To start the slide show, click on the link, then click on Kate's name.
http://www.erinnolenphotography.com/compton3/

Erin also put in there a picture of Kate's little monkey toes. We think she's got double jointed toes?

Daddy's In Charge

Thursday, I got a call from daycare telling me to come pick up Kate because she had a fever of 101 degrees. So, I stayed home with her Thursday afternoon. Kate had to stay home on Friday as well according to the 24 hour-fever/vomiting rule from daycare. Since I had some appointments already for Friday, Sam stayed home with Kate for the day. I think they both had a fun day together and Kate seemed to be feeling much better. However, we were in for a rude awakening after bedtime....Kate apparently had a stomach bug and the "fun" was just beginning. Unfortunately she got sick several more times that night and into Saturday! YUCK....

Anyway, when I got home from work Friday night (before the "fun" began), Sam had surprised me with making a great dinner for me. Apparently he was pretty proud of it as well, because when I noticed the camera was laying out, Sam had taken a few snapshots during the day. A couple of Kate during her sick day and lots pictures of the prime rib he was cooking me for dinner. I found it amusing to find several pictures of raw meat on my camera. What can I say? The man loves his meat! Needless to say, dinner was great!

Sam made quite a good little homemaker that day. I came home from a long day at work to a happy child, semi-clean house and prime rib in the oven.

(See raw meat picture below courtesy of Sam)

Sneaking A Nap

Friday morning as I was getting ready, I ran up starts to check my email one last time and left Kate playing on the floor & watching tv. When I came back down about 2 minutes later, Kate decided she was ready for a nap. She had put herself to bed on the floor. On one hand, it's so sweet, but on the other hand, it's kind of pitiful. She loves her naps.

9 Months Old....

Kate turned 9 months old yesterday and here's a picture of her yesterday thinking she's such big stuff pushing her stroller. She doesn't actually push it, but just grunts like she's working hard and then gives you a big smile. She still isn't crawling. I guess she realizes that she's got it made with everyone bringing stuff to her! What's the need in crawling to it myself? Smart girl! We went to see Dr. Amy and Mrs. Courtney today for our 9 month visit. Kate's 20lbs, 10 oz and is 28" long. This is the first visit where she's not in the 90th percentile. Her weight & height has slowed some and she's now in the 75%. So, maybe Kate's not going to be 6'5" like Sam.

In the mornings before work/daycare, she watches cartoons as I get ready for work & make the bed. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is such a great babysitter!

Going For A Ride

On Saturday, it was so nice outside, so we went for a ride up the street and back. Kate absolutely loves her wagon. I think she would ride for hours.











Just a picture of Kate playing with her musical table Santa brought her. She's been overwhelmed with opening gifts over the past week, it's taken a few days to start figuring everything out.

Christmas Night

Christmas evening we went over to see Grandmamma, Tim & Aunt Haley for Christmas dinner. I had fun opening the last of the Christmas presents and playing with the paper as usual.

Thanks for my bunny & my clothes. We always love getting clothes!

Aunt Haley gave me a drum and I loved banging on it. She knew just what to do with it.

HO, HO, HO.....

Kate's first Christmas morning was lots of fun. The bows are almost more fun than the actual presents. Sam laughed at me because we started opening presents around 6:45, but I was more excited to get started than she was. She had so much fun playing with her new toys and starting to figure out how everything works.

Christmas Eve at Gran & Papa's

We always have so much fun Christmas Eve morning at Gran & Papa's. Kate got lots of great stuff, but the wagon was so much fun to ride in! Daniel was busy punching tickets for the "Polar Express" and he and Kate rode all over the house.

The First of Four

This weekend Grandpa & Linda were in town to celebrate Christmas. We had a great time playing with new toys, but Kate especially loved the bows. She was a pro at taking bows off packages by the end of the morning! She got lots of great stuff, including a singing Pig. She didn't know what to think of him at first, but everytime he would sing, she would stare intensely, then break out into a little giggle.

Probably the two things that got an immediate reaction were a set of maracas that light up and play music (because she's played with them at school and knew excatly what to do with them) and her little giraffe bike. She had a big time being pushed around the living room. It won't be long until she's wheeling all over the house in it!

Thanks Grandpa and Linda for a great first Christmas.