May 31

"Cheese!"  She is a pretty happy girl most of the time, but since she turned one, we have been seeing signs that Little Miss has a bit of a temper.  It's a good thing she's so cute!

May 30

Caitlin's Nanny & Pop Pop came to visit today.  She had a great time playing with them, and she even convinced Nanny to read her favorite book (the animal one) to her!  This is my favorite picture from today!

May 29

We got to meet the lovely Miss Leah yesterday.  She is such a doll and was such a good baby (other than her stinky gas!).  Caitlin was surprisingly interested in her, but she did really well around her.  Her shirt says "I am the big cousin".  It originally said "I am going to be a big cousin", so we put some tape on it and changed the wording a little bit.  Welcome to the family, Leah!  We can't wait to watch you grow up and become the best of friends with our Little Miss.

May 28

Ryan was trying to steal bites of Caitlin's cookie today.  We drove up to PA, and Little Miss decided that she did not want to take a nap in the car.  She was fine for the first hour or so and then proceeded to fuss/cry the rest of the way until we were 20 minutes from Grandmom & Granddad's house when the exhaustion overcame her and she passed out.  Let's just say that Caitlin had a really early bedtime tonight.  She needs to be well-rested so she can meet her new cousin, Leah tomorrow!

May 27

There is nothing better than a clean baby, especially one who is so stinking cute.

Videos from Caitlin's Birthday

Some videos from Caitlin's Birthday.  We had a great day together today, other than the cupcake incident (see the last 3 videos).  Oh, and please ignore our awful rendition of the Happy Birthday Song!

May 26

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Baby Girl!  I took this picture at 2:04 am (the time she was born), and the flash woke her up, so I even got some snuggle time out of it.  I took off work today so I could spend the day with her.  So far, we've been to the park, and after naptime, we have big plans to head to the mall and get her some new shoes!  When Ryan gets home, Caitlin will get to try her first cupcake.  What an amazing year it has been!!  We are so in love with this beautiful little girl!

May 25

My almost one-year old!  It's so hard to believe that one year ago today, I was in labor wondering when our sweet girl would grace us with her presence and what she would look like!  What a year it has been!!

May 24

I realized as we were finishing up bedtime that I didn't take one single picture today.  So, I snapped a quick picture with my phone of my sweet girl, all fresh and clean from bathtime and ready for bed!

Happy Birthday, Leah Rose!

Caitlin would like to welcome her new baby cousin, Leah Rose, who finally made her appearance today at 2:06pm weighing 6 lbs. 15 oz.  Caitlin is so thrilled to have someone to play with, teach new tricks, share her toys (hopefully), and most likely boss her around!  Congratulations, Aunt Alexis and Uncle Tim!!  We cannot wait to meet her!

May 23

Caitlin woke up with this cute little rash this morning.  We suspect that it's a result of the strawberries, but really I think it's her last ditch effort to be the center of attention one last time before her cousin arrives!  Speaking of, we cannot wait to meet her, and hope she is good to her mama today and makes a quick and easy appearance! 

May 22

We had another great day!  Why do weekends have to end?  This morning, we celebrated Connor's 2nd birthday at Clark's Elioak Farm.  Caitlin had many firsts today - she tried pizza, she rode a pony (with Ryan's help), she came home and ate strawberries, blueberries, and cooked carrot pieces, and she tried Wheat Thins.  When Ryan went to put her on the horse, she had a death grip on his shirt, and then once she was in the saddle, she sucked her thumb the entire time.  She just wasn't sure about the whole thing.  Eating strawberries, blueberries and cooked carrots was a pretty big deal to us, because we haven't been able to get her to touch any finger foods other than cheerios, puffs, yogurt melts, cheese and toast/english muffins.  I tried feeding the fruit and veggies today to her on a fork, but she wanted no part of it.  In fact, she even broke out the tears.  So, I gave up and just put them on her tray, and she must have realized she was hungry because she started eating them.  Of the three, the blueberries were definitely her favorite!  I'm sure that will change tomorrow when I try to give them to her again, but we were thrilled that she ate them today!

May 21

She is always trying to get her hat off.  Can you see the determination in her face?

Our neighborhood had a yard sale day on Saturday, so we took Caitlin in her wagon to see if we could score some good toys!  We were able to get a sit-to-stand learning walker for $2, a pooh riding toy for $2, and a pack-n-play to leave at Grandmom & Granddad's house for $5!  We were very happy with our purchases, and Caitlin already loves the sit-to-stand toy.  When we got home from yard-saling, she pushed it up and down the sidewalk many times, and she has already made many loops around the house (and put many dents in the walls and chairs when she runs into them).

Eleven Months Old

Caitlin,
You turned 11 months old on Tuesday, April 26th.  Once again, I have lots of excuses for not posting this update more timely, but I figured I should get something posted before you are a year old (which is next week!!).  Your 11th month started off a little rocky with you picking up an awful stomach bug on the very first day that you went to daycare.  You actually weren't even officially enrolled yet.  They offered us a free day, so we took you on Friday, March 25th, and then we were going to have you start the next week during Daddy's last week at home so we could transition you into daycare a little easier (or so we thought).  Someone had other plans.  We were up in PA for Aunt Alexis' baby shower that weekend, and you did awesome at the shower.  You were a little clingy, but nothing more than usual.  You were exhausted when we left, and you passed out in the car on the way home.  We got to Grandmom and Granddad's and had dinner and then put you to bed.  Daddy and I went out for a little "date night" which ended up being shopping at Home Goods and a trip to Wegmans.  Woo - if we were any more exciting, I just don't know if I'd be able to handle it, but that's a story for another time.  We got home, and Grandmom told us that you had been awake and moving around for about 15 minutes right before we got home.   Within the next few minutes, we heard you coughing and then crying and saw you sit up in your pack-n-play.  Something was clearly wrong, so we went downstairs, and you were covered in vomit.  You managed to get it all over your sleep sack, Bunny and the pack-n-play.  It was so sad.  You were so confused about what was going on since you had never really vomited before, and of course, you didn't feel well.  Wouldn't you know that this was the one time that we didn't bring extra of anything... no extra sheets, no sleep sack, no Bunny.  So, we quickly threw everything in the washer, and I held you while you continued to get sick all over me and yourself.  Daddy and I took turns passing you back and forth for a while, but finally you were just so tired that I took you and walked with you to try to get you to fall asleep, which you did eventually, on my chest.  That hadn't happened for such a long time that I knew you must have been feeling awful.  As sad as I was that you were feeling bad, I have to say, it was kind of nice to have you to snuggle with.  We went home on Sunday, and you were still feeling bad, but you didn't get sick on the way home in the care (thank goodness).  We thought that maybe you were starting to feel better, but we were wrong.  You continued to get sick and weren't able to really keep your regular amount of food down (we only gave you breastmilk).  It was really sad.  We just felt so bad for you because we couldn't really do much for you.  You also passed it on to me and then Daddy got it the next day.  Thankfully, I started feeling a little better when Daddy started getting sick because I have no idea how we would have taken care of you if we were both sick at the same time!  We made 2 trips to the doctor because we were so worried about you, and they told us we'd just have to wait it out.  At the 2nd visit, they weighed you and you were down to 14lbs 6oz (from 15lbs 1oz at 9 months). Finally after a full week, you started to feel better, just in time to start daycare.

You officially started daycare on Monday, April 4th.  The first week was hard for all of us.  You did not sleep very well at all the first week - your naps at most were 15-45 minutes each.  You spent the first week or so kind of just observing everything and taking it all in.  Your "safe place" was a swing that you could crawl in and out of to just kind of take a break from all the chaos going on with the other kids.  I was a little concerned about this because when I would pick you up, you'd be in the swing and sometimes bouncy seat, and I thought they were just sticking you in the swing/bouncy seat and leaving you there.  It turned out that you really just needed a place to chill when you were getting overwhelmed by being at daycare.  It took you about 2 weeks to start to adjust, and on April 21, you didn't even cry when Daddy dropped you off!

So, what are you up to this month?

• You are still wearing size 3 diapers, during both day and night
• You are wearing mostly 9 month clothes, but you have started wearing some of your new summer clothes that are 12 month.
• You are still pulling up on everything and cruising along all of the furniture. 
• You no longer really play IN your exersaucer.  You really just like to walk along the outside and press all the buttons to make all the noises.
• You also really liked your walker this month. 
• You no longer sleep in your sleep sack.  After the night at Grandmom & Granddad's house when you got sick and we didn't have an extra sleep sack, we just never went back to using one.  You didn't even seem to notice.  
• You still love Bunny more than anything else.  
• You have a lot of teeth.  I think I counted 10 the other day, but there are so many in there, I just can't keep track.  
• We celebrated your first Easter, and you looked super cute in your Easter dress. 
• You bit me for the first time while we were in church for Easter.  You were playing with the kids behind us, and you buried your head in my shoulder.  I thought you were playing peekaboo until I felt those sharp little teeth dig into my skin.  I was so shocked by it, I couldn't react.  It hurt pretty bad, and you even left a mark.  I'll never know for sure, but I don't think you were doing it intentionally.  I think your gums were hurting and you just wanted something to bite on.  You also haven't done it since.  
• You love to read, and you especially love your lift the flap books. 
• You learned how to clap this month!  One night, I was feeding you dinner, and without any prompting, you started clapping.  I was so surprised!  You must have learned that at daycare!  It is so cute when you do it!  
• You have started being more adventurous around the house, and you are exploring more and more.  
• You love playing with the door stops. 
• You love looking out the windows by the front door and the patio door.  
• We took you out to stand in the grass for the first time, and at first you hated it and cried.  The second time we did it, you didn't cry and you realized it wasn't so bad after all.  
• You still love taking things out of containers - you love emptying laundry baskets, toy boxes, the blocks in your cookie jar, etc. 
• You are consistently saying Ma-ma, Ba-ba, Da-da, and Ya-ya all the time.  We still aren't sure if you know that Daddy is Da-da or that I am Ma-ma, but it is so stinking cute to hear you say them.  We love to hear you talk!  
• You still sleep 11-12 hours at night, and are still taking 2 naps a day.  

We had another amazing month with you and cannot wait to see what the next month will bring.  You are growing into such a beautiful little girl, and we love you so much!

Love you like no other, 

Mommy

Here are your 11-month pictures with your bear.

For comparison, here you are at 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and zero months:

A few outtakes:

Looking at Daddy. 

Daddy thought it'd be fun to let you stand up.

I love that you can see those beautiful eyelashes in this one!

This is proof that you will lunge and grab for pretty much anything!

Some 5 month outtakes (clearly Daddy had a hard time getting you to sit still for these pictures):

Such a lady...  I think you've been spending a little too much quality time with Daddy! :)