June 30

We keep the parts of Caitlin's bottles and her spoons, forks and knives in the red bowl on the island in the kitchen.  At least once a day, Caitlin stands there and points at it and grunts for us to put it on the floor so she can play with it (and put some of her other toys in it - notice the block).  It's a pretty big bowl, but she loves to show us how she can pick it up and carry it around the house.  By the way, no idea what happened to her hair today, but she kind of looks like Dennis the Menace (and she kind of acted like him at dinnertime tonight).

44 Weeks Old

Caitlin, 

You turned 44 weeks old on March 29th. I am ridiculously behind on the weekly posts, but I am going to attempt to catch up, at least through week 52, so here goes! 

You read your book. 

And then you tried to eat it. 

"Eww, that didn't taste so good."

You tried to hold it with your feet. 

You played by your walker. 

And smiled pretty for Daddy. 

And, then you even posed for him. 

You chewed on the frozen hand. 

You talked to me. 

Still talking. 

You played in the pantry.


You realized you could lift your hand above your head.  This was way before you learned to wave, but I'm thinking this was the beginnings of it.


You walked along the chair - you are almost as tall as our kitchen table!


You tried to check out what was in the freezer (this is one of my favorite pictures!).


You wanted Daddy to pick you up.  (this is another favorite)


You played by the coffee table.


And talked to me.


You hung out with your cousin Cassidy at Aunt Alexis' baby shower.


Granddad read you your new pop-up book.


You played with the pop-up book after he was done reading.  The $8 spent on this book was totally worth it.  You still LOVE this book, even if I have had to perform surgery on some of the pop-up characters that you have ripped.


You ate dinner with us at Grandmom and Granddad's house.


And then, you got sick.  This was taken the morning after you spent the previous night vomitting all over yourself and Mommy and Daddy.  Not fun at all - we felt so bad for you.


You seemed to feel ok so we let you cruise around the furniture a little bit before we got in the car to go home.


We got home and you continued to be sick.  It probably took you at least a full week to start getting back to your normal self.  This was your first time being really sick (you caught it during the 1 day that you spent at daycare), and it was awful.  We were so worried about you.


This is definitely the "I don't feel good" face.  Don't blame Daddy though - I asked him to take your picture even though you weren't feeling good.  I guess you got revenge though because you passed the sickness on to me that night.  

June 30

She learned how to open and close the door in the office today.  She couldn't open it after it had closed all the way, but when there was a crack, she could pull it open.  She was very proud of herself.

June 28

This one is for Aunt Alexis (and Uncle Tim)!  She loves her princess play house!!

June 27

Caitlin had a rough day today - she was just really fussy.  She didn't nap well at school, and I suspect that her incisors (the eye teeth) are trying to make an appearance (or she's starting to get sick again).  The bowl of bunnies (like goldfish, just a different brand) made her feel a little better.  She loves them!  She was sitting in my lap eating them, and I asked if I could have one, so she put it up to my lips but then she wouldn't let go of it.  She thought it was pretty funny though when I tried to bite it out of her fingers.  After that, she didn't even make the motion like she was going to let me have any; instead, they just went straight to her mouth!

June 26

Happy 13-month birthday to my sunglass-loving cool chick!  She LOVES any and all sunglasses, and she decided to wear mine when we went to see the farm animals at Clark's today.

June 25

Guess it's time to finally put the gates on the stairs.  Grandmom was right - she said Caitlin would climb the stairs when she was interested in what was on the landing, and tonight, she was very interested in the ride-on horse toy.

June 24

I went to visit the Mooneys last night, and Caitlin and Daddy spent some quality time together.  She tried roasted potatoes at dinner, and Ryan texted me this picture with the caption "Savoring her roasted potatoes." She's too funny.

June 23

We went for a walk after dinner tonight.  At the end of her walk, Caitlin realized she had a hat on and kept taking it off and trying to put it back it.  She was successful in getting her hat back on the first time, but I was way too slow with the camera.  This was another attempt at putting her hat back on.  Almost there - "A" for effort!

June 22

"Hello?  Is anybody there?"
Every night, we talk to Ryan while he's driving home from work, and I think she has learned how to talk on the phone this way.  Whenever, we pick up her play phone and say "Ring! Ring! Hello, Caitlin, are you there?", she takes it from us and puts it up to her ear.  She also will grab it off the floor, make a cute noise, and then put it up to her ear.  This also applies to basically any toy that she can pretend is a phone (the blue remote that controls the music on the mirror in the car, her pretend cell phone, a block, a ball, or even her camera).

June 21

Somebody likes her new chair.

June 20

Caitlin loves to go outside!  She was very excited to walk up and down the sidewalk, watch the cars go by, and wave to the kids playing across the street.  When she was walking down the sidewalk, she thought it was pretty funny when I ran in front of her to try to take her picture.  I can't get over what a big girl she is!  In fact, she spent the day in the toddler room at school and had a really good day.  She took one long nap for 2 hrs, 45 mins on a cot!  She's still not eating the lunch that her school provides, but she will eat breakfast and snack with no problem though (baby steps, right?). When we got home, she practically chugged her milk from her sippy cup (this is the same girl who would barely touch her sippy cup this weekend!).

June 19

Caitlin would like to wish her Daddy, Granddad and Pop Pop a very happy Father's Day.  We are so very lucky to have such wonderful, caring guys in our lives, and we hope you had a great day!  We love you all so much!!

June 18

The tongue strikes again!  She really makes us laugh so much these days!

June 17

She doesn't quite get the "pull toy" concept yet.  No matter, all she cared about was taking the horse with her, and she succeeded.  She seemed to be feeling a little better tonight, and we're hoping for a broken fever tomorrow when she wakes up!

Twelve Months Old

Caitlin,
You turned 12 months old on May 26th.  12 months old, punkin!  Can you believe it!?  You are a whole year old and what an absolutely amazing year it has been.  We had your 12-month doctor's appointment on Tuesday, June 7th and here are your 12-month stats:

• Weight: 17lbs (<5th percentile)
• Height: 30 inches (between 50 and 75th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 44 cm or 17.3 inches

Once again,  you are tall and skinny, and Dr. M is fine with this.  You have stayed pretty consistent since you were 4 months old, so we think this is just how you're going to be.  We are just happy that you're healthy! 

So, what are you up to this month?

• You are still wearing size 3 diapers, both day and night
• You are wearing all 12 month clothes, but honestly, if we had summer clothes that were size 9 month, you'd probably be wearing those, especially the pants.  Unless they are leggings, the 12 month pants that we have for you are mostly too big in the waist and when we pick you up from daycare, they have usually taken them off because they couldn't get them to stay on you!  The good news is that it's summertime and you don't need to wear pants - instead, you've been wearing A LOT of dresses! 
• We bought your first pair of shoes on your birthday, and you are wearing size 4. 
• You are eating stage 3 foods and most other purees - you basically prefer purees over finger foods or other foods unless they are snack-type foods (i.e. cheerios, puffs, goldfish, crackers, etc.).  We are trying our hardest to get you to eat more food than just the purees. 
• You did try blueberries, strawberries, and cooked carrots this month.  You had an allergic reaction to the strawberries the day after you ate them which resulted in a cute little rash on your face.
• We are working to transition completely to cow's milk.
• I stopped pumping on May 27th, and we are just finishing out the freezer supply (which lasted us until June 9th)
• You need to pull yourself up on something to get to a standing position, but once you're standing and playing with your toys, you have been letting go and standing on your own for longer periods of time. 
• You took 3 steps on May 15th when we were visiting with Grandmom and Granddad in PA, but haven't walked a ton since then.  When I pick you up from daycare, you're usually standing and will walk a few steps to me, but that's about it. 
• You like it when we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" and you clap your hands at most of the appropriate times. 
• You are good at waving hi and bye-bye.
• When we ask you how big you are, you put your hands up and put them on your head as if you have a headache. It is really cute because you are so proud of yourself when you do it. 
• You brush your teeth every night at bedtime. You love brushing your teeth! Lately, you've been acting like you're finished with you bottle by pushing it away, so we go and brush your teeth, and then when we get back to your room and I tell you it's time to go "night-night", you act like you want more milk. So, you drink a couple more sips, and then we have to brush your teeth again!  I think you know that it just extends bedtime a little bit - you're a smarty!
• You babble a lot and say "Mama, Dada, Lala, Baba, and Yaya" all the time. 
• You are a pro at turning the lights off (flipping the switch down), and you get very excited when we walk by one because you think it's always time to turn off the lights.
• You love putting your toys in your buckets/toy boxes and taking them out. This includes putting the remote control for the fan in and taking it out of your cookie jar toy.  
• Speaking of remote controls - you love them!  Really, you just love anything that is electronic. 
• You are getting really good at playing with your nesting toys and putting things inside each other. 
• You had your first ear infection this month. 
• You became a big cousin this month.  Your new baby cousin, Leah Rose was born 3 days before you turned a year old (on May 23rd). 
• You have definitely been more snuggly this month.  You put your head down on my shoulder most nights when we rock at bedtime.  This means the world to me, and I'm cherishing every second that you let me snuggle you. 
• You love pushing and walking with your toys. 
• You love looking out the windows at our house. 
• You have 12 teeth.  This includes all 4 of your 1-year molars.  They showed up this month and now we are just waiting for your incisors and your 2-year molars.  I hope they take their sweet time showing up.  
• You have started making a lip-smacking noise when you eat (i.e. the kissing sound). 
• You are good at giving kisses.  If we ask you to give us a kiss, you lean your little head down and closer to us so we can kiss your forehead.  
• You love chewing on my necklace and my keys.  You get very upset when I take my keys away from you to start the car when we leave school. 
• You have shown us more and more of your personality this month, and we have seen a little temper coming out. 
• You are starting to imitate us, and you try really hard to say "Uh oh" when we say it. 
• We gave you your first cupcake on your birthday, and you wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.  You cried when we tried to get you to eat it. You also didn't want to eat the smash cake that we got you for your birthday party.
• We went to Connor's 2nd birthday party, and you tried pizza for the first time, and you had your first pony ride.   
• You love being outside and going for walks. 
• We are working on transitioning to a sippy cup, and you are also working on drinking from the big girl sippy cup (without handles).  You love drinking from our glasses and from water bottles (with our help). 
• You are very ticklish, especially on your feet, upper chest and under your chin. 
• You have a baby mullet.  Sometimes, when it's really humid, a curl or two shows up in the back. 
• You had your first night away from me and Daddy while we went to Aunt Becky and Uncle Jordan's wedding.  Grandmom and Granddad came down and stayed with you, and you had a great time! 
• You are still a thumbsucker, and it seems to come out more often when you're not sure about something, need a little comfort and when you are sleeping.  We think you are the cutest little thumbsucker that we've ever seen, but because of this, I think we are going to need to start saving up for your braces now!
• You are starting to become more interested in other kids.  I'm sure that daycare is helping you to become more social. 
• If we ask you to give us something, you will give it to us (and then immediately act like you want it back).  You even give Bunny to me so I can give him kisses.  
• You dance to music by bouncing up and down. 
• You love shaking things and clapping your toys together to hear the noise that they make.  
• You are still sleeping really well - usually about 11 hours at night (7:30pm - 6:15/6:30am) and taking two 1-2 hour naps during the day. 

The last year has flown by faster than I thought it could, but it has definitely been the best yet.  Those sleepless nights when we first brought you home seem like a lifetime ago.  We have had so much fun watching you grow into a beautiful little girl (toddler!), and we cannot wait to see what the next year will bring.  Happy birthday, sweet baby girl!  We are so proud to be your mommy and daddy, and we just love you to pieces!  

Love you like no other,
Mommy


Here are your 12-month pictures with your bear.

"So big!"

For comparison, here you are at 11, 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! :)