I'm Ready For My Bath Mom!

Every evening before Kate heads off to bed we give her a bath. Although she's almost big enough for the big girl tub we still use the infant tub. As you can probably tell from the pictures we give her her bath in her room. It just always seemed a little bit cozier for her and much less clumsy for the two of us.

Anyway, on this particular evening I was running a little late for bath time, and when I walked into the room this is what I found. Kate was just hanging out by the tub playing with her ducky and waiting with daddy. She just looked so cute and so big that I had to take pictures.

Baby Bumper Jumper

Weeeeee! We got a fun new activity toy for Kate this past weekend, and so far she really enjoys it. The Graco Bumper Jumper lets her bounce up and down and spin all around. Like most of her activity toys she only can stand about 15 minutes of it, but in short spurts it is supposed to be a great way for her to exercise and strengthen her legs muscle in preparation for walking.

Maybe she'll like it so much that one day she'll grow up to be a California Smoke Jumper like her Uncle Kevin. Doesn't it look like she just parachuted in for a landing in this picture?

Dining Out Like a Big Girl

About a month or two ago before Kate officially grew out of her infant car seat, she had aleady started to dislike sitting in it. Perhaps it was too snug or reclined for her comfort. In any case it became increasingly difficult to dine out. There are only a few foods you can eat while holding an infant unless you’re really skilled, which I'm definitely not.

Eventually we moved her into her stroller while we dined out. This narrowed down our restaurant choices considerably. And even in her stroller Kate still became a little fussy, because she (our little nosy body) was so far removed from the action. She couldn't see things or people around her very well and she was far from the table, me and Ken.

We never really thought she would be okay in a restaurant highchair because she still can't sit up by herself. But lately she's been so strong in lifting her head and fighting the recline in every baby chair she owns, from the car seat to the bouncer seat, that we thought we might give a highchair a chance. So tonight we brought our high hopes and a Floppy Seat to Denny's. Well, we weren't going to try our little experiment in any place too swanky.

We are so happy to report that it was the most enjoyable meal we've had out in a long time. Kate loved sitting in her big girl chair, and we loved not having to entertain or hold her halfway through eating our meal. As you can tell from the pictures, she was totally chilling out. We can't wait to try out the new and exciting highchairs in some of the other dining venues that we haven't been to in weeks...maybe months.

Kate Rolls

This morning at about 10:30 a.m. Kate rolled over all by herself for the first time. Ken and Kate were playing on the floor. At first Kate was on her back; but then Ken turned her over for a little tummy time. While they were playing I was walking around the house doing a variety of things and all the while chatting away with Ken.

Coincidentally, I walked past the two of them on the floor to plug the digital camera battery into the wall to be charged. Midway I stopped in the doorway to finish my conversation with Ken. Kate, our little nosy body who always listens to our conversations, decided she couldn't see me well enough and pushed up to her side then proceeded to roll over. Ken had to clear the way for the roll.

I was a little slow with the camera. I guess I was overcome by excitement. But, at least I got a shot of Kate right after the roll. It's not the best picture but it definitely sums up the moment. Kate wasn't the least bit surprised or excited by her new skill. It was like she had been doing it for months. She couldn't even figure out why Ken and I were clapping and cheering. I guess she just chalked it up to another goofy mom and dad moment.

Starting Solid Foods

After coming up with a game plan for starting Kate on solid foods with the pediatrician, we went home and gave her a first taste of Gerber Rice Cereal that very evening. Before I go much further I want to express my opinion that I don't really consider that soupy mess that we fed Kate solid food per se. Instead, I'm really looking forward to when she gets down and dirty with some green peas or orange sweet potatoes...with Jean-Marie feeding her of course. Nonetheless, the whole moment was very exciting. We even pulled out the video camera, in addition to taking a few pictures for the scrapbook. I've posted the pictures here in Kate's Photo Album.

5 Month Doctor Visit

Today was Kate's 5-month well-baby doctor visit. The wait was unusually long because every baby and their big sister was sick today. And since it was starting to edge past Kate's naptime, we had to do what we could to distract her.



She played a little game that we call "Find Daddy!". Ken puts a blanket over his head and bobbles it around until Kate pulls off the cover, finds daddy and giggles with delight. I admit it. I think it's pretty funny too.


Kate also hung out with her new duckie that Ken picked out at Target the other day. It's quickly becoming one of Kate's favorite new toys. She likes the way it looks, and she especially enjoys the quacking sound it makes. It always puts a smile on her face.


So, the highlights of this doctor visit were: 1) NO SHOTS!, 2) a quick chat about starting Kate on rice cereal and 3) Kate is now 14 lbs. 4 oz. and 26-1/4 inches long. She has officially grown out of her infant car seat that holds a baby up to 26" long. I guess it's time to get the big girl car seat installed in my car now. We had one installed in Ken's car a few weeks ago.

Kate's Busy Hands

Now that Kate is far more interested in the things going on around her and getting a good grasp (pardon the pun) of using her hands, toys are getting a little more exciting in our household. Here's Kate playing with her new Take-Along Arch. It's great because it keeps her little hands busy in her car seat and in her stroller. She really enjoys the colors and the crinkly wings on the bugs.

Kate loves anything that crinkles. We actually put some old Christmas wrapping paper under her floor blanket. She likes the noises she makes as she stomps her feets and rolls around on the floor. And I can't even begin to tell you the fun she had crinkling up my shopping list the other day. Of course I got it back with lots of wrinkles and a little bit of drool.

Happy 5-Months!

Kate turned 5-months old today. Hard to believe how quickly the weeks are flying right by!

Blocking and Rolling

As Kate nears the 5 month mark she's getting closer and closer to rolling over. We caught a few shots of her starting to move from back to belly, but she was far more interested in wiggling around and smiling at me and Ken. As you can see, her Carter's Soft Blocks were a good motivation for her to reach, but not quite roll over. She eventually did get over with a little help from mom.

By the way, apologies for taking so long to post since last time. Last week we had an awful bout of food poisoning after eating at Moe's Southwest Grill. Needless to say, it was a rough week in our household.