Can you lick your own toes?

Kaitlyn can...

Here's a couple other cute Kaitlyn pictures I took today.

Kaitlyn's First New Car

After Kaitlyn's playdate, we all drove down to Mistlin Honda in Modesto and bought a new 2008 Honda CR-V 4WD EX-L. We had been looking for a car to replace the Saturn (a 2 door coupe is not baby friendly) and the CR-V fit the bill. The color is called Green Tea Metallic and it's loaded with all the bells and whistles (leather seats, 6 disc CD changer, MP3/Auxiliary input jack, XM satellite radio, security system, moonroof, etc.). It's also loaded with airbags all over the place and has the highest government safety rating.

It's strange to think that even though this car is brand new, by the time Kaitlyn is ready to drive, we most certainly won't have it anymore. At least she'll be able to enjoy the ride.

If anyone is interested in a 1997 Saturn SC2 in good running order with less than 75K miles on it, let me know. I've listed it on Craigslist for $3500 (KBB value is $4000). Update: The Saturn has been sold.

Kaitlyn's First Playdate

Today, we had a friend come over who has a 4.5 month old daughter. Kaitlyn and Maddysen didn't pay much attention to each other until we put them side by side. Below, Kaitlyn demonstrates the proper way to greet a new friend.

Grab their ears, pull and kiss them on the forehead

Then, they sized each other up and Maddysen had a taste of Kaitlyn's hand.

Thanks for coming over Daniella, Jeremy and Maddysen. We had a good time and look forward to more playdates in the future.

New Food: Peas

We fed Kaitlyn peas for the first time tonight. As you can see from the pictures below, she didn't necessarily enjoy the meal and a good portion ended up on the outside of her mouth. However, she eventually managed to swallow enough to make mommy happy. We'll feed her peas for a few more nights, then introduce something new.

First Christmas

Kaitlyn had a good first Christmas at home. Joining us at our house and were the Cutforth family (Gramma, Uncle Dan, Aunt Kelley), the Pride family (Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mike), the Bates family (Uncle Dan, Aunt Gayle, Cousin Marcus, Cousin Heidi), Uncle Bill and Aunt Lois.

Kaitlyn was in a good mood due to a mid-day 3 hour nap and didn't seem to mind being passed around from person to person all day. She made out like a bandit with lots of toys and clothes. It was good to see everyone and it will continue to get more and more fun as Kaitlyn gets older and actually realizes what Christmas is all about - presents! I mean, spending time with family ;-)

Kaitlyn's First Solid Food

Tonight, we fed Kaitlyn her first solid food. She has been intently watching us eat for a few weeks, so we decided it might be the right time to let her get a taste of food from a spoon. It was a mixture of rice cereal and water. At first, Kaitlyn wasn't quite sure what to do, but she quickly caught on and didn't make too many disgusted faces. Since it was just rice, there wasn't even a big mess to clean up afterword - Shawnna wore an apron just in case :-) It was also the first time she sat in her high chair. It was a big night for a little girl. The video below shows the big event.

Kaitlyn Having Fun in Her ExerSaucer

Kaitlyn is 5 months old today!

She celebrated by doing baby things and one of those things was playing in her ExerSaucer. Now that she has pretty good strength in her neck, back and legs, she's beginning to enjoy standing in her ExerSaucer and playing with all of the fun stuff. Watch the video below to see her having fun, smiling, talking and playing. Oh, and check out how big she's getting. It's hard to believe she's already 5 months old - time is really flying by.

SJ Sharks vs. Colorado Avalanche - 11/30/07

This was the annual "take my brother to see the Avalanche for his birthday" game. It was the first game I had attended at the arena this year and I was very impressed with the new technology they had on display. They completely replaced the giant, 4-sided scoreboard hanging above center ice with a new, high definition one. They also replace the banner ads between the first and second levels with a screen that wrapped all the way around the arena. This opened up a lot of possibilities for getting the crowd going with cool graphics and huge moving images. Finally, they replaced the old sound system with a much better, and easier to understand, one. Below is a picture of the new technology during construction.

Oh, and the game was good, too ;-) The Sharks got off to a fast start with a power play goal from Joe Thornton two minutes in. Five minutes into the second period, Thornton scored on the power play again to increase the lead 2-0. The Avalanche got their first goal shorthanded when Milan Hejduk beat Nabokov with 3:30 left in the period to cut the lead in half. The Sharks struck back quickly when Mike Grier scored 1:30 later to increase the lead back to 2 goals. The Avalanche wasted no time in making it a 1 goal game again when Andrew Brunette scored 1:30 later. After that flurry of goals to close out the second period, neither team scored in the third and the Sharks held on for a 3-2 victory.

Overall, it was a very physical game and both teams looked pretty good and had many scoring chances. The Sharks just played a little better and were fortunate to get a great game from Joe Thornton. One other note, during one of the breaks in the action, a guy in our section won a dance-off with a person in the competing section which meant our whole section received a $10 Dave & Buster's gift card. Not bad for some other guy's work (he was wearing a USA flag shirt, so I think he might have had an unfair advantage). Go Sharks!

Score: W 3-2
1st Period
SJ - Joe Thornton(PP) (Milan Michalek)
2nd Period
SJ - Joe Thornton(PP) (Milan Michalek, Sandis Ozolinsh)
Avs - Milan Hejduk(SH) (Paul Stastny, Scott Hannan)
SJ - Mike Grier (Joe Thornton, Kyle McLaren)
Avs - Andrew Brunette(PP) (Paul Stastny, Joe Sakic)
3rd Period
None

SJ SOG: 29
Avalanche SOG: 20
Winning Goalie: Evgeni Nabokov
Losing Goalie: Peter Budaj

Tickets: Section 221 Row 4

First Thanksgiving

Kaitlyn's first Thanksgiving was a very busy day. We kicked off the day by driving to San Jose for a Thanksgiving brunch with Gramma Cutforth. Kaitlyn enjoyed hanging out, playing on the floor with Gramma and sleeping in Gramma's arms. She seemed oblivious to Baji (the cat), although Baji seemed a little jealous of all the attention Kaitlyn was getting and needed to make her presence known (see picture below). After a few hours of eating and playing, it was time to move on to our next destination.

We headed to Fremont for Thanksgiving dinner with Shawnna's family (Grandma & Grandpa Pride, Uncle Mike, Amanda, Uncle Dan, Aunt Gayle, Cousins Heidi & Mark, Uncle Bill and Aunt Lois). From the moment we arrived, it was a game of pass the baby. Everyone got their turn (more than once) and Kaitlyn seemed to handle it very well. She did some playing on the floor and showed off her rolling ability. Grandpa Pride had the video camera rolling most of the time to capture it all on film. Kaitlyn barely fussed at all until the end of the evening between dinner and dessert. She finally reached her limit of fun and needed to recharge her batteries. We quickly finished dessert, loaded her into the car and she slept all the way home. She woke up just long enough to drink a bottle and was out for the night. It was a long day for a baby, but I think she enjoyed seeing everyone.

4 Month Checkup

Today, I took Kaitlyn to the pediatrician for her 4 month checkup. She was measured (25.5 inches long), weighed (15 lbs 8 oz) and checked for overall good health. Everything looked good and she's now taller and heavier than 75% of the babies her age - at least she's proportional.

Of course, the worst part of the visit was the vaccination shots. She had to get 3 more shots that were a follow-up to the 3 she got last time. Luckily, I didn't have to hold down her legs this time and I was able to just watch and wait until it was time to pick up the crying, hurting baby. Although, this time didn't seem to be as bad as last time. Sure, she was crying pretty hard by the time the third shot was given, but she didn't scream like before which I was thankful for.

When it was over, I held her for a bit until she calmed down, strapped her in her car seat and drove home. She didn't seem to have any ill-effects from the shots and was playing and sleeping like normal. That was good to see and now we're safe for 2 more months until her 6 month round of shots. Ugh - the fun never ends. I know it's for her long term health, but it's still hard to see your baby in pain - particularly pain inflicted on purpose :-(

Cabbage Patch Baby

Kaitlyn has taken to sucking on her bottom lip at times and when she does, she looks just like a Cabbage Patch Kid.

Halloween & Sick Baby Update

Kaitlyn spent Halloween at daycare after being sick the night before (see the previous post). We thought she was all back to normal, but apparently she wasn't quite feeling up to par as she threw up a couple more times during the day. We picked her up that night and decided to stay indoors for the candy grabbing madness. Of course, we still had to put her in her costume to take pictures - below is a picture of her Halloween day outfit and her costume.

I took the day off on Thursday to spend with Kaitlyn and she seemed to be feeling much better. She ate almost her usual amount and most importantly, she didn't throw up. The next day (Friday), Kaitlyn was completely back to normal, but the bug was transferred to me and I spent the day bowing to the porcelain god - better me than her.

Shawnna spent quite a while carving a pumpkin for Halloween, so I had to post a picture - very impressive.

Sick Baby

We knew it was going to happen sooner or later - we were hoping for later.

Last night, we went out to eat dinner and Kaitlyn was being very quiet even though it was about the time she should have been fussing for a bottle. We ordered our food, got our salads and then it happened at about 6:15pm - Kaitlyn started to throw up. She was still strapped in her carrier since she seemed content, so Shawnna jumped up and tried to hold her head up so she wouldn't choke while I unbuckled her so we could take her out of the carrier.

We finally got her free and Shawnna took her to the bathroom while I asked for our food to go and tried to clean up the carrier as best I could since we'd have to put her back in there to get her home. Shawnna brought her back in a new outfit, I strapped her into the semi-clean carrier and we drove home.

Throwing up must take up a lot of energy for a baby since she fell asleep right away in the car. When we got home, we brought her in the house, but left her in the carrier to finish her nap. At about 7pm, she woke up and threw up again. This time, there wasn't much left in her, so it wasn't as messy, but she cried more than she did after the first time. Again, we got her out of the carrier, changed her and I threw everything in the laundry.

She seemed to feel much better after that since she was talking and smiling at us. We thought it might be over, so we gave her a bath and I started to feed her a bottle at 7:45pm. She ate the first half of the bottle and then stopped sucking and got quiet (which NEVER happens when she's eating). I knew what was coming, so I positioned her over the makeshift barf zone we had constructed and up came the 3 ounces she had just consumed.

OK, so feeding her was a bad idea, but it had been 4.5 hours since she last ate and she typically only goes 3 hours between eating. After the third clean-up, Shawnna called the doctor (who said to watch for a fever before worrying) and daycare (who would still take Kaitlyn if she seemed OK by morning). Then, we laid Kaitlyn down and she promptly fell asleep. We got ready for bed and Shawnna created a makeshift bed next to Kaitlyn on the floor so she could keep an eye on her during the night.

At 9:30pm, I went upstairs to watch TV so the girls could sleep in peace, but at 10pm I heard Kaitlyn starting to cry and when I came downstairs, Shawnna was holding her after another spew. Not a whole lot came up and mostly got on her blanket, so after a blanket change and comforting from mommy, she was back asleep and slept the rest of the night without incident.

Back-story: The kids at Kaitlyn's daycare had been getting sick for the past couple of days. It was just a flu bug that lasted about 5 hours and then it was over. So, when Kaitlyn threw up the first time, we weren't completely surprised and knowing about the other kids probably helped us stay calm. If we weren't told about the sickness going around, we probably would have freaked out a bit more.

Anyway, Shawnna fed Kaitlyn a couple of ounces this morning and she kept it down, so we took her to daycare like normal. Since she was acting like her usual self this morning, we think it must have just been that 5 hour flu bug. So, chock up another parental experience for us. Hopefully these days are few and far between.

Pumpkin Patch

On Wednesday at daycare, Kaitlyn took a field trip to the pumpkin patch. As you can see, she fit right in with the gourds.

Kaitlyn's growing!

Recently, Dave and I went shopping for Kaitlyn because she's growing out of her 3 month size clothes. We've moved up to 6 months now, and as the season gets cooler, we opted to buy a lot of clothes that will cover her cute little arms, legs and tiny toes. We have a Carter's outlet in Tracy, and let me tell you how easy it was to go crazy in there purchasing adorable little outfits for her. I'm hoping we have her covered (literally) for a while!

These days, Kaitlyn's favorite things to do are: rolling over and being propped up to sitting position so she can see the world. This weekend we plan on putting her in rattling booties that our friend Amy purchased for her right after she was born. Since she's watching her feet more often, and recognizing that everything has a sound, this should be fun for her. She's so much fun, and as the days go by there are more and more things that she just can't get enough of. But one thing remains constant - Dave and I can't get enough of Kaitlyn!

The pictures below are from a woodworking show we went to last weekend. On the left is Kaitlyn with her Great-grandparents (on Dave's Mom's side). On the right is the toy chest Great-grandpa made for Kaitlyn which was featured at the show. Thanks Gramps - Kaitlyn will enjoy this for many years to come!

Shawnna's first week back at work

Well, here I am back in the working world once again. And I have to say it's nice to be back in the office, to see everyone, and contribute to the team. I honestly thought it would be harder to go back to work, but I've been keeping busy with things that have been thrown my way. This keeps my mind off thinking about missing Kaitlyn every single second of the day. Don't get me wrong, I do miss her and can't wait to see her when I get home at night. In fact, my first day coming back home I almost forgot to turn off the car before I got out to go give her a kiss. But it's nice to have the best of both worlds.
I look forward to the challenges and rewards this new life has for me. I'm "everywoman", hear me roar!

Big Weekend

Friday was the start of a big weekend for Kaitlyn. We started out our day normal, but then had one little change. Kaitlyn was to go to her new sitters house for the first time for a half day trial run while I went and ran errands to get ready for going back to work. I left her at 11am with Michelle, Mindy, Max and James. When I returned at 4:45, I was told that there was minimal fussing and she was really good. She took her naps and everything! The kids helped out a lot, as you can see from these pictures.

Saturday we got up and got ready to head down to San Jose to spend the day with Dave's family for Uncle Daniel's birthday. We went to lunch at the Fish Market then went back to Dan and Kelley's for presents and yummy brownies. Kaitlyn didn't nap so much on Saturday and was slightly cranky. However, when we set her down on the floor to look around, she was plenty happy. In fact, she even rolled over! Finally, she rolled over from her back to her tummy. So far, she still hasn't gone from her tummy to her back since that fluke night back in August. But that will come soon enough. Her crankiness and sleeplessness led to a long night of sleep, 11 1/2 hours to be exact. She got up in the middle for some food, but went right back to sleep.

Then we got up and started our Sunday routine. I went to the store and Target and came back to make a fruit salad for Mindy's 4th birthday party. We headed to Mindy's house a little after 1pm and shortly thereafter, Kaitlyn fell asleep again for about an hour and a half. We had lots of fun at Mindy's Tinkerbell themed party and saw lots of people we haven't seen in a while.

Now it's Monday, and I only have today and tomorrow at home before I go back to work. I'm not looking forward to not being able to spend my entire day with Kaitlyn, but I know she'll be in good hands with Michelle and the gang.

Waking Up & Tater Tot

I know we haven't posted a blog in a while, so here's what's been happening.

• Last weekend (Sept 15 & 16), we took Kaitlyn on her first overnight trip away from home. We stayed at Seascape Resort for a wedding that I was officiating. I was surprised at how much stuff we had to bring even though we were only going to be gone for 1 night - it takes 1 little baby to fill 1 big SUV. Kaitlyn was great during the trip and slept through the night in our 2 bedroom suite (with ocean view - nice!). She even slept through the wedding ceremony - I won't take offense. All-in-all, it was a fun trip and Kaitlyn successfully made it through her first night away from home.
  
• Over the past week, we have been slowly moving Kaitlyn further and further away from our bedroom each night. Since she sleeps so well at night, we thought it was time to move her to her crib (slowly). We've been moving her down the hallway in her bassinet and tonight is the first night she's spending in her crib - we'll let you know how that goes.

Below is a video of Kaitlyn waking up. I brought her downstairs and let her out of her "cheater chimi" (a swaddle with velcro to help keep it tight). She's usually pretty happy after a good night sleep an likes to stretch after being chimi'd all night.

Kaitlyn likes to sit on the couch being propped up by pillows and watch SportsCenter with daddy. Below is a video of our little couch tater tot.

We've Been Simpsonized!

There's a fun website where you can upload a picture of yourself and it creates an image of what you would look like as a character on The Simpsons. I created characters for myself, Shawnna & Kaitlyn and put them together into one image below. Let me know how close you think the image below looks like us and Simpsonize yourself here. Email the results to yourself and post the URL in the comments section of this blog.

I'm a Published Photographer!

I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by the Editor of Schmap Guides (online travel guides) who had seen one of my photos online and wanted to include it in their new guide to Monterey and Carmel. The photo, shown below, is a picture of the Monterey Bay Aquarium I took from my kayak as Shawnna and I kayaked in the Monterey Bay a couple of years ago. Apparently, the editor stumbled upon my photos on Flickr and thought the aquarium photo was good enough to include in their guide. I gave them permission to use my photo and now you can see it in the Schmap Monterey and Carmel Guide. Here's the link straight to the page with my photo. National Geographic, here I come ;-)

2 Month Doctor Visit

On Tuesday, we took Kaitlyn to the doctor for her 2 month appointment. The appointment consisted of a weigh in, height and head circumference measurements, as well as vaccinations. I had been dreading this date since we made the appointment after her first vaccination appointment back in July. I cried longer than she did and I wasn't looking forward to doing that again.
Well, call me naive, but I didn't realize that there would be 3 needles! My poor baby! We were armed with Tylenol to ward off any fever she might get, but I was not prepared for how many shots she would get. I am happy to report that Kaitlyn took it like a champ after her screaming was finally over. (Mommy however was a wreck from the get-go.) She fell asleep before we left the exam room and didn't wake up for a while. She only woke up long enough to complain about being in the carseat still. I took her out and she fell back to sleep on my shoulder (which is usually her favorite perch for viewing the world).
Since Tuesday, she's only been a little more sleepy than usual. Other than that, there was no fever or crankiness that the doctor said is the usual outcome of these shots. Again, Kaitlyn proves to be the best kid ever!
Not to forget the fun stuff from the visit, Kaitlyn weighed in at 12 lbs., 1 oz. That puts her into the 75th percentile for her age. Her height is 22.5 inches, which is average, along with the average circumference of 15 inches. She's thriving, happy and adorable as ever.

Half Dome Hike - Sept. 3, 2007

On September 3, 2007, Dad, Dan, Kelley and I hiked half dome. The actual hike was almost identical to the Half Dome hike from last year, so I won't bother going into the details. Here is the high level synopsis:

• We started the hike at 6:15am
• Made it to the top at 11:45am
• Spent 1 hour on the top
• Finished the hike at 6:15pm

Here's the updated list of Half Dome summits:

• Dad - 9
• Dave - 5
• Dan - 3
• Kelley - 2

The real drama occurred the next morning as we were sleeping after the long hike. At about 5:15 in the morning, I woke up to a woman yelling, "Go away! Seriously, leave me alone!" She was banging on a garbage can and making a lot of noise. My first thought was that it was a domestic dispute, but when I got up and looked out the tent cabin window, I saw a large, female grizzly bear* (see update below) directly behind our tent cabin, about 10 yards away. She was just standing by a tree, looking around. About 5 second later, I found out why, when 2 grizzly bear cubs made their way down the tree. They meandered over to the mother and proceeded to walk away from our tent cabin

(the picture to the right shows the view from our tent cabin window. The center tree is where the cubs descended and the other tree has a light attached which is how we saw the action). A few minutes later, I saw "the woman" walking back past our tent cabin with a couple other people talking about how she was walking to the bathroom alone and how she just wanted to get back to her tent cabin. That must have been extremely scary for her. I'm glad we followed the rules and put all of our food in the bear locker. I had never seen a grizzly bear at Yosemite before and I wouldn't mind seeing one again - just not so close. Over the next 15 minutes, I heard a few noises that sounded like shotgun blasts. If that was what I was hearing, I'm pretty sure they weren't intending to strike the grizzlies, but to just scare them away from where the people are. That sure was a memorable way to end our trip.

If you want to see what it looks like on the top of Half Dome, check out this video. Of course, a video shot from my phone can't really do it justice, but it's better than nothing.

For another perspective of this trip, Dan's version of events can be found here

*Update: The bear I saw must have been a black bear since Grizzlies are no longer found in California. Thanks to bear expert Ron Williams for the clarification.

My Adventures in San Jose

As told by Kaitlyn
Yesterday, I took my first trip to San Jose. Mommy and I had lots of people to see and meet. We started out at 9:30 and headed to Daddy's work. I cried for a little while, but then I fell asleep. I don't like when the car stops, so that's when I wake up. Just in time too, because soon we were at Daddy's office and I was awake to see him. He showed me off to all his co-workers and then we had to leave again. Mommy had a dentist appointment.
At Mommy's dentist appointment, I cried again. I didn't like being left in my car seat while Mommy got x-rays. But I know it was probably best that I didn't have x-rays too. After that, Mommy picked me up and I sat on her lap while she had her check up. The dentist said I might be teething already! I started crying again when we left, but fell back to sleep in the car on the way to lunch with Tina.
I seemed to have slept through part of my Mommy and Tina's lunch. But when I woke up, Mommy had finished her chicken and was ready to feed me. I also found out I got some new clothes from Tina's daughter (and my new friend), Natalya. It was a very nice lunch indeed!
After lunch, we went to Mommy's office and met her boss, Jeff, and all the admins in the office. I got to meet Yvonne, Vicki, Herman, Nancy, Birgit, Linda, Pankaj, Martin and Copeland. That was very exciting! They all told me how cute I was, and I coo'd and smiled for Linda. It was very nice of her to go to so much trouble to give me a gift. I'm very appreciative. Nancy took lots of pictures of me smiling, too. And Herman was so kind to think of Mommy and get her a Starbucks gift card. She needs lots of caffiene to keep up with my schedule.
Next, we were off to see Auntie Liz and Cousin Andrew. I cried so hard on the way, that I nearly lost my voice! I just don't like being alone. But, after crying for a while I got really tired and fell asleep again. (Mommy noticed a pattern, that I cry for a while in the car but then I fall asleep to the motion.) Riding in the car makes me very tired.
When I got to Auntie Liz and Cousin Andrew's house, I was still sleeping. When I woke up, I got to eat again. And then both Auntie Liz and Cousin Andrew held me. Cousin Andrew bought me some very cute shoes from Baby Gap. I can't wait to wear them!
Daddy was ready to finish work, so we went to pick him up and went to dinner with Auntie Liz, Cousin Andrew and Cousin Shannon. We went to California Pizza Kitchen, which Mommy seemed to love. I had a little more food there, but I really wanted to sleep some more. So Daddy held me while I slept, then we got in the car and went home. Daddy sat in the back with me this time. That was such a treat!
We got home late, but I was ready to eat a full meal again. I stayed up for a little longer while Daddy read me a new book that our friend Leah sent in the mail to us yesterday. Then I went to bed and slept soundly until this morning at 5:30. I was hungry again! I have also already had two naps this morning and am ready for another one. I must go now and sleep, for I am tuckered out!

Sleeping through the night

Kaitlyn has indeed started sleeping through the night! Before I posted anything concrete about this major milestone, I had to make sure it wasn't just for those 2 nights that I posted about last week. Now that she's done it for 7 out of the last 8 nights, I feel confident in saying that she has mastered this pattern, much to my pleasure. 7 hours of straight sleep means I'm less cranky and irritable. (I'm sure Dave is loving that!)

The evidence in this picture shows that she's a great sleeper. Isn't she adorable?!

Kaitlyn's Tummy Time & Rolling Over

Kaitlyn hit a big milestone on Friday - she rolled over from her front to her back for the first time. Actually, she did it 3 times in a row, but by the time I got the video camera, she was tired and wouldn't do it again. Anyway, the picture on the top left was during her first roll over. I just happened to be taking a picture when it happened. Shawnna and I were very surprised and it took a couple of seconds to register that she actually did it. The picture on the right is the picture I was trying to take - Kaitlyn holding her head up with her ever strengthening neck. The video below is "tummy time" in action. Since babies are supposed to sleep on their back, it's a good idea to give them some time on their tummy during the day so they can build up strength in their arms and neck. Apparently, tummy time is paying off for Kaitlyn.

Good Deal on Diapers

It's amazing how many diapers a baby can go through in a day. In the first few weeks after bringing Kaitlyn home, there were some occasions where we would have to use multiple diapers within a few minutes - she just kept going and going. I don't know where she keeps it all, but now we wait a bit before the change to make sure she's really done :-)

Anyway, here's a website I have used which has good prices on diapers and other baby care necessities, FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50 and NO TAX! Even better, if you enter the referral code, you'll receive $5 off your first order. Here's the details:

Website: www.diapers.com
Referral Code: BABY2323

Feel free to use it yourself and pass the info on to anyone you know who might benefit from saving a few bucks on diapers.

Mom & Kaitlyn's daily events

I know I haven't posted in a while, and if you're a parent you know why. Any moments to myself go to catching up on sleep. Anything after that is prioritized based on immediate need, meaning Kaitlyn's needs of course.
The last couple of nights, Kaitlyn has slept through the entire night. We have yet to find out if this a short lived phenomenon or if it will be a regular occurance. I (and Dave) obviously vote for the latter! However, it doesn't keep me from waking up almost every hour to one of her little sleeping noises and get me wondering if she's going to be hungry at any moment and pop open those adorable eyes of hers.
Kaitlyn loves her pacifier, being swaddled and sleeping in her vibrating bouncer. She also loves to eat, spit up and play on the floor. She smiles and coo's and she's doing a great job of gaining strength in her neck, arms and legs. Lying on the floor, she looks like she could roll over any day. We keep giving her tummy time each evening to exercise her and tire her out. She also loves to take baths and look in the mirror while I wash her.
On a daily basis the regular Mom things apply - feeding, burping, changing and entertaining Kaitlyn, rocking her to sleep, cleaning bottles, pumping, and the all important napping. Luckily, I've managed to get a shower every single day since she was born, too. Laundry gets done, although not as often as it probably should. Some days we also manage to get outside for a walk.
Sometimes I even have time to put a new toy together. Today, I'm attempting to put together her new swing. We ordered a swing for her last week, and it arrived early this week. It's the first chance I have had to get it put together. We've discovered she loves her new Take-Along swing that Grandma and Grandpa got her this past weekend. She's done lots of sleeping the last couple of days in the swing. Now we'll have a swing for each floor of the house. How nice for me! I can get my Mommy things done knowing she's safe, secure and either entertained or sleeping soundly.
That's it for today. Kaitlyn just woke up and I need to change over the laundry. Hopefully, I can update you with more details soon.

Nicknames

In the comments section of a recent post, the subject of nicknames was brought up, so I figured I would keep a list of the nicknames we have been using for Kaitlyn. Of course, we use the typical nicknames (sweetheart, cutie pie, etc.) that are standard for most babies, so I'll just list the more unique names. You can view the current list of nicknames here and I'll add new names as they come up. The link to the nickname list is also posted in the upper left hand side of the blog under "Kaitlyn's Links" for future reference. By the way, we do try to call her Kaitlyn every once in a while. Hopefully she'll know her real name at some point, but it's too fun to call her all the other cute names :-)

Letter to Kaitlyn from Gramma Cutforth

Dear Kaitlyn,

The first time I saw you, I saw the generations of our family before you – Cutforth, Pride, Schmidt, Bates. And, an enormous sense of belonging came over me – all of us family, belonging to each other. We are bound by our own wonderful, non-ending saga. We are the human story. We are us. And, now you are us – our future.

You come from a family of great strength, courage, and determination. Hard-working people who love to laugh and enjoy the bright side of life. A creative, intelligent family with strong artistic, writing, technical, mathematical, woodworking, gardening, and cooking skills to name a few. Good, kind, caring, service-minded people, who strive to make a difference in this world. A family who loves each other and is there for one another to share life’s joys, sorrows, wonderful and difficult times, everyday life, and very special moments like today—the day you were born.

Your family came to see you in the hospital when you were just a few hours old. Your Grandma Pride and I walked hand-in-hand into the room where you were born, so excited to meet you for the very first time. But, the joy in our hearts was nothing compared to the joy on your mommy and daddy’s faces and the love in their eyes as they presented you to us this wonderful afternoon.

Welcome to the family, dear Kaitlyn Belle. I can’t wait to get to know you and the amazing, special person that you are.

With lots of love,
Gramma, Nancy Cutforth

She's all Smiles

Kaitlyn has been smiling more often and loves it when I make a popping noise with my mouth. I took this video tonight after I got home from work. I'd like to think she was happy to see me :-) Check out the video to see the dimpled one in action. Warning: Cute alert!

First Bath

Today, we attempted giving Kaitlyn a bath in the bathtub for the first time. Up to this point, we've just given her sponge baths, but her belly button has healed nicely, so it was time for a real bath. After putting the tub together (yes, assembly was required since there's a battery operated shower head used to rinse off the soapy baby), we filled it up and started the process.

Kaitlyn's initial reaction was to cry a bit, but she quickly got used to being wet and didn't mind it after the initial shock. I actually thought we were going to get pretty wet, but the tub came with a platform that holds the baby above the water in the tub, so splashing wasn't an issue. After soaping her up and rinsing her off, we were finished and she was clean. Then, we dried her off and I held her as she fell asleep fairly quickly. Mission "Baby Bath" was a success.

The Ceiling Fan is Entertaining

For some reason, Kaitlyn loves to lay on the couch and stare up at the ceiling fan. I'm not sure what the big draw is, but I suppose that she likes to look at the contrasting colors. Whatever she wants... if she's happy, we're happy. The video below shows her doing baby things as she stares at the fan.

At this point, she sleeps for about 4 hour stretches at a time, which is pretty good for us (mostly Shawnna, since she's the one who gets up for the early morning feeding). She drinks 4 oz of milk every 3 to 4 hours and is getting bigger all the time. We haven't been to the doctor for a couple of weeks to get her official weight, but she's got to be over 8 pounds by now.

I've been back to work for a week now and it's definitely not where I would rather be. I have plenty of pictures and surely don't mind showing them to anyone who asks ;-) I've been taking the early train home to spend as much time with Kaitlyn as possible and still get my job done. It's a tough balance, but we have to make it work although I'd much rather spend all my time watching her. Check out the video below to see why.

The Belly Button has Arrived

After three weeks, the remaining portion of Kaitlyn's umbilical cord finally fell off this morning. There was a bit of blood (which is normal), but she didn't seem to be in any discomfort. That means we can start giving her actual baths instead of the sponge baths we have given her up to this point. I'm curious to see how she'll like the water - and how wet we're going to get.

I haven't posted anything in about a week, but nothing big has been happening. Tomorrow is my first day back at work and I'm not looking forward to it. It's been so nice being at home for the last three weeks getting to know my little girl. I'm sure it's going to be tough to concentrate at work, but somebody has to pay for all those diapers we're going through.

Here's some pictures from the past week.