Caitlin's funny face

Here's Caitlin's latest funny face. It's hysterical. She'll make it when she gets really excited about something. Usually it will appear when she is playing with Ryan or eating fruit and oatmeal - two things she really enjoys!

She has some other new tricks too - saying ma-ma-ma-ma and da-da-da-da, in addition to the ba-ba-ba-ba we've heard for the last month or so. She's also trying her hardest to be mobile, but it's a challenge with all of her chub! She's rolling from front to back and back to front, but she hasn't mastered consecutive rolls to actually travel somewhere. When on her tummy, she's starting to push herself up and lift her bum, but then she slides backwards, which results in frustration since she's farther away from the object she was trying to reach! Her loves to play with anything that is not a toy - Daddy's baseball hat, diapers, magazines, etc. She sleeps through the night most nights, which is a treat for mommy and daddy! She's fighting a bit of a cold, but she's still a sweet and content little girl who is very, very smiley.

SNOW!

We finally got SNOW! Earlier this week, we got about 3 inches of snow. Ryan enjoyed putting on all of his new snow gear and throwing snow balls. It didn't stick around long enough to make a snowman, but it was fun while it lasted. Now, we're back to sunshine and 20 degree days!

Bathing in Unison!

Tonight, Caitlin joined Ryan in the big bathtub! She took a late nap so she was still up and at 'em at 7pm. It was a lot of fun for both of them! Caitlin loved playing with all of Ryan's Finding Nemo toys - we've never given her bath toys, so she thought they were pretty great!

Best buddies

Ryan and Caitlin are finally beginning to pay attention to each other. It's so much fun! They'll play next to each other on the floor - I have to watch Caitlin because Ryan gives her Matchbox cars to "play" with, although they end up in her mouth! And, after every nap, Ryan goes into Cait's room to say hello and then he wants to sit next to her in the glider. I can only hope that they'll continue to want to be around each other as they get older!

Playing at home

Caitlin loves the exersaucer. Ryan loves having all of his toys again! It's so cold here that we spend a lot of time indoors.

7 Months Old

Our little lady is 7 months old - unbelievable! Here's a picture of her in the bathtub last night (before I wiped away the sweet potatoes!) She LOVES food - especially rice cereal. She lunges at the spoon when we're feeding her. We just started fruits and veggies last week - so far she loves her sweet potatoes and apples...up next are carrots, peas, bananas, and pears.

Wild woman

Caitlin has inherited her big brother's crazy hair! It's just about as blonde as Ryan's was - and stands on end! I think she's entering an awkward hair stage - it'll probably be pretty wild until it's long enough to comb it. There still isn't enough to try and put a barrette in it...and I'm not a fan of baby headbands, so she'll be going au natural for awhile! I guess she'll just always look "wind swept."

Caitlin's nursery

Caitlin's nursery is complete, too! For the first time in her seven-month existence, she has her own room! Yea! The poor girl has been relegated to a pack 'n' play in our bedroom since birth. It's a perfect place for our little girl! A big thank you to Grandma Barb for making the quilt and bedskirt.

Big boy bedroom

Ryan's room is FINALLY finished! I just hung the last picture tonight while he was in the bathtub. Here's his new big boy bed - complete with transportation sheets and special pillows - Bob the Builder and emergency vehicles. Ryan was in a crib up until two weeks ago when we made our big move. The day we moved into our new house, Ryan moved into his new bed. It was quite traumatic - for all of us. There were many days last week when I was convinced that he was never going to sleep again. He didn't go to sleep until 12am and would wake up at 6am. We were all a bit delirious with sleep deprivation. Thankfully, he's gotten the hang of it!

Rolls

Caitlin had her 6-month check-up this week and tipped the scales at 19lbs. 13 oz. You can tell by this picture (and all of her rolls) that she is a very healthy eater. She looks as if she is preparing for a baby sumo competition!!

At 6 1/2 months, she was still not rolling over and I expressed that concern to the pediatrician. He said (as politely as possible) that "bigger" babies sometimes take longer because their "rolls" get in the way!! She must have been offended by his comments because yesterday, she finally began to roll over! The problem now is that she'll roll over onto her belly and then get mad because she hasn't figured out how to roll back. Last night, we'd hear her screaming and go into her room and she'd rolled over in the crib, gotten stuck, and woke up angry! I'm sure rolling the other way will come soon!

Christmas 2006

We had a very special Christmas this year in Seattle. It was so nice to be able to celebrate with ALL of our family - grandmas, grandpas, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. We feel very blessed that both of our families are in the same community!

At 26 months, Ryan just started to understand the concept of Christmas - well, he understood the present aspect, not the true meaning. He did run around singing, "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus" - and happy birthday to Daddy, too - which makes things even more confusing!

He loved opening presents, but was a bit overwhelmed. When he opened a gift, he wanted to play with that particular toy. He didn't want to continue opening presents. He is very loved by all his grandparents and aunts and uncles - he made out with an entire fleet of Tonka vehicles, and many other cars, trucks, trains, etc. - a 2-year old boy's dream!!

Caitlin was Caitlin - happy and content to take in everything and occasionally chew on some wrapping paper if she could get her hands on it!!

We hope that you and your family had a blessed Christmas season!