Finally!

After months and months of the two of us being Papa and Baba (Picture saying mama with a cold) I was Mama on Monday evening.  She said it a few times while we were playing.  Then, when I was holding her, singing a lullabye she was giving me a hug, she lifted her sleeping head and said "Hi Mama".  She got an extra long lullabye and snuggle that night.  Monday night, we also took her to the park.  I've never seen her so excited to be at the park before.  She had a great time running around going down the slides.  She didn't like it when we told her it was time to go.   Daddy sat her down and explained that she was getting tired, we had to go home, but he'd take her to the park again tomorrow.  She took the news well and walked back to the car with us.  It's so fun to see her try new words and see how much of what we say she's understanding.  I read that when they're this age, if they're focused on it, they can learn a new word as often as every 90 minutes!

18 Months

My darling, we made it 18 months!! There were days I though neither of us would make it, but I'm so glad we did!!

You have turned into such a fun little person. You have a personality and a fantastic sense of humor! When we're cooking in the kitchen, and you're feeling a little neglected, you'll methodically empty the bottom shelf of the pantry and then climb in and call for us until we call back, "Caitlyn, where are you?". Then, you peek your head out and yell, "Hello". Then, you go back in and we start over again.

You were never really interested in teddy bears, but about 5 weeks ago, our friend Brie was over and you took her and pointed to a bear, she got it off the shelf for you, and it's been your buddy ever since! We often hear you in your crib after I've put you to bed talking to him. Today, when you were eating snack, you had your stuffed Tigger beside you and you offered him some of your KD.

You've also developed more of an attitude!! Your daddy and I admire your spunk, but at the same time, we need to teach you. It's been tough, but I think we're making progress. You definitely know what the words "time out" mean!!

You've discovered dancing. When daddy puts on the music, you start dancing, it's adorable!!
This is my favorite picture of you from the summer. We were out at your auntie & uncles and you discovered watermelon!!! I think you ate your body weight in watermelon that day, and boy did you enjoy it!!

Next week, we're taking you camping for the first time!! You're daddy and I are both a little nervous, but we're excited too!

Caitlyn, we love you. We're so glad you're in our family. Even though you may make us crazy, you also make us laugh!!

(Rachel, I just reread this post and realized I use double exclamation points entirely too much....it's a good thing you're coming back soon!!!(I did three that time, just to break the trend!))

Happy Father's Day!

I'll skip my usual blog post introduction, which tends to be some long, rambling apology for not posting more regularly and an empty promise to try to do better & just get to the important stuff...

I'm so grateful that my little girl has such a fantastic dad. I'm so grateful that her dad gets to spend so much time with her. Watching the special bond that the two of them have really makes me smile.

The other neat thing for father's day this year has been watching my little brother become a dad. He's such a great dad to his adorable little girl and it's been neat to watch him grow into his role there.


Of course, I'm also grateful for my dad. My dad has taught me so many lessons that I'm looking forward to teaching my daughter.

My little girl is so lucky to have such an incredible father, two great uncles, fantastic grandfathers, and an amazing great-grandfather so invested in her. With all of these men looking out for my little girl, all her future boyfriends better beware!!

Mother's Day

Hey baby girl,
Thank you for making a mom!

I know I haven't posted in a long time. When I start to write, it feels like nothing's happened, but then when I look back at my last post, it's obvious that a lot has changed! The most exciting thing of course is that you've started walking!! You waited until the perfect time. I was scared that you'd start while I was at work, but you waited until Good Friday, and even your Aunt Rachel & Uncle Chris got to watch, thanks to the internet!!

You're so happy and so proud of yourself. Now you want to walk everywhere!! The only downside is that now, taking you shopping is a bit tricky, you want to walk and take things off the shelf and hand them to me, which will work much better once you can read the grocery list.You've also recently decided that sleeping at night is a good thing, and daddy and I couldn't agree more. You usually sleep 12 or 13 hours a night now, which is a huge improvement from the 4 hour spurts we were getting just a few short weeks ago.

We took you to the park today and you went down the slides and played on the swings. You love to watch the other kids play. I can't wait until you're old enough to play with them.
You love to tickling! You tickle my feet all the time, and when you're sitting in the car seat, you tickle your own legs. You're so fun! You have a great sense of humor. You love to laugh and make us laugh.

Baby, I love you! For the first time, I feel like I wish time would just slow down. I'm loving my time with you. Thank you for making me a mommy. I love you princess!

Caitlyn Climbing Down the Stairs

Caitlyn Waving

Amazing Musical Talent

Caitlyn's One Year Charts

First her height, she's now in the 38th percentile!
And her weight, she's in the 27th percentile:

Happy Birthday!!!

Dear Caitlyn,
Today, you are one year old!!!
Who ever thought we'd manage to keep you going this long? I know some had their doubts!!

Looking back at those early pictures. It's hard to believe that that little, tiny, fragile baby has turned into this:
You are such a character already! You already try to play your daddy and me against each other. If one of us gets you in trouble, you go howling to the other one for sympathy. But, we're on to you!

You're not quite walking yet, but you're really close. You love to feed yourself and eat finger food. It's so funny the way you communicate with us. You point at what you want or where you want to go, but when we point, it doesn't mean anything to you!

We love you Caitlyn. In the last year, you've changed our lives more than we even imagined that you would, but for the better. You've changed our priorities and made us a family. We hope your second year with us is full of more smiles & giggles.

Love,
Mommy

P.S. Guess who will be back with us before your next birthday? These two crazy globe trotters!!

Helpful Caitlyn

Caitlyn likes to help around the house, here she is baking:Helping with laundry:
She even helps to fold!
She helps to feed herself:

And then cleans the tray afterwards
She helps put away groceries and organize the cupboards
And, she's fantastic with paperwork!


What better help could you ask for?

The Things No One Warns You About

I love my little girl. BUT, it amazes me how someone so little, so needy, so dependent can make a fairly competent, self-confident grown up feel like an absolute failure. When that little baby is howling at the top of her tiny lungs and nothing you try helps, how do you not take it personally? On Sunday, watching my little girl howl and thrash was so hard.

I knew as a parent I would make many mistakes, who doesn’t? What I didn’t know is that even when you’re not making mistakes, even when you’re doing the best you can, you can still feel like an absolute failure.

But then, just like after a thunderstorm, the clouds clear, the sun comes out, the crying stops, and you see a beautiful little smile and a part of you wonders about the little Jekyl/Hyde stunt that your baby just pulled, but mostly, you’re just relieved it’s over. Caitlyn doesn’t even seem to remember that two minutes ago nothing was right in her world, because now, everything is. She’s fine, I just need to pick myself up and realize she doesn’t hate me, I’m not failing her, and drink in her smiles and giggles til the next “crisis”.

And One Last Sideways Video

Hopefully your head isn't stuck sideways!!

Another Sideways One!

Caitlyn Walking

Caitlyn Climbing the Stairs

Here's a cute video of Caitlyn. Unfortunately, since I'm not so tech-savy, it's sideways!!

11 Months Old!

Well, my princess, you must be keeping mommy busy, because I haven’t updated this blog in entirely too long.

You had a fun Christmas. We took one day just for our little family of three, it was really nice. It was fun to look into the future and imagine what the next Christmases will be like for our little family. I hope that we’re starting traditions that will give you stability and something to look forward to!

Of course, this year, you were more interested in the boxes than anything else. We took you to the Christmas Eve church service in your jammies, we thought you might fall asleep, since it would go past your bedtime. But, it was like you could sense the excitement; you stayed awake, and even played some more after we got home. We took you out to your great-grandparents, and you did so good with so many people! You loved to sit and watch your 2^nd cousins play. By next year, you’ll be running around with them!

Today, for your 11 month birthday, your daddy took you to the wave pool.

You’re such a good girl, but you are curious, and you like to test the limits. You understand lots of words already. You understand “no” and you know where/what you’re not allowed to play with, but you like to push the limits, just to make sure we’re serious.

You’re cruising like crazy, and now, you can pull yourself up on an empty wall, you don’t need to grab anything. You've finally learned that going down the couch or stairs head first isn't the best idea. you've figured out how to get off the couch, but you always wait until somebody's watching to applaud you!

You have 7 adorable teeth, and you’re working really hard on the 8^th, but it’s not quite ready to pop up.

This last week has been a bit tough. We decided (again!) that you needed to learn how to sleep. I’m not sure if it was because mom & dad were more determined this time, or because you’re a little older, but you’re doing great! Since last Monday, I’ve only been in your room once a night, a vast improvement from the 4/5 times a night that we were doing! You’re so much happier during the day, and so are mommy & daddy!

At the beginning of December, I went back to work full time, and although I miss you, leaving each morning is easier because I know that you’re with your daddy, who takes the best care of you! Every night, when I’m coming home, and the door opens, I can hear your little palms slapping on the ground as you crawl to the door to greet me. I love the sound of your hands on the floor when you’re crawling.

You love books, but you haven't realized that they're for reading, not for eating:

RW: I'm sorry to tell you, it's Mortimer!

You’re a fantastic eater, but you’re getting sick of baby food, you always eat better when you can eat whatever the grown ups are eating. I’ve been trying to keep the sweets away from you for now, but your daddy sometimes gets other ideas. Don’t worry though; you get to have cake for your birthday! You’ve been working hard to figure out you’re sippy cup, and you’re getting the hang of it.

You LOVE drinking water. You still refuse to hold your bottle, which is funny to me, because you’re such an independent little girl, but with this one thing, you just like to be babied. It doesn’t usually bother me though, because you’re already growing up way too fast. It's already so hard to believe you were ever this little:

You say “mama” all the time, and daddy thinks you know what it means, but I’m not so sure. You’ve said dada a couple of times, but we have to work a little harder for that one! You love to laugh. If people in the room are laughing, you join in, even though you have no idea what’s funny. The sound of your adorable giggle makes me smile every time! You still love to play peek-a-boo. You’ve figured out that you can crawl around the corner to hide, and then sneak up on us.

You’re such a fun person. Your daddy and I are really enjoying figuring you out, especially when we get it right! We love you Caitlyn. It’s hard to believe you’ll be a year old in 27 days! By then, you’re going to have a cousin! I’m so grateful that you’re going to have a cousin, close in age and geography!

We love you baby girl, thank you for coming to our family!

11 Month Height & Weight