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