Poor, Sweet Kate

Today's Sad Firsts:
First Ear Infection
First Antibiotics

Cool Playsilks

Kate's birthday is coming up... well, the first week of July, but it seems soon now that she is starting to walk! Anyway, if you want to get her something cool, check out these playsilks. If you click on playsilk squares, you can see different ones. I like 307, 301 and 202, myself. Kate has a set of cotton hankies dyed by Barb and they are really really nice and Kate thinks they are nifty.

She's all set for clothes for this summer, by the way! Thanks everyone for sending her such unbelievably cute stuff!

Catching Up

This weekend, Kate's GP, Nana and Great Grandma Laura stopped by for a few hours on their way from NY to NC. Kate sees GP and Nana (maternal grandparents) once or twice a month, but always at their house. When they came in the door, she immediately recognized them and treated them very differently than GG Laura, who she showed more curiousity towards. That was pretty neat!

Kate's been on the brink of her first steps for weeks and she's finally done it. She's not "walking" yet, but soon and very soon...

Using Her Words

Listening to Kate's language skills develop is so fascinating. First, she learned to make all sorts of phonetic sounds. That was cool, because she often isolated them and did the phonogram perfectly, without blending, "f" and "s" were particularly good examples. Then, she blended sounds together, such as "st". Now she has moved on to "words" which she is working on using correctly. Her three words are "dada" "mama" and "baba". Apparently, baba is a word for nursing, or really anything desireable, such as organic brown rice puffs, which are her new favorite snack.

Learning New Things Every Day

We took a walk to visit Daddy today. Instead of riding in her pouch, Kate was pushed there in her stroller. The crisp, not-yet-summer air was pierced by wind. True wind, it was, not gentle breezes or gusts that rip objects out of ones hands. Kate was fascinated by this prolonged encounter with the wind. She held one hand up as high as she could, spreading out her fingers to feel the wind dance through. Then she touched her head and felt the wind in her hair. Then her hand again.

It's a great big world out there. Kate's just beginning to discover it.

Another Doctor's Visit

Kate went to the doctor last Monday. She was pronounced perfectly healthy and a very good example of a well visit patient for the visiting medical student. She smiled and did just what he wanted.

She was 27.5 inches long and 17 lbs, which is a bit small, but she was also only 6.5 lbs when she was born. Also, she started crawling at 5 months and hasn't stopped since. So, nobody's worried about how big she is!

9 months old

Kate is nine months old today. She's turning into a real monkey. She practices her acrobatics everywhere -- from her carseat to shopping carts to the bathtub to the sling. She's quite the daredevil, always testing her limits, letting go of the furniture as she cruises around at breakneck speeds. That girl can MOVE. We're continuing to feed her solids very intermittently, a few times a week. She's got the whole cheerio thing down. Kate shows a strong affinity for books, music, dolls and balls. Her first easter was great fun for all of us, and she examined each gift with a scientist's care. She is truly a delightful child.

New pictures here and here.