8 is Great!

Happy 8 Months Katelyn! We love you sweet girl!

Katelyn turned 8 months old today and decided she should act like it. All of a sudden, her personality is really shining through and it's been so much fun interacting and playing with her. Here are some things I've learned the past couple of days about our 8 month old cuddle bug.

• She is the speed racer of rolling over. I'm not too sure where she's going, but she's going. Today, I found her under the bed upstairs. Playing peek-a-boo with the bed skirt. (When I say found her, I don't mean she was unsupervised. I was right next to her making hairbows. I looked up from the bow and saw two little legs sticking out. Speed racer, remember.)
• Because she's become quite the pro at rolling onto her belly, she's tolerating that position much better. Still not for too long, though. However, she does sleep on her belly now. But screams when she wakes up because she's stuck. (She only rolls one direction so far, so she can't flip back over.)

• She has learned the art of smiling to get what she wants. Or she's just plain happy. Not sure which, but I do know that even when she wakes me up in the wee hours of the morning, it's REALLY hard to be frustrated or upset with her. As soon as she sees me, she flashes that cute, toothless grin from ear to ear, and my heart just melts. I pick her up and snuggle every time like she'll sleep through the night tomorrow.

• She's a good inventor. She has invented this new game of throwing herself backwards when she's sitting for me to catch her and tickle her. So cute, but what happens when I'm not right behind her??
• She loves praise. Tonight, she picked up two toys and banged them together just as effortlessly as she could have. Of course I made a huge deal about it, and so she continued to do it over and over and over again.

And here are some things I'm looking forward to in the next month or so.

• Crawling. Okay, at least getting up on her hands and knees.
  
• Teeth! Although I love that cute, toothless grin, the hands, bib, burp cloth, toys, straps, Mommy's shirt, Collin's sippy cup of milk, anything that she can get her hands on, in the mouth is a bit much. Plus, I know she's looking forward to some yummy finger foods soon.
• Clapping and signing the word "more". Anything will be better than the ear piercing screaming she is doing at the dinner table.
  
• And today I really think I heard her say "ma". So anxiously awaiting the duplication of that syllable into that beautiful word, "mama".

When I go in there, will I be able to touch the bottom?

(i.e. what Collin said as we walked into one of the first exhibits of the Georgia Aquarium today). What a sweet boy. He was a little confused since I packed up his swimming suit in case we had time to drop in for a splash at Centennial Park after the aquarium.

Mike took off work today and we headed down to the aquarium with Mimi. Collin and Katelyn were both amazed (and a little unsure) at first. Collin's favorites were the crabs and divers. I loved the Belugas. Here are some pics from our trip!

In other news, Katelyn rolled over onto her belly yesterday for the first time, and she did it 2 more times today! I have a feeling she will be on the move sometime in the near future.

And Happy Birthday Mom!! Looking forward to spending time with you next week!

Collin's Photography Skills

Not too shabby if you ask me...

Okay Moms, Don't Blink...

Cause just like that your precious 8 lb. baby boy is doing this...



and this...



Collin finished swimming lessons last week and can now swim on his own! I wish I had a better video. We went to swim with Mag, Colt, Marley, Katie, and Ethan last Friday and he was doing so well, but I was in the water with him so I didn't get a video. He was swimming to me and back to the steps over and over and over and over...

And just like that your little 6 lb. peanut has graduated from her infant carrier and is now big enough to do this when you go to a restaurant to eat lunch...

Aside from our fun playdate on Friday, we haven't ventured far from the house this week. Unless of course you count our numerous trips to the store (Michaels, Kroger, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Toys R Us) and our yummy lunches at Vinny's and Steak and Shake. Okay, maybe we've been out of the house. I've also been working this week. I've covered for some vacations at a clinic near our house and gone to CHOA to do some evaluations. Collin and Katelyn got to spend some quality time with Daddy and Mimi while I was gone.

When we've been at home (which apparently hasn't been as much as I thought), I've been trying to learn more about my camera and get away from automatic mode. So here are some cute shots I've captured over the past week.

Have a great weekend!

Ch Ch Ch Changes

Why does it always seem like for days I have nothing to post and then all of a sudden I'm writing a novel? It just sometimes feels like everything happens at once. Both Collin and Katelyn have been very busy the past week.

First of all, Katelyn got to ride in the shopping cart for the first time. For those who don't know, she refuses to ride in her car seat/carrier in the grocery store. So I have been either carrying her or wearing her in the moby wrap or baby bjorn every week. She was starting to get really heavy (especially when I'm pushing a cart at the same time...sometimes one handedly). So we decided to give it a try. It went well. She laughed for the first 5 minutes (after she got done looking at me like this).

When we went to the mall to buy our Toy Story 3 tickets in advance, Collin rode the merry go round by himself for the first time. Katelyn was napping and he really wanted to ride. I was a little nervous, but of course he did fine.

We had a great 4th of July spending time with Kandace, Kelli, Jason, Carter, and Campbell. Here are some pictures from that day.

Water Balloons

Pool Fun

Slip N Slide

Sprinkler Mat

Katelyn took her first ride in the swing...

and Collin loved sparklers!! He was nervous at first, but then he went through 8 packages of them.

We saw a few fireworks from our driveway too.

The next day, the fun continued. Katelyn discovered the "Johnny Jump Up"

and we went mattress shopping for Collin's new BIG boy bed! I really thought he would be in his toddler bed for longer. But he was really starting to outgrow that toddler sized mattress. He kept waking up in the middle of the night. I would hear him on the monitor saying "Mommy, I'm not comfy." He also kept asking to sleep in our bed. So the cute little fire truck bed has been retired already. Here's the new room...

Ready for bed!

And so am I...