HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATELYN!

Katelyn Leigh, you are a big ONE YEAR OLD today! Today, you even looked older to mommy. I think it's because your hair is finally growing! We celebrated your birthday today by staying at home and preparing for your big party tomorrow. (Except for mommy's short trip to Target, Kohl's and Toys R Us to get a few black friday deals.). Big brother just couldn't wait for Daddy to get home from work for you to open your presents, so he gave you his gift this morning. He picked you out a stuffed character from Toy Story 3 (go figure). Her name is Dolly and we think you love her.
Auntie Joy gave you a cute new outfit too. Here you are wearing it. I think you are probably thinking "Ok, enough with the camera. Can you please help me get this big box out of this bag?"
At first, you weren't too interested in your cute little kitchen, but it did provide some good entertainment while mommy baked cupcakes a little later.
And you also got your first bouquet of flowers today...from Daddy.Earlier today, I had all intentions on writing about what you've been up to the past month in this post, but I think I will save that stuff for after we head to the pediatrician for your 1 year checkup! I can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you tomorrow, and Mommy needs to go to sleep.

Happy 1st Birthday sweet Katelyn! We love you so much!

Heigh Ho Heigh Ho

It's off to the ENT we go.

I knew something wasn't quite right when I laid Katelyn down in her bed last night and she did not even so much as whimper when I left the room. When I went back in to check on her, she was running a fever of 104.4. Scared.me.to.death. Especially since she has only one other time had a fever higher than a low grade fever. I moved her away from her bumper pad and uncovered her and it went down to 102. When she woke up a couple of hours later, I gave her Tylenol, changed her into cooler jammies, and put her back to sleep. She ended up in my bed an hour later.

I got her into the doctor as soon as possible this morning. Before the pediatrician even looked in her ears, she was talking about our referral. Well, she was right. After she cleaned out the gobs of wax from both ears, she was able to see the bulging double ear infection once again. Not even 2 weeks after we got rid of it.

So, we've got Augmentin for now, even though the pediatrician wasn't confident it would do anything for her. I guess we just wait until December 2 and hopefully get some answers about how to help her poor little ears.

On a good note, even with her yucky, infected, fluid-filled ears, she discovered a new sound today. She was saying "bababa" all day long. So cute. And a few days ago, she crawled over to me, laid her head on my chest, and (I swear) said "mama". It could have been a muffled "b" sound I guess, but I'm counting it.

And I rarely post without pictures, so here's a cute one of Katelyn and her buddy Ethan from their playdate on Friday. They (and I) had so much fun! And P.S. I cannot believe this little munchkin is going to be a big 1 year old in 11 days!!

It's official

Well, it's been a week, so I guess we're officially done. Nursing that is. We had dropped a feeding in attempt to get her to have longer nursing sessions (and because she was pretty much refusing one a day anyway). For about a week, she did great nursing three times and continuing to eat her solid foods like a little piggy. Last Tuesday morning, she nursed well. And that was it. She just completely refused and had no interest whatsoever after that. I offered for every feeding for a week. I have mixed emotions about this abrupt stop. Part of me is sad, because I know that bonding experience is over for me for good. But part of me is thankful for the freedom it brings as well. I think I will have a large slice of chocolate fudge cake and and fully caffeinated Starbucks to celebrate almost making it to her first birthday.

Thankfully Enfamil came out with their Enfagrow Vanilla Toddler Formula for 12-36 month olds (yes, I know she's not 12 months yet. keep reading.) and sent a $12 coupon in the mail just in time. Otherwise I don't know what she would be drinking. She gags on regular formula and only takes a few sips of cow's milk at a time. So although it smells like she is drinking vanilla cake mix, maybe she's getting what she needs, right? Still a little worried she's not getting quite enough. Pediatrician says a minimum of 16 oz per day and she's only taking about 12-14. I think she would just rather eat.

I guess my little girl is growing up. It is so much fun to watch her figure things out. I took some pictures of her a week or so ago while Collin was carving his pumpkin with daddy. She was playing with the refrigerator magnets.

I know this goes in here somehow...

That's not quite right...

Got it!Yay Katelyn!Just another cute one.

Happy Halloween!

Collin has been so excited about Halloween this year, so we spent lots of time preparing (you'll remember we decorated and bought costumes on 10/1) and doing Halloween/fall activities. Last weekend, we went to a corn maze, where we went on a hayride, played in a "corn box", and of course went through the maze (not the whole thing, just a couple of spots on the map). Collin really enjoyed making his pirate potato head pumpkin this year too. He definitely liked that activity better than this one.Yesterday, we went to Nanna's for a fall festival with Nanna, Aunt Kandace, Mimi, Gran, and Grandaddy. Collin had a great time in the bounce houses, and he even got his hair painted! Best of all, they got to try out their costumes! Last night, Collin woke up coughing at around 3:30. I went into the room where he was sleeping to give him some water. He got out of bed and started telling me that we needed to eat dinner and go put his costume on. Needless to say, he has been looking forward to trick or treating! He trick or treated our entire street tonight. His bag was so heavy it was making it hard for him to walk straight! His "treat basket" is filled to the rim. Hopefully he will eat good lunches and dinners so that he can get lots of treats (so Mommy and Daddy won't eat all of that candy!). Katelyn enjoyed her first wagon ride tonight and almost made it the entire time with Collin. Here are some cute pictures of our cute cowboy and little fairy. Happy Halloween!

1 more to go!

Wow, Katelyn you are 11 months old today! I cannot believe the next time I sit down to write your monthly post, it will be your birthday! Here's what you've been up to this month:

You are ON. THE. MOVE. You know those cute pictures I have taken of you on the 26th of every month? You know, the ones where you sat in the chair, looked at the camera, and smiled? Yeah. Not today. This was the absolute best one. The rest of the time, I was wrestling you to sit back down.You are crawling all over the place and you pull up to your knees all of the time.

You love brother's toys. If you spot one of his toys within your reach, you immediately drop what you have and make a bee-line for it.

You have another bottom tooth (for a grand total of 2). Which you have used to bite Mommy with on quite a few occasions.

You grew into (and out of) your size 2 shoes. Don't worry, we made a couple of trips to Target this week and bought you some cute brown and black shoes that will hopefully last through the winter.

You went on a slide for the first time, and LOVED it!

You have dropped one nursing session (I think). You now nurse 3 times a day. You also got your first taste of formula. You HATED it.

Therefore, you also got your first taste of cow's milk (against doctor's orders, but I'm glad you did). Because you also HATED that. I have been mixing a small amount in your sippy cup of water to get you used to the taste.

You have completely boycotted falling asleep on your own (however, you have done it for afternoon nap twice). Mommy is not stressing about it and completely enjoying rocking a sleeping baby.

You sleep until 7:30. This is a 2 hour improvement over last month, so THANK YOU!

You cry out for Daddy in the middle of the night to help you find your paci at least 1-20 times. Just tonight, he suggested we put 6 in the crib with you. (There you go as we speak).

Your sweet little ears have been infected since the 28th of September. After 20 days of antibiotics and still bulging eardrums, Mommy had to take you three times for rocephin shots. It was awful. But it worked. Hoping your ears stay clear for the next month. If not, you get to see an ENT who will most likely recommend tubes.

You say dada. And I think you say "all done." It sounds more like "a da" but you say it every time you are finished nursing.

You have bumped your head repeatedly in the past 2 weeks and have your first 2 bruises on your forehead to show for it.

You are still loving food.

And you have an attitude about it (among other things). When it is time to eat, I sit you in your highchair. You proceed to grab anything in front of you (bib, tray, etc.) to where it is almost impossible to strap you in your chair. When I finally get your tray on the chair, you very matter of factly point/tap (repeatedly) on your tray. It's as if you are saying, "Food. Here. Now."

Katelyn, you are sweet as ever and we love you so much. Happy 11 months! Here are a few more pictures I took today while attempting to get your "11 month photo".

What a mess!

Little Miss Katelyn is definitely on the move now. She wants to get into EVERYTHING! Give her a container (box, bowl, bag, etc.) filled with anything and she's quiet for a long time. It's fun to just watch her take each item out, examine it to see if it interests her, shake it to see if it makes a noise, put it in her mouth to see what it tastes like, put it down and start pulling something else out. She made her first official MESS the other day when she got into her diaper bag.
First, it was just her sippy cup.Up next, puffs and tissues.Brief pause to try to get Mommy's camera.Now, what else is in here?Oh, some diapers and wipes.Boring! What else?Girl loves her shoes.Maybe there's an extra paci in here.Mommy uses this a lot. There must be something good in here.Yep. That's a choking hazard. She was 100% supervised during this little adventure, I promise.One of her favorites!Sorry for the mess Mommy!