Thirteen And A Half Months

So much going on in my life these days.  Mommy is keeping us pretty busy.  

Most weeks, our schedule is: 
*Mondays - I catch up on my sleep from missing a nap on Sunday.  And, I always look forward to a visit from NaiNai - and some of her delicious Chinese food (I love her green beans and her tofu with pork, too).  
*Tuesday is Play Group day.  We either meet our friends at a nearby park or at someone's home.  Mommy enjoys getting to know the other mommies and asking them all sorts of parenting questions.
*Wednesday morning is the Beth Moore Bible Study for mom at church.  I go and play in the nursery.  I am enjoying the nursery and time with other kids more and more each week. 
*Thursdays (every other week) is MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers).  
*Fridays is another day to catch up on my naps.  And, I usually get to see NaiNai in the afternoon.

*On the weekends, I get to enjoy time with my Daddy - and I love it!  Sundays we go to Small Group and then church.  Then I usually fall asleep on the way home and only take one nap on those days.  Mommy says I'm a bit of a sour pickle in the late afternoon.

Some new things for me:   I can now drink through a straw - and I really like it (and Mommy says it makes life so much easier)!  Mommy found me some new crocs (well, some fake ones) and I love to wear them everywhere - and I love trying to eat them too - until Mommy catches me and takes them away!  I am getting into EVERYTHING!  Several cabinets in the kitchen now have rubber bands around the knobs to keep me out.  They did leave open the cabinet with the tupperware - and I LOVE to play in there. Mommy keeps finding lids all over the house.

Last weekend, Daddy and Mommy took me to the Brookfield Zoo.  I wasn't too sure what to think of all those animals - but it was neat to see these things I've been looking at in my books.  I liked the animals that were smaller than me more than the big ones.  It was a fun day and I look forward to going back soon.

Enjoy photos and videos of my last two weeks: 

 

my new shoes:

giving my friend, Kimi, a kiss :)

Mommy - I think this swing is too big for me 

 

Fun at the zoo:

 

Playgroup at a nearby park (my friend, Shelby, is pushing me in the swing):

 

Fun around the house and in the car:

 

And some videos:

Thirteen Months

  Time is flying by.  Mommy and Daddy cannot believe that I am 13 months old today.  I think that they are ready for time to slow down because I am growing up so fast.
  Over the last few weeks:
- I have graduated to the big kids tub.  I was skeptical at first and then really had fun with it.  But, the last few days I am not enjoying it.  Mommy thinks that it is because she will not let me stand up so I keep pitching a fit.  She hopes I will soon learn that she is just trying to protect me and keep me safe.
- We had a fun evening at a nearby water park with our church.
- Mommy and Daddy celebrated their 2-year wedding anniversary on August 28th - I am sure glad that they got together and then had me :)
- I've had several play dates with friends - and am slowly warming up to other people. 
- I am walking all over the house.  Mommy and Daddy are having to be more careful about keeping doors and cabinets closed.  
- I am talking up a storm.  If only my parents could understand what in the world I am saying!
- I still only have 5 teeth.  My parents are beginning to wonder where the rest of them are.
- Mommy is amazed at how quickly I am learning new things.  For example, she can say to me, "Caitlyn, please hand me the red car" and I will do just that.  

Daddy is putting some batteries in a few toys for me

When Mommy pulls out the camera these days,
I sometimes pitch a fit if she does not let me hold it

 Enjoying the big tub:

   

   

I love reading with Daddy at night:

Walking all over the house:

   

   

 Loving on my Pooh that I got for my birthday:

Having fun playing in the Bumbo seat:

   

 Looking at the back yard with Daddy:

Mommy loves me in this tennis outfit that a friend gave me for my birthday:

   

    

And some video footage too:

Twelve And A Half Months

Yep, Mommy decided that after the ONE year mark, we are now going to try to do this blogging thing twice a month (unless there is something so exciting that it can't wait that long and then we'll do it more often).
   These last two weeks have been filled with more fun things. One day we met our Wednesday play group (ladies and kids from church) at a water park - I had a blast as you'll see in the photos above.  Mommy was shocked at how daring I was and how much I enjoyed the water.  Another day we went out to Naperville for me to meet some of Mommy's Crusade friends who were at STINT Briefing - she loved showing me off although I was super shy.  We also went to Sears one day to get some portraits made of me.  I didn't cry or fuss too much but I was super shy and it was hard to get my picture without Mommy in it too.
  I continue to grow and learn so many new things.  I can now wave bye-bye, blow Daddy a kiss as he's leaving for work, blow raspberries, clap my hands, drink from a sippy cup - sometimes all by myself, do a nice assisted tuck-and-roll (one of my favorite new things- Thanks NaiNai for teaching and helping me!), feed myself all sorts of things - I especially like grapes and kiwi these days.  
  With all this new independence comes a bit of stubbornness too - Mommy and Daddy wonder if I just flipped a switch when I turned one - because I can throw quite the fit when I am not happy/want something/don't want something/or just about anything that sets me off. 
  Mommy is also in the process of weaning me from breast milk (I think this saddens her more than it does me but she knows it is time because I am not as interested any more). At the moment, I am not too fond of cow's milk.  So, please join Mommy in praying that I'll develop a liking of that stuff.  For now, she just puts in my cereal or rice/broccoli or whatever she can find to add it to.  I also get a small cup of yogurt each day after my afternoon nap and sometimes I get some cheese during the day too.   

Fun photos and videos from these past two weeks:

Our birthday -August 6th - glad to have the same birthday as my Auntie Althea: 

A Super Dawg to celebrate our birthday: 

I love "helping" Mommy do the laundry:

       

Look at those curls in the back:

  

Mommy just laughs at the way I look at her sometimes:

Loving me some Winnie The Pooh:

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED play-group at the Water Park:

  

   

Heading outside to enjoy the beautiful weather:

   

   

   

   

   

Some photos of me in the dress I wore for the Sears photo shoot: