Backwards Binky

Kate has never really been into pacifiers.  In the past, most of the time if you offered Kate a pacifier when she was upset or unhappy, it would just make her more upset or unhappy.  It was like she knew we were trying to calm her and that wasn't what she wanted so she let us know.  We've never really pushed a pacifier for that reason exactly and because we thought it would be another item that we would eventually have to ween her off of.  If she was into pacifiers we would definitely offer them, but since she wasn't they weren't really an option.

A couple of months ago, however, her daycare providers told us that she was really interested in other kid's pacifiers.  She has a pacifier that is kept at her school just in case, but she wasn't interested in that one.  She was interested in everyone else's!  We had a package of two pacifiers that were different than the one she had a school but similar to the ones that the other kids had that she was interested in.  We received them as a shower gift before she was born and we decided to test them out!

Over the last month, we've found that she has gotten a lot more into pacifiers for nap time and night time use.  (We don't really promote day use.)  We've even gotten into a routine after bath time to grab her pink blanket (which is a must no matter where we are) and her pacifier (which we call her "bink") right before we give Jack an after Kate bath treat.  It's become a nighttime tradition!

We've noticed that Kate sometimes likes her bink backwards!  Or upside down really!  (Backwards just sounds better with the title!)  She's the one that will put it in the opposite way and she'll keep it like that.  (I usually move it to the correct position because I don't want her to have any sort of dental issues.  Not that using a binky backwards will really do that...but they're made a certain way for a reason, right?!)



Kate with her backwards bink and her blanket right before bedtime!
Such a sweetheart!

We've also noticed that nowadays when she doesn't want her pacifier that we are offering, she takes it from us, still gets more upset, but now she throws it.  Yeah, we're working on that, but in the meantime we are allowing Kate to enjoy her bink.  Backwards/Upside down or not!

Polka Dot Princess

We attended Kate's 15 month appointment today and learned that she is now 21 lbs. 14 oz. (70th percentile for weight) and 30" tall (30th percentile for height).  Our doctor was very impressed with Kate's vitals and abilities and we went over what to expect in the next 3 months!  She is healthy and happy and growing like a weed!  We also reviewed Kate's current vocabulary which includes:

Dog (Pronounced "Dah")
Dada (Sometimes Daddy - spoken like, "da-DEE!")
Mama
Ball ("Baah")
All done ("Ahh dah")
Bubble ("Bah-bl")
More ("Mah")
Hot dog ("Hah dah")
Outside ("aht-sigh")
Hi (She is very good at this one!)
Steps ("Steh")
Top
Dots (And this one is so cute!)

Kate can wave hello and bye-bye, she claps and blows kisses,"winks", does an alligator chomp and a fish mouth and makes a snake sound, can crawl up and down steps (and now ladders - see below), and will follow simple commands such as, can you put the top on, please? or, please put your toys in the bin.  She absolutely loves to help whenever and wherever she can.  For example, she likes to help take things out of the fridge and/or put them back after we've used them or help stir ingredients in a bowl on the counter, etc.  She loves to assist!  She also is able to follow simple commands like, please give this fork to Daddy, or, please put this in the trash bin.

Even though Kate is still learning her words, she understands nearly everything that we say.  If we ask her if she hears the airplane, she will look up and say "aht-sigh" (see above for definition).  If we ask her if she would like more, she is able to shake her head yes or no.  Sometimes she will tell us "mah! mah!", also signifying that she would like more.  She has started using her spoon and fork a lot more regularly and can even take a few supervised sips from a cup without a top!

She loves to play and be silly and the facial expressions that this little lady has keep us all cracking up!  She is extremely intelligent and is able put all of her peg pieces on the right colors - yeah, the ones that we went bass fishing for - and will also point to an object if you, say, ask her where the light is.  She is our little ar-teest and if there is a pen/pencil/marker/[insert writing utensil here] in sight, she will clamour to get it in her grasp and then search frantically for a piece of paper to doodle on too.  (We are thankful she has not yet discovered the canvas of walls throughout our house.)

She loves her pooch, but is very wary of his chompers and how quickly he grabs his ball or treats (or any food item that is in his reach for that matter).  She loves to give Jack treats and will usually give him 5 or so more than he would've gotten from Brian or me, so you know he loves her too!  The two of them like to play ball, hide and seek, and chase together too - usually with parental assistance to be sure it doesn't get too rough.  They are becoming quite the pair!

She is a pretty amazing pint-sized 15-month old!  She learns more and more every single day and we continue to be so extremely grateful that she is our little girl!

Just arrived at the doctor's office.

And she absolutely had to use my pen after I signed her in!

This one cracks me up!

Is she a righty?!  That concentration would lead me to believe so,
but I think it may still be too early to tell.

Trains!

It's impossible to get pens away from her right now.

It's also impossible to get chapstick away from her right now.

First ascent on a ladder!

And so proud of it too!

Bass Fishing

Before you think Brian or I have taken up a new hobby, let me further my explanation...

First of all, I mean "bass".  As in "bass" with a long 'a', like 'ace', NOT bass with a short 'a', like 'ask'.

Second of all, instead of using a rod, line and live bait to fish with, we are using an unfolded wire hanger and super sticky black tape.  We've unplugged the live wire.

Third of all, it's not fish we are after at all.  We are wantin' to get us some puzzle pieces!  Do you see where I'm going with this?  Yep, that's right.  I said puzzle pieces.

Ladies and Gentlemen, after 15 months of living with the stereo bass mere inches from Kate's play area, the little hole on the front of our stereo bass doubled as a puzzle piece sorter.

The stereo bass in the play area...

That hole in the front just begs to have small things placed inside.

Let me back up.

We had just finished lunch.  Kate and I came into the living room to play.  I sat on the couch and was literally off in my own world for no more than 30 seconds.  I heard play noises (like puzzle pieces and puzzle boards) in the background but thought Kate had pulled her puzzle down and pulled all of the pieces off to do her puzzle, just like she normally does.

Pulling a puzzle down...

...like she normally does.

When I looked over at her at 31 seconds, I noticed the clanging and clattering I was hearing was several puzzle pieces being placed gently into the hole in the front of our bass.  Then, those said puzzle pieces falling into the bottom of said bass.  Obviously, I immediately put a stop to it in the most non-reactive/get my point across way as possible.  (I figured if I made a big deal about it, she would simply continue to do it just to watch my reaction.  She loves that.)

I had wondered about this little hole from the moment we started playing with toys.  I wondered if Kate would ever notice it and if she would ever get curious as to where that little tunnel leads.  I knew in the back of my mind that it was really only a matter of time.  What kid wouldn't want to put something inside of something?!  Quite frankly, even I kind of want to put little things inside of that hole.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed her just about to place one of her seven dwarfs into this space.

One of these little guys was fixing to experience a time out in the bass.

I stopped her before it could happen, and she resumed playing, but that was really the first time she had ever shown any interest in this little hole.

This time I was not so lucky.  By the time I realized what was happening, Kate had placed six of her puzzle pieces to her favorite puzzle into the bass.  Three red and three blue.

Kate's favorite peg puzzle.

Yes, 30 seconds is all it takes to loose six puzzle pieces into an abyss.  (For future reference.) 

Brian and I turned the bass over and heard clanging and clattering.  Surprisingly, a couple puzzle pieces came out of a hole underneath of the bass.  We could not (and still cannot) figure that out at all, but we quickly placed those back where they belonged.  For the rest of the pieces, we were not so lucky.  We unplugged the bass and started devising a way to retrieve the rest of the misplaced puzzle pieces.

We ended up taking a wire hanger, straightening it out, and put some super sticky tape on one end.  AKA, a make-shift fishing rod.

Yes, very make-shift.

And we started fishing...

Lookin' into the fishin' hole!

You can even see the tail of a puzzle piece!

Bass Fishing!

Brian did a stellar job fishing!  He was fantastic and fished all of the puzzle pieces out but one blue square that we are nearly positive is still in the bass. We don't hear it clanging and clattering when we turn or tip the bass at all, so we don't even know where to start with that one.

Missing one blue square is going to drive me crazy...

Our bass fishing was inevitable (and preventable, but that is besides the point).  We learned a.) that we need to cover that hole, and b.) square puzzle pieces that fit in round bass holes only come out one way.

Now we know the dilemma the astronauts faced on Apollo 13.

UPDATE: I am OCD when it comes to Kate's puzzle pieces.  It really drove me crazy that there was one random puzzle piece stuck in the bass for many reasons.  How were we going to count FOUR blue squares when we only had three?  Where on earth is this puzzle piece lodged in the bass?  I've tipped, shaken, and tipped this thing again and I don't hear ANYTHING!!!  (I actually considered buying a completely new puzzle.)  Knowing that little puzzle piece was missing was so aggravating.  I would randomly just shake the bass, thinking that it has to dislodge at some point, right?  What the hell is inside of a bass that would cause a square puzzle piece to be stuck somewhere?!

Fortunately, my random bass shake worked a couple weeks later.  I had just gotten home from work and I shook the bass. CLING!  CLANG!  CLATTER!  Oh, the sounds!  The glorious sounds of the puzzle piece in the bass!  I immediately fished it out and we have not looked back since!  We are back to 100% puzzle piece capacity, and I can sleep at night.

All is as it should be.

UPDATE #2: The hole is now covered!

So Grown Up

One of Kate's favorite things to do right now is to feed her baby.  She takes her baby from her stroller, grabs the bottle of milk or juice, and feeds her.  It is really quite cute to watch her play!  She likes to bring her baby over to the steps and sit with her while she feeds her.  (I think this is Kate's way of "playing on the steps" without necessarily playing on the steps!)

We are noticing more and more how much bigger and more grown up Kate is getting, especially with her communicating more and understanding what we are saying.  Seeing her play like a little girl would with her baby doll has us doing a double take.  She just looks so big!

Our big little girl.

I asked her if she would smile and got this!
Such a sweet face!

Our baby, who quickly turned into our toddler, is turning into our little girl even faster!  And while we are so looking forward to all the amazing moments and conversations that we have yet to come, we are also trying to revel in the moments we are presently having. We've learned all to well that those little moments go by very fast.

Meanwhile, the opposite appears to be happening to our dog:

Bones seems less and less to be growing up and more and more
to be acting like our baby dog - cuddling, snuggling, and
sleeping on the couch... What a life!

Sit N Spin

Kate recently got to experience the joys of a Sit N Spin at her school recently!  The teachers told us that she was the only one that figured out how to sit and spin!  I was so impressed when I picked Kate up and they informed me of this.  I am a full supporter of her intelligence day in and day out, but hearing it from other (read: non-biased) people is music to my ears!  Kate is very much interested in learning her world around her and how things work.  The Sit N Spin is just one of many examples!

Ethan and Kate.

Two side notes on the photo above:

1. I'm not sure why the photo was taken mid-schnoz wipe, but it's the only one I have so I'm not complaining!  We have a very, very cute video that I am still working on trying to post but am having some technical difficulties.  As soon as that is remedied we will post it in an update!

2.  Ethan.  Oh, Ethan.  Ethan was in Kate's first ever class - Infant 1.  He is just slightly older than her and moved on up to Infant 2 a couple of months before Kate did.  When it was Kate's turn to move up to Infant 2, she was placed in Ethan's class.  (There are two Infant 1 classes and two Infant 2 classes where Kate goes to school.  There is only one class for all other age groups.)  From the moment Kate entered Ethan's Infant 2 class, he has not left her side.  He absolutely adores her, and he is such a sweet little boy.  You can just tell that he's got a big heart and seeing the two of them together is just darling!  Every time I go to pick Kate up, Ethan watches us until we leave.  It seriously is like seeing one of those romantic kid photos that always ends up on a Hallmark card where the photo is black and white and there is one beaming red rose.

Kate is not as enamored with Ethan as much as he is with her but that is probably for the better.  I'm not entirely sure how I would explain to her Daddy that his 14 month old daughter has a boyfriend.  Remember, this was from before Kate was even out of utero.  Quite frankly, I'm not entirely sure how I would grasp that concept either.   Neither Brian nor I are in any rush to start talking about boys...

Exploring the tunnel after the Sit N Spin!

Amish Country

Today we celebrated Brian's Grandpa's 82nd birthday with a little gathering at Der Dutchman - an Amish restaurant on the outskirts of town.  As usual, it was wonderful to get together with this fine group of people.  The food was good and Kate enjoyed exploring the restaurant and entertaining a table just around the corner from us (under complete supervision, of course).

Kate and her Great Grandpa!

Daddy, Kate, Great Grandpa, and Papaw!
What a cute smile!

Four generations: Jay (82), Mary (59), Brian (37), & Kate (1).

The whole crew celebrating with Jay!

We continue to be thankful for the family that surrounds us, the good times that we have together, and the love that we all share.

Happy 82nd birthday, Dad/Jay/Grandpa/Great Grandpa!

Our Little Fishie

Kate learned what a fish does!  Here is her fishie debut:

Frozen

The weather over the past couple days has been unseasonable cold.  Weather reporters all over the nation are talking about the polar vortex that is sweeping through several parts of the US of A causing lower-than-normal temperatures.  And when I say lower than normal what I mean is it is so cold that everything is absolutely FROZEN.  No lie, people.

The average temperature for this area around this time of year is in the upper 20's/low 30's.  This is central Ohio.  It's winter.  We expect that, BUT...

...I don't believe the high today was above ZERO!  We don't expect that!

-4 degrees F at 5:00 PM!  PM!

It is so cold outside that condensation from inside of the house is frozen to the window.  We literally have ice inside our house.

Frozen window.

Even the streets are frozen.

Everything is just frozen white.  It could be salt debris, but I'm nearly
positive that I felt the street shivering below me as I drove on it.

Believe it or not, despite the polar vortex that has frozen everything that we know, Jack still wants to play ball...

We give him t-minus 3 minutes before he is frozen solid too.

(For the record, we didn't tempt the "frozen dog" experiment.)

It's supposed to warm up into the 30's in the next couple days, which I can guarantee will nearly feel like shorts weather, comparatively!  We were due for a good, cold season and, so far, Old Man Winter has completely delivered!  As crazy as it sounds, having four distinct seasons is one of the many things I love about living in central Ohio.  Even with negative temperatures!

Just think, in a few months will be singing Here Comes the Sun, and probably seeing record temps then too!

Tiny Trim

What better way to start the year off then getting a fresh new fade?!  Today we gave Kate her very first trim!  We plopped her down in her bumbo and evened out the back and the sides around her ears!  She doesn't have a ton of hair but it is growing, so we thought it would be best to keep it trimmed and tidy and not look like we are raising some sort of ragamuffin.  Yes, I said ragamuffin.

Kate wonders what exactly I will be doing with the scissors I
have in my hand.

We tell her that we are going to trim her hair and she points to her hair!

BEFORE: Pushing the 'party in the back' look.

A juice box and a pen provide the perfect distraction so that I can
get into deep concentration for the trim.

AFTER: A new 'do!
Sorry, this was the best after photo I got.  The juice was gone
and we didn't have a paper for Kate to write on...

Trust me, it's amazing how much a little trim can make such a big difference!  And, since I'm a sentimental freak, I had to save a little clipping of her trimmed hair.  I've put it with her baby book, but I'm not entirely sure that this counts as her first hair cut yet.  Perhaps this little lock of hair is the first hair cut place holder.

...Or perhaps it will forever have a spot as the first trim.

Either way, our little girlie has a new 'do!  And we think she looks lovely!