Almost 7 Months!

I never know where to start these updates. So much happens every single day and I don't want anyone to miss any of it, so I just keep snapping pictures and writing stuff down. These updates take hours (go through a month's worth of pictures and movies, choose the ones for the blog, make low-resolution copies so they upload faster, uploading, writing, editing!) - but they're a labor of love, and I really enjoy doing them. I need to figure out a way to make a copy of them for Kaylee, since they're a great record of her first year. Anyhow, on to the good stuff!

First, the past months of drooling and chewing and fussing have paid off. Kaylee has TEETH. As in more than one. As in TWO TEETH so far. And more are on their way. In barely two weeks, she has gone from one tooth barely showing (in the photo below), to two teeth well on their way up and hugely visible. I'm still working on getting a pic of the latter - when I get it I'll post it as a small update. You can barely make it out, but if you click on the picture to maximize it in your browser, you can see the white line of the lower front right tooth sticking through her gum. The first tooth broke through on 3/11, and the second arrived on 3/19 (front bottom left), so she now has both her bottom front teeth. They're very cute, and very sharp. I'm trying to redirect her biting to her teething toys.

First tooth - 3/11/09

Also, this past month, we got a box of love in the mail from our very bestest friends in the whole world - and inside was this adorable coat with a note that read, "Because every girl needs a fabulous coat!" This isn't the best shot of Kaylee in the coat, but you get the picture. The very next time I get her dressed up I will take more pics front and back so you can see how adorable this coat really is. The clothes sure don't last very long at this age, when they grow so fast! Thanks for the gorgeous coat, Matt, Jen, Emma, and Will! And for all the other goodies, too! You guys are the best!

Ooh, it fits PERFECT!

Here's one of Kaylee and Mommy just chilling out. She's such a happy baby!


Here are another few pics of snuggle time - these were taking during the super fussy couple days right before the first tooth broke out.

Kaylee and Mommy on the snuggle chair...

Kaylee drooling and chewing on Mommy's knee...

Kaylee immediately after the drooly chewy knee session...

Mocha likes to jump up and snuggle with us sometimes. We have been trying to teach Kaylee how to pet Mocha gently. Mocha is a very docile, tolerant cat. Kaylee starts out gently touching... and then she gets excited and grabs a big handful, and then when she gets even more excited (if that's even possible!), she screeches and that's usually when Mocha has had enough and jumps down and leaves the room. Suzie usually totally ignores all the Kaylee/Mocha loving sessions. Mocha will also snuggle with Kaylee and I in our bed if we happen to be there taking a nap. Mocha just likes a warm body to cozy up to...

Kaylee petting Mocha.

One thing that's been very very neat to watch is how Kaylee is putting things together now, and how fast she is learning and remembering things. One example is the interactive toys she has. Her exersaucer has a teapot that plays music. You have to tap the top of it to start the songs, and it plays through a repertoire of about 5 different ones. There are also little flashy lights that blink on and off while it plays tunes. One day, it clicked for Kaylee how to make the music play by herself and she was SO EXCITED! Now when we put her in the exersaucer, she immediately plays a few songs on the teapot before exploring the other toys...

Kaylee posing with the teapot as it plays her a song.

One of the first times we realized Kaylee knew
exactly what she was doing to play music!

A couple random pictures of our happy smiley baby!

Hi! Can I take a picture, too?

Uh, yeah okay, so where is my lunch again?

Hey! Look how fast I can run across the kitchen! My feet are totally blurry!

I like Nana's measuring cups. They taste like cookies!

Wearing a cute new outfit from Aunt Jennifer.

Another great smile!

Now we think our daughter is very photogenic and cute, and has a wonderful smile. But don't kid yourself - there is a lot of work that goes into photographing babies. Just wanted to show you an amusing example of what goes into a photo shoot to get one or two great shots. Remember that really cute St. Patrick's Day pic from a couple weeks ago (a couple updates ago)? Well, here are a few of the St. Patrick's Day duds. Very cute duds... but duds.

Oh, look! My Monkey!

Oops... I fell over!

What do you mean the camera isn't ready?

I DON'T WANNA TAKE PICTURES ANY MORE!

We have an adorable girly pink Gator onesie for our baby Gator. One afternoon, while Kaylee was in an exceptional mood, I took a few snaps of her in her crib. She had just learned pretty good sitting up skills, and we recently added a crib bumper to help her keep her arms and legs in at night (she is sleeping MUCH more soundly now that her arms and legs aren't constantly getting stuck!).

Baby Gator!

Every girl needs a pair of fluffy bunny slippers...

especially when they taste so good!

Hey. I'm sitting!

I'm still sitting... don't I look cute?

Kaylee has also been spending quite a bit of time on the floor, which is great for strengthening exercise as well as learning how to get around and exploring her world. She loves to play with her balls and toys, she scooches around the room, and she's getting stronger and has gotten up on her hands and knees quite a bit the last week or so. She's not crawling yet, but we think she's getting close...

I'm kinda getting bored here. Can we do something different?

Yeah! This is more like it, I like rolling around and playing with my balls!

Look at all these cool balls! They taste pretty good, too!

Balls rhymes with crawls. Let me practice what I need to do to crawl...

This getting ready to crawl thing is hard work!

A video of Kaylee up on her haunches, rocking a little,
getting ready to learn how to crawl. Ironically, this is
set to the score of the movie, "Times to Come," which is
based on the H. G. Wells story of the same name. We
thought this was hilarious.

Since Kaylee is getting around a little more now, we are finding that we have to occasionally contain her if we need to leave the room for more than a few seconds. We brought her pack & play into the living room, and she spends a little bit of time in it. Most of the time she doesn't mind too much, but if we leave the room for too long, she lets us know she isn't too happy about it. If we go out to prepare a meal or something, we usually bring her into the same room as us so she can maintain eye contact - this avoids tears, usually.

Kaylee quietly playing in her play pen - note the little
furry sentinels on guard, keeping Kaylee from harm.

Aww.... what a great smile!

Kaylee and Grammie Rioux...

Along with Kaylee's great smile comes her awesome giggles and screeches. We managed to get a few in movie form... we're now working on the screeches becoming a little more volume controlled - she's loud enough that it hurts our ears and we need to teach her the difference between loud and quiet.

Kaylee making mommy giggle...


Daddy making Kaylee screech!

And a random video of Kaylee learning how
to play Nintendo with Daddy... She knows
she should be pushing buttons on the controller...

And one more cute pic just to get you through until the next update! Thanks for keeping up with us!

Bye! See you next time!