Summer Birthday Parties

Our friend, Peyton, turned 6 in August!  She had a fun pool party to celebrate and we really enjoyed swimming with her.  

Our friends, the Johnson's, were also at the party! We were so excited that they drove up from Roseburg!  

Warming up and drying off!  

Our friend, Josiah, turned 3 in August and he celebrated with a barn party at Lone Pine Farms.   

Caitlyn is all ready for the party complete with the bandana in her pigtails from the invitation!

Caitlyn rode the cow train for the first time!  But, she was too little to go by herself so I had to go with her!  It was actually pretty fun!

First Swimming Lessons

For 2 weeks in August, Caitlyn had her first swimming lessons!  I liked to call it "Mommy and Me" class but to be politically correct it was really "Parent-Child" class.  She was in the Penguin class at the River Road pool that had babies ages 6 months to 2 years.  We had a great time swimming together each morning of the week.  We played with toys and also learned basic swimming skills like kicking or making bubbles.  At the beginning of the week Caitlyn hung on to mommy tight but towards the end of the 2 weeks she put her head under the water and would let go of me to splash!  She even got her first progress report on the last day! Daddy was able to come one day to take some pictures of us.  She seems to love the water!

16 Months - September 4, 2012

September 2011 - 4 Months Old

September 2012 - 16 Months Old 

Summer is winding down and Caitlyn is now 16 months old!  Here is the latest on our little Caitlyn Grace:

Growing: I put Caitlyn on the scale today and she is 22.8 pounds which is the 29th percentile.  It's too hard to measure her at home but when we were at her doctor's office at 15 months she was 32 inches tall which is the 92nd percentile.  When it comes to clothes she's in a 12 month for weight and an 18 month for height.  So, we have been doing both sizes this summer!    

Eating: Our new adventure at meal time is throwing our food on the floor!  But we've noticed that she is doing this when she is just about all done we get her out of her highchair quickly!  She is till having 3 meals a day and an afternoon snack.  She has milk with her breakfast and lunch and water during dinner because we give her milk at bedtime.  We are now starting to give her milk her a sippy cup at night so I'm thinking we will box up the last of the bottles any day now!  On a typical day we've noticed that she will have a big breakfast and a big dinner but her lunch seems to be lighter.  Caitlyn has also started to try to feed herself with a spoon! 

Spaghetti Face

Sleeping: Caitlyn is still sleeping 12 hours at night and still taking 2 naps a day.  We have tried giving her 1 nap in the afternoon a few times and it just doesn't work!  She still needs 2 a day to keep everyone happy so that is what we will do!  I've heard 18 months is a typical age (for active kids) to drop the morning nap so we will try 1 nap again in a couple months.  We moved Caitlyn up a size in her Halo Sleep Sack so she is still sleeping in "her sack" instead of a blanket.  I love knowing that she wont be able to climb out of her crib when she is wearing her sack!  

The bumper doubles as an ottoman!

Teething: She now has 16 teeth so that means only 4 more need to come in!  She recently got her cuspids and the last teeth that are still to come in are her second molars.  Her teeth seem to come in, in groups or pairs so I'm just expecting one more time of teething.  

Moving: She is all over the place walking, running, climbing or even spinning!  But that also means we have dealt with a few bumps, cuts, and bruises.  This summer she has had a "fat lip" and a large red bump on her forehead in between her eyebrows.  She has recently learned how to climb up onto the furniture and loves to sit on the couch like a big girl.  She is still loving the swing at the park but now she has discovered her love for sliding down the slide!  Caitlyn is also working on walking up and down steps and enjoys doing it on her own and then clapping for herself!  

First "fat lip"

Talking: She is saying many words now and it's been fun to see all the new words she is starting to say.  Some of her new words are doggy, Tia,  ba (ball), bubbles (bu-bu), and baby.  Any 4 legged creature is a "doggy" to her!  

Sign-Language: Her new signs are bath and please.  We are starting to work on thank you.

Likes: Hairclips, yep, she's done with the phase of pulling them out!  Some of her latest likes are combs, wipes, toothbrush (if she holds it), milk, veggies, the park, balls, her car and train, playing outside, playing with other kids, swimming, books, and music.  

Dislikes: Some of her latest dislikes are her carseat, potatoes, getting her diaper changed, mom leaving after being dropped off in the toddler room at church or Mom Group, and people she doesn't know well.  

14 Months on the 4th of July

July 4, 2011 - 2 months

July 4, 2012 - 14 months

Today is the 4th of July and Caitlyn's 14 month birthday.  Yes, 14 months already!  Wasn't I just pregnant yesterday?  Apparently not, because we now have a little toddler in our house, not a baby.  She has grown and changed a lot just in the last 2 months since my post about her 1st birthday.  Here is the latest:

Growing: We don't have another scheduled well-check until 18 months so I'm not exactly sure on her weight and height but on our scale at home she is about 22 pounds.  She is still wearing 12 month clothes.  The issue we have with her clothes is that her weight is in the 12 month category but her height is in the 18 month category.  So, her 18 month pants sag but her 12 month pants are capris.

Eating: She recently had peanut butter and fish with no reactions so she doesn't have any food allergies.  Caitlyn's only dislike is still just baked potatoes.  Her favorite foods lately are: cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, chicken, bananas, cheerios, crackers, and milk.  She loves her 2% milk!  She recently started drinking her milk cold which was a huge step for her.  We have been warming her milk for about a year now so drinking it cold has made it much easier on us.  Just a couple days ago I finally found a sippy cup that she would drink her milk from so we have started the process of taking away her bottles.  She has water in any type of sippy cup during meal times but for some reason she has really liked her milk in bottles.

Sleeping: She could win the gold medal in a sleeping contest!

Teething: Caitlyn now has 9 teeth and her 10th tooth is on it's way in.  The two most recent teeth to start to come in were her bottom 1st year molars.  She has dealt pretty well with teething except for the molars.  Lately, we have been calling her a "hot mess".  Luckily, her teething has not affected her night time sleep!  She does become clingy, whiney, and just a little fussy.  We have gotten into a routine of brushing her teeth morning and night and giving her flouride every morning.  For some reason she LOVES her flouride!

Moving: We now have a WALKER!  She started gradually walking.  I didn't feel like all of a sudden she started walking.  But the day that I felt like I actually had a walker was on June 10th when we were in Portland celebrating Grandpa Martens' birthday.  

Talking: She started saying a few words just after her 1st birthday.  She of course will say "Mama" and "Dada".  Sometimes she will just say "Ma" for Mom.  She says "bye bye" but it sounds more like "baba".  She will also say "dog" but it sounds like "dau".  And her latest word is "no"!

Sign Language: She started picking up on the sign language we have been teaching her at around 13 months old.  Right now she knows the signs for eat, more, milk, and all done.  Being able to communicate with Caitlyn has been so nice!  It's pretty cute to see her signing "eat" when she's hungry or "milk" when she gets out of the bath tub!  Before she could sign, she would just yell in her high chair when she wanted more food or when she wanted to get down.  So, that is what really motivated us to start teaching her the signs!

Likes: iphone, toys that light up or make noise, board books, her crib, music DVD's, moms keys, the bath, swinging, the park, running, Elmo, blocks, Tia, toy car, fridge farm, dishwasher, brushing her teeth, tylenol, and the tv remote.

Dislikes: Hair clips, the vacuum, public bathrooms, sitting still to get dressed, getting her nails clipped, being in her car seat for too long, being in her play pen, teething, hearing "no" from mom or dad, mom leaving, leaving the park, and missing a nap.

A few more pictures of our peanut on the 4th of July:

A bow in her hair is a rare moment!

Crab Buns!  Notice the hair bow is now in her left hand!

Blowing raspberries, another favorite!  

 

Summer Play Time

It's only June and we really haven't had much "summer" weather but the summer activities are in full swing!  We just wear long sleeves and ignore the rain!  We have had a few lunch playdates at the park this month.  We met our Moms group from church at the park for a baby shower and we also met our MOPS group at the park.  Caitlyn is having a blast being able to walk around the grass and with the other kids.

"Hmmm, what did everyone else have for lunch?
I think I might go try some of it!"

We also have fun going to our friends houses or having them come to our house.  We got together with Jen and Jesse recently at their house.  Jesse is only about 3 weeks younger than Caitlyn so they play great together.  Well, at this age they mostly just look at each other or poke each other and share sippy cups!

This week, we went out strawberry picking with our Moms group from church at Lone Pine Farms.  It was fun to go there this time of year because I've only been there in the fall.  But oddly, it felt like we were there in the fall because of the cool and rainy weather.  Caitlyn had an absolute blast picking strawberries!  She didn't hesitate at all to get muddy and dive right into the plants to find the berry.  She ate a lot of them before they got to the bucket and even ate the stems.  Oh well, a little roughage wont hurt her.  She missed her morning nap to go, which I hardly ever do, but it was worth it!  I wish I had taken a before picture because she was clean and had cute little pigtails in her hair.  When we left she was covered in mud and sticky fruit juice from her shoes to her head!  By the time we got in the car, to head home, she was exhausted!

"I found one, Mama!"

My muddy sticky mess of a child!  

I'm so glad that we have made so many new mom friends this past year!  It is good for Caitlyn to get together with other kids and I enjoy the adult time too.  It also helps us to keep busy when Nate is out of town like he was just this week!  We missed him but with all of our fun things we are doing we didn't have much time to be lonely.

Father's Day

We had another fun weekend with family and celebrated father's day together.  On Sunday, we visited with Jack and then spent the afternoon and evening just the 3 of us celebrating Nate!  We had fun at the park together and then I made Nate soft tacos for dinner.   I love our little family of 3 and I thank God every day for blessing me with them.  Nate is an amazing father to Caitlyn and I couldn't have asked for more.  I love how involved he is as a dad and he's been that way since the beginning when he went to all of my prenatal appointments with me.  I love to watch him pushing Caitlyn on the swing and in her little car.  He also enjoys his special daddy/daughter time when I am gone.  I think our little girl is going to have her daddy wrapped around her finger!  The thing I appreciate the most about Nate is how he works hard at the office everyday to provide for our family!    

My parents came down on Saturday so that I could be with my dad on Father's Day.  We went out to dinner that night and had a great time laughing with each other and eating yummy food at Lucky Noodle.  Thanks dad for also being an involved dad and Grandpa!  One of my most favorite childhood memories is, my dad, driving me to school everyday.  I was always running late so our drive to Westside was not always a pleasant one but I loved that my dad took to me school and picked me up everyday.  It was a little thing but something that I loved and haven't forgotten.  Now, I love that my dad loves being a Grandpa!  I know someday soon, Caitlyn will get up really early when Grandpa does just so she can sit on his lap when he reads the paper!  Just like I did with my Grandpa.  

Grandpa and Caitlyn (December 2011)

Mother's Day

This year was my 2nd Mother's Day but it really felt like my first.  Last year, we got home from the hospital with Caitlyn 2 days before Mother's Day so we really didn't do much.  I fed, held, and changed Caitlyn.  Don't get me wrong, I loved having my baby daughter with me on that special day but we were still adjusting and figuring out what we were doing!  This year we were able to get out and have some fun as a family!  We decided to have a quiet weekend, just the 3 of us.  I had seen my mom the weekend before so we both decided that we would each stay home this year.  After all, you don't have to be with someone for them to know you love them!  I had a great day with my husband and daughter and they made me feel special.  We went to Mucho Gusto for lunch and went on a walk because we actually had some great weather that day.  Other than that, I spent the day at home being incredibly thankful for the little family that God has blessed me with!

Mother's Day 2011 (Caitlyn: 5 days old)

Mother's Day 2012 (Caitlyn: 12 months  old)

 This last year, I have appreciated my mom more than ever and I'm so thankful to have her as my mom and Caitlyn's grandma!  She has been an amazing support to me as a new mom and has been by my side through the exciting times and frustrating times.  She has been there to offer her advice or to just listen.  She is always there when someone needs her.  She spent months caring for her mom and then after that she had me calling in tears not knowing what to do and needing her to come down.  And ofcourse, she was there!  Thanks mom, you are an inspiration!  We love you!  

May 4, 2012