according to amy

nine months in, nine months out...

November 12, 2006

Dear Catherine,

         

Two days ago you were nine months old.  Today marks nine months from the day you were due to be born.  We continue to have such fun with you.  You still have four teeth, having neither gained nor lost any this month.  I think you have a few on the way, but it’s hard to say.  I made Daddy call the dentist to see when you need to go in for your first visit.  Apparently eight teeth are what they want to see.  You’re halfway there!

You are such an independent baby.  You love to sit up and scoot around the floor.  You’ve not figured out how to crawl forward yet, but you push yourself backwards on the hardwood floors.  We went to our cousin Kayla’s birthday party last month and you enjoyed the carpeting their so much that Daddy and I bought a rug for our living room.  You love to play on it.  We also picked up a playpen after we discovered that you believed that your Elmo gym existed solely to help you stand up on your own.  You like to sit in the playpen with all your toys and look at your board books.  Daddy and I think it is really neat when you flip through the pages on your own.  You are really starting to get the hang of how reading works. 

You got dressed up for Halloween and we took you trick-or-treating with your cousin Domanic.  You were the cutest little monkey ever!  You only got four pieces of candy (which Zoey and Abby stole and ate!) but you liked walking around and looking at all the kids. 

You had your first haircut this month!  Your hair was getting so long that it was always in your eyes unless you wore a barrette or a headband.  You and Daddy and I all went to see our hairdresser Katrina to get trims.  You look like such a big girl with your baby wisps gone.

We still haven’t gotten you used to your crib yet.  You will sit in it and play for a little bit but have no interest in sleeping in there.  We were going to try to start putting you in there for your naps but you and Daddy have been having such a nice time snuggling together.  When you were tiny, you wouldn’t sleep on a chest that didn’t have boobs (so no Daddy!).  Now you will snuggle up on your Daddy and take a nap for hours and hours.  He is really enjoying this time with you, so we’re holding off on putting you in your crib for now.  You still happily snuggle into your hammock next to our bed each night. 

You have started babbling more purposefully now, calling “dadadadadaaaaa” to your Daddy and “gaga” to your Granpa.  You still love to pet your kitty Bean and the puppies.  You have been having a little trouble with nice touching, pulling Mommy and Daddy’s hair and whacking us in the face.  We’re working on helping you be a bit gentler.

Aside from your tendency to be slightly rougher than we might like, you are the bestest, most wonderful girl ever.  Your Daddy and I love you more each day and are thrilled that we get to be your parents.

Love,

Momma

month eight

Dear Catherine,

         

Today you are eight months old.  The last eight months with you have been wonderful, but this last month has really been a great deal of fun.  You are reaching new milestones with amazing speed.  You have doubled the number of teeth in your cute little mouth, and are really into interacting with the world around you.  You love to sit up and play with your toys, Daddy’s Gatorade bottles, and anything else you can get your hands on.  You love to get out of the house and go places, like storytime with Daddy, shopping and walks with Mommy and the farmers’ market with Granma and Granpa.  You are getting to be quite an accomplished sitter-upper and try to pull yourself up to stand whenever you have a chance. 

You have become so expressive!  You have a face for every emotion, including your "dragon face," which you make when you are frustrated, angry or bored--and sometimes just for fun!  You purse up your lips, scrunch up your nose and breathe hard through your nose.  It is really hard to resist laughing at you.

You and Daddy spend every weekday together playing and hanging out while I am at work.  You and I get to spend lots of time together on the weekends but I miss you so much during the week.  Most nights we go to your Granma and Granpa’s house and have supper.  You have tried so many foods now!  This month we gave you some YoBaby, which is yogurt made for babies that includes cereal and fruit.  You are a big fan!  You are also working on using a sippy cup and playing with a spoon.  Some nights Granma gives you a bath in the sink and gets you ready for bed. 

You love to have sink bath and rock-a-bye with Granma!  Other nights we eat with Granma and Granpa and then come back upstairs to get you ready for bed.  You are still late to bed and late to get up but it seems to work for everyone, so we’re not going to mess with a good thing.

Your room is almost ready for you to take it over.  Your books are on the shelves, your dresser is clean and ready for your clothes, your closets are finished except for a little paneling and just a few things need to be moved around before it is all set for you.  I’m not sure you are ready to move in.  Daddy and I put your crib together over the last week and finally got it all ready the day before yesterday.  You liked playing in it when you were wide awake, but as soon as you got a little sleepy, you wanted nothing to do with the crib.  We tried to let you get used to it a bit but you just cried and cried, so we brought you back into your hammock in our room where you slept like a little angel.  You did take a nap in there yesterday and we tried putting you down there to sleep at night but you protested mightily so we brought you back out and you slept happily in the hammock again.  We’ll keep trying.

You still love to read and you get a new book every time we go to the grocery store.  You also love music.  You love to dance and be sung to.  When you want me or Granma to sing to you, you make a cute little singing noise and then look so happy when we understand what you want and start to sing.  Granma sings you lots of songs that she used to sing me when I was little.  I can’t remember the words to many songs, so I make up words to go with the music.  You don’t seem to mind at all.

You have gotten so big that you wear a 9 or 12 month size in clothes!  You seem to have gotten over your fear of strangers for the most part and will let friends hold you.  You sat quite contentedly with our friend Gerry at Daddy’s bowling the other night.  You also liked it when Uncle Eric came to visit the other day.

You are growing so fast and I am so happy that I get to be your momma.

I love you, little Pea Pod.

Love,

Momma

bad mommy gets a little better

Dear Catherine,

On September 10th, you turned seven months old.  I can't believe what a difference seven months has made in you or how different our lives are than they were one year ago.  I was driving home from work this morning, contemplating the tough week I've had and the stress I'm feeling.  In the middle of this blatant wallow in a puddle of self-pity, I was struck by an image of your face when I came home from work one night this week.  You heard me coming up the stairs and turned from looking at your Daddy to watch me come in the door and then your face nearly cracked right in half with the sheer force and size of the grin you bestowed upon me.  No matter how bad the day, your smile when I come home makes it all worthwhile.  One day this week I called home to say hello.  You were having a tough couple of minutes and had just started crying but when Daddy turned on the speaker-phone and you heard my voice you stopped crying and started talking to me.  I don't get to see you in morning before I go to work because you are such a good sleeper (we love that about you!), so talking to you during the day and seeing you when I get home absolutely make my day. 

You and your Daddy are quite a pair.  You go on adventures that sometimes take all day!  This month you went to a couple of library story times, one at the Schuylerville Public Library and one at the Stillwater Free Library.  Daddy said that you were very good at each and that you both had a great time.  He even brought home a picture that you colored together at one.  It is proudly displayed on your Granma and Granpa's fridge.  You went to the fair in late August, which you enjoyed very much, although chickens and goats are just not for you!  A big goat said "mehh" to you and that made you cry.  The chickens and roosters freaked you out too, though you seemed to like the emus, cows and the baby chicken the nice FFA girl brought out for you to see.  She held it right in front of you and you reached for it, much like you reach for Bean, Zoey and Abby's fur and Momma's hair.  Based on my experiences with the outcome of those reaches (ow!), I think it was good that she didn't let you actually touch the baby chick.

You have become a very accomplished sitter in the last month.  You are adamant that you will sit on your own nearly all the time--no more swing  or exersaucer for you!  You will sit in the swing occasionally to watch Sesame Street and the exersaucer is also acceptable for short periods but sitting on a blanket on the floor is a good time for hours on end!  You also like to sit in your highchair for meals.  We think you'll get your legs under you to crawl any day now too.

You have two teeth and we are pretty sure you are working on a few more.  You are growing like crazy!  I weighed you on a cheese scale in the grocery store last week and you weighed 18.65 pounds with clothes and shoes on. 

You are getting to be such a big girl and Daddy and I love you more every day.  I am constantly amazed at what a fabulous baby you are.  I feel very lucky to be your mommy.

Love,

Momma

bad mommy

I have been so busy since school started and haven't gotten any farther than this for Cat's seven month letter.  I'll add more as I can.

Dear Catherine,

On September 10th, you turned seven months old.  I can't believe what a difference seven months has made in you or how different our lives are than they were one year ago.

See--I suck.

six months already!

Dear Catherine,

Five days ago, we celebrated your sixth month.  This half year with you has been amazing.  I expected that you would bring great joy to our lives but the true impact you have had on our lives is so much more than I expected.

You really found your voice this month.  At first we thought that it might have previously belonged to a lion!  You love to make “RAHR”-ing noises and chat with your friends and family.  As the month progressed, your favorite game became “Shouting Match” which consists of you making noises and one of us imitating you.  Lots of fun and apparently hysterically funny, as it makes you laugh loud and long.  You have a fantastic, infectious laugh to match your sunny smile.

Speaking of your smile, this month marked the arrival of your first tooth!  It is right on the front, on the lower left side.  Daddy first noticed it on July 20^th while he was feeding you—he felt it scrape against your spoon.  I noticed it on the 21^st when you were chewing on my finger and I felt something sharp in your mouth.  You have been drooling a lot for the last few months, but you didn’t seem at all affected by this new development at first—no fever, no fussiness, no discomfort.  Daddy and I hoped for your sake and ours that all your teeth came in with this little fuss.  Soon after we had this discussion, your new tooth started to make you a bit cranky and fussy but it wasn’t anything a little Tylenol couldn’t fix.

You have begun to enjoy many kinds of food, including pears, which you loved, peas, which you weren’t thrilled about, but ate just fine, squished squash, which you liked very much, and applesauce, which your Granpa fed to you and you enjoyed very much!  Your Daddy has started mixing your food with oatmeal cereal sometimes and you seem to like the mix.  You are very interested in grown-up food and keep a close eye on whatever is on our plates at dinner.  This is easy for you to do from your perch in your Bumbo seat atop the table.

This month has been filled with milestones and lots of fun but it has also been a tough month for me.  I hurt my back after our second trip to the beach and daddy had to take care of both of us for two whole weeks while I couldn’t get out of bed.  We even had to go to the emergency room one night.  You stayed with your uncle Gerry (who is daddy’s best friend) while daddy and I were at the hospital.  You cried at first but stayed happily with him for a few hours after that.  During this time we I had to stop nursing you because of the medicine I was taking.  I tried to keep the supply up using the breast pump but ultimately this was unsuccessful.  When we were able to try again, you were frustrated with the lack of milk supply and would bite down with your gums (and new tooth!) to express your displeasure.  This resulted in Momma saying several words she shouldn’t say and ultimately the end of our nursing days.  I was much sadder than I thought I would be about this.  I had been contemplating weaning you when I started work in September but wasn’t sure yet if I wanted to do that or to try to have at least some amount of nursing going on (I Was thinking once or twice a day) until you turned one.  I was leaning toward weaning, but having this decision essentially taken out of my hands made me feel very sad and powerless.  You took to the bottle like a champ and have only looked back to me for comfort nursing when you are very tired or wanting a snuggle.  One of these snuggles happened on the day you turned six months old.  We were laying in bed together, with your head pillowed on my arm and breast.  You cuddled up and had a little comfort nursing, pulled yourself off, wrinkled up your nose, raised your eyebrows over closed eyes, pursed your lips and laid your head on my chest with an air of contentment.  We were in bed trying to catch a short nap but I lay there looking at you for the longest time, amazed that you are already six months old and in awe of you, my beautiful baby girl, snuggled up warm and safe in my embrace.  Daddy and I love you so much and look forward to seeing you grow up a little bit every day.

All my love,

Momma

five months!

July 3, 2006

Dear Catherine,

Last Friday, June 30^th, you were 20 weeks old.  By my reckoning, this makes you five months old!  We may switch over to your Granma’s way of calculating your age once you hit six months, as it will be easier to remember that you turn another month older on the tenth of each month.  We’ll see.  This has been an exciting couple of weeks!  I finished my internship the day you turned 4 months old (6/2/06) and now have had some free time to spend with you.  I am really enjoying waking up in the morning, puttering around the house, doing your laundry, cleaning up your toys and waiting for you to get up—enjoy this now, I suspect I may not feel the same way when you are a teenager!  You are a pretty late riser, sometimes sleeping until 11am!  You nearly always wake up in good spirits, cooing and ahhing until I come to get you.  We usually go to your changing pad on top of the dryer to change your diaper and let you play with the toys that hang above the pad.  Bob used to live there all the time, but lately you have been taking him places with you, so sometimes different things hang there in his place.  You have an alligator in an airplane that makes noises when we pull it and an oval shaped toy with a mirror and sometimes Bob comes back to hang around there too!

You got a new toy this month that looks like a miniature female Bob, except it is heart shaped instead of round.  We immediately christened her Peg.  You really like Peg because you can manipulate her easier than you can Bob.  You often chew on her “tail,” which makes rustling crunchy noises.

On Sunday, June 4, you had cereal for the first time.  I held you on my lap while your Dad gave you your first bites of this new taste treat.  You seemed to enjoy it, and made little growling noises in between bites.  At least as much cereal got on your bib as in your mouth, but you seemed pretty pleased with the whole endeavor.  Your Uncle Eric was over that night and got to see this milestone too!

My 28^th birthday was this month, and I thought a little bit about the last year, all of which you have played a large part in.  I saw you for the very first time the day after my birthday last year.  You looked like a little grain of rice with a heartbeat in your first ultrasound, but I fell in love with you immediately.

On my birthday, you and Daddy and Uncle Eric left to go to Ithaca for a few days to visit your family out there.  It was the first time you and I had been apart for such a long period.  I was so happy to see you when you got back two days later!  Your daddy said that you were very good and that everyone was happy to see you.  They all think that you are the spitting image of your daddy, but I maintain that you look exactly like yourself.

The night you got home, you reached another milestone, rolling over from your tummy to your back for the first time!  In the immediate aftermath, you looked a little confused to be on your back and gave me a “Mom—how did I get over here?” look.  We gave you a minute on your back to enjoy the accolades—Daddy and I were very impressed and clapped and cheered you quite a bit.  After you were suitably lauded, I put you back on your tummy and you immediately rolled again—see how positive reinforcement works!  This morning I put you down on your tummy on the new rug in your room and you promptly rolled onto your back.  I can see that you are going to milk this new trick for all it’s worth.  For a few days you would only go tummy to back and only left to right, but after a few days you went right to left and you are starting to roll halfway from your back to your side.  I have a theory that you don’t want to go all the way from back to tummy because you don’t much like being on your tummy.  You will roll from your back to your side so that you can see what is going on behind you, which is really quite smart of you.  You are so darn cute!

You started eating vegetables toward the end of this month and seemed to enjoy them even more than cereal!  We started with sweet potatoes, which actually taste pretty good and smell like sweet potato fries from Farmer’s Daughter!  You took to sweet potatoes like a duck to water, eating them voraciously and with great gusto!  We are planning to try out carrots and squash next.

You are still sleeping like a champ, though you are still a bit of a night owl.  You go to sleep between 11:00pm and 1:00am and generally sleep through until sometime between 9:30 and 10:30am.  You have also started taking naps nearly every day, one around noon and one around 6:00pm.  You are fond of these naps and it is obvious to all around you if you miss one.

You and I have been playing and reading together every morning and the increase in your attention span is amazing!  Not too long ago, it was asking a lot for you to sit through two short board books.  Now you will listen and interact with five in a row before you lose interest!  We often play Elmo or fishies in your room and today we played with little maracas, shaking and laughing the whole time.  You are such a happy girl! 

Your daddy is almost done with your room and we have been talking about moving your hammock in there when it is done so that you could sleep in your own room at night—with a monitor of course!  I don’t know if daddy will be ready to move you though, he is afraid that he won’t be able to hear you breathing all night so he will be nervous!  We’ll see how it goes.  I don’t think you’d mind sleeping in your own room, and if we moved your bed, we could use the jump-jump portion of it too!  My biggest concern about you sleeping in your own room is actually getting you to go to sleep.  Right now one of us puts you in the hammock and turns on your musical nightlight, then climbs into our bed next to yours and reads silently until you fall asleep.  I think you like being able to see us until you are asleep.  You always look so peaceful as you drift off.  It is a setup that works well for everyone and we are a little reluctant to change it.

Every month that goes by brings new and amazing changes in you, my little Pea Pod, and Daddy and I are so enjoying being your parents.  Each day is a new experience and we’re having such fun learning more about you and being a family together.

All my love,

Mommy

four months old!

Catherine-

Last Friday you turned four months old, at least by my reckoning.  I’ve been figuring your age by how many weeks old you are (16!), and then dividing by four to get months.   Granma and I had some debate over whether you turned four months old this past Friday or not until June 10^th.  I figure that pregnancy goes by weeks, so your age should too, at least until you turn one!

This has been a busy month.  Your Oma Joyce came to visit this month, to see me graduate from college and to visit you.  She simply adores you and seemed to enjoy snuggling with you and cuddling you on her lap.  You sat with her through most of my graduation.  Graduation was a very long day and you were a champ through most of it.  By the end you had gotten tired and a little crabby, but Uncle Eric took you out to the lobby and you passed out in his arms for the rest of the ceremony.

You have become so much more aware of your surroundings, smiling and chatting with everyone.  One night this month you were laughing hysterically at your dad.  He had you on his chest and was trying to startle you with sudden silly noises—you thought this was absolutely hysterical!  I was laughing almost as hard as you!  Your laugh is infectious and adorable.  You and your Daddy are very cute together.  You have such fun playing games and chatting.  He has grown quite a long goatee and you love to grab onto it—I think you may regard it as your own personal “Daddy handle”.  Daddy still stays up with you to give you your last bottle of the night and makes sure you are settled in before he goes to bed.  He loves you so much.

We got you a new seat this month to allow you to sit up all by yourself, even though you can’t quite do it alone yet.  It’s called a Bumbo seat and you love it! At first you seemed a bit surprised that you were sitting up all by yourself, but you quickly adjusted and seem to love being an independent girl.  Granpa has always told us how much you love being independent, like when he sits you on his lap and you look around.

Your Granpa babysat you for about an hour one day this month while mommy was out.  You slept the whole time, but he said that you woke up three times.  Each time you said “gah” and he told you “Granpa’s here,” and you immediately went back to sleep.  He’s a pretty reassuring guy.

This month you went out for the first time without me or your daddy.  You didn’t go very far, just across the street, but Daddy and I stayed home while your cousin Melissa took you to see part of a Schuylerville softball game at the school.  You only stayed for a little while because she was afraid that you might be too cold.  It was a very windy day and we had bundled you up, but she is very protective of you and wanted to make sure that you were ok.  You were, and seemed to enjoy the outing.

You also went for your first swim in a real pool this month!  Granma’s friend JoAnn invited us all to her house over Memorial Day weekend and you and Mommy and Kayla all went for a swim in the pool.  It was heated, but a little cooler that the “swimming” that you are used to doing in the bathtub.  You seemed to enjoy yourself and splashed with your hands and feet for a few minutes.  You sat on the steps and watched the water around you and played for a little while in the crab-boat float that your Granma bought for you.  Your cousin Kayla took some beautiful pictures of you in the pool.  She is a great photographer and you are a beautiful subject!

This month was also my first Mother’s Day.  You and Daddy gave me a beautiful necklace with a silver peapod holding a single pearl pea.  It is beautiful and reminds me of you, my little Peapod, whenever we are apart.  I was thinking on Mother’s Day how lucky your Daddy and I are and how glad I am to be your Mommy and it occurred to me that every day since you were born has been Mother’s Day for me.  I love you, Cat, and I am so enjoying watching you grow and change every day.

Love,

Mommy

yikes! 21 days since I updated!

We have been so busy this month! I have been finishing up my last internship and Dan has been busy working on our house and Eric's. Cat's room is nearly done!  It still needs a coat or two of poly on the floor and to move all her stuff in, but it is really coming along!  Right now Eric and Keyera have been staying in there while Dan, Eric and Jared (Eric's friend) work on Eric's house and camper.  I'll work on updating more soon, but here's Cat's three month letter to tide you over.

-

Catherine-

I intended to write this letter to you when you turned three months old.  You are now three and a half months old and I am finally getting to it.  This has been a very busy time for all of us.  I have been finishing up my last internship and my degree.  Daddy and Uncle Eric have been doing a lot of work on our house and Uncle Eric’s house.  Your great-grandma, who we call Grandmamma, has been visiting and keeping you company.  You experienced your first Easter, and the Easter Bunny and Granma brought you lots of books and a pretty bunny.  Auntie Tiffany bought you a beautiful Easter dress and sweater, which you happily posed for pictures in.  You also attended your first fancy party this month, and wore another beautiful dress that our friend Jeanne gave to you.  The party was a formal tea party for a bridal shower–you were fantastically well-behaved and had a wonderful time.  Your Daddy made lots of progress on your bedroom this month.  You now have beautiful green walls and a gorgeously stained wood floor.  Daddy still has to put a shiny polyurethane coat on the floor before you can move in.  Right now your Uncle Eric and his doggie Keyera are staying in there while their house is undergoing more renovations.  It has been really nice having them around.  Your cat Bean isn’t terribly fond of Keyera, but you don’t seem to mind her at all.  You took an interest in another toy this month and have made a new friend in Elmo.  Daddy bought you an Elmo floor gym toy before you were born and we took it out for you this month.  You LOVE Elmo! The gym plays music and makes sounds and says “peek-a-boo baby!” to you at random intervals.  This has been greeted with much arm waving, leg kicking and laughing.  You still love your fishies, and have been playing with the rattle parts of it all the time. You have just started to be able to grab things in front of you and these are among your favorite things to grab.  You have been laughing, smiling, cooing and “chatting” a lot this month, much to the delight of all the grown-ups in your life.  You are often the center of attention around here, which seems to suit you just fine.  You have been taking a bath in the big tub with me at least once a week and working on your swimming skills.  You love to paddle and kick in the water!  We are often in the tub so long that you need a snack!  I really enjoy our tubby time—you have so much fun and I love to listen to you laugh.  Daddy has been working with you on sitting up on his lap by yourself.  He holds your waist and lets you hold yourself up—you are getting SO strong! We have been reading lots of book.  You really seem to like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Runaway Bunny. You have also started to become very interested in the television lately.  Your Daddy and I were very concerned about this development, so we have been limiting your exposure to the television.  You still get to watch the Yankees and basketball with Daddy and soccer with Uncle Eric but otherwise we have been encouraging you to play with your toys and watch less TV.  We’re hoping to develop good habits in you early on.  Daddy and I are really enjoying watching you grow and can’t wait to see what next month will hold!

I love you,

Mommy