October! and 7 1/2 months...ish

Hello!

We have just gotten back from our week-long vacation to New England, where Caitlin got to spend some good quality time with the grandparents and all the other family the grandmas shared her with. :) The little missy had an absolute ball meeting everyone again and we already can't wait to get back up there. :)

She is getting really good at standing up in her crib now and crawls fairly well, especially when there is something interesting for her to get, like mommy's computer, or miniature Reese's. She has also started straightening her legs from the crawling position, and moving her feet when we hold her hands to help her balance standing up-we will be walking before we know it. She's growing like a weed, so everything in the house is inching up further away from the floor.

She is not talking yet (thank goodness) but she is babbling in full force. Her new favorite noises are squealing and clicking like a dolphin, both of with are, of course, adorable. :) This is when she hasn't put something else in her mouth, which isn't very often--she is also very good at that. She has started working on her pincer grip (hello baby puffs), and we are starting to introduce the sippy cup. She is not too keen on the cup quite yet since regular cups are so much easier, but we will see.

Our next big events are Halloween (mommy is excited!), Thanksgiving (mashed potatoes), her nine month appointment in December, and then Christmas! Sean is already making sure I don't go too crazy with shopping for her. :) For inquiring minds, she is already wearing 9 and 12 month clothes and will hopefully still be in them by December, but the way she's growing...you never know. ;)

6 Months!

Hello!

The little missy is already 6 months old (next week)! She had her doctor's appointment yesterday and weighed in at 18 lbs 1 once, and is now 27 inches long. She is still in the 90th percentile for her age--in other words she is the size of an average 9 month old. :) The doctor says that she will hopefully grow out of spitting up and her eczema by the time she's a year old, but since Caitlin doesn't care (and keeps growing!), it's no big deal. She's a happy, social, BIG baby. :)

She is still working on teething although there aren't any cutting through quite yet. She is getting very good at putting things in her month and chewing on them, including her fingers, her toys, her parents' fingers, and mommy's hair. She is an industrious thumb sucker but is still working on closing her fingers into a fist while she's doing it. Her nose gets in the way, so it sometimes appears that she'd like us to live long and prosper. :)

She is very, very good at rolling from front to back and back to front. One of her favorite activities at daycare is rolling across the room so that she is in front of the door to the kitchen so she can wait for the teacher to come out--she must know that's where the food is kept. :) She is so good at moving herself that she will be moving to the next class in the daycare, even though she's a little younger than the other kids in that class.

She is also getting pretty good at sitting up by herself. She still has not gotten the hang of pulling herself into a sitting position, but will balance herself unless she gets too excited and pushes herself backwards. She gets excited a lot, but falling backwards is lots of fun too. :)

And of the utmost excitement, she has started getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. She is not crawling quite yet, but we expect it to happen any day now. Every time we put her down, she rolls over onto her belly and gets up on all fours so she can practice rocking some more. Most of the time she laughs about it, but occasionally she whines about not being able to move herself.

Yesterday there was a picnic at her daycare and we were able to meet some of the parents of the other babies in her class(es). It was a lot of fun, and Caitlin got to try sitting in grass for the first time. She wasn't totally sure she liked it, it must have been itchier than carpeting, but she did enjoy trying to pick the grass.

We have uploaded some new pictures to the website:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

This is a photo that I had on my phone; it's on Facebook, but just in case you didn't get to see it (you may have to copy the address and paste it into the address bar of your browser window):

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31074403&l=3a10ecf7ac&id=70002174

Also, here are the photos from the fourth of July:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/CaitlinSFirstFourthOfJuly?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDToLq0mrH1Lg

We are still having trouble getting videos posting on this site, so I am looking at some other websites to use for Caitlin's updates.

4 Months (about)

Hello!

Miss Caitlin had her 4 month appointment today! She is 15 lbs 2 ounces and is 25 inches long, putting her in the 90th percentile for her age. The doctor was impressed with how big she's gotten, with her wonderful head/neck control, and with how smiley and happy she is. :) She didn't like the shots, but otherwise it was a very nice doctor's visit.

With the doctor's blessing, we also tried out solid foods for the first time today. Mom was looking forward to funny (and messy!) faces at the new taste and texture, but our baby is a good eater (that's how she got so big!). She inhaled the first little bit of oatmeal we gave her, and then was actually moving her head towards the spoon when we gave her a little more. We did get some pictures of her with the spoon. We also got a few of her holding the bottle we gave her after she finished her cereal. The doctor says we can try vegetables next, so we're hoping for funny faces then. :)

With all of Caitlin's other achievements, we also decided to build her "jumperoo." She is not quite tall enough to reach the ground yet so we put one of Dad's computer books underneath her feet, and boy does she like bouncing. :) She had a lot of fun checking out the new toys and moving around some of the pieces that make noise.

In other "exciting" news (we've had a lot in the past few days), Caitlin is learning to suck her thumb, instead of her whole hand, and she's learning to chew on her fingers. The doctor said it will probably be a little while yet before we see her first tooth, but it doesn't hurt to start keeping the teething rings in the freezer.

The little missy is a wonderful (big!) baby! She is still very engaged in her surroundings and loves reading books and staring at the computer with mom and/or dad. She's also really starting to get into her toys. So far she still loves meeting new people and is all smiles and giggles, especially for daddy's funny faces. :) We will be going up to New England for the fourth of July; hopefully she will be just as well-behaved for all that attention. :)

Here is the same link to the photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

Computers continue to thwart me, but I am still working on figuring out how to get some of the longer movies to post.

14 Weeks and Counting

Hello!

We have been enjoying Caitlin's company for 14 whole weeks now! It is getting a little tricky to keep track of weeks vs. months, since Caitlin will be celebrating her 4 month birthday in Connecticut next month (can't wait!) She was pretty good, smiles and coos, for the Grands Whaley during their visit but they are headed off this morning for New Hampshire, so Caitlin will have to wait until her coming out party for a bigger audience than mom and dad. :)

However, apparently to reward us for bringing back the super nice Grandma Honey, Caitlin flipped from her tummy to her back at daycare this morning! Then, when I put her back on her stomach, she did it again. It did not take her long at all to learn that the easiest way to get mom to come play is to roll over. :) This picture is her on her back after the first flip, trying to figure out what happened. (her arms and legs were going pretty fast :)

The pediatrician said that Caitlin should be rolling over from front to back by 4 months, so I guess mom and dad will get a gold star during Caitlin's next appointment--Caitlin, of course, doesn't have to wait that long. :)

3 Months!

Hello!

Hard to believe, but Caitlin turns 3 months old this Friday! She is hitting just about all her milestones, including really funny noises, putting everything she touches in her mouth, and drooling all over everything. :) She got her first report card last week from her daycare and they are very impressed with how alert and inquisitive (aka nosy) she is. They have a great picture of her doing tummy time while reading a book; we'll have to try that at home. :)

For Memorial Day weekend we went down to the coast and Caitlin did very well on her first long-ish car ride, which should mean good news in July when we go to CT for the fourth. Caitlin also behaved (aka slept) for most of our trip to Williamsburg, but Dad really enjoyed all of the colonial exhibits for her. :) Caitlin also had her first trip to the beach! She still seems to be neutral on getting wet but really seemed to enjoy playing with the sand. It was adorable to watch her watching her toes really dig into the wet sand right by the water, and her surprise when the waves came in. :)

This weekend will (hopefully) be Caitlin's first concert; we got a pair of headphones that is supposed to be very good at blocking loud noises from small ears--all of the reviews said they were also very good for fireworks. Then next week the Grandparents Whaley are stopping by on their way back to NH (yay!)!

The pictures online have been updated and include Caitlin awake at the beach, Caitlin asleep at Williamsburg, and some Caitlin pre-bath pictures that we have been getting requests for :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

10 weeks!

Hello!

Caitlin is 10 weeks old and going strong! :) As of this Monday she was up to 13 pounds, and gosh only knows how fast she'll grow now. It turns out that she had eczema from a milk protein allergy and needs special food. On the plus side, her bumps are going away and she should be able to have dairy once she's a year old. In the mean time though we just need to be careful.

In other exciting news, Miss Caitlin slept for 9 hours last night! This will be even more exciting when I stop waking up to wonder what's wrong, which I'm told will happen at some point in the next 18 years or so. :) I don't think we can expect this to become consistent behavior just quite yet, but it's still a very exciting milestone.

The little princess has also been doing well with tummy time and can hold up her head for quite a while when there's something interesting to look at. She does seem to be able to flip herself, when she feels like it, but doesn't do so very often. She has been very talkative lately and is learning to talk back. We'll be less excited about this later, but for now we have wonderful conversations. :) Caitlin has also giggled, twice, both times for Daddy. She is smiles almost all the time when she's awake, so hopefully we'll be able to translate that in more giggles that we'll be able to share online.

Below is our attempt at getting a movie of her gift of gab; fingers crossed. :) If you are having trouble seeing it (and don't get a second message that it's broken), try going to the site below--the movie should work there.

http://whaleybaby1.blogspot.com/


And, as always, the baby pictures are available at the site below. Some of the older ones have been "archived," but we can send any along on request. :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

Movie-Pending

Hello again:

I ham having trouble posting the video, probably of the file size. I will keep working on it and hopefully have something soon.

Thanks for your patience :)

8 Weeks/2 Months

Hello!

Miss Caitlin turned 8 weeks old yesterday (and will turn 2 months old next Tuesday), and today was her two month check-up with the doctor. She weighed in at just over 12 pounds, and is already over 23 inches long, falling into the 80th and 85th percentiles, respectively. She turned into a big baby! The doctor said she is doing great, and good job mom and dad. :)

Caitlin also got her first round of vaccinations today--four shots and one drink. She took the shots like an absolute champ, but boy did her face get pink while she was working herself up for a good scream. The nurse was super-fast and Caitlin barely got going before the shots were done, and then calmed right down. Everyone warned us about how awful it would be, but Sean and I will be laughing at her pink face for a while and will have to bring the camera next time. :)

Developmentally she is also doing very well; she has been very attuned to her surroundings lately, including recognizing mommy and daddy. :) She is a very happy baby and is all smiles at the window, the ceiling, her hands...everything except the camera, but we keep trying. Speaking of her hands, she has also recently discovered those, and now seems to enjoy gesturing and pointing at things. The other day I found her sleeping with her arms straight up in the air.

Caitlin started daycare yesterday and did a wonderful job. Her teacher said that Caitlin was very alert almost the entire time she was there, but slept through her excursion outside. We are still constantly amazed at how well-behaved she is. :)

As always, the baby pictures are available at the site below. However, since Picasa only allows us to put 1000 photos in each album we removed some of the older pictures to make room for the new ones. Please let us know if there are any you would like that aren't online anymore.

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

I did finally get a movie of her making some noise. If you are having trouble seeing it, try going to the site below--the movie should work there.

http://whaleybaby1.blogspot.com/

Week 6 and Counting1

Good day!

Little Miss Caitlin is already 6 weeks old and she is getting long. Her 0-3 month outfits are fine, but we are retiring her newborn clothes, especially the ones with feet--her feet are busting the seams. :) She is still sleeping fairly well, waking up 1 or 2 times a night to eat, then going right back to sleep. She takes a few naps during the day, but we are seeing a lot more of her (still) baby-blues.

Miss Caitlin is still doing well with her "tummy time." Recently, rather than frog-legging forward, she has started pushing herself backwards, which looks kind of like "mooncrawling." She will push back on her knees so her tush is in the air, but she hasn't coordinated her front and back end yet, thank goodness.

She has also started conversing, cooing at the trees out the window, or the ceiling fan in our room, and arguing with the ladies on daddy's show on CNBC. Unfortunately, any time mom and dad try to video her noises, she starts fussing instead--apparently she enjoys having her picture taken just as much as we do, or it makes her nervous when we "disappear" behind the camera, or her stomach is TINY. :) Interestingly, she has also started sticking her tongue out a lot, which could either be her first attempts at talking, her tasting the world, or any number of other things. Whatever she's doing, it's perfectly normal, and perfectly adorable, and while we don't have any new video, we've put up some new pictures on the site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

Mom had her last doctor's appointment (for a while) last week and is doing well. Caitlin's 2 month appointment is the second week of May so we won't have any official word on her growth until then, just too-short clothes and sore shoulders from carrying her--and loving every minute of it.

Last but not least, Caitlin is also tolerating her baths a lot better, taking it in with the same interest with which she absorbs all other activities-our little anthropologist. This is especially nice since Great Grandma Chris and Great Grandpa Craig will be stopping by to visit soon! It's a good thing she loves all the attention. :)

1 Month (and a little bit)

Hello!

Miss Caitlin is a month old! She has been working on getting us into her routine, although she tries to mix things up every now and again to keep us on our toes. Grandma Honey went home today, so it's "back to the real world" for mom and dad (especially dad). :) She has also started growing out of her newborn clothes.

Today we stopped by my work after dropping Laurie at the airport, so it was Caitlin's first outing to meet people. She slept through most of it, impressing all of my coworkers with children, and apparently saving all of her energy for when we got home.

We are still trying to make sure Caitln gets plenty of "tummy time" to work on doing her push-ups. Below is a short movie of her working on developing those neck muscles. :)




We have also been updating the pictures online:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

3 Weeks old!

Hello!

It's hard to believe, but she is almost a month old already! She is starting to make cooing noises, and has decided that she prefers to sleep on her side. She has also already received her social security card and birth certificate (to her parents' amazement at the bureaucratic efficiency.) Even more exciting, as of early this week, Miss Caitlin has a belly button. :) According to my mom, this opens up her choice of swimwear. It also means that Caitlin could have her first real bath, and she took it like a champ. :) At first she was a little startled about all the new sensations, but by the end she was sitting there quietly, taking it all in. She is a very curious baby!

Caitlin also had an exciting weekend; she got to meet the Easter bunny! She was too cute in her frilly dress, matching headband, ruffle-butt tights and shiny black shoes, although she wasn't totally thrilled with it. :) All the pictures are still available at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

Caitlin's (Almost) Two Week Birthday

Hello!

We are a little tired, but still going strong. Miss Caitlin has started going a little longer between eating (yay!), and has also been alert for longer between naps. She is learning to grab at things (Sean's glasses), and to propel herself forward with her feet during her "tummy time." Today, to the mutual surprise of her parents, she managed to flip most of the way from her stomach to her back, even though we were supposed to have a few more weeks before she figured that out. I guess Dad will have to learn how to speed-change diapers a little sooner than we thought.

In the mommy department, today is my doctor's appointment to find out if I'm allowed to drive again, so wish me luck. Even if I have to wait though, Sean was nice enough to bring us out last night so Caitlin could get her first Disney princess movie, although mom will probably get to watch it first.

We are also super excited because Grandma Honey and Grandpa Dave will be coming to visit this Saturday! Sean has said that it's perfectly okay for Caitlin's first pictures with the Easter Bunny to be a girl-bonding thing, although that means he gets to do the heavy lifting in the garage (poor Sean). :)

We have more pictures and should be posting them shortly to the same link (below). Hopefully the new pictures are showing up at the end of the list for everybody else. We've been told there's not enough and there's too many, so hopefully we can call it even. :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

Caitlin's One Week Birthday!

Hello!

It is Caitlin's one week birthday! It's been quite exciting so far. She's met the animals, had her first successful doctor's appointment, she's had a few outings, and while inside she's gotten to enjoy her mom, dad, and Grandma Beth, as well as bath time and playing in her swing and bouncer. Yesterday she had a very good bout of "tummy time" on daddy and was already able to squirm up his torso-boy are we in trouble. :)

The animals are acclimating to the new presence in the house; Spaz likes to sit up and watch the baby in the swing, and Benson starts to whine when she fusses, although we don't now whether that's from empathy or confusion at the noise.

She is still eating very well, sleeping very well, and filling her diapers with aplomb; she is a wonderful baby and we are still counting our lucky stars.

Caitlin's parents have also been trying to keep up with the picture demands, all of which are posted to the same link I shared last time:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink#

And we're home!

Hello!

Today was our big day for homecoming! After Miss Caitlin finished passing all of her tests, we were both discharged from hospital. The nurses were all very impressed with how well-behaved Caitlin was, but now that we are home, I guess we will see what she is really like. So far, so good. :)

Below is a link to the pictures we have of Caitlin so far (finally!) We will try to keep up with posting new pics, in between the feedings, diaper changes, and of course, more diaper changes.

http://picasaweb.google.com/crazyandol/Caitlin?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPz78bN2fSO0wE&feat=directlink

D-day: She's here!

Ms. Caitlin Elisabeth Whaley was born at 9:19 AM 3/4/10. She weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, measuring 19.75" long.Both mom and daughter are doing great. More info and pictures to follow.

-Sean

Week 37

Hello!

Week 37! Yippee! Little Miss Caitlin is technically considered full-term now, so she is about the size of...a baby! :) However, it is better if she waits a few more weeks to make her debut. That gives her brain more time to develop, she'll be able to pack on another couple ounces, and she can keep working on those ever-important life skills--eating, sleeping, and filling up diapers. She will also hopefully develop some sense of spacial orientation--we have decided she has my sense of direction because she is still pretty crooked in there, and it's very uncomfortable when she tries to get comfortable.

This past weekend we got to assemble some more of her furniture; she now has a functional mobile, baby monitor, and "soothing colic pad," although I managed to pop of the head of the screw to that battery compartment, so it needs some help. I also managed to build her bouncer (go me!) but we ran out of D batteries, so that and her swing are still in process. While we won't be using her stroller any time soon because of all the snow (which we would be more than happy to donate to Vancouver), we also need to pull that out of the box so we can figure out her car seat before going to the hospital.

So, all her stuff is pretty much ready, and the last really big thing to do is pack my hospital bag. I have gotten started but there are a lot of things to pack that I am still using. I can pack her going-home outfit though--it's so cute! One more thing to unveil on the big day, whenever it, aka she, decides to arrive. :)

Couple of Nursery Pics

Hello again!

I thought I had already posted these, but apparently not. Here are 2 pictures of our nursery.

Week 36

Hello!

We're down to the last four weeks (what happened to pregnancy taking 9 months?)! The little missy is supposedly around 6 pounds by now, and running out of room in there, which may be why she's so squirmy. Otherwise, her hyperactivity does not bode well for mom and dad. :) At our last doctor's appointment, she was measuring a little small, but the doctor said it might be because she is still a little crooked in there; her rear is currently under my right ribs. She will probably straighten out on her own, but we will see. We are now going in for appointments every week, barring more weather. :)

Over this past weekend, we did get about 28 inches of snow, which (awesome) Sean took care of for us. The roads in our little subdivision are okay, probably because they are taken care of by the condo association, but the rest of the region is still trying to clean up. On the bright side, we had a snow day today, which we spent trying to get the house a little more ready for our new addition (in about a month!) Now we are due for another big storm tomorrow--probably half as much snow, but more wind and maybe some sleet or frozen rain. We're not sure where the snow will go, but we will be staying in yet again. Hopefully we can have another productive day.

Finally, our little missy has a name! She will be, barring any unexpected anatomy, Caitlin Elisabeth Whaley. Caitlin is Gaelic and supposedly means 'pure.' Sean came up with it (yay Sean!), and we both really like it. It will get a little long when we have to start filling out all of her paperwork, but it could be worse. The paperwork will start shortly, as we have already started checking out daycares and pediatricians. We had hoped to go visiting this week, but with the weather most of them are closed today, probably tomorrow, and some have already closed for Wednesday.

Week 33

Whoo! 33 weeks already. The little missy will be here before we know it. :) This week she is about as heavy as a bag of flour, and about as long as a 17 inch monitor. Her lungs are almost done, so when she makes her debut she can show us which side of the family her pipes came from. :)

Sean was busy this weekend: he was able to save the files off of our defunct hard drive, so we have our old pictures back. He was also able to hang the new doors we have so baby's room is distinct from our guest bedroom-although the doors are obviously not soundproof and won't be painted until later. The new sewing machine table is in place and built too, and it looks very nice. Downstairs, he hung the blu-ray player (aka babysitter) on the wall behind the TV, so hopefully she will not be able to put peanut butter in the drive, at least until she is old enough to figure out how to pull a chair underneath it, climb up, and push it into the slot with a butter knife.

"Mom" got more of the nursery together, including fitting all of her clothes into her handy dresser/changing table, which now comes with a cushion. Baby has a toy box, too many stuffed animals, and all manner of other things waiting for her. I also managed to break the first toy already (I accidentally let the water out of a teething ring), but I'm sure she'll have plenty more by the time she needs it. Somehow there's more more baby laundry to do now, but things are coming together. I will have to get Sean to take some pictures with the fancy camera, as we are still looking for a good point-and-shoot (aka Jen's camera) to replace the dead one. At least it broke before we really needed it, so we can get one with better pixels and things for when missy arrives.

I think the animals know something is going on, but so far we haven't had any acting-out yet. The cat is the cat, although we may have fun teaching her that the baby's toys, unlike the dog's, are not for sharing. Benson is a little easier to contain, at least until the little missy can make her way to him. We've shown him crying baby videos on YouTube to see how he reacts to the noise, but I think it will probably still be a big surprise when we bring one home.

There's still a million things to do to get (mostly) ready, but we're keeping up with the Jones' quite well thanks to all the wonderful baby shower presents. Missy will be here soon, and in style. :)