Screamy McScreamy

So I have a screamer for a child... yes, I AM that parent. But she's happy! She screams and squeals in delight, so why should I reprimand her for that?! I know she doesn't understand right from wrong yet, so we (and the neighbours, and anyone that calls the house) will just have to put up with sore ear drums in the meantime.

Daddy found a better way though. When she screams, he covers his ears and jokingly says to her 'It's so loud in here!!'.

Now she's copying him. Lucky for us, she stops screaming momentarily to cover her ears... and then follows with endearing giggles because she thinks it's hilarious :)

Also, we discovered a third tooth on Thursday night! Daddy was letting her chomp on his fingers (I don't let mine anywhere close to her razor sharp teeth anymore), and he felt another sharp protrusion on the top left! How exciting :) Considering she has 3 teeth coming it at once and probably a fourth not far behind, she's doing amazing with regards to her routine... eating and sleeping like normal. Fingers crossed this continues!

Big Girl Toast

Caitlin tried toast on Wednesday morning and was EXTREMELY excited she graduated to real people food.

It took me a while to build up the confidence to feed her a true solid food rather than the pureed stuff she's been eating, but she proved that she's ready. And now I'm excited to try new things with her.

She still have a few jars of food to go through, but after that will be cheese, egg yolk, homo milk and cooked veggies. Onto bigger and better things my love!

On another note, my sister won a gold award for a picture she entered into a photo contest earlier in the month.

However, I had Mike line up in the cold/snowstorm this morning to be one of 25 people in line at a new mexican restaurant around the corner from our house. And rather than a $1000 SLR Nikon camera, we won free burritos for a year! WOOT!

This must be such a proud moment for my parents.

Delayed Update

Okay, I admit... I thought it would be easy to continually update this blog even though I have a baby. But it's proving more challenging now that she's moving around (and getting into things she shouldn't!).

Here's an update of what's new in Caitlin's world:

We had a nice visit with grandma, grandpa and Lucy last week - in fact, it was obvious as to who she was probably more interested in: Her furry grandpa...

Or the furry four-legged creature! Sorry grandpa... she still loves you though!!

Then on Sunday afternoon, Auntie Janina and Uncle Steve - Caitlin's godparents - stopped by to give Caitlin a little gift they picked up while on a special trip to Disney. A stuffed Jemima Puddle Duck! It's her new favourite toy... she loves to thrash her around and chew her. Such a becoming look.

Also, while at mommy group last week, Caitlin saw a toy at her friend Dani's house that she wouldn't stop playing with... a musical table. Mike and I got her one because I saw just how interested she was in it. And she just lit up when I brought her downstairs after a nap one morning, and there it was!

Our sweet little munchkin is really growing and changing everyday, it really amazes us :)

Great Explorer

Saturday was the last day Caitlin had to take her medicine and she's feeling MUCH better now. In fact, her cough and congestion are totally gone. She's sleeping better and slowly coming around to food again... although she doesn't really want to eat because of her teeth. It's frustrating because she needs to start eating more solids - I'm convinced I'm going to have a 1-year old who only drinks a bottle! Arg...

I meant to note this when it happened, but on Wednesday night, Caitlin figured out how to sit down while standing at the ottoman. It was too cute - she slowly bent her knees and got into a crouching position, then let her hands go. She landed with a little thump on her bum, but she did it! All she wanted to do after, was stand up again so she could practice sitting down. Once she learned how, she didn't want to stop!



She's really exploring her world now too - she makes her way in behind the chairs, climbs into shelves (and onto tables as seen below), tries to go underneath furniture and has even discovered how to open drawers. I guess it's time we truly baby-proof the house now because she will be into EVERYTHING.

It's even getting difficult for me to do everyday things like blow-dry my hair; I typically sit her in her Bumbo and she watches as I dry my hair and brush my teeth. Except now she's figured out how to escape from it. The little bugger even decided to send one of our monitors into the sink for a bath as I was brushing my teeth. Needless to say, she's becoming more destructive every day.

She's even starting to test the limits; there have been a few instances when I've told her 'No' and she'll grunt back at me with a glaring face. I've noticed it more when she's overtired; she'll fight the powers that be on anything. I guess this is just the beginning...

Pearly Whites

Caitlin's two bottom teeth have finally made their appearance! I can now see them poking out of her gums, which explains why she doesn't want to drink or eat anything.

She knows I want to see inside her mouth, so she makes no effort to open it.

Luckily, I got a close-up of these elusive teeth while she giggled :)

Here we are brushing them with a wet cloth after a failed attempt at breakfast.

I could feel her right one first, then the left one a couple of days later, then I saw two depressions... now I can see the little chompers!

She noticed them too last week - daddy was letting her have a sip of water out of his glass, and she heard the little tinkling against it. Then, all she wanted to do was tap them against it to hear the noise!

Family Day!

Caitlin woke up really stuffy again - this cold is really taking it's toll; she's having horrible night sleeps because she can't breathe and coughs herself awake. Last night she only woke up once though which is a first in 4 days, and I think she is feeling a bit better today; at least slightly less congested. I'm sure we will see marked improvements day by day. She's so cute when she sneezes now - she has this noise she makes at the end like a groan :) I'm sure with all the sneezing and coughing, her throat is just raw.

However... you can tell she's feeling a better though - here she is fooling around with daddy. I SWEAR SHE'S REALLY SICK! (Please don't judge me on the lighting...)



Anyway, with today being Family Day and all, I decided today to make a better effort in filling in Caitlin's baby book. I find I don't dedicate enough time to it because I log more entries into this online blog... but of course it won't be around forever with technology changing so rapidly, so I better fill the book in just in case. I felt I accomplished stuff today - I even got some of Caitlin's clothes that don't fit put away. There are two giant bins full already and she's only 9 months... Eek! We better have a girl next time because we have WAY to many clothes!

Valentine's

In honour of Valentine's Day, daddy made special heart-shaped pancakes for his girls :)

He also got Caitlin a very special present to help celebrate the Olympics!

Our little munchkin is such a happy little Canuck too - even though she's really sick, she's still in a great mood. We took her to a clinic this afternoon because I started to hear a gurgle and a whistle when she breathed which made me nervous; the cold has really made it's way into her lungs. We ended up getting some Amoxicillin - her first antibiotic. I was a little worried she might have a reaction because I'm allergic to penicillin and so is my mom and my sister. So far, so good though; she hasn't shown any signs.

She'll be on the strawberry flavour medicine for the next week to help kick the cold and deep raspy cough - the doctor decided to give it to her because he didn't want it turning into pneumonia. She sure likes the taste of it... I guess they make it super sweet to the little ones will be willing!

Monitor Fun

Caitlin has had a nasty head cold the past couple of days, but she still has fun even when she feels like crap.

For instance, every time we walk into a room, she yells to find the baby monitor - it lights up with interesting glowing red lights that she likes to stare them.

Here she is sitting in her high chair fooling around with it...



She also has two teeth coming in on the bottom - I spotted the depressions in her gums a while ago, but what started out as one, has now turned into two! I don't actually see them yet, but I can definitely feel the sharp little suckers when she chomps down on my fingers!

I don't know how long they'll take to come in - it's already been about a week since I noticed the depressions, and a few since we started to feel them. She's always drooled, but now it's like Niagara Falls...

I sure hope my little muffin feels better soon; I know it's just a cold but it's wrenching to see her uncomfortable.

Check Up

Caitlin had her 9-month check up yesterday morning and got weighed-in and measured. She was such a good girl as always!

Her results? She's 18lbs which put her in the 30-35th percentile for her age; she's always been in the 75th percentile for weight, but it's typical around this age to drop because she's starting to move around more. As for height, she was 72cm long and in the 75th percentile (again, typically 90th percentile, but took a dip).

She's also starting to get a cold and has a slightly raised temperature the past day and a half - she's usually 35.1 degrees, but she's been about 36.4 lately. I gave her Tylenol just to make sure it didn't turn into a true fever, but our doctor said that it's better to leave it so her body can naturally raise it's temperature and fight off the virus. If it goes to 38.3 degrees or more, that's when I can give her something. Makes sense.

Also, I wanted to post an update on some of the things she's doing lately:

- pulling herself up against objects; I often find her standing in her crib when I go to get her up after a nap!
- holds her arms out to you when she wants to be picked up and pulls at you when you get close
- splashes like crazy in the bath (daddy taught her this one...)
- waves hi and goodbye... and continues to even after you've left the room
- wiggles her arms and hands in a form of dance when a show she likes comes on - her favourites are: Big & Small and Toupy & Binou
- has really begun to suck her first two fingers in absence of a menamo; she sometimes throws it away in order to have her fingers
- likes to talk to herself and quietly play in her crib after a nap
- LOVES to bounce... a great workout on my arms!
- thinks it's hilarious to try and stick a menamo in your mouth

Handsome Boy

Caitlin's BF was dressed to impress last week. He came over for a lunch and a very long nap!

She really enjoys his company; even if he gums her toys, sits in her Bumbo, and wears fleece camo hats indoors. Just look how delighted she is :)

J'ai Deux Amours

This is one of my favourite pictures of my heart and my soul :)

Piggy Piggy

Our little one is feeling so much better now (although mommy is battling a sinus cold now...) and the past couple of days have been very interesting - she's growing and learning so quickly!

In fact, she's had a light switch go off in regards to eating. I used to be worried at how little she ate... but now I'm totally amazed at how much her tummy can hold. What a little piggy! Dinner tonight took the cake - she ate: 2tbsp green beans, 2tbsp sweet potato, 2tbsp squash, 2tbsp carrots AND 2tbsp peaches. Holy cow!! I used to be on cloud 9 if she ate 2tbsp total and tonight she broke 10tbsp! She even sucked her dinner and her evening 6oz bottles dry. I guess she's going through some kind of growth spurt or something :) Little miss hollow legs.

She's also really crawling and exploring her environment now - it's so cute; if we pretend we're chasing her while she's inching her way along, she'll squeal and make a great attempt at crawling faster! I don't know why, but she's really interested in one of our fake trees; aside from the doorstop, this seems to be another 'go-to' spot.

Caitlin isn't that far from walking either; I was making dinner on Thursday night while she played on the living room floor with all her toys. I turned my back for literally 2 seconds and in the next instant, she was standing at the ottoman watching Sesame Street all by herself! I had to put pillows all around her because all she wanted to do was stand and scream at Elmo :)

She and daddy practiced 'one foot in front of the other' this morning with her walker, and although she had the rhythm down, there was a lot of sideways steps and stepping on the other foot. However, I have no idea why he's encouraging her to walk! I'm okay with her being immobile as long as possible... I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

Oh yes, and she really likes balloons :)

This one was leftover from her great-grandmothers' 93rd birthday that we celebrated today! WOW! And she FINALLY fell asleep on the car ride home :)

Sleep Streak

Well Caitlin's awesome sleep streak is officially broken. I guess her little tummy bug threw her off... she got up a bazillion times last night and just wanted to be held. She did the same thing after Christmas, and I suspect it's because she got used to us holding her and doesn't want to switch back to self-soothing. Who would?!

On another note, Mike and I decided to stop sterilizing her bottles and water about a week and a half ago. Her doctor said that they really didn't need to be sterilized after she turned 4 months, but we decided until she's moving around and eating weird things off the floor, it can't hurt to continue. The ironic thing is, when we stopped boiling water, she got sick. So we decided that the bottles are fine from the dishwasher, but we'll still boil water.

I wonder if the change in water/bottles had anything to do with her illness? Probably not; she most likely picked it up from another baby at the Early Years Centre as the class I went to last week was absolutely crammed with kids. But it's funny how you question yourself nonetheless... I racked my brain thinking it was something I did: Was it the non-sterilized bottles/water? Did I give her expired food? Did I mix her formula properly? Is this a sign of a food allergy? Did she eat something off the floor? Have I - the germaphob - not been sanitary enough? Am I not washing her menamos/toys enough? Did she lick a shopping cart or highchair rail when I wasn't looking? Did she play with someone else's toys?

At least she's feeling better. Now I'll have to concentrate on improving her sleep situation...

Another Month Older

Happy 9-month birthday sweetheart!!

We can't believe how fast you're growing; you are such a ray of sunshine and are developing such a delightful little personality :) Daddy and I love you very much honey!

It's unbelievable to even fathom that your 1st birthday is just around the corner!

Lunch with Caleb

Caitlin and I went for lunch the other day with a friend and fellow mom, Katie and her son, Caleb. The two kiddies are only 7 weeks apart and it's a lot of fun to watch them grow and discover new things. We try to get together often, especially with our mommy group just so we have a break from routine.

Here are the munchkins goofing around in their highchairs at Crabby Joe's (note the paper on the table, and how one half is already ripped to shreds... I wonder why?!)

This was Caleb's first time in the highchair as proud mama looks on!

Caitlin's already a pro :) I'll show you how it's done Caleb!

Such an attention seeker! I don't know why she looks so evil though...

Did anyone see my silly face?!

Here's another cute one of Caitlin's BF - he always seems to close his eyes when the shutter goes off. Apparently all of Katie's pictures are like this - maybe he's just camera-shy :)

She sure is a source of entertainment; for us, for her friends... even for other patrons :)