Miscellaneous Cuteness

Here is some miscellaneous video of K. being cute. She's especially talented at opening and closing gates and doors. K. has also become quite adept at pulling herself up onto her knees. Enjoy!

Helping Dad ("Sort" of)

B. starts a new job (actually a new-old job) on Monday, and had to sort all of his things from his old office. K. decided to help him go through some of his old files.

Future Engineer?

For every day that I encourage K. to explore her musical/artistic side, B. encourages her toward a life of engineering. He had a bunch of his work items home (I don't really know what most of them are--the only thing I know is that the thing that looks like a ruler is actually a scale) so K. helped herself to some of his tools.

She's found a chart and is taking it with her. K. studying.
Reading an Air Conditioning Manual with Daddy.
" Don't take it away, Daddy. Read more!"

It May Not Look Exciting to You

It might not look like much, but K. has learned how to crawl over the threshold of her room (the bottom bar on the gate). When she was just beginning her crawling, even that little amount of an "obstacle" was enough to set her back. She can also (don't tell Grandma) crawl up onto the dog bed, which is a good five inches or so off of the ground. She used to just pull herself up on it but was tempted by a crate of papers B. was storing there and made her way up. With the whole being K.'s first year thing (and her being the first baby), every little thing K. does is exciting.

She can also turn the "pages" on the plastic "phone book" that came with her house. She discovered that just a day or so ago. Another thing that excites me is that, if K. comes across a small object (heaven forbid a fuzz on my floor), rather than grabbing at it with her entire hand, she will use just her pointer finger to manipulate it. She will do this also with the diamond on my ring (while the ring is still on my hand, lest it be a choking hazard).

Not Much Tuesday

I don't really have anything to say, but wanted to post some more photos of K. So here they are.
Enjoy!

Eight Marvelous Months

K. has had another "birthday" and is eight months old. I though, since she can hold things, it might be cute too make a sign with her age and have her hold it for a photo.

That didn't work so much, as she was much more interested in eating the sign than posing with the sign.
Oh, well. Maybe next month.

Just Relaxin'

Here's another photo of K., relaxing after a tiring photo shoot. I take so many photos of her it's like the paparazzi following the poor little one around!

All By Herself (Mostly)

K. is standing!

Well, not really. The K. is learning about balance. She's good at sitting, crawling, and is starting to kneel. I found some photos of myself, at her age, standing up, so I asked my mom about it. She conceded that she may have helped me up, then took the picture. "Well," I thought, "K. can do that too."

What are you lookin' at?

Weekending

K. had a marvelous weekend--Grandma and Grandpa L. came and visit and K. had a very fun time playing with them. She's changed even in the month or so since they last saw her. She cries less and is happy for longer stretches of times. We played, she showed off her crawling, pulled up on furniture (to kneeling, or standing with assistance). K. shared many smiles.

After church, we went out to eat with Grandma and Grandpa and some good friends. K. napped for a while, but then woke up and ate in the high chair--of course, while we had fancy seafood she had "banana orange medley" with cereal.

Thursday Smiles

It was another day of much playing and quite a bit of sleeping. I had a meeting at work today and K. took a nap in the nursery the whole time--I was so proud of her. She sleeps what seems to be an extraordinary amount--she'll get up between 8 and 9, take her first nap by 10, be up for two hours (maybe) at lunchtime, then sleep for a while in the afternoon. She's up for dinner and sleeping again by 7. The only bummer about her requiring a lot of sleep is that she is an extremely light sleeper--it's an odd combination. I guess she comes by the sleeping thing honestly enough--before she was born, B. and my favorite weekend activity was a long afternoon nap, and it's not unusual for one of us to be in bed for the night well before 9.

K. likes a wide variety of toys. This particular one spins and has the various letters of the alphabet printed on it. It sings songs, says the letters, and makes animal noises (corresponding with the animals that correspond with the particular letters of the alphabet. But X-ray fish--really?) I don't have any grand illusions that, because of toys that will disjointedly speak letters or numbers to her, she will learn the alphabet or to count, but she likes them anyway.

Channeling her inner Gene Simmons.

Pffffffffft.

A Happy Baby is a Ticklish Baby

I've been trying to get video of K. laughing, because I find it hillarious. She managed to do it briefly for the camera, with a little help from B.

Another Mile Marker Reached

K. has been close to sitting from crawling--she'll push herself up and sit except for propping up with one arm. Today she finally did it--she sat up all the way on her own from crawling. I was going to take a picture, but it would be a non-interesting photo of her sitting. She's still pretty grouchy from teething (I hope it's just teething, though B. says that she's just grouchy because she takes after her mother).

K. has also shown interest in luggage, though I bet the real reason is that she's looking for Dad's wallet. (Okay, she actually just likes to pull herself up on things and it was not, ahem, moved off of the floor like it was supposed to be). She is so interested in the world around her, and it is so much fun to watch her investigate.

A Tuesday at Home

Today was just a normal "spend time playing around the house" day. K. is teething, so she's been making funny faces much and has her tongue out much of the day.

On the up side, she's become quite the crawling fool.

No One Is Alone

I've noticed recently that K. really doesn't like to be alone--but seems to enjoy playing alone as long as someone is nearby. When we play in her room, she is unhappy if I leave the room. If I'm in the room, though, she will play for a while without needing to interact with me.

Future Percussionist?

So we all wait to see what K.'s talents and passions will be once she gets older. Do we, perhaps, have a percussionist on our hands?

Crafty, Crafty

So I (J.) have been feeling quite crafty lately. I've made several things for K. (some of which have turned out better than others). The most recent are some soft blocks filled with bells, to make them more interesting. I had some extra fabric left over from some other projects for K.'s room (the curtain, curtain lining, bulletin board, pillow, and lamp shade) so I turned those into coordinating blocks.

No Laughing Yet, But Definitely Learning

K. has the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn House which is full of wonderful sounds and things for her to play with, and things for different stages (like things to look at while she's still crawling and things to play with once she can stand). The house doesn't yet bring laughter (though Mom and Dad do), but she seems to be learning. I was impressed when she reached up for the flower in the window box, but she has figured out how to open the mailbox and take out the "mail" that is in there (if Mom puts it back).

(The reverse side of the mailbox)

You've got mail!

And she has learned to ring the doorbell, which plays a sound and makes the porch light turn on.

Taking Matters Into Her Own Hands

K. has a "rainforest crib soother" that hangs in her crib. When it is on, it plays music and has lights and bubbling water. I mysteriously woke up to the sound of distant music a few mornings ago, and it took me several minutes to figure out what it was. K. figured out how to press the button and turn the crib soother on. I caught her in the act a couple of days later:

Like Mother, Like Daughter

While K. looks much like B. in real life, her baby pictures do resemble Mom's baby pictures:

While visiting a friend of K.'s, I took another photo that is eerily similar to my own childhood:

K. with friend

J. with friend

Hanging out with Dad

One of K.'s favorite things to do is to play with her dad. They have a great time together:

She especially likes it when he makes her fly like an airplane. She's also quite fond of the various dances he does for it (the sillier, the better). They do like to snuggle.

(And yes, she is trying to lick his cheek).

Seven Wonderful Months

K. is seven months old now, and is doing a myriad of fun new things, not the least of which is crawling. She started just after her seven-month birthday, and I must say it is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. She first started crawling toward her stacking/nesting cups (while stacked, of course) and now gets around very well. She's not quite moved from a crawling to a sitting position, but nearly does--she still props herself up with one arm. K. also will pull herself up to kneeling. She knows that 'upright' is the next thing, but isn't quite sure how to get there. I think she's just happy to be able to move around and not be so dependent on Mom and Dad ([snif] our little baby's growing up).

(sorry the video is sideways--just imagine her crawling on a wall)

Generic "I'm Blogging Now" Post

I (J.) am going to try the blogging thing. I have been inconsistent in keeping a journal for K. and am hoping that this will help. This blog will be mostly about her, but I might throw in some deep thoughts to keep things lively.