Eleven months old!

Dear Katie Beth,

(Or "Spazzy Beth" as your Daddy likes to call you)

"Go big or go home" seems to be your motto. I do believe I've mentioned before that you are very vocal when displeased or having your diaper changed or being removed from whatever danger zone you are playing in. Vuh-uh-ery vocal.

But other people tell us all the time what a happy baby you are, and have we ever seen such a big smile. They are so right because when your world is good, it's oh so good. You scrunch up your nose, squeal, flap and gummy grin your heart out.

This has been a big month developmentally...you started waving, clapping, and taking your first tentative steps on your own. Maybe the raspberries you're constantly blowing are helping you along, like a little motorboat.

Here you are showing off your arsenal of tricks!

You still have no teeth, but it seems that they must be getting close...

finger in one side, medicine top in the other...ahhhhh.

You had such a fun trip to the beach, and we just know we have a little beach bum on our hands!

Very soon, we'll celebrate your first birthday. It was around this time last year that you were first showing your independence by refusing to turn in my belly the way you were supposed to. Now you show it by speed crawling back to whatever hazard we've removed you from, preferring to feed yourself chunks of table food over being spoonfed, and playing so hard with Ben that you've made his nose bleed!

Little Miss, we love your spunk and also your snuggles and are so looking forward to celebrating your first year of life this next month!

love,

Mommy

Ten months old!

Dear Katie Beth,

I was surprised to find you pantless when I picked you up from the nursery after my Bible study today. The three teachers all were smiling and shaking their heads, peppering me with comments about how you worked up such a sweat, you are so curious, into everything, a little spider, so busy, how do I get anything done at home, took two to change your diaper, etc. I grinned, feeling as though we'd formed a sort of sisterhood of Katie Beth Wranglers. Then I scooped you up and smothered you with kisses, because you're my girl, and I wouldn't change a thing.

To highlight the past month that flew by:

Ding dong, the reflux's gone!

Apparently when doctors and other mothers said you'd grow out of it in nine months, they'd done some research. One day I realized that the drawer of bibs and burb pads that always seemed empty, was overflowing with terry cloth. The dalmatian pattern on the floor was getting fainter, and I was able to leave the house without a change of clothes...for myself. Hallelujah!

Early riser

As in if the first digit on the clock is a "6" when I hear you waking in the morning, I feel as if we slept in. Usually it's 4:45...5:15. That was all fine and good back in the day when you'd fall back asleep nursing. Now, as soon as the bottle is gone, the game is on! And we're not talking "Quiet Mouse". Which usually means Ben is joining in on the action well before the sun too. And while your morning naps are usually a solid 1.5 hours or so, your afternoon nap is not predictable, which can make all of us slaves to your bedtime routine or else you get a wee-bit temperamental.

Bow boycott

As hard as I've tried to prevent it, I knew this day would come. If you are frustrated, if you are tired, if you feel it in your hair, if you see a bow across the room... you frantically search the right side of your head to rip out any ribboned accessory you may find. It's maddening really, especially when I don't know you've done it until we get home and I realized we've donated yet another bow to the Target parking lot or chimp exhibit at the zoo. These things don't grow on trees after all. So, until Grandma decides to pick up bow making as her next hobby...cut it out missy.

Fortunately, I've got more tricks up my sleeve.

Allow me to introduce the ponytail!

The Cheerleader

The Pebbles Flintstone

Power squats

Hands down, your favorite pasttime this month has been cruising, pushing buttons on the cable box and practicing your balance in standing. You're taking a calculated approach and keeping your knees bent, which allows for maximum stability...sometimes lasting 30 seconds or more. Usually at that point, you get excited, squeal and flap your arms and pop down on your cushy Huggies butt.

hold it, hold it...and pulse 2, 3, 4....

weeble wobble!

Don't worry Zoe. I'm sure she's not about to smack your head.

Or grab your tongue.

just hanging out

Combining all your moves to try to hoist baby Stella into her stroller

Dairy farm is closed

It was a good run, but your curiosity with the world around you led to shorter and less-frequent nursing sessions, which led to a lower milk supply, which led to your weight plateauing, which all led to the switch to formula at 9.5 months. I had some milk saved up, but you are now officially a Similac baby...and a bit of a binge drinker. You start panting and squirming as soon as you see that bottle coming, and have mastered the art of holding it yourself. I have to say that, although I was hoping to nurse for your first year, I am enjoying the convenience of handing the bottle to you in the car, letting Daddy take the early shift on Sundays and also the fact that I know exactly how much milk you are getting every day. Bottom line is we want you to be healthy and put a little extra meat on your bones.

But maybe not on your thighs...

Getting ready for swimsuit season!

We actually had some pleasant-weather days in February, which drove us outside as often as possible. Since birth, you have been an outdoors girl - the only place that could calm a newborn scream session still has that effect during baby meltdowns. But it's been fun to play in the backyard instead of just pray for quiet!

Watching you really look at the sky for the first time, feel the wind, stare at tress, laugh at birds and squirrels has been some of my absolute favorite moments...not only of the month, but of being a mother. The awe, the wonder...there is something truly sacred of rediscovering the world through the eyes of a child.

Your family loves this journey, Katie Beth...thanks for taking us along!

love,

Mommy

P.S. Monthly chair-picture outtakes...you can see why the one at the top was the best I could do. Someone doesn't sit still for too long, and I did what I could to corral!

Katie Beth is 9 months old!

Dear Katie Beth,

Whew, whadda month!

Okay, so a month and a half since the last letter. But still, you've certainly grown up in a few short weeks! Around mid-December I realized that you were doing really well sitting up without needing a pillow for protection. Then I blinked, and you started leaning forward and putting weight on your hands. I turned around, and you began to crawl. I must've sneezed and suddenly you are pulling up, balancing and even cruising along furniture.

Knock, knock - who's there?

It's Katie Beth!

"Here I go...weeeeee!"

loving on the lamb

This rocker makes you shriek, squeal and scramble out of my arms. Just like the bathtub does.

You absolutely love your baths and still don't really mind when water gets in your eyes...which is good considering how much splashing around you do in there. However, I did discover your first phobia this month - bubblebaths! (Da-da-duuuummmm) I misinterpreted your spastic arm flailing for wanting to join Ben in the suds, but the moment your skin touched the bath foam, you shot out of the water and up my arms like a wet cat! Then cries of terror ensued until you were safely out of harm's way.

Look who's standing up in her crib! Now that the mattress has been lowered, the guardrail is just the right height to gnaw on and thrash about on when angry that no one will rescue you from your crib as demanded. (which is hard to picture as happy as you look here!)

You will be our need-to-babyproof baby as there is nothing more intriguing to you than a brick fireplace, potted plant, power cord, or dog toy.

Well, except for maybe just the dog herself!

Zoe may not seem too interested here, but that certainly changes during meal time when she has to be constantly shooed away from under you. (no ulterior motives there or anything!)

Big (yet still toothless) grin after a yummy meal in your highchair

You may be weaning yourself as you have little patience most of the time for nursing. But you've been a great eater, only putting up a fight when I fed you beets. But they did smell like dirt, so I didn't push it. Otherwise, you've like spaghetti, scrambled eggs, chicken, taco meat, blueberries, bread - honestly pretty much everything. We also experimented with self feeding this month, and you LOVE trying to pinch little morsels and cram them onto your face...sometimes even into your mouth!

You are wearing size 2-3 diapers, 9-month clothes (some 6-mths too), and taking a morning and afternoon nap. At 7 p.m. you turn into a pumpkin and are ready for bed - and will let everyone know. Nights are still tricky as you'll have a great stretch of sleeping through the night, only to be followed by an equally long stretch of multiple wakings and crying. I'm trying to do better at letting you settle yourself now that your reflux seems to be more controlled. Lately we've had some early, 5:30 a.m. mornings, but I keep telling myself that like all baby phases...this too shall pass. (I also tell the Starbucks girl that I need another shot.)

And that hair. It deserves a letter all of its own. While you are in your ninth month of Bow Bootcamp in hopes that you won't constantly pull them out once you realize they are in your hair, they also serve a practical purpose of containing the wild mane atop your head! So long and stringy on top, you would never know that underneath, is not even an inch long.

It's been an exciting month: your first ear infection, Christmas, plane ride, and trip to Canada. You are keeping us on our toes, but the smiles, coos and eager crawls up our legs make it so very worthwhile.

I love you,

Mommy

Seven (and a half) months!

Dear Katie Beth,

It's been a busy few weeks...as noted by the delinquency of this letter!

And not just for the calendar either - you have been a'growing and a'changing by the day.

First there was the unassisted sitting.

You just keep getting better and better and now you are sitting up like a champ, and barely need the boppy as backup behind you anymore. It is so neat how your world instantly grew once you gained a little stability...and a whole lotta toys!

"what do I do with all this stuff?!"

Then there was the haircut.
Those wings had to go.

And that mullet!

You did very well for the less than 3-minute ordeal and I wish I'd done it sooner!

We spent a whole week in Nashville for Thanksgiving visiting Grandma and Grandpa,

and smothering these two with your cuteness.

The Little Sisters' Club

And now we're getting excited for your first Christmas!

no...really excited.

yep...

we're pretty pumped!

In other news, we've been taking this solid-foods thing seriously, and you're doing great! Sweet potatoes, potatoes, butternut and acorn squash, avocado, apple, banana, green beans, peas...although I do have to tread lightly with those last two as they seem to trigger a gag reflex pretty easily!

This self-feeder thing has bought me some time while I get your food ready. It's a bear to clean and makes a mess everywhere, but you really suck down some banana from it!

You're trying to set new records in the jumperoo,

and are having so much fun experimenting with all of Ben's new toys. I mean, who even needs Christmas with all these hand-me-downs?!

Oh yeah, we do. Can't wait!

You are starting to jabber a lot - dadadada, babababa, papapa, etc. and you have the most sweetest talking voice in the world, so soft and dainty. Your screaming voice, however, is neither of those, and you definitely know how to use it if I walk away before you're done with my presence.

I mean, break my heart why don't you?

(Camera down, Katie Beth up, pronto.)

Hmm, I thought you were only supposed to have Daddy wrapped around your finger?! And that you do by the way; I wish you could hear how he swoons over you. He loves his little girl, no doubt.

And from sitting to rocking - look at you now! You just started this little game where you sometimes get stuck trying to reach the object of your affection.

On all fours already? Sister, I am not ready for a crawler!

We had an appointment with a GI doctor this week, just to make sure there is nothing more serious going on with your tummy other than reflux. Turns out we're doing everything just right and the magic medicine is...more time. So, armed with burp cloths, bibs and the swiffer mop, we'll continue to fight this spit-up battle for a few more months. As long as you are sleeping and eating ok, I consider us victorious! (So, when the doctor commented you had the biggest thighs of the day, I took it as a compliment for you.)

Some stats: you currently weigh 15 pounds, 15 ounces and are 27 inches long (if I remember correctly...and that's big "if"). You're wearing size 2-3 diapers, 6 month or 6-9 clothes. You sleep from about 7:30 or 8 until 6 or 7 in the morning, needing your paci readjusted at least once most nights. And you are a good napper - usually still a morning, noon and late afternooner...although that midday one is usually in the carseat with the ambient noise of Walmart or the aquarium to lull you to sleep.

Katie Beth, I am so excited about your new developments and all that is to come...and while I certainly don't want you to grow up too fast, I am so humbly thankful that you are growing and thriving and just continuing to light up the room and our hearts with that sweet smile every day.

I love you,

Mommy