Halloween

Kate was a turtle for Halloween this year.

Hear that? A turtle, not a frog - it is NOT a FROG costume. Both green, yes, but this is a TURTLE (why does everyone think she's a frog??)

In the morning, Kate went to a Mommy and Me class at the hospital. We did a "babies on parade" through non-infectious wards of the hospital and brought many patients cheer.

Later, the plan was to dress her up for Trick-or-Treat to pass out candy....but she fell asleep.

Grandparents

Here is Kate with her Grandpa and Grandma.

Kate did finally learn how to do raspberries correctly. She did them right into her Grandpa's face. Good thing that he has a sense of humor.







Kate and her Papa.
















Kate with her Nana.

Brrr!

Kate made an unscheduled visit to Ohio with her parents. Great-Granny passed away after 95 years. What a wonderful gift she gave to all of us to create another opportunity to be together as a family.

But, gosh, is it cold in Cleveland in October!





Here she is with her "cousins" Chloe and Dolly. Dolly turned into such a good guard dog for Kate - lots of sniffing (no licking, though), and Dolly often tried to place herself between any "intruders" and Kate.

Sweet potato thighs

We've starting training Kate on using a spoon, though we're still not feeding her much, or even every day. Today was our first try with sweet potatoes, which she really enjoyed - way more than the "gruel" that is rice cereal.

Swallowing the new food was a little trickier though - she grimaced every time she swallowed a bite!

Of course, sweet potatoes went everywhere - we even found them on her thighs!

How'd you do that?

Everyone keeps asking how we got that picture of Kate on the stairs if she's not sitting up on her own yet.

Observe - a picture where I wasn't able to get my hand out of the frame fast enough. See the baby list to one side?

Gotta love the bunny feet!

Jumperoo!

Anissa found this Jumperoo on craigslist.com for a STEAL! And Kate just adores playing in it and bouncing, bouncing, bouncing.....(you get the idea). We've since moved it to next to Kate's parents' exercise equipment so that the whole family can exercise together - and there's carpet under her feet.

Crawling Kate

We have crawling...kind of. Kate is able to lift her whole body up off of the floor, and to move her knees under her body. She can't really go anywhere yet - she does rock back and forth while she's up there. After much practice, she will even manage to scoot herself backwards just a little. Oh my - and we're not baby-proofed at all yet!

Sleep! Oh how we all miss it around here. Anissa was pretty sure that we'd found the right combination again to get our little one to sleep through the night. It seems that the Carter's sleeper with feet may be the key. She was in a sleep sack before and was waking every couple of hours. For the past couple of nights, we've listened to soft music (NO TV!), walked, rocked, binked, sushed, bounced, and resorted to swaddling over the sleeper - Yippee! Two nights of sleep in a row -- until last night. Last night she was so tired, that she fell asleep (in her Carter's sleeper) without the swaddle. Seems the swaddle has been the trick, not the Carter's sleeper (guess we can finally wash that Carter's sleeper with feet now).

Notice that "toybox" in the first photo? Kate REALLY enjoys emptying it out - anytime - all the time! No wonder parents get tired of cleaning up toys, seems like every time that I get all of her toys into her box, she flips it over and empties it again (Is this a first world problem, or what?).

Cute Photo of the Week

One of the rare moments where Kate sat quietly this week. It seems that we made the mistake of letting her try out a Jumperoo (think baby-bungee), and all she wants to do is jump up and down now - anywhere - on any surface - anytime - really likes jumping.......

I'm 5 months old today

My mother dressed me up (in a bow), but she didn't take me anywhere!

Kate's new "trick" is to turn her toy basket on end and to take each toy out one by one. Here she is at the start of her "trick".

She definitely prefers to be on her belly now. No diaper changes, thankyouverymuch. If her parents aren't quick enough, she will flip over onto her belly on the changing pad (oh, is THAT what those straps on the changing table are for?).

Sleep without the swaddle

Our little Houdini has officially escaped every swaddle created. The Miracle Blanket held out the longest, especially when double-swaddled
with a Target Velcro Swaddle on top of the Miracle Blanket.

So, how's she sleeping? Not great. She wakes up A LOT and her parents are very tired..but look...she's sleeping...in the daytime...in her crib...unswaddled!! (Yes, I know that she should be put to sleep on her back, but she can roll over, so we're not going to worry so much about it.)

Big Girl

We can't believe how grown up Kate looks here at almost 5 months old! Granted, just outside of the frame is Anissa's hands, ready to catch her when she leans forward. Kate is not sitting up on her own yet (Anissa sits just fine).

Kate is officially NOT sleeping through the night anymore. She used to regularly sleep for 8-12 hour stretches. For the past 3 weeks or so, waking every 2-3 hours has been the norm...go ahead and mock us. We're hoping on reading up on some good advice, that doesn't involve "Crying It Out". We're all very tired in the Pauer household.

Formula??

Actually Kate prefers the natural, but this shirt confuses more people for some reason. Doesn't everyone know the Pythagorean theorem when they see it? Geesh!

Math jokes - you can never have enough math jokes.

Western Living

It was free museum weekend, so we met Alison, Richard, and Petra at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Kate should learn what it's like to be a native Californian. Well the museum didn't really tell us that, but she liked the rocking chairs on the porch. I might have to learn how to make one - or find a used one in a thrift store. Kate couldn't quite appreciate the beautiful paintings of Yosemite on exhibit so we'll just have to show her the park in person - hopefully a restful trip once daddy is done with this film. Kate really wants to walk like her friend Petra, but for now she is content to have daddy carry her everywhere in the Bjorn. Ahh the good life.