Our Family Dominates

Many many thanks to Grandpa Johnny (or I guess Great-Grandpa Johnny since this is Catherine's blog) for sending my camera back to me. It arrived safe and sound today, which means we can resume taking pictures of Catherine at the preposterous rate previously established.

Flavor of the Day in the Rennier household: Sweet Potatoes! Catherine had her regular rice cereal for lunch today, but we added a side of sweet potatoes. She gave a little jump when she first tasted it, then dove right in (seriously, after just a couple bites she looked like she had bathed in sweet potatoes). We took a really great video for you, but when I went to upload it I discovered it was 100.6MB and the YouTube limit is 100MB - sorry. So all you get is this picture; it should give you a pretty clear idea of what transpired (and no, I did not plant the sweet potatoes on the tip of her nose for the sake of the photo op - she did that all on her own):


I'm officially granting Catherine Grand Master status with the walker. She can now back up and turn either direction when she runs into something, can make the corner into both bedrooms, and can make a complete circle around the dining room table. The only places she cannot go with the walker are Daddy's office, because of the step down (although it has not kept her from trying) and the bathroom, because of the little step up since laying new tile on the floor raised it up a bit. This is probably a good thing. Since she is so interested in picking up everything she can find, I have started leaving little toy stations within her reach: a toy or two on a dining room chair, a couple on the coffee table, and a couple on the night stand in our bedroom. So far it seems to successfully keep her interested for a few moments longer, which is good because she seems to get bored easily. Or maybe she just has an average attention span for a 5-month old: 45 seconds.

Luckily Catherine enjoys sitting up in her high chair. Sometimes I take it outside and she'll hang out in it for half an hour or so while I work.


It is also the perfect height for pulling up to the piano:

(Sorry about the squeal at the end - she had already been playing there for a while when I got the camera.)

Catherine has not rolled from her back to her stomach yet, but she comes very close, especially when she is reaching for a toy (or the carpet) behind her head. She also has started the delightful habit of sucking on her toes (I'm trying to get a picture of this). I don't know why, but toe-sucking is one of those quintessential baby activities that I for one was really looking forward to. It is definitely as cute and hilarious as I had anticipated.