Fun With Spoons (and less fun with tea)

Catherine was a super sleeper last night. She temporarily gave up sleeping on her face, and she slept from 7:30 to 6:15 without waking up once and even without a pacifier. She always sleeps pretty well but that is rare. Tonight she seemed to get happier and happier as bedtime got closer. You can see how happy she was after her bath, so we played for a little while before her bedtime snack, during which she fell asleep like normal. Usually she wakes up when I move her to her crib (which is good because she is supposed to learn how to fall asleep in her crib by herself) but it tends to upset her a little when she realizes she's not sleeping in my lap anymore, and what's more, I'm leaving the room. But tonight when I put her in her crib she woke up and smiled at me, then giggled at her music and lights crib toy when I turned it on, and fell asleep without crying a few minutes later - delightful.

After playtime with the spoons (below) Catherine and I ate lunch together at the table - she enjoyed her peaches and cereal. When we were done I left her playing at the table while I went back to my work emails, and I thought I had moved everything far out of her reach, but apparently by stretching out on the table and working her little fingertips for about ten minutes, she managed to get the corner of my placemat and slide it towards her. She then proceeded to dump about half a glass (plastic glass, thankfully) of iced tea over her entire body. I noticed none of this (lots of work problems demanding attention today and Michael is still in Texas) until I heard her whimpering and looked up to realize that the whimpering was due to her clothes being soaked in ice-cold tea. I laughed, but she didn't think it was funny until she was in dry clothes. Note to self: baby's arms are longer than you think they are, eyes see more than you think they do, ears hear more than you think they can, and legs can accomplish more than you ever dreamed. Michael had dinner with some friends and their nearly 2-year-old yesterday, and he reported back today that he has glimpsed the future, and it is messy. I'm glad he's prepared, because Catherine and I are planning to dance a joyful jig when Daddy comes home tomorrow night! We have had a very fun few days, and I am happy to hog baby hugs and giggles every chance I get. I also send up a little prayer for single moms and dads everywhere. It occurs to me that perhaps I have not showered in the last couple days (or maybe I have - who can remember really).

Here's a little clip so you can be awed by Catherine's superior motor skills. If you're in St. Louie, you'll see it for yourself in less than a week!



You all really seemed to love the nostalgia-worthy black-and-whites, so here you go:

6-Month Stats + Tongue Clicking Video

We went to the pediatrician for Catherine's 6-month checkup today: she is 28 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds 13 ounces (and her head is 17 centimeters, if that's a stat you're interested in). This puts Catherine in the 98th percentile for girls on the growth chart (like we didn't know she was big). Her doctor was very impressed with her ability to sit up by herself and support her weight on her legs, and I was impressed that she didn't cry when he picked her up. He started her on daily vitamin drops with fluoride in them for her eventual teeth since our water here doesn't have fluoride in it, but I'm not really looking forward to giving it to her tomorrow - it's a yellow/green liquid that smells like rotten seaweed. Then again, Catherine isn't that discerning about what she puts in her mouth so she probably won't care. Of course at the end the nurse had to come back with the shots - three big ones again, but Catherine was amazingly calm about the whole thing, even better than last time. She didn't even cry with the first shot and only let out a squawk with the second one. The third one is the biggest and the nurse says it probably burns a little, so that one did turn her face red and make her scream, but as soon as it was done and I picked her up she was fine, and even smiled at the receptionist on the way out.

This morning Catherine abandoned her fake cough noise because she somehow discovered that smacking her tongue against the roof of her mouth makes an even better noise. She did it all day:

Catherine had a very fun time at church today. She decided to opt out of her mid-morning nap, the beginning of which often coincides nicely with the start of church at 10. For a little while, she just hung out in her car seat and played quietly, but before long she decided everyone should hear her opinion on things too. I haven't listened to the whole recording of the sermon, but I wouldn't be surprised if Catherine's squawking shows up a time or two.

Michael left straight from church to go to Texas for a few days, so I decided Catherine and I should be super industrious this afternoon and get as many little chores done as possible since Michael won't be around to free up any time for me in the next few days. What actually happened is that Catherine and I came home from church, had a nap then some lunch and took a long walk. Then Catherine accompanied me on the piano while I practiced my fiddle, we played with some blocks, rolled around on the floor for a while, and did the dishes (one chore accomplished). After that Catherine had some rice cereal mixed in with mushed bananas and a side of carrots for dinner, then some more playing, a bath, a quick snack and she was off to bed. Now that she's asleep I'm having some dinner - leftover BBQ pork that Michael made earlier with a side of yellow squash from the garden (I have a side of yellow squash from the garden with every meal right now).

Catherine went to bed at 7:30 and so far (it's 8:27) I have rolled her back onto her back twice. Now that she is a professional at rolling over, she has decided to sleep on her stomach and directly on her nose. Seriously, arms down at her sides with her palms facing up and nose and face pointed straight down into the mattress. Last night I rolled her over three times before I went to bed, and when I woke up this morning she was sleeping like that again. When she rolled over onto her stomach she still had her pacifier in her mouth, so this morning she had a ridiculous pacifier ring on her face that took about an hour to fade away.


Here's a little anecdote that I think the uncles might enjoy since they're always asking for pictures of poo and gross things: Remember the side of carrots for dinner? Sometime after dinner, Catherine must have spit up a little without my noticing while I was carrying her around in the kitchen (I carry her face-out on my hip a lot - she likes to grab at everything we walk by). I did notice it a few minutes ago when I went into the kitchen to get a drink and stepped in a puddle of carrot-spit-up.


This picture is mostly so you can see Catherine's hand. Michael really likes that when her hand is flat, she has fat dimples where her knuckles should be.

The Log Roll

Catherine really likes these blocks right now. Mostly she likes to eat them (and their bucket and lid) but she also enjoys knocking over block towers that Daddy builds. Catherine's day pretty much consists of walking in her walker, playing piano, jumping in the jumper, eating and eating and eating, trying to sit up, playing with her toes, and rolling around on the floor. She's still doing her goofy fake cough a lot too - I'm really not sure how long that is going to last.

I think it's time to designate a corner in the basement for outgrown baby gear. Catherine already has a whole box of too-small clothes, she's just about too long for the blue bouncy chair, and she's also pretty much too big for her infant bath (I think her only choice there is to graduate straight to showers since we don't have a bath tub!). It also won't be long before she weighs too much for the infant car seat and we have to move up to the next one.

We're joining the countdown - only 2 weeks until Unofficially Aunt Jena becomes full-fledged Aunt Jena! Catherine tried on her party dress today to make sure she hasn't outgrown it - she seemed extremely amazed and delighted to be wearing something that makes so much crinkly noise.

Results of the Log Roll:

If I saw Catherine wiggling around on her stomach licking the floor, I'd probably be a little grossed out and put her on a blanket or something so she would have to stop licking the floor. Yet, when Catherine puts her toes in her mouth, this raises no alarms whatsoever, even though I know those toes have been walking the length of the house (in her walker of course) for an hour. I don't know why that is.

Other than licking her toes, Catherine spent most of the day making a non-stop fake coughing noise (think Zoolander). Most of the day I could not tell if she was laughing, whining or clearing her throat. She also spent a fair amount of time jumping in the doorway of Michael's office in her jumper. I think she likes it there because she can stare at Michael then swing around and stare at me - this keeps her entertained because it doesn't take her long to get bored with either of us.

Even though she's not scooching (is that a word?) around or crawling, I think Catherine is a little more mobile than she realizes. When she is annoyed about being in her crib for bedtime, she often reaches over her head with her hands and arches her back while crying. This rarely gets her anywhere so she gives up and goes to sleep. Tonight she tried this and just flipped right over on her stomach - I think it surprised her because she stopped crying for a minute and looked confused (sometimes she forgets she knows how to roll back over and still gets frustrated about being on her stomach).

Here is a video of Catherine obsessing over her toes (I was trying to get a picture, but realized after I pushed the button that the camera was set to video, so now you get a video).