First Steps

Emily is now officially a walker.  Emily has been standing on her own, bending down and picking things up while standing, and cruising very confidently for a while now.  But she took her first independent steps on February 6th, taking two steps walking to Mommy (Daddy, of course, was on a business trip in Florida).  She held steady taking two to three steps for about two weeks, though Daddy didn't really consider two steps walking.  On February 21st, Mommy decided to work a bit with Emily to build up her confidence to take more steps.  It was mostly fruitless until Emily spotted her sippy cup about 3 feet away and decided to walk to it, taking about 10 steps on the way!  Emily was very proud to show Daddy when he got home from work that afternoon!  At the time Emily was holding a snack container of cereal in one hand.  Mommy thinks the feeling of holding on to something may have given her the confidence to walk without furniture.  Who knows?

Mimi and Uncle Trey visited the first week of February (to help out during the aforementioned business trip by Daddy).  They got to do some fun stuff while they were here!  One day, Kara, Mommy, and Mimi met up with Grandma S. and Aunt Amy to have afternoon tea at the Huckleberry.  Daddy and Uncle Trey took Kara sledding, which was a blast!  Mimi and Uncle Trey were also treated to an arctic blast.  The high one day was 4 deg F!

Emily is regressing a bit with night-time sleep.  She has been consistently waking up in the middle of the night (usually between 2 and 4 am) for no better reason than to say hi to Mommy and Daddy.  Emily is weaning herself off the bottle. It wasn't too long ago that she'd be drinking 24 ounces a day, but now she barely will drink 15.  It's great that she's adapting well to eating adult food, but she still need her calories!  Daddy is very excited that the end of bottle cleaning is near!

Kara has become very artistic lately.  She is constantly drawing pictures and telling stories.  She particularly likes to pretend that she's on a boat with Fifi.  Mommy had her first parent-teach conference with Kara's preschool teachers.  Her teachers used the terms "big personality" and "high energy" multiple times to describe Kara in class.  Mommy and Daddy are just glad they're not the only ones who think that.  They also said she is very engaged, tells great, relevant stories and loves playing and talking to everyone.  Ms. Larissa said Kara was telling a story about what was at the end of her beanstalk and she said "there was snow in the castle and I BURST WITH EXCITEMENT to make a snowman!"  So Kara can sum up her own general state of emotion pretty well. :)

Kara's thoughtful quote of the month:
"Emily's family job is pooping." - After trying to explain to Kara that everyone in the family has jobs to help around the house (Kara clearing her plate spurred the conversation).

Link to pictures

Christmas 2011

Christmas was a lot of fun this year with Kara.  We got about a foot of snow a couple of days before the big day, so we got to experience our first White Christmas with Kara.  She more or less understood what was going on and got very excited about her presents.

Kara's big gift this year was a play kitchen complete with all kinds of play food, plates, pans, and cups.  Kara was so excited about the kitchen that she barely gave the big Mickey that Mommy bought (and we were sure she would be really excited about) a second look.

It was quite a full house with Mimi (aka Grandma H), Grandpa H., Grandma S., Grandpa S., Uncle Trey, Aunt Amy, GG K, and Great Grandma S. all coming over for Christmas day. While we were opening presents, Kara, Uncle Trey, and Aunt Amy would pick out presents to open from under the tree and Kara would deliver the present.  Kara got a kick out of guessing what the present was before it was opened, but if she couldn't figure it out, she'd say, "I don't know what that is."  It was Mommy and Daddy's first time hosting Christmas.  All in all, we think it was a successful Christmas and a good time was had by all.

Other than Christmas, we had quite an eventful month.  The week before Christmas, Cousin Travis stopped by on his trek from Indiana to California.  He and GG K came over for lunch one day and had fun hanging out with Kara.

Mimi, Grandpa H., and Uncle Trey flew in from Alabama on the 22nd.  Unfortunately, that was also the day the snow decided to come.  We had about a foot of snow on the ground that morning (Daddy got stuck getting out of the driveway), and it continued to snow until early in the afternoon.  We were getting a little worried that the flights would all get delayed or cancelled, but everyone eventually got here.  Once they were here, the snow ended up being pretty fun.  Grandpa H. and Uncle Trey had fun playing with Kara in the snow.  We also headed to Downtown Louisville and enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage ride around town.

The day after Christmas, Uncle Trey headed back to Alabama.  Unfortunately, he missed a visit from Cousin Brad, Maggie, Cousin Cassie, and Scot.  They stopped by on their way to visiting some family up in northern Colorado.  They didn't get to stay long, but it was great to see them.

We could almost write an entire blog post just filled with Kara quotes.  It seems like she comes up with something new and funny every day.  Here are a few selected quotes:
• "Very hot, let it cool down." - Telling Mommy she needs to let her spicy Thai food cool down a bit.
• "Let's do this." - Asking Mommy to dance.
• "That's pretty loud" - Kara shouting as she shakes a bell
• "Ta-ta new kitchen.  Ta-ta love cook!" - Telling Grandma S. about her new kitchen on Christmas Day
• "Ta-ta eat booger" - Kara's first words to Mommy one day
• "I have Fifi ... he love Ta-ta."
• "Thank you, Mr. Fifi, he a good helper." After getting Fifi to help open the door (Mommy really opened it)
• "Fifi, he inside dog"
• "I love Fifi!"
• Holding Fifi over the railing, Kara said, "he looks downstairs... nothing there."

Link to pictures from Christmas Day


And here are some pictures from the rest of December

Straight to Winter

This past Monday, the weather was a bit on the warm side, being sunny and almost 80 deg F. By Tuesday night, it had started to snow, and we ended up getting almost a foot by Wednesday afternoon. Kara and Daddy had fun testing out our sled in the backyard and made a snowman (Daddy called him Bob). Kara and Daddy also had fun shaking the snow out of the trees (luckily we didn't lose any branches).

Kara just finished up her second swim class. Kara's getting pretty good at blowing bubbles and her back float. We probably have one more class with Mommy and Daddy before she moves up to the next level!

Kara's newest favorite toys are her alphabet blocks. Kara's getting pretty good with the numbers and letter (P is her favorite, we don't know why). She can also stack six high pretty easily. Whenever she knocks over her stacks, she says "Knock over", and then knocks on the blocks like she's knocking on a door.

Link to pictures



Video of Kara helping Daddy shake the snow off a tree (click to watch video).

Visit from Casey and Yuri!

Casey, one of Mommy's friends from college, and her litte boy, Yuri (who is 3 weeks and one day younger than Kara), came to visit us this past weekend from Portland.

On Saturday, we got up early and headed straight into Boulder to have breakfast at Lucile's. Casey and Lee Ann used to eat at the one in Fort Collins frequently during their college days. As always, the food was delicious! After a short nap back at the townhouse, we were back out on the town, this time visiting the Children's Museum in Lafayette. For the afternoon, we just played around the townhouse and the kids took turns riding around in Kara's sled (who needs snow?).

We took things much easier on Sunday. Yuri came down with a cold and didn't sleep very well Saturday night. We went into Boulder for lunch at Big City Burrito. While we were in Boulder, we stopped at a great toy store, which was a lot of fun for the kids. Other than that, we just stayed around the townhouse.

All in all, Kara had a great time playing with Yuri and Mommy was happy to spend some time with her friend. Sorry there are so many pictures. We just had so much fun!

Link to pictures

Playing in the Snow

We just got in from our second playtime in the snow this week. Kara seems to enjoy being dragged around in the sled, and she actually went down a hill for the first time this week. She also enjoys eating the fresh powder and is getting good at walking in her snow suit and boots!

On Monday, Mommy and Kara went to stock up on groceries before the second snowstorm. When we got back, it was already past Kara's lunch time. She watched a show while I brought in groceries. To move faster, I put the bags on the floor. I got a surprise when I came in with the last load. Kara had retrieved a box of crackers, opened them up, and was eating them while watching her show (hand in box and all). Guess I shouldn't underestimate Kara!

Kara has started to practice walking backwards. It's pretty funny.

During one of her bib "organizing" sessions, the Phil Collins song "That's All" came on the radio. She stopped what she was doing and started bopping up and down in time to the music. It was hilarious. She'd continue on, bee-bop, get another bib, bee-bop, etc. Then Mommy started clapping, and Kara clapped! Mommy jumped to the music. Kara thought that was great, but as she doesn't know how to jump yet, she decided to do a headstand instead. She put her head on the floor and shook her rump in the air to the music. This made Mommy's day.

Link to pictures

Snow Day!

This past Thursday, we got our first real snow of winter (too bad it was a week after Christmas). We got about 3 inches during the day and another 3 inches during Thursday night. Following the snow was an arctic front, so the high yesterday was about 10 deg F (it was cold!). We spent the day looking at the snow from the warmth of inside. It warmed up a bit today, so we took Kara out to check out the snow and try out her new sled. Kara enjoyed riding around in her sled, but she hasn't quite figured out how to move while in her snowsuit.

Bathtime is becoming much more fun these days. Kara really enjoys splashing around in the tub and playing with all her bath toys. We got some good pictures of Kara having a particularly fun bathtime this past week. Mommy and Daddy can't say they miss the days of the screaming newborn that HATED baths. Ah, memories...

Link to pictures