Happy New Year! (I actually wrote this on Jan 5 - don't know why it says Dec 10) We managed to survive the holidays although they went by in a flash. I can't believe my baby has had her first Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Year already! Thanksgiving was a little out of the ordinary since we had to celebrate it a couple weeks early. I hope that doesnt do any long term damage to the baby! I'm sure she didn't notice anything. Bryan's cousin in Florida was married the day after Thanksgiving and Bryan and his whole family were there. Kate and I got to stay home since it was going to be a bunch of stress for us anyway. The family is dying to see her but that will have to wait until the next wedding in April.December flew by. Usually I have my Christmas tree up and running the second Thanksgiving turns but this year I was a little preoccupied. It seems like I JUST put everything up and now I have to take it down?! I didnt notice much of anything this Christmas except that this is the first Christmas of the rest of our lives. Meaning I am no longer the child but the parent and will always be until the end of my days. That was a weird revelation...although it wasn't quite a FULL BLOWN Christmas Extravaganza being on the 'parent' side, we did get a little taste of it. Next year I'm sure will be a lot more fun...telling stories of Santa (whatever she can comprehend), leaving out cookies and having Kate unwrap her own gifts. That was sort of annoying having to unwrap a gift that I not only knew what it was but had wrapped myself. It was still a fun holiday from what I can remember. We had some family in town which included my Grandma (hi grandma!), my Nana, my cousin and my aunt/uncle all the way from Alaska. It was definitely nice to spend the holidays close to our loved ones. I know Kate liked meeting and hanging out with her Great grandma's!
Then there was the New Year...it came and went just like that...and now it's 2012. Bryan and I didn't make it past 9:30 that night...How embarrassing. Well, who really should be embarrassed is Kate who barely made it to 7:00p. Oh well, the world still revolves whether we stay up or not. And revolve it will since 2012 will definitely be an exciting year to experience. People turning the big 3-0 (myself included...ugggh), other people getting married (a much anticipated event abroad), and still many more firsts for my baby girl including her very 1st birthday! Can't wait until it's all here and yet I don't want it to go by too fast. Hopefully I can catch more than a glimpse!
UPDATE: I was so focused on the holidays that I forgot to mention anything about the evolution of my now 4 month old! Here they are:
Strength - this girl has muscles! Her thighs are like meaty drumsticks and she kicks them all around every chance she gets. Her back and neck are also becoming very sturdy. She got some new toys for Christmas that will help take her to the next stage of crawling/sitting so she's pumped I'm sure (although she doesn't know it yet!)
Vocals - we have a screamer...in a good way if there is such a thing. She's discovered her 'voice' and practices multiple times a day on the full spectrum of pitches. Her new fav is the highest she can currently go...with a smile on her face of course!
Motor skills - her hand/eye coordination is improving greatly. She has no trouble touching or picking something up with one hand but is now working on grasping things with both hands. You can tell she's really focused when she's got something in front of her, both hands have it and she almost cross eyed staring it down. She also pushes out her lips like a little duck...super cute. Shes also mastered taking out her pacifier but still cant get it back in...which is becoming a very old trick in my opinion. Her hands are still her favorite snack and I'll catch her just staring at her hand while she moves it and rotates it around ever so slightly...can we say obsess much? LOL Jk.
Height/weight - height: 25.5 inches (90%), weight: 15.5 lbs (80%), head: Idk exactly but she's about 50% which is a lot better than 20%! She also got shots :( and verbiage on how to introduce solid foods next month! Yay! Also wasn't sure if she was legitimately teething but now I know she has been since her little gums are swollen and I THINK I can feel teeth under there! So I'm not sure how long they will take to show but we're in the process.
UPDATE!!!! We have teeth! I noticed them around Jan 13th which would have made her about 4 months and 1 week old...such an over achiever!! :)
