About Our Katie » November 2005 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Wed, Nov 30, 2005 9:00 PM
Today Steve picked up Katie from Elbow Lane so that I could work a little later than usual. When I arrived home, I discovered the two of them at the kitchen table--eating whipped cream straight from the can! I asked Steve exactly what kind of "dinner" he was serving to our child...? He declared it was simply an intermezzo to cleanse their palates between courses.

Yeah, sure. Egg noodles and creamy CrockPot chicken (which she LOVES, by the way) have been known to "overwhelm" the palate. Good thing I arrived in time to give the kid a fruit (grapes) and a veggie (squash) before she completely filled up on cream!

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Sun, Nov 27, 2005 7:30 PM
Today we took Katie to see Santa at the Montgomery Mall. Suffice it to say she was NOT enamored by the fat man in the red suit. She cried when we put her on his lap the first time, so we took a "breather" and visited the holiday train and escalator (she preferred the latter!). When we went back to see Santa, all three of us had to sit with him to get a half-decent photo. Later, while we were eating at the food court, we repeatedly asked Katie, "Do you want to go back and see Santa?" Every time, she responded with a fervent shake of her head: "NO."

We also put up several Christmas trees in our house this weekend. We haven't put any ornaments on them yet, and I can't say I'm in a hurry to do so. We're already having a devil of a time keeping Katie away from the plugs. She loves pulling them out and watching the lights go dark. :-/

In other news:

* Katie can now identify several body parts: nose, eyes, mouth, head, feet, and, of course, belly.

* On Friday night, she got her first salon haircut--really just a trim/shape-up. I'm following Andrea's advice to let Katie's bangs grow out completely, so we'll still be battling the hair-in-eyes syndrome for the time being.

* Katie continues to enjoy doing for herself. Her most recent "trick" is applying her own baby lotion in the evening. She likes it when I squeeze a dollop on one of her hands. She rubs both her hands together and then swipes at her stomach (apparently that's the only part of her body that she feels needs to be moisturized! ;-).

* Katie is becoming a pro at working puzzles--especially her custom name puzzles from Gran. (She has a "Katherine," an "Elizabeth," and a "Fanelli" puzzle!) We left Katie with Kayla and her family last night, and they commented on how well she puts the letters into the appropriate slots.

* Carol also told me that Katie called out "Dees" upon seeing the neighbor dog named Diesel. And, despite her negative reaction to Santa, she does a fine rendition of "Ho! Ho! Ho!" I'd say she's getting very close to full-fledged speech.

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Thu, Nov 24, 2005 10:30 PM
Katie had a great second Thanksgiving. She got to spend time with Danielle and her pup, Angel, on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. (Katie loved the quiche that Danielle made!) And, she spent today with the Fanellis at our house. She thoroughly enjoyed the day--even though Grandma Renee, Anthony, Kaylah, and Derek couldn't make it.

I must say, Katie took advantage of how busy Steve and I were while preparing for our company. This morning--while he was making the crab ball and I was chopping celery--we looked up to find Katie playing with Angel's food and water bowls... in the nude. I can't swear that she ate any dog food, but she DID throw up shortly after that. (And, later tonight--when no one was watching her closely--she threw her sippy cup right into the powder-room toilet. What is it with her and toilets?!)

At any rate, Katie had a ball playing with everyone and soaking in all the action. And, she even made what I *think* was her first attempt at a two-word phrase. Around 8, I heard Steve say, "Susan, Katie's coming in there to tell you something." When she came in the dining room, I said, "Are you ready to go to bed?" Her reply: "Go buh." Mimi and Andrea can vouch for me on this one!

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Wed, Nov 23, 2005 7:00 AM
I know I've been remiss in updating Katie's site. (I'm sure all the grandparents have the shakes by now from withdrawal!) And while I don't have any new photos, I did want to capture a few quick stories:

* Remember that picture of Katie "practicing" on the potty? She has taken it to the next level. One night, she gestured to the roll of toilet paper, so I tore off a single square and gave it to her. She wadded it up, "wiped" herself, and then shoved the paper down into the bowl. (That's the impressive part; the not-so-nice part is that she tasted the TP in between steps two and three!)

* She has taken a MAJOR liking to our basement. One day last weekend--when it was pouring rain--Steve took her down there to blow some bubbles. Well, that did it. Now every time he goes down to tend to Vito, she runs to the desk drawer in the family room, grabs the bottle of bubbles, and tags along with her dad. (Steve reports that she also likes to "clean the litter box"--jabbing the scooper at the litter.)

* Health wise, she seems to be fully recovered. However, her sleeping patterns are still frustrating us to no end. The last three mornings, she's gotten up in the neighborhood of 4:30/5:00--in other words, TOO EARLY! The thing is, after sucking down a yogurt and some milk, she'll go back to sleep until 8:00 or later. So, we're going to start giving her a snack right before bedtime, in the hopes that she'll sleep a bit later.

(P.S. It appears that the "About My Baby" service has modified their web template. I am not sure I like it as much!?)

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Thu, Nov 17, 2005 5:00 PM
We're in the midst of another milestone: Katie's first ear infection.

She's had a lingering cold for close to two weeks, and apparently it has settled in her left ear. (Her right one is clear.) The nurse-practitioner said the infection appeared to be in its early stages. So, I'm glad I went ahead and brought her in.

I kept hoping her cold symptoms (runny nose, coughing, a little wheezing) would run their course. But, the last couple of nights, she's gotten up--screaming hysterically. She's fine as long as I hold her upright and she can sleep with her cheek on my shoulder. However, lying down is apparently painful (and now I know why...).

The doctor prescribed a ten-day course of the world-famous Amoxicillin--the kind flavored like bubble gum. (I'm sure she'll be signing for "more"!) We have a follow-up visit scheduled for mid-December--just to make sure BOTH ears are normal.

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Wed, Nov 16, 2005 11:00 PM
The Tiny Tots class joined the two-year-olds for a "Sharing Feast" this morning at Elbow Lane. Miss Jo reported that Katie truly feasted. She said they were amazed by how much she put away! (I assured Miss Jo that Katie DID eat breakfast at home! LOL)

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Mon, Nov 14, 2005 10:30 PM
Tonight was another Parents' Night at Elbow Lane. This meeting was truly interactive. Each set of parents decorated a box for their child. Following some additional handiwork by the children, all of the boxes will be put together into some kind of "Sharing Train." Although I'm still not really clear on what the end result will be, I do know Steve and I had a ball making Katie's box! (He will vigorously deny this, but trust me, he was loving every minute. He even had his tongue sticking out--so you KNOW he was concentrating hard! ;-)

Anyway, we made Katie's box into a miniature playhouse. Steve cut small four-square windows on two of the sides and a big half-moon window in the back. He also made a door that Katie can crawl in and out of. I did most of the painting (with tempera paints--such fun!). The main color is red with purple "shutters" and orange "trim." Then I wrote Katie's name on construction paper using glue and glitter.

I hope she likes it!

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Mon, Nov 14, 2005 6:30 PM
We had a great four-day visit with Gran and Grandpa. As always, Katie got a ton of attention and averaged two to three walks PER DAY with Gramps.

Unfortunately, Katie has still been a bit under the weather. So, Gran and Grandpa didn't get to take Katie out and about as much as usual. Even so, I think they all had a good time together. Katie seemed to especially enjoy "helping" Daddy and Gran work outside in our yard. (I have a video clip to post.)

A couple of quick stories (before I forget them!):

* Instead of just putting shoes on Katie, Gran played "shoe store" with her. For this game, Katie sits in her little upholstered chair and is treated like a customer at--you guessed it--a shoe store. Naturally, this morning before school, Katie wouldn't allow me to put her shoes on her while we were on the floor. Instead, she took the two sneakers, seated herself in her chair, and then giggled with delight when I pretended to be a salesgirl.

* Last night Katie and I were looking at the "Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Where Are You?" book I made for her. She REALLY fixated on an old photo of Vito perched on the toilet seat, drinking out of the bowl. I made the mistake of repeating, "What is Vito doing? Is he drinking out of the toilet?!" Less than a half hour later, Katie and I were upstairs together. I was putting away some clean laundry when I realized I hadn't heard a peep from her in awhile. Not surprisingly, I discovered her in the bathroom--dipping her hand in the toilet and licking off water. Double YUCK! (On an up note, at least she didn't climb onto the seat and put her head in the toilet like Vito did...)

* And here's one more for the "Gross-out File." Last week, Steve, Katie, and I went to BJ's. Steve and I decided to experiment... We put Katie in a normal, "boring" cart rather than automatically getting a snazzy one with a red car in front. "Let's see if she notices," Steve said. Ha! Was there ever any doubt? The SECOND Katie spotted a vacant car cart, she went wild with excitement. So we abandoned our original cart and buckled her into the red car--where she enthusiastically steered BOTH wheels at once. Here's where the gross-out factor comes in. Right as we were heading for the check out, I looked down and saw something in Katie's mouth. It was a big yellow pacifier--as in, some OTHER child's big yellow pacifier. Who knows how long she'd been sucking on it...? Eww...

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Tue, Nov 8, 2005 8:45 PM
Katie has cut a third tooth--the bottom canine on the left side. We're hoping that "Sybil" will go back into remission until the next tooth eruption gets underway!

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Sun, Nov 6, 2005 6:00 PM
It's been a busy and rough week. Katie has been under the weather (fever, coughing, runny nose). Her sleeping pattern was thrown off by "falling back" an hour last weekend. And she is cutting at least one more tooth. Add it all up and we're about ready to rename her "Sybil." She's jumping from personality to personality--happy one minute, whiny the next, and then downright ticked off and flailing on the floor.

Nevertheless, she's still been doing some interesting things:

* When she was running a fever earlier this week, we were giving her Tylenol. At first, she resisted the medicine vocally and physically. Finally, during a particularly loud protest, Steve said, "Katie, it's GRAPE. It's not that bad!" So, she stopped crying, licked her lips, sprang up, and signed for "more." We haven't had trouble giving it to her since. (She did the same thing with Oragel last night.)

* She still isn't talking much, but yesterday when she and I saw the cat, I said, "Hi, Vito!" Katie then said what I swear was, "Ha, Vah-vo!" It was a good effort, I suppose. ;-)

* She is still as outgoing as ever. At a restaurant yesterday, she saw a dad out with his two daughters, who looked to be in elementary school. She went on over and attempted to get into their booth.

* Her dishwasher fascination continues. She now knows how to open the door (and she likes to climb up on it, too), so we have to keep it locked. Unfortunately, when it's locked, she starts pressing the buttons. For example, she'll switch our setting from "Normal" to "Pots & Pans" and then press "Start." This was cute the first time she did it, but that's where the humor ended! :-P

* All of a sudden, she is REALLY interested in her endless collection of books. She loves to sit and page through them (often upside down), as well as to have us read (which usually involves some sort of silly game we've customized to each book). Like many little ones, Katie does that cute back-up-into-your-lap-with-book-in-hand thing, too. I love that.

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