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Mon, May 30, 2005 4:00 PM
This has been Katie's first Memorial Day Weekend. It was also the annual Air Show at the Willow Grove Naval Air Base (www.willowgroveairshows.com). In keeping with tradition, Steve spent Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday in a chaise lounge on our front lawn, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the aircraft. He loves the Air Show (and the fact that we can avoid the traffic by watching from home!).

Yesterday Uncle Gary, Aunt Mimi, and Cousin Kaylah came over to hang out and, yes, watch the planes. Katie had a great time with Kaylah. They ended up playing with Alex from across the street and befriending a little redheaded girl who was at the Wurstas' house. Katie LOVES being around the "big kids." And she thoroughly enjoyed being with Kaylah, who was a BIG help. Kaylah gently rubbed Katie's tummy while she had her bottle, helped feed her pears at dinnertime, and helped wash Katie during her bath.

This morning Steve and I took Katie to Doylestown for the annual Memorial Day parade. It started at 10, but the ol' early bird (a.k.a. Steve Fanelli) insisted on getting there two hours early. We had time for a relaxed breakfast. We got great seats in the shade. And Katie looked adorable in the special hat her dad bought for the occasion. But by the time the PARADE actually got rolling, she conked out! (It was smack dab in the middle of her morning naptime.)

Anyway, it's been great having a three-day weekend. It'll be hard for all of us to get back into the swing of things tomorrow...

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Fri, May 27, 2005 7:30 AM
It's been a few days since I last posted, and there's lots to report!

For starters, Katie is definitely crawling now. She's been "getting around" for awhile. But last night, she did an actual forward crawl. Like her mother, she crawls "Commando" style; and like her father, she relies on her LEFT arm to do so! (We got some great footage on our camcorder. Unfortunately, it's not the kind we can easily post on this site.)

We put her to bed right after last night's intense crawling session. Once we were both downstairs, we started listening to her on the monitor. At one point, we heard all sorts of racket. (Steve's interpretation of the noise: "She must be disassembling the crib.") We went back up, snuck through her bathroom, and peeked in to find her sitting up in front of her "Ocean Wonders" aquarium. She was having so much fun--playing with all the plastic gizmos and babbling away--that she didn't even notice us. About 10 minutes later, it went silent and she was asleep.

Speaking of crawling, I'd better go... She just made her way under the desk and is emptying the contents of the garbage can!

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Sun, May 22, 2005 7:30 PM
Katie's been in a much better mood today--probably because she got both of her regularly scheduled naps.

We ate lunch at Moe's today. As usual, she was enthralled with all the other babies and kids in the restaurant. She really tries to engage other children socially. To get their attention, she squawks, shouts, blows raspberries, and waves her arms.

We had dinner at home, and she really enjoyed hers: soy "chicken" nuggets (for some reason, I just can't bring myself to give her meat yet), bananas (the "real" kind--not pureed), and blueberries (chopped into such tiny pieces that they appeared more lime-colored than blue). She loved all three items--especially since she got to feed everything to herself.

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Sun, May 22, 2005 8:00 AM
To Gran and Grandpa's chagrin, I didn't take many photos this week. I finally snapped some yesterday, squeezing them into a very busy day.

We spent the early afternoon at Titus Elementary's Spring Fair. (Barring any redistricting, Titus is the school Katie will attend from kindergarten through sixth grade.) Katie had a great time soaking in all the "eye candy." She also enjoyed swinging on their park-quality playground equipment. She continues to use the raspberry as her social greeting. We're hoping people don't take offense; she means it in a friendly way and only does it when she's comfortable with someone.

In other news, we've noticed that she's been a wee bit cranky the last few days. We aren't sure if she's teething or just getting demanding. For example, last night she was fussing after I took something away from her. Steve told me to feel her forehead--just for the heck of it. But I did my own test. I gave her back the object that I had taken away. Poof--the crankiness (and the "fever") miraculously disappeared!

Perhaps she's entering the Terrible Twos a year early...?

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Wed, May 18, 2005 8:00 AM
Early this morning Katie was in her room "talking" to herself (and, yes, blowing raspberries). But instead of discovering her lying on her back, I walked in and found her in a sitting position. That's a first!

Later she grabbed her bumper pad and the vertical crib slats. Although she didn't succeed at standing up on her own, she did a great impression of a frustrated jailbird!

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Sun, May 15, 2005 9:00 PM
We're back from a wonderful weekend visit to Louisville. The only problem is, there's never enough time to see everyone we'd like--or to spend long enough with the people we DO get to see.

During our whirlwind tour, Katie got to visit with Greatma and Greatpa, the staff and students of Gran's school, Aunt Lynda, Uncle Murph and his friend, Clint, as well as numerous relatives at Julie's wedding on Saturday. Grandpa took her to see some ducks at a pond on Gardiner Lane.

Of course, she also got to meet Sissy and Ethel at Frisch's Big Boy and Yolanda at Bob Evans. I had to laugh when we arrived at the Big Boy. Steve was holding Katie and was the first of us to enter. When he and I approached the hostess area, a server squealed, "Oh, it's Kaaaaatie!" (Hmm, do you think Gran and Grandpa have been sharing her photos?!)

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Wed, May 11, 2005 9:30 AM
This morning before work I took Katie to Quest Diagnostics for some standard blood work (hematocrit and hemoglobin). After much poking and pricking, the phlebotomist was still unable to draw blood from Katie's right arm. She called in another tech, and together they were able to get what they needed from her left arm.

Katie did well (of course, she was none too happy with either of the ladies!). They said I did well, too. They told me that a parent's reaction can have a huge impact on how well things go. They've had some moms start crying hysterically--and then they aren't able to draw the baby's blood.

Anyway, Katie was happy as a clam by the time we got to Miss Mary's house. And, she has two groovy "Bugs Bunny" Band-Aids as her badges of honor!

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Sun, May 8, 2005 10:00 PM
My inaugural Mother's Day is drawing to a close. I'm going to have to invent a new excuse to make Steve cave in to even my most unreasonable demands! :-)

In all seriousness, I didn't make any demands; we just had a nice, low-key day. This morning, Katie "delivered" a card to me that she had "signed" in purple marker. She had also torn it almost in half--and was very reluctant to hand it over!

Later, we headed to Grandma Renee's house for an early dinner with her and Uncle Keith. Katie definitely enjoyed herself and was in rare form--right down to a spilled beverage. That kid is getting faster and faster, grabbier and grabbier.

Also, she got VERY excited to see the lit candles on Uncle Keith's birthday cake. Between yesterday and today, she's going to expect cake and candles on a daily basis!

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Sat, May 7, 2005 10:00 PM
Today we took a ride to Gary and Mimi's new house to celebrate Anthony's birthday. We had a great time! Katie especially enjoyed playing with Kaylah and Andrea's tiny new kitten, Jack. We also got to meet Andrea's "friend," John, who is very nice and (in my opinion) a dead ringer for my brother.

Speaking of looks, there's still no consensus about whom Katie resembles. Jennifer thinks she looks just like me. Andrea, Christine and Mimi think she looks like Danielle--just with light hair, skin and eyes. Of course, the men offered no opinions, other than Steve lamenting that no one ever says Katie resembles HIM.

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Thu, May 5, 2005 10:00 PM
If you read today's New York Times, you might have caught Amy Harmon's article, "Stop Them Before They Shoot Again." No, it wasn't yet another piece about gun violence. Rather, the "shooting" refers to trigger-happy digital photographers (I don't know any of those; do YOU?!).

Since I've given proper attribution, I feel confident in excerpting the first few paragraphs of Harmon's article below.

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"The baby pictures just kept coming. At least once a month Suzanne Weber opened her e-mail to find the same friend had sent a link to as many as 50 pictures, often including multiple shots of the same child at the same moment at slightly different angles. Finally Ms. Weber, who enjoys the occasional digital baby snapshot as much as anyone, stopped responding, and the friend, taking the hint, stopped sending.

"Ms. Weber's e-mail, however, is by no means picture-free. Like many regular Internet users, she estimates that she will view more than 1,000 (why stop? it's free) digital pictures this year of friends, family and their assorted offspring. And she has some unequivocal advice for snap-happy e-mail correspondents everywhere.

"'Edit your pictures, people,' said Ms. Weber, a writer in Brooklyn whose pen name is Anita Liberty. She suggests no more than three pictures by e-mail, no more than 12 to an online 'album,' no albums more than twice a year. (Exceptions may apply for grandparents and best friends.)

"Ms. Weber is not alone in her plea for restraint. At a time when this country is indulging in an unparalleled binge of personal picture taking, and some digital photographers find themselves drowning in the product of their enthusiasm, the notion is dawning that even in a digital realm less may still be more."
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Harmon goes on to raise some interesting questions: When you're taking literally hundreds or thousands of photos, doesn't a single image lose its power? And, by snapping so many shots in effort to "capture a moment," aren't you, in fact, missing the moment?

I'm sure there are those (my husband included!) who think I take too many photos of Katie, as well as those (such as Steve's Uncle Bob, who once teasingly requested a "synopsis" of the website, saying he lacked the time to read it all) who consider Katie's website overkill.

But I, for one, have no intention of giving up my digital Olympus or my baby's URL. I see Katie's site as a way to bridge geographical distance between families, share news and photos in a highly efficient manner, all while recording her milestones in a convenient, easy-to-edit electronic format.

And besides, I could never write longhand in a baby book. My "trigger" finger aches enough already!

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Wed, May 4, 2005 12:00 PM
I think someone is in the midst of a growth spurt!

Yesterday Katie's afternoon nap ran a whopping three and a half hours--from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Despite that, she went to bed at 8 p.m. and was just waking up when I went into her room at 7:45 this morning.

If only *I* could get that much sleep...!

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Mon, May 2, 2005 12:30 PM
Last night Katie invented a new game with her dad. Steve placed her in a standing position facing our ottoman. Eventually, she weebled and wobbled and fell to the ground. As she did, Steve made a sound effect and helped her land in a sitting position.

When he put Katie back in a standing position, she knew what she wanted to do. She intentionally pushed off and plonked right on to her hiney--laughing the whole time. So he repositioned her again, and again she went "boom." Eventually, she would look over her shoulder at him and giggle before dramatically taking a seat on the floor.

Now they can play the "Katie Goes Boom" game, in addition to "Torture Chamber" and "Trapeze." When she gets a bit older, I'll have to introduce her to "Bucking Bronco" and "Biiiiiig Steeeeaammm Roller"--two of the games my brother and I used to play with OUR dad.

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Sun, May 1, 2005 10:00 AM
Yesterday Steve, Danielle, and I went to Toys R Us to check out a few possibilities for Katie. We left with a new walker/riding toy, an outdoor swing (to hang from a tree branch), and a push buggy.

When we got home, we tested out the new goodies. So far, everything's a hit. Because it was raining all day, Danielle pushed Katie on the buggy inside the house. They were zooming--and laughing--all over the first floor. In fact, I'm not sure who liked the toy more--Katie or Danielle! ;-)

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