Christmas 2014 - Better Late than Never!

A little photo dump from our Christmas Day this year...it was so nice to be HOME for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. And having my parents with us was just icing on the cake! 

 After opening the gifts under the tree and having some breakfast, we headed to the backyard for even more surprises! 

 Carter wanted Doc to be a King...such a good sport. :)

 After a very fun and exciting morning, we all rested and then headed down to the Ezell side of the family for more fun in the afternoon!

 Princess Kate :)

Overall, it was a very fun and exhausting day. Lots of new toys and surprises, lots of family, and lots of food! Here's to 2015!

Kathryn Reese: 15 Months...

 Weight: 20 pounds, 2 ounces (30th percentile)

Height: 31 inches (70th percentile)

Head Circumference: 19 inches (97th percentile)

Clothing: 12-18 months, some 12 month still

Diapers: Size 3 during the day, 4 at night

Teeth Count: 14, with two more on the way! (OUCH)

Sweet girl, you are 15 months old...although you seem so much older! I feel like you truly became a little girl over the last few months and are much more of a toddler...baby no more! Your height, weight, and head percentiles are all very consistent...no real change there. You are still tall and light with a big ole head...our little bobblehead doll. :) Everything checked out perfectly at your 15 month well check...I must admit, that appointment made me nervous because at your big brother's 15 month well check is where we found out he'd need to have surgery to correct a hydrocele...so getting a clean bill of health for you was GREAT!

 You began the transition from two naps to one nap back in October...it was pretty rocky for a few weeks because you weren't napping long enough, but we thankfully seem to be over the hump and are solidly napping now from about 12/12:30-2ish, give or take. It's not as long as I'd like, but it's a whole lot better than it was a month ago! You are still sleeping through the night from about 7/7:30pm to 6:30/7am. 

You scored off the charts on your development screen. You hit all your gross motor, fine motor, and communication milestones, and you are pretty advanced in the speech category (according to Dr. Newton) because you are already putting two words together and can say a few two syllable words. A few examples: hi mama, bye bye dada, apple sauce, bubba's shoes, etc. I was one proud mama hearing that you are a smart cookie! (As if I needed someone else to tell me...ha.) 

As far as your personality is concerned, you are still wickedly strong-willed and stubborn, and you have been throwing tantrums a lot lately. You absolutely DETEST anything that confines you other than the stroller...your car seat is your archenemy. You begin the fit just walking to the garage...it's so tough because you also LOVE to get out and go do things. Total catch-22. Additionally, you love playing with pretty much anything BUT toys...you love wallets, money, jewelry, medicine bottles, exploring the pantry...pretty much anything that should be off-limits. Sigh.

On a more positive note, you are OBSESSED with your big brother. If he's doing something, anything, you'll mimic and want to do it, too. If he has orange juice in a red cup, YOU need orange juice in a red cup. The saddest thing in the world is when you are home without him or if you wake up in the morning or from nap first. You are truly a lost puppy without him around. 

We kicked the bottles!!! After a few days of success with the Nuk cup, I finally committed to the change, and we are a BOTTLE-FREE home! It's wonderful! You are still not a big milk fan and are still drinking soymilk because of your sensitive stomach, but it's worth celebrating for sure! As far as food goes, you are a garbage can. We've never really had issues there. You love meat in all forms, but you would eat hot dogs 24/7 if I let you...other favorites are yogurt, watermelon, Cheezits, macaroni and cheese, pancakes, spaghetti, bread, pizza, tortillas, blueberries, Cheerios, and applesauce. You are definitely not a fan of cheese, bananas, vegetables, rice, or anything that requires me to feed you...you want to do it all by yourself, Miss Independent.

I'm not going to lie, lady bug, you are a tough little cookie these days. Lots of fits, lots of frustration...BUT there is also so much sweetness. You snuggle your baby dolls with passion, adore your blankie ("night-night" is its current name), give the best open-mouth kisses, and have a smile that would just about melt anybody. We couldn't love you more if we tried, Katybug!

Kate Turns 1!

On Saturday, August 9th, our little Kathryn Reese turned ONE! I can't believe it! We started the day with pancakes and gave her a little doll house, and in the afternoon, we had some friends and family over to celebrate! It was such a fun and special day!

Kathryn Reese: 12 Months

Weight: 19 pounds, 3 ounces (20th percentile)

Length: 29.75 inches (65th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18.8 inches (98th percentile)

Clothes: 12 months

Diapers: Size 3 (Still!)

Ladybug, you are ONE! I can hardly believe I am writing that! What a year it has been...lots of ups, lots of downs, and lots of TROUBLE out of you. You, my love, are a capital T TROUBLEMAKER! Nothing makes you laugh more than when Mom or Dad tells you "No!" You also have started looking for my attention right before you intentionally do something you know you shouldn't be doing...I think we are going to have our hands full with you. Stinker.

You are down to just two small bottles each day - about 6 oz. in the morning when you first wake up, and about 4 oz. at night before bed. We are struggling to get you off of formula...your sensitive little tummy doesn't seem to be doing well with regular milk OR lactose-free milk. We are considering trying soymilk since you did so well on soy formula, but since you drink so little of it, we are just sticking with formula for now. As far as food goes, you LOVE to eat, although you like the "real" food a lot more than snacks. SO different than big brother! You love chicken in all forms, turkey, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese, meatballs, yogurt, all forms of fruit, corn, rice, and anything chocolate. (Yep, you're mine!) You are not a big fan of snacks truthfully...you'll eat crackers, cereal, etc if you're REALLY hungry, but you prefer meals to snacks. But don't let that 20th percentile weight fool you...girlfriend, you can EAT! You out-eat Carter at just about every meal. I used to think he'd be the one to eat me out of house and home, but lately, it's YOU!

You are still taking two naps MOST days. Every few days, you throw me for a loop and fight through one of them for reasons unknown to me. (Teething? Wonder week?) Most days, you are up at 6:30, down from 9-10:30, down from 2-4, and in bed by about 7:30/8. You are fierce sleep fighter, though, and most naps, you have to fuss a while before giving up. I think you just don't want to miss anything!

 

You made major strides this month in the gross motor arena - you are now a crawling, pulling up, cruising MACHINE! You are FAST and you adore your freedom. You love walking when I hold onto one of your hands and will push a walker across the room, so I think you are close to walking. I'd bet you walk sometime in the month of September, but time will tell. It was amazing to be filling out a development questionnaire at your check-up last week and be able to check off that you are doing EVERYTHING they expect of a 12-month old! Keep it up! 

 

As far as talking goes, you are a chatterbox. You clearly say Mama, Dada, Bubba (Carter), Emma, ah-da (all done), ma (more), nigh-nigh (night night), bye bye, and be-be (baby). Dr. Newton jokingly said you were a talking "genius", but I think you're just a girl. You LOVE the sound of your own voice. 

 

Your newest obsession is BABY DOLLS. You will beeline for them if you see them on the floor of the playroom while saying "be-be" over and over again on the way. You pick it up, cuddle it in your arms, and are just such a sweet little mama! There's something pretty special about watching you play with dolls that were once mine. :) 

 

Bug, that about sums it up! More posts coming soon about your big birthday...we love you, Kate!

 

Kathryn Reese: 11 Months

 Weight: 18 pounds (our scale)

Length: 29.5 inches (our measurement)

Clothes: 9 month, 12 month

Diapers: Size 3

Sassy girl, you are 11 months old! I can't believe you are a mere 31 days away from being ONE! How did that happen?!! You are officially mobile...better late than never, right?? You are crawling, pulling up, cruising, and loving walking around holding onto my hands. I think you are close to walking because you are starting to let go of my hands and standing independently for a few seconds. I am so torn about how I feel about you walking - I want you to be independent, but I'm not sure I'm ready to have two walkers on my hands. Yikes! 

On the schedule front, not much has changed. You are still up around 6:30am, down for a nap from 9-10:30 in the morning, down again for a nap from 2-4 in the afternoon, and in bed by 7:30pm most days. I don't think you're anywhere near ready to drop the morning nap...you are CRABBY by 9am, so until you decide to sleep later in the mornings, we'll hold onto the morning nap. I was hoping you'd drop it around a year, but I just don't see it happening when you are up for the day in the 6 o'clock hour. 

We had dropped down to just two 7-8oz bottles a day - first thing in the morning and at bedtime - but I noticed you really haven't gained much weight (if any) this month when I weighed you yesterday, so I'm giving you an extra 4oz after lunch. I think making sure you get enough nutrition right now is more important than taking the bottles away. You will NOT drink milk or formula from a cup yet and look quite offended when milk comes out of the cup instead of water, so I think the nutrition is the priority for now. We'll get rid of them eventually. Some of your favorite foods right now are red grapes, cantaloupe, turkey, chicken, any kind of cheese, yogurt, apples, crunchies, yogurt melts, and goldfish. You had lasagna last night for the first time and seemed to like it. :) It was messy, but cute!

On the activity front, some of your favorites are wagon rides, swimming/splashing in pools, going through any kind of bag or bin, exploring the kitchen cabinets, just generally being destructive, and anything Mickey Mouse. You are talking up a storm and babbling allllllllll the time. You still don't have many words yet, but you are talking constantly and experimenting with new sounds.

I guess that's really about it, ladybug! We love you to the moon and back! XO!