Introducing the Spoon and Fork

As I had mentioned in the previous post, Kate is beginning to eat with utensils. Here you can take a glimpse of her fancy china and flatware. We are not consistent with the use of utensils but we do try to expose her to it and the use of it when we remember. It is less messy and faster to just feed Kate myself but if we want her to become better with feeding herself, we must give the opportunity, right?!





Kate has also begun to take an interest in television. We don't know if this is a good or bad thing, yet. Kate never had an interest in cartoons, kid videos or Nick Jr. as many of her "friends". Not until very recently, such as this week, has she really sat down or stood still to actually watch what is on TV. Yesterday she was engaging in Blues Clues by pointing, laughing and looking at Chris and I for our reactions. She also has become very interested in her Baby Einstein First Signs video. Yesterday she sat in her chair with tray watching the video while eating her lunch. Kate sat still for 18 minutes! I. Was. Shocked! I don't want to become that mother who sticks her kid in front of the tv, but if it gives me a chance to wash dishes, cook dinner, or do some other task without her tugging on me I will do it!



Kate watching Baby Einstein First Signs


Eh, dumping my food is more fun that eating it

California Love

Chris spent many summers in California as a kid, and now, hopefully, Kate will experience the same. We have good friends, Brian and Jen, who have a fabulous home in a great location in Carlsbad, CA. They were so kind to offer their home to us while they were away on vacation. Vacation somewhere else besides this great place? I know, I think the same thing!

In the past we have stayed at their home for one week. This time we had two wonderful weeks of cool weather. When I say cool, I mean COOL. It had been in the lower to mid 60's and cloudy. Even Chris who laughs at people who wear sweatshirts when the temps dip below 70 was cold. Below are some pictures of what our 4th of July looked like.


View from the Frost home

Kate did not get to wear her fabulous 4th of July outfits - yes 2, of course! - because it was cold. She had a really cute red, white and blue dress with red sandals for the evening. Her day outfit was denim cutoffs with red, white and blue embroidered stars and a white tank. We all ended up wearing sweatshirts that evening while we relaxed by the fire. Can you believe it? Sweatshirts and a fire on 4th of July? Only in California, never in Yuma!


Kate with Nana and Papa


Kate with Mommy and Daddy (she wasn't in the mood for picture taking, surprise surprise)

While in Carlsbad we took Kate to the park and to the strawberry farm. She went down a slide for the first time and LOVED it. Kate quickly figured out how to climb the steps to the top of the slide and go down. She flipped and slid down on her belly a couple of times, but that just made it more fun for her. Kate did not really dig the strawberry farm as much as we wanted her to. We may have picked a bad time that was too close to her nap time, who knows? But we all still had a good time and it was a good experience.


Kate getting ready to go down the slide


Eh, wrong way but always a good time - she got the hang of it though!


Look at my teeth mom! (Kate has 8 teeth with one molar poking out right now)


Daddy showing Kate which berries to pick


Kate sampling a not so sweet berry


"Augh mom, not another picture!"

During our time away from home Kate learned some new things. We picked up a toddler bowl/spoon/fork set and Kate started using it like a pro. Since we started feeding her "real" food I have always given her a spoon which she always chewed on, banged or threw to the ground. It was really just to expose her to it and get used to holding it. Within the past month I started showing her how to scoop food and put in her mouth. One time I could not scoop the food and started putting the food on the spoon with my fingers and she copied me...really cute but not the way to do it. Anyhow, I think she has a pretty good hang of it now and is even "stabbing" food with her fork.

Kate even picked up a new word, "don't". For the past week she has been saying, "don't go" in a sing-song kind of voice. Her favorite expression is still "uh-oh" and still loves to tell mommy, "no" or shake her head no at me. Kate has also grasped the concept of giving people kisses. It is so cute! I can say "give me kiss" or "dame un besito" and she will do it. We had some friends visit us while in Carlsbad and my friend brought her two-year old and Kate gave him a kiss - it was too cute!


Kate giving Cristian un besito

Certified!

Kate received her very first award/certification today! Ha! I thought this was too cute. She and I have been taking mom and tot swim lessons through Yuma Parks and Recreation. Did she learn anything? Who knows. Did she have fun? Yes! We both did. I think she is very comfortable in the water now and we will be ready for more classes next year!

Summer Time Fun!

Kate and I started "Mom and Tot" swim class this week. Her friends Molly and Grayson are in the class, and she made some new friends including Amora. The kids are becoming acquainted with the water such as dunking their heads, tracking objects, kicking, and blowing bubbles in the pool. There seems to be more crying and whining than laughing, but not by my perfect daughter of course (insert sarcastic tone). Just kidding, Kate has been a pretty good sport these past two days. She is not too fond of the dunking but she is becoming more comfortable in the water. Today she was pretty brave and showed off some of her skills such as trying to stand on the foam board as if she was surfing and "blowing" bubbles. Ok. She was really drinking the water, but it is a start, right?! She even went down the slide a couple of times!


Woohoo! Going down the slide!


Don't let me go Mom!


Oh golly Miss Molly! Not having so much fun at the pool that day.


Jahan and Amora


Grayson with Gram.

In other news, Kate had her 15-month well-check this morning and was given 3 shots! Poor baby. Talk about being a good sport, she went to swim class right after her shots! The doc said she is doing well. Kate now weighs 23.9 pounds, is about 31.5 inches in length and her cabeza is around 18 inches. The only concern was her not so great vocabulary. He asked me how many words she has and I said, "one", because she really only associates the word "dog" with, well, the dog. However she does have a lot if you include the random words she says such as, mama, dada, nana, this, go, yeah...to name some of the everyday words. We have noticed that she is pointing a lot more and "talking" with her sentences ending in "loto", which is really cute. Kate also shakes her head "no" when she does not want something. She is walking and trying to run, climbing on everything, and of course very curious about everything - so she gets into EVERYTHING! She is just changing and learning so much we can't believe how fast she is growing. It makes me miss the infant days, but now there is so much interaction and fun times that we are just enjoying this time with Kate!

Otter-Pop

I have noticed that I take a lot of pictures of Kate with no clothes on, and everybody knows I LOVE to shop for Miss Kate! Anyhow, there is nothing cuter than a baby in their diaper.

We took advantage of the unseasonably nice weather we had this past Saturday. Kate has a pool with a shade, in the shape of a hippo, that squirts water. What a cool pool to have, right? I think my "pool" as a kid her age was the hose in the backyard. If I was lucky it was attached to a sprinkler or I had a "tina" (galvanized tub) to splash in. Well, of course, she had no interest in this pool. This was our second attempt with this pool and she cries if we put her in it. Usually Kate loves being outside. But this time, as you can see in the photos, she just sat there and had a scowl on her face the entire time. That was until daddy brought out the otter-pops! It was a quintessential summer moment and I am glad we captured it for Kate


Otter-pop saves the day!


I don't like the pool...hmmm, what should I do?

In this video you can see a glimpse of her pool and how Kate has no interest in it. You can also hear her "talking" in the video...it sounds more like growling; she is probably cursing Chris and I.



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14 months and walking

In this video, Kate is walking! I had a better video but it would not load, oh well. Kate is watching her favorite movie the Hangover, I think she has a crush on baby Carlos. You will also notice how Blake runs from her because he is getting tired of getting his tail pulled or the way she tries to pet him. She also falls in the video because she has not yet perfected the art of walking and she gets ahead of herself thinking she can move fast!

Vamos a la playa!

Kate went to the beach for the first time over the weekend. We went to visit our family in Puerto Penasco Mexico. The last time Kate was there was when she was in my belly and I was 7 months pregnant! She had a pretty good time at the beach and lasted longer than we all anticipated. The waves were crashing pretty loudly that day so that MAY have had something to do with the fact that she was intimidated by the water, OR it simply could have been because it was her first time at what I imagine a new and strange place for her. Kate preferred to hang out under the shade playing with sand and putting shells and seaweed in her mouth.



"I don't know about this Papa..."



"Nope, don't like this at all!"



Dad says, "Kate don't put that in your mouth, seaweed yucky" - Kate says, "ok, I won't".



Kate thinks to herself, "hmmm, let me try it".



Kate says, "you were right, this is yucky! kinda salty".



Lovin' the sun!

She REALLY enjoyed all of the attention she received from her great-grandmother! Kate had her wrapped around her little finger. She usually falls asleep between 5-6 pm and doesn't like to be cuddled or rocked; when she is tired she wants to be left alone in her crib and soother herself to sleep. Not this time! The first night she was out of her element and didn't go to sleep until 8-9pm, then woke up at 2:30am and wanted to play. My grandmother was kind enough to get up to hang out with Kate so that I could go back to sleep. She said that Kate played 'till 4 in the morning! Then slept with my great-grandmother and cried if she tried to put her in her playpen. The next day she took a nap with my great-grandmother. I am shocked by this because Kate NEVER wants to sleep with us. My grandmother does have the magic touch! The second night Kate fell asleep in her playpen in my grandmother's room and she did not want to wake Kate so she slept on the couch. That girl is so spoiled! Kate also enjoyed all of her great-grandmother's cooking, which we all do...she did not eat the jars of food or snacks that we brought for her. Kate ate homemade tortillas and all of the other yummy food that she made for all of us over the weekend - who could blame her right?! Kate also perfected her walk over the weekend and isn't tumbling as much. She even learned how to work the steps all over the house!