Monday, November 17, 2008
And she’s off….
The walking has begun and I think our lives will never be the same! Caitlin has been cruising for what seems like forever – atleast 5 months. Finally on Oct 25 at Cate’s birthday she was finally brave enough to take her first four steps on her own! She walked right over to me from a nearby ottoman at the party! We came home and practiced with her right away and got some cute videos of her taking four or five steps at a time. She has been obsessed with practicing walking – especially outside! She will point to the door and sign “shoes” asking to go outside. If she can find her shoes she will sit down and try to put them on herself. She is relentless! Sunday we took our second trip to Sea World and all Caitlin wanted to do was walk around the park holding Daddy’s finger. Too cute! Last Monday (Nov 10) we were outside practicing and waiting for Daddy to come home when she walked the entire length of the driveway by herself (all 3 car lengths!). It has been pretty much full time walking since then! She still can’t stand up without pulling up on something. So if she trips and falls down she will crawl to something to stand up. Other than that she is walking full time. It is still odd for us to see her walk around the corner! Baby proofing has taken on a whole new meaning now that she practically grew tall overnight! She is getting quicker too – today when Eric came home he said – boy is she picking up speed! Today Caitlin figured out that she could walk and carry things which gave her great pleasure and opened up a whole new world of possibilities. She knows the way to our neighbor’s house – Amanda and Jeremy who have two little boys. She walks down the driveway and tries to walk over to their house to play anytime we are outside. She is also discovering new things outside like bushes and the garage door. The other day she went to the garage door and tried to open the handle saying “Da Da”. I tried to explain that Daddy was at work and not locked in the garage! This weekend we went to the park with Grammy & Papa – she loved the new found freedom of walking anywhere on the playground she wanted to go. Also she doesn’t have as much of an interest in food because it takes away too much time from the walking. One great thing about all of the walking is that it tires her out quick! She is back to taking longer naps again – practically passing out at night. Too much fun!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Just Walking & Drawing - Ok not at the same time - but you get the idea...
Saturday at one of the two birthday parties we attended Caitlin took her first steps! She walked four steps right over to the ottoman I was sitting on! I was thinking woo hoo I knew you could do it! She has been practicing since then - no more than four steps -but it is a start! Yesterday Caitlin was having so much fun drawing on her magnetic sketchboard! The last couple of times she has tried she hasn't really understood or made too many marks - but this time she just took off! She was drawing like crazy and when we asked her what she was drawing she said "dog". Too cute! She also was very confused that her magnetic pen did not work on any other surface such as the carpet, etc. She was so proud of herself. I think it is time to try the sidewalk chalk andcrayons again!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The swing obsession begins!
This past weekend Eric and my Dad installed a swing for Caitlin on our back porch. This has definately been a blessing. With the ear infection coming on Sunday Caitlin was definately extra cranky. On Monday at one point she was crying nonstop and I was trying everything to get her to stop. Finally I said "do you want to go ride in your swing?". All crying immediately stopped and I heard a very clear "yeah". So the swing obsession begins. Now it is a daily occurance for Caitlin to go to the back door and look longingly towards her swing. She will even bang on the door. The problem is that I get a temper tantrum if I don't take her out to ride on the swing. I also get a temper tantrum anytime I tried to take her out of the swing once we are outside! She has a serious obsession with this swing! I love that she enjoys the swing so much but on the other hand - I hate making her cry every time we get out!
Signing "Book"
Last night Caitlin started signing "book". I knew it wouldn't be long before she picked this one up - especially with her obsession for books! The cutest thing is that this morning we went to storytime at the library and when the librarian finished reading the book to the kids Caitlin politely signed "More Book". So sweet! Today when we got home Caitlin dug through her book bin in the living room and literally took out almost every book (only three were left in the bin) until she found the one she was looking for. She finally found the one she wanted and asked me to read it to her. She has some of them memorized now - she knows what page says "wave bye-bye" or "clap your hands" and starts doing the activity right away. Too cute!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Some doggie affection and a signing epiphany!
I mentioned in my last post that Caitlin has been signing "more" obsessively. This has been somewhat frustrating for me (not knowing what she wants more of) but also highly amusing and very interesting! I love finding out what she wants and getting a little peak into how her mind is working. Today Reese licked Caitlin on the face - to which Caitlin looked at me and signed "more" while giggling. Too cute!
As I have done on many days - when I take Caitlin out of our bathroom I put her up to the mirror and say "do you see baby Caitlin in the mirror?". Sometimes she waves and giggles, but today when I did this she decided to give herself a kiss in the mirror. Sweet!
Then tonight we were outside walking the dogs and Caitlin starts signing "more" again. I ask her "more what?" Much to my surprise she signs back "baby". I was so excited so I asked her "baby? you want more baby?" She signed "baby" again. So we immediately went into the house and I handed her the baby doll to which she seemed disinterested. I was completely puzzled. Then I see her crawling towards the bathroom and I realized she wanted "more baby" in the mirror. We went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and she repeatedly signed "baby" and gave herself another kiss. So adorable.
One book I was reading mentioned toes so I took my toes and nudged her toes. This was so funny for her and for the rest of the night she was obsessed with touching our toes together. Cute!
There are hardly words for my delight and wonderment with her tonight.
As I have done on many days - when I take Caitlin out of our bathroom I put her up to the mirror and say "do you see baby Caitlin in the mirror?". Sometimes she waves and giggles, but today when I did this she decided to give herself a kiss in the mirror. Sweet!
Then tonight we were outside walking the dogs and Caitlin starts signing "more" again. I ask her "more what?" Much to my surprise she signs back "baby". I was so excited so I asked her "baby? you want more baby?" She signed "baby" again. So we immediately went into the house and I handed her the baby doll to which she seemed disinterested. I was completely puzzled. Then I see her crawling towards the bathroom and I realized she wanted "more baby" in the mirror. We went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and she repeatedly signed "baby" and gave herself another kiss. So adorable.
One book I was reading mentioned toes so I took my toes and nudged her toes. This was so funny for her and for the rest of the night she was obsessed with touching our toes together. Cute!
There are hardly words for my delight and wonderment with her tonight.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Baby Laughs!
This week has been a ball of laughs with Caitlin so I just had to share…
Caitlin is learning so many new things! She can properly identify many parts of her body – head, ears, tummy, hands, and feet. She is very proud of herself when she touches the right body part and has the cutest little grin! Anytime she hears the word she is ready to show off what she knows (at home at least – outside is a different story). Case in point – today we just had to read “Five Silly Monkeys” over and over again so she could touch her head every time a monkey fell off the bed and bumped his head! She will also make some animal sounds – Sheep says “ba”, Cow says “mmmmm”, Dog says “ufffffff” [an attempt at woof]. She is very emphatic about the sheep saying “ba”.
Last night Eric was reading “The belly button book” to Caitlin so he points out his belly button to her. She proceeds to try stick her whole hand in his belly button and say “bell-ye”. This was a very fun game for the rest of the night to try to stick her whole hand there and repeat “bell-ye” over and over again!
Another new thing that Caitlin has perfected is “more” in sign language. She is now constantly signing “more”. This can be very frustrating for me – not knowing what she wants more of. So I ask her while signing – do you want more drink? More milk? More water? More eat? More book? More play? Sometimes I get an answer by applause after the one she wants – but more times than not I get a blank stare with repeated signing of “more”. It is awesome that she is learning the signs –I know it is supposed to relieve her frustration since she can communicate with me – but what about my increased frustration? Ha ha. So the funniest thing happened today… we come back from our walk in the stroller and she is frantically signing “more”. So I go through my list of what do you want more of…. She responds with “more”. I say “More what”. Her response is “BELL-YE”! Too funny! She wanted more belly button. Tee hee. Oh the things kids come up with! That put a big smile on my face!
Today we were in the checkout line at Wal-mart and suddenly she had the urge to wave and say “bye bye” to everyone in the store! I wasn’t even done checking out yet but we had to say “bye bye” to the checkout girl, people in line behind us, people walking by, etc. The entire store got “bye” from Caitlin today. Too funny. Anytime you are out and want her to say something she just looks at you like you are crazy. Then out of nowhere we get bye bye. Silly!
She is the sweetest girl giving kisses! For a long time we had to ask for a kiss and we were deemed special royalty almost if granted a kiss from Caitlin…. Last week Caitlin started initiating giving us kisses. Random times just leaning forward and giving us kisses. If that doesn’t melt your heart I don’t know what will! Yesterday I was reading her a book about babies… every page has something about babies…. Well she decided that every baby on every page should get a kiss. Too cute!
This week we also had out first experience with sidewalk chalk and crayons. She did fairly well with the crayons making lines on the paper – she might be an artist yet!
This morning I had to go wake her up to go to a doctor’s appointment. Usually she wakes up as soon as I open the door – but this morning she lay peacefully sleeping. I stopped for a few minutes and just watched her sleeping. Falling even more in love with her if that is even possible. Psychiatrists should bottle that up and sell it – watching a baby sleep can be so relaxing and calming! She looked so sweet – I just wanted to freeze that moment in time. I did manage to get a picture without her waking up as well!
Such fun with baby Caitlin!
Caitlin is learning so many new things! She can properly identify many parts of her body – head, ears, tummy, hands, and feet. She is very proud of herself when she touches the right body part and has the cutest little grin! Anytime she hears the word she is ready to show off what she knows (at home at least – outside is a different story). Case in point – today we just had to read “Five Silly Monkeys” over and over again so she could touch her head every time a monkey fell off the bed and bumped his head! She will also make some animal sounds – Sheep says “ba”, Cow says “mmmmm”, Dog says “ufffffff” [an attempt at woof]. She is very emphatic about the sheep saying “ba”.
Last night Eric was reading “The belly button book” to Caitlin so he points out his belly button to her. She proceeds to try stick her whole hand in his belly button and say “bell-ye”. This was a very fun game for the rest of the night to try to stick her whole hand there and repeat “bell-ye” over and over again!
Another new thing that Caitlin has perfected is “more” in sign language. She is now constantly signing “more”. This can be very frustrating for me – not knowing what she wants more of. So I ask her while signing – do you want more drink? More milk? More water? More eat? More book? More play? Sometimes I get an answer by applause after the one she wants – but more times than not I get a blank stare with repeated signing of “more”. It is awesome that she is learning the signs –I know it is supposed to relieve her frustration since she can communicate with me – but what about my increased frustration? Ha ha. So the funniest thing happened today… we come back from our walk in the stroller and she is frantically signing “more”. So I go through my list of what do you want more of…. She responds with “more”. I say “More what”. Her response is “BELL-YE”! Too funny! She wanted more belly button. Tee hee. Oh the things kids come up with! That put a big smile on my face!
Today we were in the checkout line at Wal-mart and suddenly she had the urge to wave and say “bye bye” to everyone in the store! I wasn’t even done checking out yet but we had to say “bye bye” to the checkout girl, people in line behind us, people walking by, etc. The entire store got “bye” from Caitlin today. Too funny. Anytime you are out and want her to say something she just looks at you like you are crazy. Then out of nowhere we get bye bye. Silly!
She is the sweetest girl giving kisses! For a long time we had to ask for a kiss and we were deemed special royalty almost if granted a kiss from Caitlin…. Last week Caitlin started initiating giving us kisses. Random times just leaning forward and giving us kisses. If that doesn’t melt your heart I don’t know what will! Yesterday I was reading her a book about babies… every page has something about babies…. Well she decided that every baby on every page should get a kiss. Too cute!
This week we also had out first experience with sidewalk chalk and crayons. She did fairly well with the crayons making lines on the paper – she might be an artist yet!
This morning I had to go wake her up to go to a doctor’s appointment. Usually she wakes up as soon as I open the door – but this morning she lay peacefully sleeping. I stopped for a few minutes and just watched her sleeping. Falling even more in love with her if that is even possible. Psychiatrists should bottle that up and sell it – watching a baby sleep can be so relaxing and calming! She looked so sweet – I just wanted to freeze that moment in time. I did manage to get a picture without her waking up as well!
Such fun with baby Caitlin!
Friday, August 29, 2008
We're Now Ready to Call It
This feels a little like election night, but here goes....
After months of careful analysis, the Brosch Family is now prepared to call Caitlin's first word. It is........
This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Caitlin. She is a big fan of anything related to dogs and her two furry live-in companions in particular. Her first favorite books were "That's Not My Puppy" and "Dog". Tonight, Caitlin and I were reading her Baby Animals book from Grandma Brosch and she stuck her hand out, laid it down on the page - right on a picture of a dog - and said, "DOG!" very authoritatively.
Mommy and I have decided that Caitlin has a lot to say but just doesn't yet have the vocabulary to get it across. I can't wait for her to pick up more words so that we can find out what's going on in her mind.
In other exciting news, she is also doing a very good job of picking animals out of her books by name. Asking "Where is the pig?" or "Where is the donkey?" is yielding the correct answer a surprising number of times. Some nights are better than others, but that may be related to how hungry/tired/cranky she is at the moment.
Our little girl is growing up!
After months of careful analysis, the Brosch Family is now prepared to call Caitlin's first word. It is........
DOG.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Caitlin. She is a big fan of anything related to dogs and her two furry live-in companions in particular. Her first favorite books were "That's Not My Puppy" and "Dog". Tonight, Caitlin and I were reading her Baby Animals book from Grandma Brosch and she stuck her hand out, laid it down on the page - right on a picture of a dog - and said, "DOG!" very authoritatively.
Mommy and I have decided that Caitlin has a lot to say but just doesn't yet have the vocabulary to get it across. I can't wait for her to pick up more words so that we can find out what's going on in her mind.
In other exciting news, she is also doing a very good job of picking animals out of her books by name. Asking "Where is the pig?" or "Where is the donkey?" is yielding the correct answer a surprising number of times. Some nights are better than others, but that may be related to how hungry/tired/cranky she is at the moment.
Our little girl is growing up!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Caitlin's 1st Year
A nice collage of photos - one photo per month for the first year. We made this for the inside cover of Caitlin's 1 year scrapbook.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Fun in the ball pit
Filling a blow up pool with some balls is such a simple way to provide hours and hours of entertainment!
Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere!
One of Caitlin's birthday presents was a bubble maker. The other day I took her out in the stroller and turned on the bubbles - Caitlin was in heaven! She loved grabbing for the bubbles and thought it was very fun! It is awesome how something so simple can give such delight!
Caitlin's "Friends" Birthday Party!
We had a party at the local park for Caitlin's little friends on August 9 - I just haven't had time to blog about it yet! It was great fun - we reserved the pavillion near the playground area so the kids got to play on the playground, have some yummy food and cake, and celebrate Caitlin's birthday! The theme was still rubber duckies and the kids got to take home some ducks along with special bears and shirts embroidered by Caitlin's Grammy. The families had fun at the park and Caitlin enjoyed spending the morning with her friends! Fun Fun Fun!
Loving the strawberries
The past three weeks have been a world of discoveries for Caitlin in the fruits and vegetables department! It seemed like the longest time that she didn't want to eat any food that wasn't baby food. Lately she has been so excited about new foods! Strawberries are her current favorite followed a close second by blueberries. I don't think I've ever seen one left on her tray after dinner! She also enjoys tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, apples, bananas, and baby yogurt. She is very excited by all of the new tastes and will definately let you know verbally if you take too long to cut up and serve her food!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Where's Your Tummy?
Where's Your Tummy?
Originally uploaded by UCFGEEKS
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The four original playgroup babies reunited!
I have been intending to blog this for a few weeks... but never quite got the chance. Back when Caitlin was 4 weeks old I joined a playgroup. Just a small group of people that meet each week to lget the babies play and mommies chat. It started out as a group of four and is now a group of a dozen or more. This gorup has been a lifesaver for me - giving me a Mommy network of friends and support. One of the Moms had to go back to work - so we had not seen her in while. A few weeks ago she was able to come to a birthday party and we had a little reunion. This is a photo of the original four playgroup babies reunited! We took a similar photo months ago... it is amazing to see the differences in all of the babies! Long live playgroup!
Caitlin 12 Months Old
Caitlin turned one year old Friday! It seems as though we thought this time would never come and now it sneaked up on us! One thing we did make sure to do was take a photo of her the exact minute of her birthday…
This has been the month of learning and discovery! Caitlin discovered the light switch and how it works. She learned how to give “high fives” (although not for strangers). Caitlin also figured out that she could stand up and open the front door at Grammy & Papa’s house… needless to say the door stayed locked at all times after that discovery! She is also fascinated with inside doors. She likes to sit and swing them open and closed. We play peek-a-boo quite a lot this way!
Caitlin is learning to climb…… one day she was a little bored so we brought out every pillow in our house and threw them in the center of the living room. We sat her right in the middle and just let her climb out. It was a riot and she loved it! Apparently these climbing skills came in handy this weekend when we went to South Florida where she learned to climb up Grammy & Papa’s stairs quite efficiently and quickly (some would argue quicker than Mommy)! I couldn’t even count how many times Eric followed right behind her up those stairs. She was very proud of herself! She grinned from ear to ear the entire time!
She also learned how to “give kisses” – which amounts to opening her mouth really wide and leaning in. Yes, our daughter gives only open mouthed kisses at this point! Too funny! Not only do people get kisses – dolls, stuffed animals, mirrors, and even our dogs get kisses!
Eric has taught Caitlin to play with the dogs. She knows where the dog toy bin is now. She will crawl over to their toy bin and pick out a toy for Reese. She will hold it up to show us and we say “that toy is for dog – can you give it to dog?” This will prompt her to hand the toy to Reese. He will run away with it and play. She will follow him around until he drops it and we repeat the process. It is so cute to watch. Reese is so gentle taking the toy from her hands – he knows how small she is. We think he enjoys the playmate since Carmie is older and mostly just wants to sleep!
It is amazing how much Caitlin remembers now. If you tell her the name of something “this is your baby doll” she will remember if you then ask “where is your baby doll?” She also remembers which toys go together – grabbing the farm toy and then searching the bin for the animals that go with it.
She is still crawling – but much quicker now. She takes off in an instant! She will walk with support and sometimes stand for 5 seconds at a time before falling down. She walks with her little push walker around the couch now.
We still have four bottom teeth, but the top two teeth are coming in with a vengeance now. I know they must be hurting her because they sure look painful to me! She has her hands in her mouth 24 hours a day now as you can see in the photos. Yesterday I think one of them may have finally popped through on the corner – sometimes it is hard to tell!
We celebrated Caitlin’s first Fourth of July (I kept thinking – this is her last “first” holiday!) We went to the Mount Dora parade in the morning. She enjoyed the parade and her favorite part was the big shaggy dog walking in the parade campaigning for Sheriff Borders. This dog got a true round of applause from Caitlin! She clapped the whole time he was in sight. We went to a fun barbeque at our neighbors house before going to fireworks in Eustis along the lake. We gave her a late nap so that she would stay awake for the fireworks and she made it right towards the end. She loved the fireworks and clapped for them. She wasn’t afraid of the noise at all!
We celebrated her birthday on Friday by going to Castaway Island in T.Y. Park. It is a fun little water park there with a special area for toddlers. She had a fun time there as she loves the water so much! Saturday we had a party at Grammy & Papa’s house in South Florida for the family. She had a fun time and dove right into the cake. She loved feeling and playing with the icing. When I stuck a bit of icing in her mouth she was not a fan though! She started to gag and did not like it one bit! Later I gave her some cake without the icing on top and she did like eating that quite a bit.
This has been the month of learning and discovery! Caitlin discovered the light switch and how it works. She learned how to give “high fives” (although not for strangers). Caitlin also figured out that she could stand up and open the front door at Grammy & Papa’s house… needless to say the door stayed locked at all times after that discovery! She is also fascinated with inside doors. She likes to sit and swing them open and closed. We play peek-a-boo quite a lot this way!
Caitlin is learning to climb…… one day she was a little bored so we brought out every pillow in our house and threw them in the center of the living room. We sat her right in the middle and just let her climb out. It was a riot and she loved it! Apparently these climbing skills came in handy this weekend when we went to South Florida where she learned to climb up Grammy & Papa’s stairs quite efficiently and quickly (some would argue quicker than Mommy)! I couldn’t even count how many times Eric followed right behind her up those stairs. She was very proud of herself! She grinned from ear to ear the entire time!
She also learned how to “give kisses” – which amounts to opening her mouth really wide and leaning in. Yes, our daughter gives only open mouthed kisses at this point! Too funny! Not only do people get kisses – dolls, stuffed animals, mirrors, and even our dogs get kisses!
Eric has taught Caitlin to play with the dogs. She knows where the dog toy bin is now. She will crawl over to their toy bin and pick out a toy for Reese. She will hold it up to show us and we say “that toy is for dog – can you give it to dog?” This will prompt her to hand the toy to Reese. He will run away with it and play. She will follow him around until he drops it and we repeat the process. It is so cute to watch. Reese is so gentle taking the toy from her hands – he knows how small she is. We think he enjoys the playmate since Carmie is older and mostly just wants to sleep!
It is amazing how much Caitlin remembers now. If you tell her the name of something “this is your baby doll” she will remember if you then ask “where is your baby doll?” She also remembers which toys go together – grabbing the farm toy and then searching the bin for the animals that go with it.
She is still crawling – but much quicker now. She takes off in an instant! She will walk with support and sometimes stand for 5 seconds at a time before falling down. She walks with her little push walker around the couch now.
We still have four bottom teeth, but the top two teeth are coming in with a vengeance now. I know they must be hurting her because they sure look painful to me! She has her hands in her mouth 24 hours a day now as you can see in the photos. Yesterday I think one of them may have finally popped through on the corner – sometimes it is hard to tell!
We celebrated Caitlin’s first Fourth of July (I kept thinking – this is her last “first” holiday!) We went to the Mount Dora parade in the morning. She enjoyed the parade and her favorite part was the big shaggy dog walking in the parade campaigning for Sheriff Borders. This dog got a true round of applause from Caitlin! She clapped the whole time he was in sight. We went to a fun barbeque at our neighbors house before going to fireworks in Eustis along the lake. We gave her a late nap so that she would stay awake for the fireworks and she made it right towards the end. She loved the fireworks and clapped for them. She wasn’t afraid of the noise at all!
We celebrated her birthday on Friday by going to Castaway Island in T.Y. Park. It is a fun little water park there with a special area for toddlers. She had a fun time there as she loves the water so much! Saturday we had a party at Grammy & Papa’s house in South Florida for the family. She had a fun time and dove right into the cake. She loved feeling and playing with the icing. When I stuck a bit of icing in her mouth she was not a fan though! She started to gag and did not like it one bit! Later I gave her some cake without the icing on top and she did like eating that quite a bit.
Monday, August 4, 2008
The family birthday party
Caitlin had her 1st Birthday Party (family party) in South Florida this past weekend. The theme was rubber duckies (1 is just ducky). She had a cute duck cake - on which publix spelled her name wrong - we had to go back to the store to fix that. It came out fine. She looked adorable wearing a little yellow bow that matched her dress! She discovered a few new things on her birthday - like climbing the stairs at Grammy and Papa's house is a lot of fun! She also discovered that she could stand up and open their front door! Needless to say we had to keep the door locked at all times after we discovered that! She had a lot of fun opening her presents. She loved tearing open the paper and playing with her cards. She dove right into the cake putting her hands in the frosting. She was a fan of playing with the frosting - but not a fan of eating the frosting! Later I gave her some pieces of cake with no frosting and she did like eating that! Caitlin got a lot of nice presents - cute clothes, a baby doll with a stroller and accessories, a dog on a string to pull, lego little people blocks, and lots of books! All said and done it was a fun day!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Exactly one year old at 6:36PM on August 1, 2008!
Here is a photo of Caitlin the exact minute she turned one year old! Does she look older to you?
Happy 1st Birthday!
For Caitlin's birthday we decided to spend the morning at Castaway Island in T.Y. Park (Hollywood, FL). They have a toddler pool area and we know how much Caitlin loves the water! We were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Brosch along with Caitlin's Aunt, Uncle, and Nephew William. She loved splashing in the water and had a great birthday morning! You can see all of the pictures on flickr! Stay tuned for more birthday celebrations!
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