I get it now!

Oh...I see what people mean when they tell you to enjoy the time before baby gets mobile.

Not that we aren't enjoying Kara right now, it's just much more attention demanding. I have found that it really isn't worth trying to do any chores while she is awake because she will get into something that she isn't supposed to. In the past 24 hours I have

• knocked dog doo out of her hand
• fished pebbles out of her mouth
• taped a map back into my Bible that she ripped out
• pulled her out from under the stroller that she knocked over
• helped the dog escape from her death grip
• cleaned her pee off the bathroom floor (Lee had to clean it off of his pants :)
• contemplated putting her in the dog's kennel so she won't get into anything else!

Fall Fun!

October was a great month with no shortage of fun, Halloween-related family activities. Get ready for a lot of pictures!

We went to a pumpkin patch with some friends, the Pickards, from church. They have a little boy named Ethan who is 2 weeks older than Kara. The two of them typically don't acknowledge each other's presence, but we got a rare photo of Ethan not only touching Kara, but trying to pick her nose.

Then we went to the fall festival held by my parents' church. Kara is still a little too young to really enjoy things like this, but it was a good excuse to hang out with the family and dress Kara up in her ducky costume.

Next, we went to Zoo Boo at the Houston Zoo with our super friends Anna and Scotty Floyd. The animals were pretty active that morning, so that made it especially fun. Other highlights were watching an elephant get a bath and Kara touching a snake. As usual, she was passed out by the time we got to the car.

Finally, it was Halloween. We went to Lee's parents' neighborhood to trick-or-treat with Kara's cousins, Owen (pit crew chief for Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars) and Riley (little black cat). All the kiddos were adorable in their costumes. Owen did a great job yelling "Trick-or-treat" to everyone, and Kara pretty much sat in the wagon and sucked her thumb the whole time.

Baby News (9 months)

Kara is growing up. We're starting to see her independence, and there is a little part of me that wants her to slow down. It's sort of sad watching her leave the co-dependent blob stage. I can still call her a baby, but the term toddler is creeping up faster than I would like.

It is unlike me to be sentimental about things like this, but it is so weird that she is just a completely different person now. She's constantly on the go (except when she's sleeping...thank you naptime!), she is responding to several words, and she has started to whine and get angry when she doesn't get her way. Yes, she is growing up indeed.

Here are some of her new favorite things to do:

• Waving - Kara is all about waving. She waves to strangers, she waves to dogs, she waves to us when we come to get her up from a nap. I have found that this gesture melts the hearts of little old ladies. I actually make a special effort to wait until Kara waves at them because they always get excited and tell us how we just made their day.
• Feeding herself - Kara has decided that she needs to help us feed her. She can be somewhat insistent about holding the spoon. She usually ends up with more food in her hair than her mouth.
• Find the Puff - Puffs are a yummy Gerber food for babies (like a puffed up Cheerio). They are great motivators for Kara. One of our games is to hide a puff under one of three buckets. I don't know how much she likes searching for the Puff, but when she finds it she loves shoving it in her mouth.
• Yogurt painting - So much fun! We got this idea from our nephew who did it in day care. Sit the kid in a high chair, and drizzle the tray with a mix of plain yogurt and a drop of food coloring. It's a mess, but it's a contained mess, and Kara has a blast "painting" the tray (and herself).

Baby van Gogh

Brought to you by the letter B

Kara makes 3 babbling sounds, buh-buh-buh, rah-rah-rah, and uhm-ma. I read somewhere that it is good to help babies associate their babbling with actual words. So today is all about the letter B.

We have been playing with bubbles, boxes, and books.

The bunny was fun for a while, but then she wanted the blocks.

She drank from a bottle and ate barley and blueberries....she did not wear a bib, which was a big mistake.

We looked at pictures of B and Beeba (her grandmas), and played ball with Kermit in the backyard.

Later, she splashed in the bath and went to bed with her blanket.

Then Mommy and Daddy said bye-bye.

But, the best part of our day of B's was chasing the b-b-balloon!

From the fithians (click on the picture to view the video)

Flat head update

We just had our follow-up visit to the neurosurgeon at Texas Children's Hospital. He said Kara's head is improving, and he doesn't see any reason for a helmet. Even better, he doesn't think her head would even qualify for a helmet.

It is likely that her head will always be a bit deformed, but nothing that should cause her embarrassment.

The Zoo!!!

Lee and I regularly went to the Houston zoo for dates before we were married (back when we were young and free), but then we got tied down by "responsibilities" and "schedules" and "budgets", and the zoo got booted off of our list of fun activities.

But the weather this week was incredible! The mornings were cold and the afternoons were tolerable...only a slight perspiration factor. Perfect for outdoor activities. Perfect for the zoo! So Kara and I HAD to go before the weather changed again.

My grandparents joined us, and it was such a nice morning. Although Kara is too young to really care about the animals, she does appreciate a good stroller walk. We also had a fun time in the petting zoo where Kara pet (aka: yanked the fur out of) the goats. We are still learning "gentle hands". Those lessons aren't sticking yet.

Papa, Mamaks, Kara, and a goat.

The Trouble Little Hands Can Find

Sorry for the long delay between posts. We'll try to do better this month.

Our most exciting news is that Kara is officially mobile. Many people have warned me about this stage...one man who was apparently scarred by this stage in his kid's life told me to knock her legs out from under her any time she looks like she is getting ready to move. But I have loved this stage. Kara and I have had a blast doing things like going to the park to play on the swings, attending library story time for infants, and playing hide and seek. We've been very busy.

The notable down side of mobility is that Kara's world is focused on things that are less than a foot off the ground. Wonderful, magical things like door stops, electrical outlets, and puppy dog tails. Generally, if you don't think she should be touching it, then you will quickly find her sticking her fingers in it or trying to put it in her mouth.

I let Kara play with a banana while I was making dinner, thinking she would just chew the stem like she usually does. Pretty soon we heard her slurping something...she ended up eating half the banana and smashing the other half into the rug.

The dogs are no longer safe. She's been waiting to get them since she was born.

We have removed all the door stopper tips. Kara seems to think they are candy. My sis-in-law recommended that we super glue them on. That's going to make Kara so mad.

My first "where did she go?!" moment. Kara decided to crawl under our bed to play with the wooden slats that hold the mattress.