Week 39 and 40

Caitlyn is 9 months old!!! She is growing up so fast.  We had a scare earlier in the week and I brought the little one to the emergency room.  She was wheezing and coughing so loud.  She had croup and was given steroids.  It was so scary but now she is better.

Caitlyn loves to laugh, eat and crawl everywhere.  It is hard keeping up with her.  She still has yet to grasp the whole "pull up" on her legs and stand by herself mode.   She did it once yesterday, but that was it.  She can stand for about 30 minutes by herself.  She is also a big fan of walking when you hold her hands.

Yesterday we celebrated our first Christmas together as a family of four.  Caitlyn and Colby got tons of presents.  Too many I don't even know what to do with them.  Caitlyn is into things that move or make noise. 

Merry Christmas Everyone.

Week 37 and 38

It has been super crazy so sorry for no updates.  I love the holidays but everything seems to be going wrong.  Christmas is in full affects. Tree is up and shopping has begun.  Caitlyn got to sit on Santa's lap and didn't cry.  It was a success and Colby wasn't scared of the jolly man anymore.

Caitlyn is so close to standing but nothing yet.  It will happen soon.  She is eating a lot of big meals and milk has become a snack.  Our time breastfeeding is almost at an end.  I feel that this turning point may have set in motion a hive outbreak.  I think as my hormone cycle is adjusting to getting back to normal days, my Merana IUD, is causing hives to form all over my body.  Hopefully it will be solved soon

Week 36

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Gobble Gobble Gobble

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday,  Bill, the kiddos and myself traveled to Bethesda to stuff our faces.  We got to see Grandma Marsha, Nana Rhoda, Aunt Phyllis and Deborah and my three cousins.  Caitlyn even got to swim in the pool at the hotel.

It was a very fun event.  We had a day break in between then traveled on Saturday to New Jersey.  We stopped by Matt's house and met up with his family and Uncle Jonathan.  It was a great seeing everyone and watch the kids interact with the Porcelli family.

Caitlyn is so close to pulling herself up.  I have been waiting for it

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Week 35

"Mama Mama".. those are the sounds of Caitlyn's first words.   I been reciting this mantra for months now in our car rides to daycare.  She finally got it.  Score 1 for mommy and 0 for daddy.

Caitlyn is crawling all over the place.  Our 8 month old is now standing for a period of 1 to 2 minutes while holding onto a couch or a tall object.  She is also grasping objects and trying to pick them up or lunge herself towards them.  Caitlyn has also been doing this weird thing with her tongue by sticking it out and licking her lips. Maybe her lips are dry in the weather.

Last week, we braved the mall and got some holiday photos done of the kids and ourselves.  It was an ordeal, but glad we got this done before the holiday rush.

I can't wait for our holiday card to come in the mail.

Week 34

Halloween was a blast this year.  Colby and Caitlyn traveled around the neighborhood for over an hr.  It was too cold for Caitlyn to wear her bumblebee costume so she went as a polar bear instead.   Colby wore the same outfit as last year, the fireman.  Caitlyn fell asleep halfway through the trick or treating.  Colby at first had no clue what was happening, but soon he realized he would get candy if he said "trick or treat".  After a couple houses, all he was saying was "trick or treat".

Now that Halloween is over, it is count down to Christmas.  Booooo!!!!

Week 33

Two more days until Halloween!! I can't wait to see the kids go out this year and see all the cute kids in our neighborhood.

Last weekend, we went pumpkin picking at Councell Farms again.  Colby had a blast playing with the corn and farm equipment activities.  CiCi was bundled tightly and she got a chance to pick some pumpkins too and touch the corn.  Tomorrow we are going to paint our pumpkins and put them out.

Caitlyn can now crawl and sit back up.  She has also survived eating chicken, beef and salmon.  She is so healthy in comparison to her parents.  #Baby food problems.

Week 32

Caitlyn's diet has expanded three-fold now.   She ate some scrambled eggs and pumpernickel bread.  This weekend I will make some chicken, salmon, beef and turkey dishes as well.  Time to eat some meat!

Week 31

Halloween is almost here and we are all so excited.  I ordered Caitlyn's Halloween outfit from Toys R US.  This year she is going to be a bumble bee.  I can't wait to put her in the outfit.  This week she has two events to look forward too.  Tomorrow Jess will be taking her to the pumpkin patch with Annalise.  On the weekend, Colby and Caitlyn will be attending Brent's Halloween party.
I love this time of year, seeing little kids dress up and fall weather.  It reminds me of all the fun I had with my friends trick or treating in NJ.

Caitlyn will be seven months in three days.  Time is flying by if I haven't said that enough.  We slowly have been introducing new foods into her diet.  These have included broccoli, peas, cucumber and yogurt melts.  Today, I made some new recipes that have corn, cauliflower, leeks and cheese.  Hoping these go well.

Week 30

Okay she is on the go.  Crawling is in full gear.  I love watching her chunky legs move as she sticks her butt high in the air.

Caitlyn has also began to clap.  Her friend Annalise does it all the time, so maybe she picked it up from school.  Now Colby is showing her how to clap and she just laughs at him.

Mimi and Pop Pop came down for the weekend.  We played a lot and ate tons of food, but to bad it was raining.

Week 29

This weekend we celebrated Jonathan and Aja's beautiful fall wedding.  Grandma Marsha came with us since Caitlyn was not invited.  The wedding was everything I wish our wedding was minus the rain.  It started to pour Friday and into Saturday morning, but somehow the sun came out just in time for the outdoor ceremony.  Colby was the cutest ring bearer.  He did go straight to the ceremony (only because I was holding his hand) but once he got to the alter, proceeded to run into Bill's arms.

The wedding was gorgeous with beautiful lightening and tons of fall tokens like pumpkins, leaves and mums everywhere.  Caitlyn got to wear many of her fancy dresses and spend lots of qualty time with Grandma Marsha.  It was a great weekend.

Also, my friend Nanditha had her baby boy Siddharth.  He was born that Monday.

Week 28

Crawling has begun!!

Week 27

We ventured for a road trip, saw many people and lived to tell the tale.  The last time we traveled was for Mother's day.  With two kids, on two different schedules, it took us over 14 hrs to get to two different places.  We were hoping not to repeat that horrible time.

Last weekend, we traveled smarter and left right before bed time.  I got to celebrate my birthday (and Caitlyn's half birthday) by eating at the Brookside Diner and then getting my nails done (thanks MiMi Donna).  The big excitement was Grammy's 90th Birthday on Saturday.  I saw family who I haven't seen in years.  Nana had a blast spending time with Caitlyn, Colby and the rest of the grandchildren.

Sunday Bill and I had a play date with Nital and Zena's kiddos.  We all came to Nital's place and spend the day eating, talking and watching the kids run a muck.  It was a very nice reunion.

Now that the weekend has past, our little girl is 6 months old.  She is eating pears and apples now.  Caitlyn also weighs 18 lbs 5 ounces and is 27 inches long.

Week 25 and 26

Okay I missed another week, but at least I will publish week 26 earlier (I guess that counts for something).  Let me re cap last week:  I took off Monday and Tuesday and made baby food among other things.  I made five food items: apples, pears, butternut squash, carrots and sweet potato.  My goal was to have some foods under Caitlyn's belt before she turned 6 months old.  I cranked them out and froze them.

Some of the exciting things that happen over these last two weeks:
(1) She loves to grab toys, pick them up and place them in her mouth.
(2) Maybe teeth are coming?
(3) Has tried rice cereal, green beans, carrots and butternut squash.  So far she likes the butternut squash the best.

This weekend we are off to Jersey to celebrate my b-day and my grandma's 90th birthday. We will also get a chance to see Zena and Nital too.

WEEK 24 (I like numbers better)

Okay, I may be bias, but our baby is a genius.  She is sitting up now, which in itself is astounding for a baby that is less than 6 months old .  But, the real kicker is, she is almost crawling.

I couldn't not believe it for myself until I saw it yesterday.  Caitlyn can get up on her arms and legs, completely lift her body off the ground and start to rock back and forth.  I have some photos to prove it.

I don't remember Colby hitting these milestones yet.  Where is the time going???

On other news, we spent our labor day weekend cooped up inside trying/attempting potty training.  It sort of worked.  Colby can now pee in the potty but has yet to go number two.  School has been somewhat resistant to letting him go all day with underwear.  So far Colby has had only BM accidents. Hoping this weekend, he will fully get it.

Grandma Marsha is also coming this weekend to help out while Bill is away in Pittsburgh.

WEEK TWENTY THREE

Caitlyn is all smiles and rolls.  She even can sit up on her own for short bursts of time.  My little angel is so advance (I am bias of course).

I swear that she even did a little mini push up yesterday.  She will be crawling in no time.

Today Bill and I had our first parent teacher conference with Jessica, Ci Ci's teacher.  I hope I can get a copy and put it on the blog.  She had videos of her and pictures of Caitlyn smiling.  I was so impressed.  

WEEK TWENTY TWO

Five months have come and gone so fast.  I can't believe it.   Now it is time for solid foods.  I love when they really start to eat like a little person.

We tried rice cereal on Tuesday and Caitlyn spit it out at first.  It is growing on her.  She was adorable sitting in the high chair for the first time.

Over the weekend we had some very special visitors.  Caitlyn got to meet Shiv and Nandi.  They all had so much fun together.  The boys were lots of trouble.  Nandi loved playing with "the baby."  Nital and Raja were such wonderful friends.  I really appreciate how hard it was to travel with two kids just to see us.  They are great friends.

Here is the little one at her five month snapshot: