Who needs sleep?

Dear Catalina,

This is a picture of you and your bestest bud, our kitty Bisu.  You two pretty much enjoy all the same things--balls, shoe laces, the whisk.  It is adorable.  That cat just follows you around all day long.  Unfortunately, he also tries to climb into your crib with you at night--and usually wakes you up in the process.  Very frustrating for us.

Speaking of sleeping--you're not very good at that lately.  It seems like we're in your room comforting you about every 20 minutes after we put you to bed.  Daddy's had to hold you in order to get you to nap during the day.  Worst thing for me is that sometimes when I come in to "comfort" you, all you do is look past me for Daddy!  Awwww.  I so want to be the one that comforts you, but that's just not meant to be I guess.  It used to be that you would end up cuddling with me at night, but now you really just want Dad.  It makes me sad, but at the same time I have been getting a lot more sleep.

Your walking is improving, however.  These days you would rather walk holding just one of our hands rather than two.  You also crawled for about a foot today!  Whoopee!  Maybe you'll crawl after all.  

The last post from your daddy talked about how different you are now.  Its so true.  You have a mind of your own for sure--and that's a good thing.  Even though sometimes its a little inconvenient for us.  You and I had a great day yesterday--we went out to the pet supply store.  We like to look at the fish, birds, rodents, and reptiles.  Its kind of like a mini zoo.  Then you had to play with every dog toy--just to check it out.  You were sitting there with one in your mouth when this woman walked by and gave us a strange look.  I said, "he he--it so happens that dog toys and baby toys are remarkably similar."  She laughed uncomfortably.  I hope you don't mind that I let you chew on dog toys.  They were new--I promise!  Although you and Rizo and Bisu all share toys at home.  You don't seem to mind at all. :-)

Today I had you standing in your little Pack n Play while I warmed up lunch.  A good song from my childhood came on (can't remember what it was) and I was singing and dancing to you.  You were bouncing along and had absolutely the most gorgeous smile on your face.  Seriously, kid, sometimes you take my breath away with how beautiful you are.  Like your father says, we get compliments on how cute you are all the time.  Its not just because we're your parents--you really are a very cute baby.  If there is one thing I would like to teach you as you grow up its to be happy with who you are and how you look.  So many young girls end up hating their appearances--I know, I was one.  It is really crippling to be negative about yourself.  I hope you can avoid it.  Even if it gives you a big head, I'm going to keep telling you how beautiful you are.

Love you so so much.

As always,

Mommy

A New Year and A New Tooth

Dear Catalina,

You're New Year's Tooth now has a neighbor! As your mother said, this doesn't seem to be bothering you much. You're pretty into feeling them... with both your fingers and tongue (<--- funny to watch). And you learned how to use a straw last Sunday.

There is something shocking about you learning stuff; it's not like the rest of us. You seem to do it once and then it becomes second nature. The straw really illustrated that whole idea for me. Last week you were checking to see if your finger fit in the hole. I put water in the cup Saturday night and on Sunday morning -- click! -- you were drinking from the straw like that's what everybody does.

The other thing that is weird about this is that you went through a day and night of 101+ degree fever on December 23. All of the books that we have (and believe me... we have many + the internet) say that we needn't worry until you hit 103. So we stopped freaking out around 6 pm. But that's not what I want to be talking about. There was a distinct difference in your personality after that day. I got to see a little of it before you went to Indy with you Mom. But now that you've been back for a week... it's like your a different child.

Here's an example: We were walking around in the office (you holding my fingers) while your Mom worked today. At one point you stopped and yelled at the bookcase. To this, your Mother replied, "Books." You promptly repeated her, "abooksh." And that's not the only word that you have been aping. Light, On, Off, Mama (of course), Bat, Out, and a few others. And you now understand many more than that.

Or this example: Before you would point at something across the room (there are two statues of Buddha that you like) and your Mom or I would take you over there. But by the time we got across the room you wouldn't be going for one specific thing. You would just grab for the nearest thing. This made life easier for us (we could pick what you got) and it showed your little explorer side. But after the fever you developed an interest in very specific things. You don't point very well so the process of handing you stuff that you can have is longer. But the point is that if we hand you what you don't want you ignore it (and/or drop it) then point again. Usually there is something very particular that you want to hold/taste. And that's new.

Our only concern in your development is you absolute distaste for crawling. I assume that you will one day learn to crawl, which partially emolliates my concern. But the scuttlebutt says that crawling encourages bilateral communication in the brain. I'm not sure that this is something that everyone should have in spades but I want you to have the best preparation for life that I can give. I suppose that only time will tell now... and for the record, I didn't crawl, your Aunt Marianne didn't crawl, your cousins Lucas and Kailee didn't crawl much... you get the picture. It's fairly common for first born children.

But beside all that there is something else that really sets you apart from other 10 month old babies. You are fantastically affectionate. Not just a little... you Mom and I get hugs and kisses!! And when you get scared you cling like a little chimp (you are Simeon after all....) Your smile is what really makes you beautiful, though. You do everything from the corner-of-the-mouth twitch to the full on belly laugh (which only your Mom can bring out). And that makes you so adorable. You get compliments wherever we go. Literally everywhere. And since you learned to wave (about two months ago) your fans have really been excited.

There is a downside to being so attention-oriented. It has taken me more that 2 hours to write this post in part due to the frequent visits that are required to let you sleep at night. On a rare night you will sleep for 2 hours at a stretch, but it is far more common that you need some snuggling about every 30 minutes or so. I would prefer that you only needed a brief touch on the hand or head as this saves us from bending over your crib but I don't mind the lay-down-and-hold-me type snuggle that you need. One day this WILL change.

ANYWAYS.... Here are some highlights since I wrote to you last. Enjoy. You can tell that I did!




I saw these floating in the air and thought you might like them. Can't see 'em in the video but you saw 'em when I shot the video.








Tee hee! One of my goals in these letters is to show you that your Mom and I are just people. We're learning how to be parents as you grow. It's tricky stuff for us too... especially since we each have 37 years of practice being something other than parenting. We're doing the best we can, kiddo, and I think this is fun!

Until next time, I love you lots and lots and lots, my little pea pod!

Holidays!

Dear Catalina,
Its been a while since I've written and SO much has happened.  This winter has been really busy with work and the holidays--and you!  You are changing so fast.  It really does seem like you are a different child every day.  We just celebrated our first Christmas together!  I can't believe that you're almost a year old.  It seems so long ago that I had a large pregnant belly--but yet I feel like I'm still trying to get used to the idea of being mommy.  Crazy.

Well Christmas was great.  You were a little overwhelmed opening your presents.  Dad and I probably didn't need to get you anything, but we did of course.  Your Nana and Poppa sent some gifts and so did your uncle Chris and Aunt Meredyth.  Oh and your Great Aunt Jule.  You had to take a nap half way through opening gifts--it was so cute.  Still there is one present that you never opened!  You seemed to enjoy your new basketball from Santa and your Walker/Activity Center from Nana and Poppa the most.  On the 26th you and I went back to Indianapolis to visit my side of the family.  For one day all your Aunts, Uncles, and cousins from my side were in one place.  You seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the noisyness of them all!  Everybody fawned over you as you walked around with your mommy in tow.  This plane ride wasn't as good as your first.  You cried for about 1/3 of the 4 hour flight.  I think you were mostly looking for your daddy.  I must admit, I really enjoyed having a week in which I had preferred status in your eyes.  It was so nice just to have a week to hang out with you.   You are "talking" quite a bit now and still walking around by holding our hands.  You still show absolutely no signs of wanting to crawl or walk on your own.  If I put you on your belly you just cry or yell at me!

You have definitely maintained a preference for men--especially bearded men.  I thought you were going to leave with one guy at the Phoenix airport!  You also seem to like "bling".  The women that you pay attention to all seem to be wearing jewelry.  Everyone got quite a kick out of your "princess wave" where you hold your hand out as if to get a kiss on the back of it.  It is hilarious.  Tonight you actually seemed to request that I give you a bath.  You marched me into the bathroom, waited for me to turn on the light, walked over to the tub and pointed at the faucet.  Too funny.  I was really sad to have to go in to work today after spending so much time together.  I'm sure its a matter of time before you forget that you and mommy were buddies for this week, but I will always have fond memories of this week. 

In other news, you have your first tooth!  It sprouted out from the bottom of your mouth at the end of our trip.  All in all, you seem to be handling your new occupant quite well.

Ok sweetie, I will try to write more frequently in the coming weeks.

As always, your loyal servant!
Mommy