Katya's in First Grade

Katya starts school Tuesday. She'll be going all day long, and I hope she does well. I am sure she will be totally exhausted by the end of the day.

Tonight, I gave her a blessing and during it, I said something about her being in 1st grade. As soon as I said "1st Grade" she said, "Yes" and did a little fist pump. It was so cute.

She is so excited for school to start again. With her being in a smaller-sized cluster class, she has really benefited from a lot of attention at school. She loves getting attention. Even though she pretends that she is shy, she totally loves it.

I am most anxious about her at recess and lunch. I am afraid that she won't eat her food, and will just want to go out and play. Then she will get hungry and not be able to learn. I am also anxious that she will not do well at recess. She does like to run away, and if she sees a bird on the playground, she may go after it, regardless of how far away it goes. I am sure they will have aides go out with her and her classmates so they stay safe, especially at the beginning.

And, of course, I always worry about how people will treat her. She won't know anyone there, and I don't think that is too big a deal for her since she is so social, but I still worry about it.

11 months

Notes

• Army crawling maniac! 
• Favorite place to get into are the bathrooms. You can book it like crazy to there if you know the door is open.
• Developing a scary fascination with the stairs.
• Starting to get on your hands and knees and rock back and forth.
• Says ma-ma, da-da, uh-oh.
• Waves, prays, signs 'more'.
• Loves to dance to music, esoecially on Cali's Dora guitar.
• Always laughs a cute excited laugh when daddy walks in.
• Loves to put everything in your mouth.
• Laughs often.
• Loves to be picked up and carried.

10 months

Notes

• Starting to army crawl
• Such a sweet smiley baby
• Loves your naps
• Not too interested in people food anymore
• Loves to be around her siblings and hates being left alone
• Gets picked on by other babies and that usually makes her pretty sad
• Still pretty particular that she gets her bottle right when she wakes up in the morning.
• No longer wakes up at 3 or 4 for a bottle. (Yes!)
• Doesn't like to sit still.
• Not too much a fan of the jumperoo.
• Refuses to stand.

9 months

Notes:

• Rolling manic. You love laying on the floor and rolling all around. You are getting good at rolling to the things you want.
• Tried finger food and really seem to like bread and pancakes.
• Not really liking the jumperoo lately. 
• Had an ear infection and having medicine for it helped you sleep through the night and sleep in. Now that you are better, you are back to not really sleeping.
• Loving being around people and hate being left alone.
• You are sleeping great in your crib for naps now.
• We switched you to a bigger carseat because you outgrew your infant one.
• Love being sung to.
• Pulls a super cute shy routine when anyone talks to you. You turn and hide your face and smile.

8 months

Notes:

• You have figured out the whole rolling thing and spend your days and nights flopping back and forth.
• You love your Jumperoo.
• Sleeping all the way through the night is difficult. You usually wake for a bottle between 2-4, but will drink it and go back to sleep.
• Has turned into a flopping fish in the back. Flips back and forth and back and forth during her whole bath. She loves it!
• Still struggles with the sitting up by herself thing. So close.
• Has pretty much outgrown her carseat. The strap won't loosen any more.
• Gives huge smiles and laughs when she sees Tenzing after waking up in the morning or after naps. She really loves her brother!
• Wears size 12 month clothes and 18 month onesies.
• Loves going outside.
• Loves seeing Grandpa and enjoys sitting with him at church.
•  Seriously such a happy baby.
• She loves everyone and has a very sweet disposition.

I Learned that in Primary

Do you ever hear some popular piece of wisdom and think, "Duh! I learned that in Primary"? I do. All the time. I read a lot of research for work. It seems that most research is common sense and if we just think about it for a couple minutes, we could come to the same conclusion. We can usually come to that conclusion because we were already taught it, by our primary teachers.

My point is, Jesus is the source of all truth, and so new research will almost always lead back to His gospel. That is the point of learnedinprimary.com. There, I take the research that I am reading, and I apply it to lessons that I have already learned, long ago.

Go on over and check it out. Let me know what you think. I publish a new post every Monday. If you have any requests, let me know.

7 Months

Notes:

• Figured out to roll from her back to her stomach. She hates it because she can't figure out how to get back. She has managed to flip back over a couple of times.
• Such a happy baby! 
• Loves to eat and is super particular about her feeding schedule. When it's time for her to eat, you better feed her!
• Loves, loves, loves her brother and sisters! She loves it when they talk to her and play with her. They can really get her laughing.
• Loves it when T lays on her and gives her a hug. She likes to wrap her arms around his head and hug him. 
• Still wakes up at about 5:30 for the day and often at 3 or 4 to talk and sometimes cry.
• She topped the 20 lb mark.
• Still can't get her to sleep in her bed for naps. We will break this habit!
• Total and complete water baby. She does huge, thigh smacking splashes in the tub and drenches Jethro. If she is unhappy, throw her in the bath and she cheers right up.

Find Mom

Last night Staci went to the scrapbook expo and I dropped her off so she wouldn't have to fight for a parking spot. When I came back, Tenzing was staring out the window. When he saw me get out of the car alone, he started crying for mommy. I came in and sat by him on the couch and asked how he was doing. He just ignored me and grabbed his binoculars. He got up to the window again and looked out through his binoculars. I asked what he was doing and he said excitedly, "Find Mom!" I asked him if he found her and he said, "Yes! There!"

6 Months

Notes

• Loves her brothers and sisters. Loves it when they talk, sing, play with her. I can really get her laughing.
• Loves to eat her squash and applesauce for dinner and eats a lot.
• Pretty particular about her schedule. She gets cranky right around 5:15-5:30 and wants her dinner
• Now goes to sleep about 7. If you aren't paying attention to the clock she'll let you know it's bedtime by suddenly getting super cranky and wants her bottle.
• Loves the jumperoo.
• So close to rolling over.
• Such a happy baby and pretty content to just lay around and have people talk and play with her.
• Happy about 95% of the time- I love it.
• Gives the biggest smiles.
• Has a crazy tongue that she likes playing with and twisting.
• Found her feet and loves grabbing and playing with them.

Stats:
 19 pounds 5 ounces
 25.5 inches

Katya’s Comedic Brilliance

When my (Jethro's) mom and Staci's dad told us they were getting married, Katya was close by but didn't say anything. I said, "Katya, did you hear that? Grandma and grandpa are getting married!" She stared at them for just long enough for them to stay completely focused on her, and then, when they were about to talk about something else, Katya said, "Awkward!" then laughed and ran away.

It was brilliant.

Lunch

The kids wanted meat and cheese for lunch today. But, we didn't have any, so I compromised.

Needless to say, they loved them.

A couple of the pickles turned out perfect as noses.

New Home for Our Computer

We bought a corner hutch (or armoire, depending on how awesome you want to be) so we could get our computer out of our bedroom.

We saw this online and snatched it up! It has a distressed look that we like, but it doesn't look great in pictures.

It will be nice to have the computer out of our. Hopefully we can keep the hutch organized and this clean all the time.

Supposedly, the hutch was made in Mexico.

We still need to figure out a chair situation. Right now we are just using a kitchen table chair, which isn't great, but we don't really want a big office chair in that room.

Holding the baby

Cali really loves to help out with Eloise, and it is so nice. Eloise loved the attention she gets from her siblings.

Funny Sayings by Cali

Cali keeps saying funny things and I forget them too quickly. I need to record them somewhere.
1. Cali said to Katya, "You don't have to change your undies to change the world!" Supposedly it is from Shrek. (It's not!)
2. Cali told Staci she could just mash up some bread for Eloise to eat with dinner. Staci said she couldn't eat bread, she only eats fruits and veggies. So Cali exclaimed, "Mom, she's an herbivore!"
3. Staci was cleaning off the 20 books and stuffed animals and toys that Cali keeps stored on her bed. She asked Staci where they all went and then said, "Hey! I was reading those!" and "I need all those toys on my bed."

Feeding the Baby

Tenzing insisted that he feed Eloise dinner tonight. Staci was not allowed to help him.

He loves that little girl.

The Beginning of the Buzz

We buzzed T's hair for the first time today. He didn't mind it. At all. I think he enjoyed it. He got down and went right back to playing with his cars.

Reading to Eloise

Katya didn't want Eloise to take a nap without being read to, so she turned her car seat to the couch and pulled out the children's songbook and started singing to her.

5 Months

Notes:

• So close to sitting up by herself
• Has started to eat baby food and loves it
• Loves sleeping in her crib
• Started to go to bed at 8 and sleep till 7
• About 18 pounds 12 oz
• Loves just laying on the floor and will cry if we hold her too long
• Is starting to stand on our laps
• No longer takes a cat nap before bed and instead likes to lay on the floor in the kids room and laugh as we get them ready for bed
• Laughs every time I get her dressed or undressed
• Sits in a high chair because she kept sitting forward in her swing

4 Months

Notes:

• Loves to laugh
• Loves her sisters and brother
• Loves to eat
• Still spits up, but doesn't seem to bothered by it anymore
• Working on moving her into her crib in the kids room
• Getting heavy
• Starting to wake up at 5:30 every morning