Typical Morning...

On a typical morning Caylee gets up about 7am (sometimes before, but not before 6:30).  I go get her, change her (usually not into clothes right away unless we have plans) and we go down to eat breakfast.  While I clean up from breakfast she plays... with the dogs...

Poor dogs!  She just loves them and they are less than thrilled with her.  They are behaved around her, but are constantly getting up to move away and she wimpers (for real) and moves over towards them.  On a positive note, I did get her to learn "gentle" so she doesn't rip their hair anymore!   

Here are some pics of her trying to play with them. (These were taken yesterday afternoon, but they accurately depict a typical morning).


Diego licks A LOT, and she finds this so funny.  Therefore, she always starts with his face....  

Sammy doesn't like being left out, so he comes to push through. 

Super cute!

Very accurate.... Diego in the background as much as possible (he likes to be able to see her, just not have her around him), Caylee super happy and Sammy super sad bc he really wants me to pet him, not Caylee....

She finally makes her way to Diego's back... usually the time he stands to dump her on the ground, but must have been tired enough today that I caught a pic before he moved :)

 

 

And one more because she's super cute! 

 

10 Months!

Little Caylee turned 10 months yesterday!  She's growing so fast and I love it.  Right now, she's into everything... she has started really trying to climb the stairs too, but going down is tricky.  She is usually very happy and can play great by herself.  It's fun to watch because she'll crack herself up too.  She likes her toys that play music the best and also likes toys she can hold onto to walk with. (I'm thinking those Leap Frog Learner things are in her near future bc she loves Matt's ipad and computer too!)

Caylee will stand by herself, but then sit when she realizes she's doing it.  She'll walk anywhere holding onto something, but won't let go just yet.  She's been doing great at waving to everyone, though sometimes the "goodbye" waves come after we've passed people.  She's very good in restaurants and always tries to "talk" to people around us.  She will try to talk too... if I ask her to say "please" and sound it out she'll make certain noises, she will do the same with "i love you"... of course it sounds nothing like what I'm after, but I can tell she's trying to copy and learn-- it's great!   

Sleeping has been a challenge this month!  The first problem were her top teeth coming in.  She missed several days of naps and never slept super long at night.  Now she has just decided that playing in her crib during naps is way more exciting.  She'll sit there and bounce around and laugh, throw her pacifier and laugh and eventually (45 min later) scream for me.  (Caylee doesn't say words, but her screaming sounds exactly like "mommy"... and has sounded like that since about 3 months!)  I've been able to rock her some to get her to nap, but she's super squirmy and just wants to play.  This weekend she actually slept in until 8am!  That's huge, of course, Matt and I didn't get up either, but the minute the dogs go out or one of us gets up she can hear... I still can't figure out how, but she's instantly up.  That means on Matt's working days we're up no later than 7.. usually 6:30ish. 

Eating... she's eating mostly all "people" food, meaning the table food we eat.   We discovered that she doesn't like natural flavors of anything, but everything must have a sauce.  Veggies must be in a broth of some sort, meat and noodles have to have something on them (i.e. just a hamburger won't work, but meatloaf with flavor will.... plain noodles with butter are no good, but noodles with cheese are great!)  She's very funny.  Guess I'll have to start really planning meals better!! 

Caylee is such a joy and I'm really lucky I get to see all the little things she does!

Still knows "so big!"

 Laughing at daddy, but the bow fell out...

Checking out Diego and the frisbee....

Making sure he sits before it's thrown...

Both watching Diego chase the frisbee... so intense! 

Eating...

Eating has posed a new challenge for Caylee and I lately.  She's extremely independent, which I love!, however, that includes mealtime.  The Dr. informed me that by 1 yr old she should be eating all table food, no more baby food.  So, I have begun the process of giving her foods we're eating.  This is fantastic!  She seems to love so many foods (though not many meats).  But, when I need to supplement some baby food veggies we get the following mess... 


First, I give her the spoon bc of course she doesn't want to be fed.  She grabs it by the head... where all the food is... so very little actually makes her mouth. 

Then she (very sweetly too) hands it back to me...

Finally, she claps for herself bc of course I have told her what a great job she's doing!  She really is doing well, it just makes for a TON of cleanup, but she's learning and we'll get there :) 

**Sidenote:  Matt found this meal quite entertaining, so he took the pics.  I have also begun stripping her down to just a diaper when I have to use baby food since the mess is extreme.  She's so sweet!

Such a change from a few months ago when she wanted nothing to do with the food at all.  I love how much she's growing and learning!  We're very proud of her!

Life in a small town...

I thought College Station was relatively small... maybe not so much small, as in close-knit.  I think it is anyways.  Well, not compared to where we are now... an actual small town. 

I mentioned before that we are renting a place until we figure out what to do more permanently.  We live about 2-3 miles from the downtown of Ottoville.  970 people as of 2011 (according to Google)  We're talking small!  So... that begs the question, what do we do all day?!?! 

Caylee isn't quite walking, but we still make time for the park.  It's good to be outside and she enjoys swinging.  She'll also sit and play with the rocks and dirt forever.  We were going to the pool some, but it's beginning to feel very fall-like around here... too cold for my taste in swimming anyways.  Sometimes we go downtown to get ice cream, she's not a huge fan yet, but I'm sure will become one!  We play at home a lot (in between errands and dr appts!), and currently I am working on teaching Caylee to walk.  She'll be 10 months later this week, but I really want her to walk... she wants to too!  She can walk around holding things, just not on her own quite yet. 

So... we're definitely finding things to do, slowly... here are some pics of our outings!


"Look! Rocks!" 

She can walk great when holding onto things...

Checking out the park... we have been to several parks in surrounding small towns and there are never any people.  Kinda a bummer, but we must go at bad times or people just don't use the parks much.  I like the Ottoville park bc the high school is right next too it and they've begun cross country practice... she likes watching the kids run by and always waves :)

 

Look Alikes!

People always ask who we think Caylee looks more like, Matt or myself....

I can definitely see some of Matt's traits in her, like height, but to me she switches every few months between looking like me and then Matt.  But you can judge for yourself!


Newborn:

Caylee                                                   Brittany                                 Matt

 

3 Months:

Caylee                                                   Brittany                                 Matt

 

6 Months:

Caylee                                       Brittany                                 Matt

 

** I'll add 9 months and 1 yr later.... 

It'll definitely be fun to see baby 2 and see who he/she looks like! 

Florida!

Caylee and I just got back from a wonderful week and half in Florida!  We were just supposed to be gone a week, but our plans had to change a little.  I really enjoyed the extra days!!  It was warm, sunny AND we were able to see my mom and grandparents (of course, they live there), my aunt (from Seattle) and friends.  We had a blast and were completely spoiled by the attention and sunshine.  Here are TONS of pics from our trip.

Helping Grandma fill the crab pool.  Such a cute pool!

Playing in the crab pool...

Swimming in the turtle with Grandma and Great Aunt Debbie!

Great Aunt Debbie... holding her after I dunked her a few times, but she did WONDERFUL! Didn't cry and seemed to like it even...

The beginning of learning "How big is Caylee? SO BIG!" 

Playing with her British Teapot in honor of the 2012 London Olympics going on :)

Stuck chasing the ball...

Showing Great Grandfather how big she is :)

Talking with Great Grandma...  Caylee and I had a great goodbye with her.  I left the room and said "We love you!" and she said "I love you both"... definitely more than she says ever so I was very happy!

First haircut... Before...

First Haircut... After... we still had some trimming that needed done, but she had already had enough!

Visiting friends! Katie and I have known each other since 1st grade when my family moved to FL.

Kelly McIntyre and Katie McIntrye!

Waiting at Panera for Sunday brunch....

Sunday Brunch... I didn't realize there was a water spot, but it's the only one we got of everyone :(  Oh well!

Sunny day at the beach!

Playing with seashells...

Caylee really didn't like the beach much, but at least I got some good pics!

Caylee and Grandma

Mother and daughters! :)

We had such a blast in FL and I already miss it!  Can't wait to go back and see everyone.