What a cutie!

Below are a few pictures from Kate this week. She gets so proud of herself when she stands up. Her delight shines across her face.

Kate loves to touch and scratch our textured walls.
The other day we had the joy of my Grandma stopping in for a short visit. While she was here she couldn't resist the urge to try on some goofy glasses.

Like mother like son. :-)

Watch out World! Kate is on the move!

9-Month Check Up

Last Friday Kate turned 9 months old. It is so hard to believe she is only 3 months away from being a one-year old! Today we had the unfortunate task of going to the doctor's for her 9-month check up. Kate weighed in at 22lbs (90-95%) and 28" long (75%). According to her stats she is lengthening and trimming up a bit. She had to have another shot and blood test so she was not a happy camper by the end of her appointment. She slept for 3 hours once we got home which was a very nice break for me. :-)

Kate LOVES to watch Elmo. She starts to squeal every time she sees him. Maybe it is bad parenting to let her watch TV at such a young age but I have discovered that Sesame Street keeps Kate distracted while I put on her clothes. If there are no distractions then she throws a huge fit while I try to get her arms through her shirt.

One joy of having a 9 month old is that she is starting to get a mind of her own and express her opinion. Everyday we have mini battles and tantrums that test our patience. One of her favorite new thing is to have a "battle of the bib." She pulls at her bib until she rips it off or I give up and take it off of her. Another battle is that she hates being fed with a spoon. It seems that she will only eat finger food so last night her dinner consisted of strawberry pieces. This morning she had chunks of banana. I need to get more creative and figure out other baby friendly finger foods I can give her. I gave her some pasta with peas for lunch today but she wasn't too interested.

Saturday

Yesterday Kate and I joined the Loscutoff clan for a sushi lunch (Will had to work, unfortunately). Will's younger brother, Peter, flew in from Switzerland for the week so we all got together to visit before he heads back to the Switzerland to work on the Super Collider. Kate did very good hanging out at the restaurant for 2.5 hours. She is such a wonderful baby!

Kate loves her Dedushka!
Walt tried to put his sunglasses on Kate. She was amused at first but then quickly turned fussy.

I came prepared with lots of snacks to keep Kate busy...cheese, Gerber Puffs, and yogurt melts. I tried out some disposable placemats I bought at Target and they worked great! They stick to the table so Kate couldn't pull it off.

Happy Mommy and Baby. :-)

Here is a picture of Kate with her future Auntie Megan. Peter and Megan became engaged over Christmas break. We are SO excited to have her join our family though it may be a few years before the wedding due to their school schedules.

Back at home Kate helped me make a batch of oatmeal scotchie cookies. I have been trying out my friend's ERGO baby carrier this past week. It is a great piece of baby equipment. I can hold Kate in the front, back or side and it doesn't hurt my back due to the waist belt. I think I need to go out and buy me one!After cookies we gave Kate a bath before bedtime. Will loves to squirt Kate in the face with water...she doesn't seem to mind too much. Her expression is so cute.

Kate Happenings

One of Kate's favorite activities is kissing the baby in the mirror. This usually consists of licking the mirror with her mouth wide open and leaving a big drooly spot behind. It is very cute!

Just the other day Kate discovered that she can pull herself up to stand. She has greatly enjoyed this new discovery...it is a whole new perspective on the world. We have had several bonks and tears, though, since she hasn't figured out how to get down from the standing position gracefully. Below are some pictures of her standing up at different spots.

(Okay...this one is in here because it is too cute!)

Once Kate realized she could stand at her bookshelf she had to throw all the books off to make a nice mess.

Great day with Dedushka and Grammalene

Yesterday we had the pleasure of having Kate's Dedushka and Grammalene over. For the first time since Kate's birth they watched her for us while Will and I went on a little date to Starbucks. It is so great watching Kate play with her Dedushka. It is hard to tell who is having more fun...Kate or Dedushka.

Kate fell asleep on a their walk to the park. I guess we need to start teaching her about modesty and not showing off her midriff.

What a cutie!

You can definitely tell in this video that Kate is really loved by her Dedushka.

Thanks Dedushka and Grammalene for such a wonderful time!!!

New fun activities

Kate is discovering some new fun activities. Standing at the couch, chewing on Daddy's magazines is a ton of fun!

Kate loves to crawl over to her musical table and sometimes crawl over it.

"Look at my two front teeth!"

Kate has also discovered the joy of throwing her toys and watching us retrieve them. She only throws with her right arm so we are thinking she will be right-handed.

Quest for Kitty

Now that Kate knows how to crawl, she is always trying to get our cat, Annie. Annie is not too amused by this, but it is fun for us to watch!

Krawling Kate

Kate is now crawling!!! For the past few weeks Kate has been practicing getting into the crawling position but she has only been successful wiggling backwards. Well, yesterday she finally figured out how to move forwards. I wouldn't call it "traditional" crawling...more like and inch-worm, but at least she is moving forward. She is already having fun exploring new things around her, especially the baskets we have in our coffee table and t.v. stand.

Easter Happenings

Kate enjoyed her first Easter yesterday. She started the day off with her very first Easter basket. I filled up some plastic eggs with buttons and coins. Kate loved to pick up the eggs, shake them and then throw them across the room. She did this until all the eggs were out of her basket.

After she had fun with her Easter eggs, we got her all dressed up for church. She looked so cute in her pink dress.

Kate and Will before church. Kate loves her Daddy kisses!

After church we headed to my parents house for brunch. Kate enjoyed sitting in her Great-Grandma Elliott's lap while we prepared the food.I think there must have been something in the food we ate because my family went crazy! Thankfully Will, Kate and I were not effected.

Later in the evening Will barbecued some burgers for us. Unfortunately the weather was very rainy, but he braved the storm in my swim parka and made some fantastic dinner. Yum!