Woah! 14 Months?!?!

Clearly, we are very bad updaters. I like to think it is because we are too busy living life :-P But in any case, as our little bug keeps growing and growing, we should really record some of it.

Kaida is now 14 months old!

*At this point, she is walking like a pro and pretty much running a lot of the time.
*She is working hard to use a spoon/fork and is getting there. She also loves to have water with dinner.
*She has 6 teeth: 4 on top and 2 on the bottom although we are thinking some more bottom teeth may be appearing soon.
*While there are no real words yet, we are getting some good animal sounds: cat, dog, duck, cow, and bird; and now we are starting to get da for a lot of other things, so we are getting there
*She makes sure we know what she wants, she even lets us know when she needs her diaper changed sometimes.
*She loves to play the piano. It is so cute and she is getting better at pressing actual keys instead of just banging.
*At last measurement she was 19.5lbs. She's little, but certainly growing.
*She has colored with sidewalk chalk and crayons for the first time and loved them, especially the crayons.
*Her smile (and dimple) and big blue eyes melt hearts. And mommy and daddy are both suckers for a baby hug and she knows it haha.

I guess that's about it, the big things anyway. She is really just a smiley, happy little girl who is very busy. She is always on the move and definitely keeps us on our toes! She is a little bundle of love and mischief :) We can't wait until the leaves start to change and we can go outside in some nice cool weather and pick pumpkins and apples....we love experiencing these things with her every year.

Scootin' About

Sometimes, it's just her and the highway . . . .

One Year!

This was it! The end of the first year! Kaida is now in her second year. It's hard to believe. But she's so big now. And she moves so fast!

Of course, the big news this month is that Kaida can walk. She took her first steps on June 19th, then (in typical Kaida fashion) took a week off. Then, she took off around the house--a veritable master of walking! It makes it sound more exhausting than it really is. Truthfully, it's no more work than when she was crawling: she was fast and could pull herself up to things; now she doesn't have to pull herself up, but has to take the time to stand up.


Perhaps more exciting are Kaida's growing communication skills. She points out where she wants to go or what she wants. She nods yes in answer to questions (No "noes" yet, but I'm sure they'll show up). And she can follow a ton of simple directions--including hugs and kisses! The best is when she gives a hug without being asked! Most convenient, hygiene-wise, she indicates when she is done eating without throwing the food on the floor. It's adorable to see her place food in our hand and then close our hand and push it away. It seems hard to believe, but she gets cuter the older she gets.


Over the last couple months, she's gotten over her fear/hesitance around nature. She absolutely loves animals and the outside and she's always pointing to the door or the window, indicating that she wants to go out. And her love of water has only grown. She swam in a pool for the first time and after some initial "what the-" she began splashing and laughing.

She just loves to make people happy. Look at that smile!

Kaida Walks!

K Walks! from Brandon Davis-Shannon on Vimeo.

Only one month until the big first birthday!! Almost a whole year, I can hardly believe it!

May was a fun month. The weather is warmer and that means we can take our little ball of energy outside which is great.

This month:
*Kaida went from 1 tooth, to 4. That's right, 3 new teeth broke through in a matter of weeks. apparently she was saving them.
*Kaida started walking holding on to only one hand. She is a little wobbly, but really her balance is quite good. She can even stand on her own for a minute or so when she feels so inclined (i.e. when nothing distracts her that she wants to get to)
*We took our first trip to the playground. She loved it. A lot. Photographic evidence on shutterfly.
*We spent time with lots of family in Jersey for the first time since January. Kaida did really well and is much more sociable.
*Kaida can now drink from a straw AND out of a cup on her own. It was amazing, something just clicked and we put the cup down and right to her mouth it went, with water going in instead of just down the chin.
*Kaida eats pretty much whatever we eat....as long as it's not excessively sweet or salty
*Kaida started doing big fun splashes in the bath :)
*We went out to play in the grass for the first time...she was not thrilled with grass haha. In fact she would try to get away from it. I think we are past that now, but still if we set her down she won't move and if she is on a blanket, she won't go off it. We'll see how long that lasts.
*Kaida gives kisses when asked (sometimes) and occasionally will point to a nose if asked.







She is just more fun every day! Oh man we love her :)

Yay Stevie!!

A couple of weeks ago, Stevie graduated from Rowan with her BS in Business (hahaha. sorry.)

We went down to see it happen and celebrate with her. She picked a perfect weather day, cloudy and warm, but not too sunny and no rain--a good thing since the first ceremony was outside with no shade. Kaida has a constant squint/scowl thing going on in every picture because it was still bright, even with all the cloud cover. It's okay, she's still cute :) Lessons for when drew graduates: bring food, sunblock (yes, I still got burnt), and seat cushions!

Anyway, here are just a few pictures from the day!

such a pretty face

What's this?? Posting and it's not a month milestone for Kaida or a Doctor's appointment update?? Has the world gone mad???

Just thought I'd share some pictures we took this afternoon. I may or may not have had a bit of fun in photoshop :)





And if you were wondering, we are all doing very well. Stevie graduates on Friday (yay!!) so we'll be going to see that, and we are really just enjoying the weather finally warming up. I'd like to say this is the start of more frequent posting, because I'd really like it to be, but we'll just have to see about that.

10 Months

10 months. 2 months to go 'til the big 1.

And after crawling comes walking. No, she's not there yet, but she's well on her way--cruising along the furniture and beginning to stand without helping hands. And she is, of course, quicker than ever with the crawling and climbing. The necessary reorganizing of the house (to keep important things out of Kaida's tiny, curious grasp) is underway.


Surprisingly, Kaida doesn't have any more teeth and the one she's got has barely moved since last month. But there are signs that three more are on their way--life is getting particularly slobbery recently and there is a hint of white below the gums.


She's also become quite the champion eater. This month she devoured lasagna, pasta shells stuffed with ricotta and spinach, strawberries, eggs (both scrambled and hard boiled), cheese (just cheese in general), a ground chicken burger, ground beef in tacos (soft shell--of course!--both at home and at Moe's!), tomatoes, clementines, and likely others that we simply can't remember.


With all her new eating and moving, we've got a lot of energy to contain. Luckily, it's finally time to go outside! Every time we wheel her out in the stroller she does a full body wiggle of excitement. Things are going to be fun.

3/4 of a year!!! Has it really been 9 months already???

And we have a mover! The art of crawling has been perfected around here, even on hardwood floors. Of course as soon as she could crawl she started trying to take steps while she is standing. Oh my are we in trouble.

With crawling has come a new appreciation of all the small particles on our floor. She can pick up even the smallest crumbs and inspects them very intensely.



The other big news of the month is that a tooth finally broke through! The bottom right front...her right. We suspect more are on the way (hello drool!).

She has also had a bunch of new foods including yogurt, toast, pasta, quesedilla, mac n cheese, pizza breadsticks, more fruits and veggies, etc. Perhaps more exciting is the fact that she is really starting to understand eating now and actually consumes more than we find on her clothes or the floor (most of the time). This girl can down almost a whole banana and piece of toast at a sitting. We can see now that she really chews. We are still working on drinking from a cup without liquid going everywhere but her mouth, but that will come in time.


Isn't she pretty? :)

Official stats to come after our dr. appt tomorrow.

Kaida's New Skill

K's New Skill from Brandon Davis-Shannon on Vimeo.

From March 19th!

2/3 of a year! In February, Kaida:

*got even closer to crawling. She can get on her hands and knees and just hasn't quite found her forward momentum yet.
*pulled herself to standing! From the moment she could sit she's wanted to stand and now all she needs is leverage from mommy or daddy, After that her little leg muscles go to work!
*learned how to clap. so cute. She loves to clap along to "If You're Happy and You Know It."
*started going to work with mommy a couple days a week.
*got very clingy and whiny.
*went through a growth spurt and all her pants got too short.
*became very expressive. So many more faces and emotions going on. Her angry eyebrows are especially adorable. Definitely check out the pictures on Shutterfly.
*started to communicate in basic ways; she understands that if she puts her arms up we will pick her up and things like that.
*discovered an intense love of her jumper. Girl loves to bounce!
*moved to her big girl bath, which she loves. If we let her, she would probably just stay in all day.
*started to understand books; she turns the pages for us when we are reading to her instead of just trying to pull the book into her mouth, although she still does that too.

That about covers it. We don't get any official measurements for another month, but maybe we'll do some unofficial measuring of our own and let you know. We know she has grown for sure, but how much is the question. She is just developing such a little personality and is more fun every day as she understands more and more. We also continue to introduce more foods and she tried a cup for the first time and loved it. Like really loved it. We can't wait to see what this month holds!

A Message from Kaida:

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

It was a big month around here. In January, Kaida:

*Started reaching, grabbing and lunging for things very purposefully. Girl knows what she wants.
*Started babbling, lots of "bababa, dadadad, gagaga", etc. Very cute, especially when she is mad
*Had her first solid foods. So far she has tried sweet potato, avocado, pear, banana, carrot, broccoli, zucchini, and honeydew. She is not eating much of them yet, more just playing with them, but it is very cute and she seems to enjoy it.
*Started working toward crawling. She hasn't gotten the coordination down, but she pulls herself from sitting onto her belly and clearly wants to go somewhere. She scoots a little and loves to stand holding on to our hands
*Moved to her crib. I wouldn't call this a success yet, but really it's not going much worse than her co-sleeper was before we moved her. We just need to get her to stop waking up and screaming when she is put down....
*Went on her first vacation. This included a lot of firsts such as, plane ride, boat ride, leaving the country, going in the ocean, going in the pool, meeting her west coast family, bus ride, trip to disney (even if brief and not actually in the park...)
*Unfortunately had her first cold. It was not bad and really only one bad day plus some stuffies.
*Got a bit more hair, which means it is kinda crazy as it grows in and is whispy and in all directions :) very cute

Kaida versus the Sweet Potato!

Today marked Kaida's first encounter with "real," i.e. non-mommy-provided, food. She had two slices of sweet potato. She certainly was shocked by the taste, but, as you'll see, she kept coming back for more . . . .

official stats

Today we went to the dr. and got the word on our little lady:

weight: 15lbs 4 oz (40th percentile)
height: 27" (85th percentile)
head: 16.25" (20th percentile)

In conclusion, she is long and skinny. Her growth slowed down over the past 2 months but dr says she is growing well and she is obviously happy and healthy :)

She also got her shots which she hated, but aside from the flu shot booster next month, no more shots for a while. We don't even go back for a check up for 3 months.

6 Freaking Months!

I feel like half a year deserves a bit more of a post. A looking back. A discussion of the fact that I have now exclusively breastfed my baby girl for 6 months, just as recommended. She has never had a bottle or an artificial nipple or any source of nutrition other than me. Let us discuss how freaking proud of myself I am for this, since I assure you it was no easy task.

Lets discuss the fact that 6 months ago today I gave birth to a squidgy little thing that was tiny and helpless and now she is a little person who can sit and decide what she wants/doesn't want and can communicate in more ways than one would think. Some things are still the same: those wide open eyes that are always alert and taking in more of the world, but in so many ways she's grown and changed. She can just light up a room with her smile, and has a cry that could be considered warfare I'm pretty sure.


Lets not talk about the fact that in 6 more months the changes will be even more visible and remarkable as she learns to get around and communicate even better. The little things we can't wait to see like, what will she look like with a full head of hair? How much different will she look with teeth? For now I am going to just continue enjoying her every single day and absorbing all that she is.

My what a month! This month Kaida has really grown and developed and she just look so much...bigger? older? I'm not sure, but there is has been a definite change.


This month, Kaida continued to work on her sitting skills and can now sit unassisted with only the occasional tumble, usually when a toy rolls out of reach and she tries to get it. She has been sitting in her high chair all month getting used to sitting at the table with us and loves it.


Her main new discovery is that her wrists rotate. Oh man it is so funny to watch her just circle her wrists for ages, watching in amazement.

At some point in December, she also had some sort of mental shift. Now toys do not automatically just go straight into the mouth. Instead she stops and considers the toy, moving it around and looking carefully at it. It is so much fun to watch. She gets so much smarter every day! Unfortunately, this also means she's gotten more possessive of her toys . . . and random objects she takes a liking to.

She saw her first (but certainly not last) snowfall this month and was...underwhelmed haha. It's okay, she'll get plenty of chances to enjoy it I'm sure.

Of course she also celebrated her first Christmas! We had a great time seeing the families for a week. Kaida did really well, despite her stranger anxieties. By the end of the week she would even let the people she started off wary of hold her for short periods of time. She loved opening presents and eating ribbons and wrapping paper and got some wonderful things.


So that's our bug for the month. We go for her checkup tomorrow and we will update accordingly. This month should be huge since she will go on her first vacation and will also be starting solid foods!

Happy New Year!

Nothing like a baby in a bear suit to start off the new year right :) Happy 2011 everyone!!!