And the Chase is On!

Happy Pentecost!

That greeting was a few days early when I started this draft, now it's a day late, but just as heart-felt! We forgot to wear red to Mass yesterday. But, Fatima and I changed into red after we got home. I just realized we forgot to make our traditional cake - red velvet with white icing and red flames decorating the top. I'm surprised Fatima didn't remind me.

Big Dollbaby news this week...she's crawling!! She began the week on Sunday with a very cute bear walk / crawl / army crawl combo. On Monday, she moved both knees, then her hands, then both knees. On Tuesday, she was crawling! As the headline says, "and, the chase is on!" It was a rather exhausting day of catching her - especially as she often headed straight for the stairs. On Wednesday, Dave installed the baby gate at the top of the stairs. So, now she's safe and we're getting used to opening and closing the gate every time we go up or down the stairs. 

 Here are a few short takes of her progression...and our cheering her on :-)

She also began combining consonants and vowels ... ga, da, de, ge, and my favorite (drum roll) ...mama, which I choose to believe she knows means me!

She had her seven month check-up Thursday. She's 14# 7oz and 26", which is 50th percentile for height and 10th for weight. So, her growth velocity has slowed and it looks like she'll join our family at the lower end of the growth charts. I know it's impossible at her age, but she seemed to remember the doctor's office, as she started crying as soon as I laid her on the examining table. Fortunately, our doctor is great and did the whole exam with her sitting on my lap. She received three shots and an oral vaccine :-(  I couldn't implement Peggy or Kathy's suggestions from last time, as they weren't keen on my nursing her during the shots and the doctor told me just beforehand that our baby Tylenol had been recalled. But, she did okay and calmed quickly. At home later, she pulled off the band-aids and played with them!

I took out a few new toys for her this week that a friend had given me. She especially loved the little shapes that can be dropped in a bucket. She doesn't do that yet, but she really likes holding them. They're the perfect size. Fatima liked the new toys, too, commenting that Dollbaby gets all the cool stuff. Go figure.

One more new Dollbaby thing...we discovered that she is fascinated with Bluegrass music! We played it as much as Dave could stand that day :-)

Fatima was extremely excited after starting sewing lessons last week. She asked to go every day! After a little lesson on economics, she disappointingly realized that wouldn't happen. She had three days of state end-of-year tests. They try to make it fun now, with longer recesses, special treats, and a movie at the end. She enjoyed her favorite Friday activity - a sleepover, topped off with her favorite after sleepover thing -- playing all day. She also went with her friend to the quarter-finals girls' soccer game at the local high school, but left after getting drenched in the rain. That night, she and Dave went to the semi-annual outdoor concert in our neighborhood, which coincides with the three-year anniversary of our move here. On Sunday, they tried to go paddle-boating, but discovered the park either doesn't have them anymore or the season hasn't started yet.

Kitty received two awards at the year-end ceremony at her school. She earned a perfect score on the state 10th grade writing test! And, she was named Most Valuable Thespian! She got medals and certificates for both. She wants to frame the MVT. We're inching closer to the 16th birthday milestone next month... She enrolled in driver's ed and started filling out job applications. Kind of funny to have those juxtaposed with Dollbaby's learning to crawl!

I guess our week reinforced Fatima's statement that our lives are boring (to her). Not much new with Dave this week. He's still waiting to heal enough to go skiing again. I'm still working on VBS, hanging out with Dollbaby, and watching NCIS while nursing her. I'm going to be in withdrawal soon, as I'm almost finished with Season 6, the last one available. I think the current season is #8. So, I'll be wanting to know what happens next, but have to wait until they release seasons 7 & 8 to find out :-(  I'll just have to be left hanging and move on to the nine seasons of JAG my aunt sent! I also saw that the first seasons of NCIS LA and The Good Wife are due out soon...

Have a happy week!  

and leave a comment!  please :-)