Bye Bye Cast!!!

On Monday, Katie got her cast removed. We were a little concerned (again) about her reaction to the buzz saw which is used to remove the cast. Fortunately, Katie laughed her way through the whole thing. The worst part of the experience was the horrible smell coming from the cast. Thank goodness she only had to wear it for 3 weeks!!!

After the cast was removed, they took 2 more X-rays to confirm the arm had properly healed. The doctor said everything looks great! And that she can return to normal activities immediately. YAY!!

Sounds

There are so many sounds that fill your home when a baby enters your life. The first sound you hear is their cry. Actually, you hear that one ALOT in the first couple months. There is the soft sound of your baby breathing as they sleep peacefully in your arms. There are the sounds of baby rattles, talking toys, jumperoos, and singing nursery rhyme books. There are the bodily function sounds - GROSS!!! There are little grunts and sucking of their thumbs/pacis. At some point you hear the first giggle, or little laugh. Then there are the raspberries and eventually their first word...a "dada" or "mama". Their is the splish splash of water during the bath, and bedtime stories that follow. There is the sound of sippy cups hitting the floor, because its funny to drop them and watch mommy pick them up. The latest sound in our house is the pitter patter of Katie's feet on our floor (she's not exactly light-footed or graceful). I love all these sounds! They fill our home daily and remind me how fortunate we are to have our little girl.

My favorite of all the Katie noises is her laugh. She's a happy baby and laughs often and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Just thought I'd share a little laughter with you...and maybe make you smile too! :-)

Katie's New Cousin

That's right everyone, Katie is getting a new cousin!! Aunt Sally's daughter Jen is expecting her first child on January 24th, 2011. Jen was in town this weekend for a bridal shower, and since the morning sickness is finally tapering off (kind-of), she and Sally stopped by for a visit. Katie was all smiles when she saw them arrive. And despite NO morning nap, she held up pretty well.

Jen, we are so happy for you and can't wait to meet this little one in January! :-) Also, thanks so much for coming by and spending some time with Katie.

Playful

Katie spent most of last weekend on playdates. Being the first born, Matt and I worry that Katie doesn't get enough interaction with other children. Combine that with the fact that she doesn't currently attend daycare/pre-school.....and you have a child who is totally spoiled by the adults around her. Matt and I are doing our best to expose her to other kids, but its a work in progress.

On Friday, Katie and Matt went down to Lara and Benjamin's house. She got to play with Jacob and Libbie, Mary and Audrey, and Cousin Claire. Apparently she had a blast, but we may need to work on her social skills. Katie tried to steal Libbie's goldfish, paci, and various toys. Below are a few pictures from the day's fun.

I wish I had more pictures of these two together....Katie and her Cousin Claire. :-)

Saturday was another busy day! After Katie's morning nap we loaded up and headed to the Children's Museum of Richmond at Short Pump. Katie took her first trip down the slide with daddy, played in the fake sand box, rode the train with mommy, planted a few vegetables, and stacked some blocks. After a couple hours of playtime Katie was exhausted and we went home for her afternoon nap.

When Katie woke up, she had another visitor: Henry. Henry's mom, Townley, is an old friend from Matt's days at the Diamond. Isn't he a cutie! Townley and Kylie, let's try not to wait 8+ months to get these two together again.

Katie loved visiting with all her friends! We hope to do it again soon.

11 Months Old

Our little Katie Bug turned 11 Months old today! Can't believe how fast the first year is going. I took a few pictures to mark the monthly milestone and just thought I'd share. She was in such a good mood tonight I just didn't want to put her to bed. :( Then I realized tomorrow she would be a TERROR if I didn't stick to the normal bedtime. Matt and Nana - you're welcome.

Major Boo Boo

Along with your child beginning to walk comes the inevitable boo-boos. You expect the occassional skinned knee, or a bruised shin. Well, Miss Katie goes all out when she has a boo-boo. Thursday evening while practicing her new walking moves, she fell on our hardwood floors and broke her right arm. Mom rushed Katie to the St. Mary's ER and I met them there. Matt happened to be working in the ER that night and ended up taking Katie's X-rays with one of his co-workers. After only 2 shots - of the 4 that were initially ordered - Matt could tell it was broken so we didn't bother with the others. The ER doctor discharged Katie with a splint and referred us to the pediatric Orthopedist the next day.

So, we put Katie to bed on Thursday night and were at the Ortho doc's office at 8:30 the next morning to get Katie a cast. Everthing was going really well and we were about to leave when I looked down at Katie's casted arm and realized....that's not her right arm.....that's her left. Yep - they casted the wrong arm!!!! And all 4 people that were in the room (me and Matt included) missed it. So, they came back in, casted the right arm, then had to saw off the cast they had just put on her left arm. Amazingly - Katie didn't make a fuss about any of the cast shennanigans. She actually seemed curious about the saw, and I thought she would be terrified.

So we arrived back home yesterday with our Katie sporting her helmet and a rather large pink cast. Boy do we get some stares in public! As if the helmet alone isn't enough.

Also a bit shocking - Katie doesn't seemed phased by her fall. In fact, she seems more motivated now than ever to walk as the cast has restricted her mobility for crawling.

Now, a blog post wouldn't be completed without some pictures/videos of Katie....so here we go. Some of these are before the cast, some are after.