Ladies and Gentlemen, We've Got Teeth! (or, Tooth)

Sorry to say that I don't yet have a picture to go with this one, but maybe one day soon!
We have our first tooth poking through -- after fighting the good fight, complete with fever (and a trip to the ER), we have a tooth -- a sharp, little pain-inflicting tooth! (Pain inflicting for Katie and for Mommy (when my finger gets in the way!)) And tooth number two isn't far behind! We can see it in its place right next to the first tooth -- it's either just beneath the surface, or it's JUST broken through. But, regardless, it's there!! Watch out big-people food, Katie's soon to be on the prowl!!

And she's just aching to crawl! She gets onto her tummy, and can turn around to face any direction; then she tries SO hard to pull her legs up to crawl, but she can't quite get them to coordinate with the rest of her. Oh, she gets SO frustrated -- screaming, crying, but she keeps on trying again and again. It's going to happen soon, I just know it! That means we're going to have to baby-proof SOON!!! Just today when she was pseudo-crawling, she got into a sales flier and tried to eat it, and she managed to get a sticker stuck on her hand. Man, oh man, our life is going to change drastically soon!

Look at my new big-girl toy!!!

At daycare, Katie has been playing in an Exersaucer, and she's really been enjoying it. So we resigned ourselves to the fact that we'd have to be making a new purchase. We didn't get an Exersaucer, but we got something similar called "Bounce, Baby, Bounce!" It's got a bunch of toys around the tray like the Exersaucer does (just not the overwhelming amount like that does). But instead of the rocking base, this has a bungee platform that will bounce as she pushes it with her legs (once she can really reach it!)


Anyway, that was Thursday's purchase, and Mommy assembled it while Daddy was hard at work last night. Katie sat in her chair and patiently watched as it was built, but I imagine she was thinking, "Hurry up, Mommy -- I want to PLAY!" She loves it -- especially the things that she can reach and put into her mouth! Anyway, we figured this would give her something else fun to do for a little while, instead of always having to be lying on her back to play, or flipped over on her tummy, which still makes her frustrated, though she is getting the hang of rolling back over onto her back. Keep working at it, Katie-girl! You'll get it -- growing up is such hard work! And Daddy just managed to snap this picture this afternoon that encapsulates that last thought completely -- Whew!! It's hard work growing up!!

Snow Days and a Trip to the ER

Kentuckiana got a major winter storm this weekend. School was out on Friday, which meant that we had to miss day care (a.k.a. big-girl school) -- on only our second day!! But Mommy and Katie got to stay home -- nice and warm and cozy inside. But Daddy still had to go to work. And boy, did it snow. We got a LOT of snow on Friday -- about 4 inches before dark!! Then, during the night, we got about 8 more inches!!!!! Everything was covered!! That was more snow than we've had here since 2004!!! There was so much snow that Daddy didn't have to go to work on Saturday morning, so we could all just spend the day together! Two boys came and asked if they could shovel our driveway for us -- for $10 each. We agreed, and they did a PHENOMENAL job!! It looked like it had only rained, not snowed a foot!!! Amazing!!And in the midst of all that, we realized that Katie was running a fever. We took her temperature, and it was 101. So, we called the pediatrician, and he said that, just to be safe, we should take her to the ER, just to be sure it wasn't anything serious. SO, we got all bundled up and headed to the hospital. After all the paperwork, and the initial triage, we got put in a pediatrics room. Fortunately, things weren't too busy on a snowy Saturday. The doctor came and examined her -- said that there was nothing obviously wrong -- no ear infections, etc., so he wanted to do a couple tests. They swabbed her throat to test for strep; they swabbed her nose to test for the flu; and they drew blood to test for other things. That was the worst thing ever -- Katie cried, Mommy cried -- it was bad. But all the tests came back negative. They said it was just a virus, most likely. She is likely teething, as well, which can lead to an elevated temperature, too. So, they discharged us with instructions to give Tylenol every 4 hours. She was groggy, but feeling better -- acting more like herself last night, and then today, she has been mostly "normal" -- I know some of you are thinking, "How can she be normal? Look at her parents!!" HaHa!! Very funny!! Anyway, she's doing better, and hopefully will continue on her upswing tonight and tomorrow!!

A New Hat and LOTS of Formula

Well, our Katie girl outgrew her first winter hat. It was too tight and was leaving marks on her head -- OUCH!! So Katie and Mommy went shopping for a new hat. We found our treasure at Janie and Jack (on sale, of course, because who could afford it otherwise?) It's SO cute, and it's big enough that she'll be able to wear it again next winter, too. Right now it's a little overwhelming, but that just makes us look cuter!

And, then, one Saturday, our doorbell rang, and we answered it only to find a big brown cardboard box on our step. We brought it in, and opened it up -- Grandma and Grandpa Congdon bought us enough formula to last for the rest of our life!!! O.K. not really, but there were a LOT of cans of formula -- 24 cans (the little ones) -- but those are the BEST to just throw in the diaper bag when you have to go somewhere. So we're set with formula for quite a while now -- THANK YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!!!!!!!