Where did the summer go?

It's already the middle of August -- where did my summer go? Oh, I remember now! June was the Florida trip for Nick and Melissa's wedding, July was the Maryland trip for Donny and Randi's wedding (which also involved a week-long visit with Grandma and Grandpa Girdler), August took us to Lafayette Indiana for Melissa and Josh's wedding . . . . And for the past week, I've been working to get things ready for the start of a new school year -- which starts tomorrow!!!
In the midst of all this, Katie has done some amazing things! She is pulling up and walking around things she can hold on to (chairs, the pack and play), and she is learning to stand all on her own -- it's all about balance! She has also learned to identify a few of her toys by name. We can tell her to "Get the ducky" and she'll look around, pick up the ducky, and triumphantly hold it up and grin! She can also "Get the music" (a musical Baby Einstein toy that Grandma Girdler got her), and she can "Make it sing"!!
Katie also got her "big-girl" car seat -- she outgrew the infant carrier, so we bought her a big girl car seat, which she loves -- we call it her throne! Because of that, she is also riding like a big girl in the shopping cart at the grocery store, and she is sitting in a big girl highchair at restaurants. Our biggest challenges with that are 1) she likes to chew on everything (and that's gross on those carts and highchairs). We bought her a plastic cover thing-y that we put in shopping carts and high chairs so she can eat it and we don't have to worry! 2) If she's sleepy, too bad! Whereas, before, she could just sleep in her carrier, now she either has to wait, or fall asleep with her daddy or me. Sometimes that's a challenge!!
Perhaps the biggest stride Katie has made has happened in the past week. She is beginning to sleep in her crib at night. Until now, Katie has slept in her papasan seat in our room. Now that she's nearly a year old, she really needs to be sleeping in HER room, in her crib. So, last Thursday, as hard as it was, I put her in her crib at bedtime, determined that she WOULD eventually fall asleep there! 2 hours later, sure enough, she was asleep. She only slept about 3 hours there that night, but that was a start! Friday night, we reduced crying time by an hour, and added an hour of sleep time. Saturday, she cried for only half an hour, and slept 4 hours; Sunday, she fell asleep during her last bottle, so I put her down while she was sleeping. She woke up slightly, but went right back to sleep! Yeehah!! She woke up around 4, but we're getting there. Monday night, I laid her down while she was fully awake (though drowsy), and she didn't cry at all -- she was awake at 3:15, but we're getting there in small increments!! Yea, Katie!!! (insert clapping here). Now, the thing we have to overcome is getting back to sleep in the middle of the night! But we're determined -- we'll make it!!
I'll do my best to post some new pictures sometime this week. We've got some good ones -- I just need to get them together so they can be posted! Until then . . . .