Well we are definitely out of the sweet, easy going infant stage of Katya's life and on to the toddler years. Of course she has always been pretty independent for a baby and is now getting increasingly so (as do most all kids at this age). She wants to do everything herself and gets very mad when she is not allowed to do what she wants, like step on Bentley. She likes to smile at me and repeat her actions over and over again when I tell her "no." She is getting minute long time outs, I am not sure that she gets the concept yet but she will soon enough.
Of course she is still sweet and continues to give lots of hugs and kisses, just usually not when asked too, rather when she feels like it. A couple of days ago Craig fed her her AM bottle while I was still in bed and when she finished she climbed up to the stair landing, pointed towards our bedroom and signed 'mom.' So cute! She is signing like crazy but is getting them mixed up a lot. She knows what she wants but will pat her chest instead of rubbing her tummy for 'hungry.' She is getting better at some signs; 'eat' looks much different than 'water' and 'mom' now. She is making connections with words like signing 'water' when she is in the bath or when she sees the water fountain in our neighborhood (not just when she wants a drink of water).
Her schedule is pretty much the same, bedtime is around 6:30, wakes up between 6-7am, first nap about 8:30 and second nap around 1-2pm. It is hit or miss weather or not she takes the second nap and usually depends on if she takes a really long morning nap. If she misses her second nap she usually goes to bed early. The sleep book says the afternoon nap is the most important but she gets so tired in the morning it seems to work out better to let her sleep then and go to bed early. My pediatrician says as long as she gets one nap not to worry about it but of course she is not a sleep expert. I will re-evaluated when Katya is older and see if it would benefit her by making her nap in the afternoon. I think right now it is fine, especially because many times she does take 2 naps still. She gets 2 bottles a day, morning and night and drinks water or sometimes cold milk from her sippy cup during the day.
Love and prayers to all, Brenda
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Good Monday!
Yesterday we had a lovely brunch with Grandma and Grandpa Faulkner, Allen, Eryn and Addison. I can't believe how big Addison is getting! She is so funny and reminds me of Katya at that age with her leg "stepping" and cooing. Katya was in fine form as well and was quite silly. Unfortunately Craig had to work that night and had to leave early but Katya and I got to stay a bit longer.
Work at Widmer is going okay for Craig. Hard to get use to working so much, his feet and back are hurting him. He has been very tired because of working 5 nights in a row at the restaurant. It did not help that we had our neighbor's dog for a few nights and he woke us up multiple times by barking at things in the ally. We were super happy to help them out as they have looked after our dogs several times but are glad he is home now. Craig is working tonight but has tomorrow night off and is hoping to come home early from the lab.
Nothing real new with Katya. She continues to practice standing alone and walking with our help. She has combined two signs to make a primitive sentence, "yes please" which is pretty cute. She is getting harder to feed because she is pickier and throws all the food she does not want on the floor. I feel like she is not getting enough to eat but I want to be firm with what kind of food I offer her (i.e. not giving her less healthy foods because she won't eat the healthy ones). I have also learned that toddlers sometimes start eating less and that if they are hungry, they will eat. I love the rule of thumb we learned in nursing school to advise parents and that is "the parent says what (food) and the kids says how much if any."
Love and prayers, Brenda
Work at Widmer is going okay for Craig. Hard to get use to working so much, his feet and back are hurting him. He has been very tired because of working 5 nights in a row at the restaurant. It did not help that we had our neighbor's dog for a few nights and he woke us up multiple times by barking at things in the ally. We were super happy to help them out as they have looked after our dogs several times but are glad he is home now. Craig is working tonight but has tomorrow night off and is hoping to come home early from the lab.
Nothing real new with Katya. She continues to practice standing alone and walking with our help. She has combined two signs to make a primitive sentence, "yes please" which is pretty cute. She is getting harder to feed because she is pickier and throws all the food she does not want on the floor. I feel like she is not getting enough to eat but I want to be firm with what kind of food I offer her (i.e. not giving her less healthy foods because she won't eat the healthy ones). I have also learned that toddlers sometimes start eating less and that if they are hungry, they will eat. I love the rule of thumb we learned in nursing school to advise parents and that is "the parent says what (food) and the kids says how much if any."
Love and prayers, Brenda
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Charla is Baptized
Charlie was baptized last Sunday in Hanford. Yeah! Candace and Charla are now in Corona for a visit with mom and dad since Scott is in Fallon for a few more weeks. I can't believe Charlie is 2 months old! She is looking so much older too.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Heat Wave
Sunday:
We have had several days of 100+ weather here in Portland and we are really tired of it! The hottest day was 105 and it got up to 86 degrees inside our house, which I guess at least is not 105 but is still pretty awful. Cindy was nice enough to offer her house while she was gone to Seattle for a few days. She has a window air conditioning unit which works well. We were going to go over there on Thursday but I got so hot and cranky that even packing up and going over there was to much so we stayed home. That sounds silly but packing up everything Katya needs (pack and play, high chair, food, milk, toys...) and trying to prep dinner was too overwhelming. On Friday Katya and I headed to the Tillman duplex around 12:30. Mel got home early from work (she decided to leave her last cleaning for another day because it was so freaking hot and only one of her clients that day had air conditioning!) and so we hung out with her for a while. Then we went up to Cindy's place and Katya took a nap while I showered and laid on the couch for a while. We spent the evening at Melanie's and slept at Cindy's place. We went home Sat morning to join Craig and then all 3 of us went back to the Tillman's at 1pm. Craig left for work from there and Katya and I stayed until 9:30. Our neighbors also offered their air conditioned house; thank goodness for our awesome friends!
Today is suppose to reach 90 and be overcast and muggy. Next week is going to cool down considerably, even a few days in the 60s (if they are right). Needless to say we are getting anxious for Fall.
Monday:
I am adding onto this post that I started yesterday. Today is rainy and MUCH cooler! Thank you Lord! We even had some thunder and lightning this morning which was fun.
Yesterday Katya started to practice standing up without holding onto anything. It was so cute! She did it once and of course we got all excited and praised her so she kept doing it over and over. The longest balance was about 5 seconds which was SO good! She even got up without using anything for help once but usually used something low like her chair or Levi laying down to get herself started. She is going to be walking in no time! She continues to learn new signs all the time. She is finally signing "more;" she also does "swimming," "change diaper," and "rain."
Thursday, August 14, 2008
What Daddy Taught Her
Katya is now saying "Hi!" It is so cute. Craig taught her a couple of days ago. She still says "dog" a lot, especially when she sees them and she says "mom" and "dad" but not real often. Apparently we are not as exciting as the dogs:0) Yesterday she signed "bath" all day long. I kept explaining to her that she gets her bath after dinner but she thinks she should have 3 baths a day.
She can reach the piano keys while standing and holding onto the bench. It seems crazy to hear her play the piano without one of us holding her on our laps. She can also get down of the couch by herself. Of course she still may go head first if not supervised but since she has learned to turn around and go down the stairs backwards, she adapted that technique for getting off the couch.
Love, Brenda
She can reach the piano keys while standing and holding onto the bench. It seems crazy to hear her play the piano without one of us holding her on our laps. She can also get down of the couch by herself. Of course she still may go head first if not supervised but since she has learned to turn around and go down the stairs backwards, she adapted that technique for getting off the couch.
Love, Brenda
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Happy Tuesday
Hello all! Last Sunday Cindy, Melanie, Rich and I rode in the Portland Bridge Pedal; a bike ride that tours all of the Willamette River bridges. We did the shorter family ride which only went over 6 of the bridges and was 14 miles in length. It was perfect for us since Melanie and I are not in the best biking shape. Cindy could have done the long one which is 36 miles and hopes to next year. They also have a 24 mile route which I might be inclined to try next year. It was very fun and so cool to see so many bikes on the roads. We even got to pedal over the Marquim bridge, which is I-5 crossing the Willamette and the Fremont bridge which is the 405 freeway. It was fun to stop on the Fremont bridge and admire the view of downtown.
Katya and Craig are all but recovered from their head colds but I cannot seem to shake mine. My head is still full of junk which is causing killer headaches. If I move my head too fast or get up from laying down I get shooting pains in my head. I am pretty tired of it. I am trying to rest during the day so I can get better but its hard with a one year old to run after. Also, I cannot do NOTHING all day while my husband is at work. At the least I have to do some cleaning and cook dinner and I always do more than I tell myself I am going to; I can't help it!
Katya is now crawling primarily on her hands and knees. She is getting bolder at walking while holding onto our hands and she walks quite well holding onto the Ottoman. She is signing 10 words now; the new ones include 'all done' (I don't know if that is new but she is signing it very well now)'mom', 'water', 'eat',and 'bath. Water, eat and mom all look the same but she understands what the different words mean and knows that they are different signs; the ways she attempts them just looks all the same. I continue to show her the proper way and figure she will learn to do them better with time. She is also starting to sign as a request for something, not just because she knows it or because I prompt her. She does not do it real often yet but she has 'asked' for milk, water, and a bath.
Katya is able to point out several body parts when asked. She shows me her belly (her favorite), tongue, eyes, head, foot, and ear. She is giving kisses and hugs like crazy. She is really enjoying her dogs and loves to hug and kiss them. Levi is so nice to let her climb on him and hug and pet him. Bentley is not as compliant but he puts up with her okay. She like the "Itsy Bitys Spider" song and does the rain hand motions when I start singing it. She continues to love her baths and will sign 'bath' when she is near the guest bathroom. I cannot believe how quickly she picks up on things. It seems like she learns something new everyday.
Craig is starting a part time job at Widmer's restaurant on Friday. He will be busing for a while until they can move him into a serving position. This is how all servers start. He will get tipped out (his friend who works there makes about 50 a night in tips busing) which is good and does not mind the easy, mindless position; at least for a little while. He is excited about the organization and hopefully that will continue. I know that many, if not all of you, think it crazy that Craig is going to be working two jobs while I am not working at all. To this I will say: it is between Craig and I; our decision as a family and we would appreciate everyone respecting that.
Katya and Craig are all but recovered from their head colds but I cannot seem to shake mine. My head is still full of junk which is causing killer headaches. If I move my head too fast or get up from laying down I get shooting pains in my head. I am pretty tired of it. I am trying to rest during the day so I can get better but its hard with a one year old to run after. Also, I cannot do NOTHING all day while my husband is at work. At the least I have to do some cleaning and cook dinner and I always do more than I tell myself I am going to; I can't help it!
Katya is now crawling primarily on her hands and knees. She is getting bolder at walking while holding onto our hands and she walks quite well holding onto the Ottoman. She is signing 10 words now; the new ones include 'all done' (I don't know if that is new but she is signing it very well now)'mom', 'water', 'eat',and 'bath. Water, eat and mom all look the same but she understands what the different words mean and knows that they are different signs; the ways she attempts them just looks all the same. I continue to show her the proper way and figure she will learn to do them better with time. She is also starting to sign as a request for something, not just because she knows it or because I prompt her. She does not do it real often yet but she has 'asked' for milk, water, and a bath.
Katya is able to point out several body parts when asked. She shows me her belly (her favorite), tongue, eyes, head, foot, and ear. She is giving kisses and hugs like crazy. She is really enjoying her dogs and loves to hug and kiss them. Levi is so nice to let her climb on him and hug and pet him. Bentley is not as compliant but he puts up with her okay. She like the "Itsy Bitys Spider" song and does the rain hand motions when I start singing it. She continues to love her baths and will sign 'bath' when she is near the guest bathroom. I cannot believe how quickly she picks up on things. It seems like she learns something new everyday.
Craig is starting a part time job at Widmer's restaurant on Friday. He will be busing for a while until they can move him into a serving position. This is how all servers start. He will get tipped out (his friend who works there makes about 50 a night in tips busing) which is good and does not mind the easy, mindless position; at least for a little while. He is excited about the organization and hopefully that will continue. I know that many, if not all of you, think it crazy that Craig is going to be working two jobs while I am not working at all. To this I will say: it is between Craig and I; our decision as a family and we would appreciate everyone respecting that.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
New photo links
I have added two new links to pictures on the right hand side of the blog; July 4th and July. ~ B
Rose Tu
I found this article on Rose Tu (copy and paste it to your browser) if anyone is interested; I am sure it's just me but whatever:0)
http://www.zooandaquariumvisitor.com/newsarticle-228-Oregon_Zoo's_Pregnant_Pachyderm:__It's_A_Girl
Sounds like the mom to be is doing fine and is expecting a girl (they think) end of August, or in September. To understand who the heck Rose Tu is, read the post below.
http://www.zooandaquariumvisitor.com/newsarticle-228-Oregon_Zoo's_Pregnant_Pachyderm:__It's_A_Girl
Sounds like the mom to be is doing fine and is expecting a girl (they think) end of August, or in September. To understand who the heck Rose Tu is, read the post below.
Zoo Fun
Katya, mom, dad and I went to the Oregon Zoo yesterday. It was pretty crowded but very fun. The weather was a bit overcast which kept it from being way too hot, thank goodness. Katya had a very good time. I am not sure what she like better, looking at the animals or the other kids. Every animal she saw she signed 'dog', it was pretty cute. I was able to show her the correct sign for some of them like bear, fish and monkey but that is were my sign knowledge stopped. My favorite animals were the Orangutans. Mom likes the penguins the best. They were pretty cool. One of the penguins was playing and being very silly. I was hoping to see or read info on the pregnant Asian Elephant 'Rose Tu' but did not. I will have to look into it and she if she has made the news recently. I read about her last summer and know that calf mortality rate for captive moms is very high. I guess it is kind of controversial weather or not to breed them in captivity but one plus is how good it is for the herd moral.
Mom and dad left for southern Oregon today. They are going to stop off for a bike ride outside of Eugene and then going onto Medford to meet up with my Cousins and family for dinner. They are going to do a few more rides before their last stop on the way home which is in Hanford, CA to see the Smiths. ~ Brenda
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Katya's First Camping Trip
Well, we are home from a great trip to Lower Falls Recreation Campground in the Gifford Pinchot Forest. It is near Mount St. Helens (which Dad and Mark visited on their bikes on Sunday. They climbed more than halfway up the volcano and came back with some great pictures. I will try and get them from Mark and share) in Washington. Thank you to all who came out to celebrate Katya's first birthday!
Over all we had a very nice time but it was not without its drawbacks. Namely, Katya had a head cold and was not a happy girl much of the time. The first night we were there she slept great, the second night was horrible, the third slightly better and the last night was much better. I also developed the cold and became pretty miserable by the end of the trip. On the positive side we had a fantastic campsite which we shared with Mark, Mom & Dad, and for one night Doug & Sharon and Allen, Eryn & Addison. The area was so beautiful and the hiking and biking trails were very fun. It was a little hard having Katya out camping at this age because she puts everything in her mouth, thus can't be put down for long. And you all know how miss Katya likes her independence. She did enjoy crawling around the tent and playing in her pack and play and since she was not feeling well she liked being held more than normal. But, only by mom and dad. That was difficult on us and her grandparents! I tried to stay hidden as much as possible when one of them were holding her. She was very snugly though, which was a treat. Look under 'Picture Links' on the right hand side of our blog and click on 'Camping Trip' to veiw pictures of the trip.
We are glad to be home but it is super hot and we are not enjoying that. I am still feeling poorly and I am happy to have my parents here to help out with Katya. She went on an outing to REI with her grandparents while I got some rest and I was told she was a very good girl. Mom, dad and Craig are in Hood River right now hooking up with Uncle Mark for a bike ride. Katya and I are enjoying a quite evening at home. Love, Brenda
Over all we had a very nice time but it was not without its drawbacks. Namely, Katya had a head cold and was not a happy girl much of the time. The first night we were there she slept great, the second night was horrible, the third slightly better and the last night was much better. I also developed the cold and became pretty miserable by the end of the trip. On the positive side we had a fantastic campsite which we shared with Mark, Mom & Dad, and for one night Doug & Sharon and Allen, Eryn & Addison. The area was so beautiful and the hiking and biking trails were very fun. It was a little hard having Katya out camping at this age because she puts everything in her mouth, thus can't be put down for long. And you all know how miss Katya likes her independence. She did enjoy crawling around the tent and playing in her pack and play and since she was not feeling well she liked being held more than normal. But, only by mom and dad. That was difficult on us and her grandparents! I tried to stay hidden as much as possible when one of them were holding her. She was very snugly though, which was a treat. Look under 'Picture Links' on the right hand side of our blog and click on 'Camping Trip' to veiw pictures of the trip.
We are glad to be home but it is super hot and we are not enjoying that. I am still feeling poorly and I am happy to have my parents here to help out with Katya. She went on an outing to REI with her grandparents while I got some rest and I was told she was a very good girl. Mom, dad and Craig are in Hood River right now hooking up with Uncle Mark for a bike ride. Katya and I are enjoying a quite evening at home. Love, Brenda
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