Kaitlyn's 4 Year Report

It is absolutely wonderful and amazing to think that Kaitlyn is FOUR years old. Four is such a wonderful age! I am savoring every moment of this time with her. I think that four years old may be my favorite children's age. I love the newness of a newborn baby, but that certainly doesn't last for long..the fatigue hits and then it is more work than pleasure....somewhere around 6 months it gets fun. So I think 6 months maybe be my 2nd most "fun" age also..until the crawling starts and their getting into everything! Two is hard and tiring for the parents, three is easier and fun, but FOUR... I LOVE IT! I think what I love most about the age is that they are starting to become independent and individuals, but also still very cute and small! It is really the best of both worlds. I love how a four year old talks...there is nothing cuter!!!

Kaitlyn at age four-
Appearance
On Friday we have Kaitlyn's 4 year pediatrian visit. I'm looking forward to seeing her stats..but I can say that she is smaller than Krista was at this age. Her feet are so tiny compared to where Krista was at this age. I pulled out a bag of Krista's old clothes that she wore at age 4, and most of it is too big. Kaitlyn is wearing size for age clothing 4T fits nicely...whereas Krista always seemed to wear a size higher than her age *(ie 5T at age 4).

Kaitlyn has the BLUEST eyes. I think her eyes are the most brilliant of all the children. Everyone has blue in the family but her eyes just glow. She has a very nice complexion..more towards Erik and Toomas' complexion, with a tendancy to be less sensitive in the sun. Krista has a lot of freckles, but Kaitlyn will probabally not have that skintype--although it is still a bit early to tell for sure. Her bangs have FINALLY grown out. We have been trying to get her hair one length for some time now and for about a year it was difficult and messy. I think we have rounded the hump now and she can get the back trimmed to the length of the front. It is much darker than Krista's hair. At this age Krista was very blonde, while Kaitlyn has a much darker color, although still with a lot of red and blonde highlights.

Socialization
Kaitlyn started French pre-school in September and in the last 8 months has made GREAT strides! In the last month she has started speaking more and more in French. I am abolutely astounded at how quickly the language has come for her. By far she has excelled in the communication front vs the older kids. She can use sentences already and has a good amount of words. She has managed to make friends already at school as well....and has been invited to a birthday party and a lunch date at another girl's house. For Erik and Krista the friendships and language skills were developed in the 2nd year of pre-school. I'm really happy to see her integrate so easily.

Language
Kaitlyn has definately had more exposure to French at this age than Krista did at this age (with the older children's activities and outings), but honestly she didn't speak a word of French before September. Toomas speaks exclusively Estonian to the children and I speak exclusively English. Our "dinnertable" language is English so that is by far the stronger of the the 2 languages. I would say that Kaitlyn is sligthly behind her age level for English perhaps...just due to the fact that her brain is already having to process and store words in 3 languages. It seems to me that for a few years the maternal language, although still very good...is slightly under par for the average "native" child for the same age. She still does very well but does make a number of grammatical mistakes.


Interests
Kaitlyn is a very active little girl. She loves riding her bike, swinging on the swingset, running in the yard and playing with the big kids. She is very coordinated and agile. She loves to dance and imitate Krista's gymnastics moves. She talks often about ballet and will most likely start taking ballet classes next year. This year she is involved in baby-gym which she loves. She is always so excited for Friday to roll around so she can go to her baby-gym class. Definately the highlight of the week for her. She loves drawing and playing with her dolls. She loves dressing up and doing her own hair. Recently she has had a passion for taking large shopping bags and filling them with various items around the house. I suppose this is in imitation of a shopping trip, but it sure is a tough job for me to put all of the items away! She goes from room to room putting in a few objects that strike her fancy. When I see one of these 30 pound "treasure bags" I cringe! It is sure cute to see what she decides to put inside though. I try my best to be patient!!! She loves playing with either Krista or Erik and tries her best to play what they want so that she can be included. This usually means she will dress up as a police officer if need be in order to play with Erik... or have her nails painted and hair braided when playing with Krista. Kaitlyn loves music and for her birtday received a kidi-zoom Vtech camera which also is a mp3 player. I've downloaded some of her favorite songs (Barbie princess songs and Alvin and the Chipmunks) and she LOVES it!

Personality
FUNNY! This is the one word for Kaitlyn. She is a CHARACTER!!! Definately has a strong willed personality. She loves to laugh and make others laugh. She is a true individual! Not a follower and definately not passive!!! We love Kaitlyn dearly, but she can be very very strong willed and opinionated at times....perhaps this will be an asset in life! I truly hope so!

10 Month Photoshoot

Kaitlyn is 9 Months!

Kaitlyn is now 9 months and 5 days old! She is growing more and more fun with each passing day. The last week or 2 have been very big ones in her communication skills. She is really starting to understand us--which is wonderful to see! My favorite thing she does now is give kisses. If you tell her "Kaitlyn give Mommy kisses and love" she wraps her arms around your neck and blows a big raspberry on your cheek. It is so so precious to see! I am so happy to have such a sweet and loving little girl!

Her mischevious side is coming out a bit now too-she knows when she shouldn't be doing something like pulling out tissues from a box or putting a book in her mouth. She just looks at you with a little devilish grin and laughs! It is adorable!

This month she has learned to say "quack quack" for her favorite little toy duck who quacks when you push his stomach. It is wonderful to see her anticipation when I have him in my hands and before I've pushed on his stomach to start the quacking.

Physically she is getting more active also. She can do a 360 on her stomach and also push herself backwards when she is up on her arms. She still doesn't quite get the idea of being on her knees, but she can push herself backwards so she is moving--just not very far yet! Last month her only form of movement was inching backwards while on her back. Up until recently she has really detested being placed on her stomach, but now she will play for awhile before rolling over to her back. She still doesn't love being on her stomach, but I can see that she is learning that she can go places in that position so she is taking more interest.

One big surprise I had the other morning was that when I woke up Kaitlyn was sitting up in her crib. I didn't know if she rolled to her stomach and then got into a sitting position, but when I layed her back down she did it again.....and so I saw how she did it! This little mighty girl went from a flat lying position to sitting by doing a crunching situp! Amazing! She has some very strong baby abdominal muscles!

This month Kaitlyn started to eat cereal and pasta and really loves it! I usually mix a bit of rice cereal with juice and she eats it willingly. She also adores yogurt, most fruits, carrots and green beans. She has been eating pieces lastely too--when we cook carrots or other veggies I break them into small pieces and she eats them. She adores eating bananas in their whole form and is very careful not to take too big of a bite. She LOVES cheerios the most! Unfortunately the 1 box of cheerios we do have is coming to an end. Grandma brought us a box in October since we cannot get them here.

Kaitlyn also loves MUSIC! She will dance and move around whenever the sterio is turned on! She is just like Erik in this respect. He just can't get enough and I always catch him with a drumstick or an empty papertowel roll in his hand for a microphone. Krista is more into the dance aspect...and has an excellent ear for music but is more inclined to dance than sing. I think Kaitlyn will also follow in her footsteps as I see her so taken in when the music goes on!

So that is a brief update on our little 9 month old girl! She has really become more of a "person" vs baby this month! It is exciting to watch her grow and develop and become part of the family.

8 Month Exam

Today we went to the pediatrician's for our "9 month" exam (a few weeks early). Kaitlyn didn't get any shots today thankfully! We're all finished with those until her first birthday. Today was a quick growth and development check-up as well as a control for her right ear (which has now had 2 infections). Doc said the ear is healing and looks fine now. He didn't know if this will be a recurring problem for her or is just an isolated event. We'll see on that one. We're praying that ear infections aren't her weakness!

So, all in all she looks great! The doc said she was growing very well and seemed like a very happy and friendly baby (which she is!). She weighed in at 8900 grams which is 19 1/2 pounds and was 69 cm long (a bit over 27 inches). Hard to believe she has grown 1/2 a FOOT since birth and gained 12 pounds! Not bad in only 8 months.

As far as development goes she is sitting very well....and scooting even! She can get around by either sitting and scooting forwards or lying on her back and arching her back and inching forward. In otherwords...She ISN'T very mobile yet! Which isn't a bad thing for me, because my house is not ready for a toddler (or even crawler) yet. She's getting there though and is starting to develop the "desire" to get a toy that is a foot away. She's been on her knees a few times but doesn't know what to do when she is up.

We are thankful for our healthy baby who continues to thrive and develop! She is the light of our lives (one of the 3 lights, that is!).

8 Months Old Today

Today we are celebrating Kaitlyn's 8 month birthday! WHERE in the world do these months go? It seems she was just turning 6 months! We are well on our way to completing 3/4 of her first year!

Kaitlyn now weighs 8.7 kg. Not huge, but just right for her age. She is still nursing several times a day and eating a bit of solids as well. Some days she takes the solids wonderfully and is eager to try new tastes, but other days she isn't interested at all. For Christmas Santa brought her a sippy cup and I am anxious to try it out on her. So far she hasn't had anything to "drink" other than from ME so it will be interesting! I am curious about what her reaction will be to the cup. She is physically ready because her hand/eye coodination is magnificent--this girl is so dexterous! She can pick up the teeniest of tiniest objects with her thumb and forefinger and is constantly moving her fingers in a graceful piano playing motion. She will be able to hold a cup easily--the question is more about whether she will want to drink from it! We'll see!

Kaitlyn has REALLY changed a lot this month. She has become a lot more 'sensitive' to things--to put it gently. She is trying to grow and develop and is seeing the world in a new light. She has mastered cause and effect. She throws a toy over the edge of her exersaucer and watches it drop. She peers over to see where it went and then looks up at us to see who will get it for her. She has become a total chatterbox this month also---mostly in her growling, gremlin voice however. She is saying ba ba, ga ga and go go a lot though in her "normal" voice, and we are very happy to hear her "normal" voice from time to time too! So back to the sensitivity issue--this is frustrating for me, but normal. Because she understands the cause and effect game--and also has come to anticipate events, she can get irritated about things now. For instance when she is finishing up a meal in her highchair she KNOWS that I have to wash her face and she HATES it. She practically cries the moment she she sees me at the sink! Also when I change her diaper or her outfit she knows that I'm going to have to pull something over her head or arms/legs and she doesn't like that either! In her defense, most of the time this irritation comes when she is tired and THIS GIRL NEEDS HER NAPS! She sleeps 2x a day anywhere from 2-4 hours a nap. If she doesn't get her nap--WATCH OUT not to irritate the baby!

When she is fed and well rested she is OH SO CUTE! I just love watching her learn new things and discover her world. She just adores Krista and Erik and loves being included in family activites. She could sit for hours just watching Krista and Erik play together. They can get her laughing and giggling so easily. I just love watching her study them.

So that is a brief update on Kaitlyn. Today in the bath she was trying to grab the water coming out of the shower-head. It was so cute to see her try and grab it! Here's a clip of the water study...Watch out world--determined little Kaitlyn is on the fast track to figuring you out!!

Enjoy the video!!!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Kaitlyn is 7 Months Old

Well another month has come and gone. Kaitlyn is 7 months old today...entering her 8th month of life! This month has been full of development for Kaitlyn. She has really started to develop her personality this month and express herself and her desires a lot more this month.

Nicknames: Kaitlyn has a ZILLION nicknames. She IS called Kaitlyn a lot of the time, however her middle name is slowly taking over. The kids...mostly Krista call her Brielle or "Breeze" or just "Bri". Krista also simply calls her "Girl". She is also "Kates" or "Coco-baby" (for reasons unknown to us... she was named "Coco" by Erik).

Eating: Kaitlyn has now been eating solid food for 1 month and as of a few weeks ago, she is finally starting to like it! Her favorite food by far is carrots. But what baby doesn't love carrots? I offer solids two times a day (lunch and dinner), but she usually chooses to eat only one of those meals. I would say, right now we are up to about 10 spoonfuls at a sitting. She is still nursing quite a bit--usually 5 or more times a day (but a lot of her feeding is still at night, much to my dismay!).

Self-Expression: As far as vocal skills go, she isn't into talking much yet, but she can make herself heard in other ways--shreaking, squealing and yelling for instance. I have reassured people that if genetics has anything to do with her verbal development, she'll be making up for not talking in no time! She loves to giggle and say ga-ga though, so we do hear her talk quite a bit. No mama or dada yet though. I'm getting anxious to hear that!

Physical Development: Kaitlyn is great at sitting up. She has now been sitting very well for 1 1/2 months. She can wave her hands around, turn around and play with toys all without falling. BUT, as for the rolling or crawling...she really isn't too interested. She really hates being put in a lying position now and will cry until you let her sit. If she is put on her stomach she will immediately roll to her back and then cry until someone puts her up to sit.

Sleeping: Well this isn't my favorite category at the moment! For the last few months she has been waking several times at night. This month we moved her from her bassinet to her real crib! That was a big step--mostly for me who was sad to see the bassinet go to the basement. We really kept her in it for too long anyway--the packaging said 3 months or 15 pounds--Ooops! So now she is in her crib, which is placed right beside our bed. I also bought her a sleep sac. A very European "baby bag" that is used in place of a blanket. Basically you put the baby in the sac, zip it up and snap it around the shoulders---the arms are open. These bags come in sizes 0-6 months and then 6-24 months. I of course bought her the larger size so it is HUGE on her! She seems to LOVE it though--she is nice and cozy inside. I also got her a nature sounds box to put on her crib. She falls alseep by herself to the sounds of the waves. I love to stand by her crib at night and watch her drift off with the waves. She also has a little soft flower with petals that crinkle and she like to hold that or her soft blankie that Grandma gave her that comforts her. When she wakes at night (if it has only been a few hours since her last waking) all I have to do to get her back to sleep is stroke her cheek. SHE LOVES IT! She just falls right back to sleep. If it has been 3 or more hours I usually nurse her. She wakes about 3 times per night still...but this too shall pass :)

Growth: Kaitlyn saw the doctor for her 3rd round of shots last week. She did great again with the shots and won't need any boosters until her first birthday. She weighed in at 8 kg 400 g or 18 pounds 8.5 oz. She was 67 cm long. For clothing size, she is still wearning 6-9 months. I can't see her in the 12 month size for awhile, but you never know! She may jump up quickly.

Play: This girl loves to interact with her brother and sister! Whatever they are doing interests her! She loves to stand in her exersaucer and watch them play. She also loves to sit and throw around her toys. She has a few favorites including her soft blocks with bells inside and a yellow first years rattle that was Erik's.

This weekend is Kaitlyn's Baptism! We are very excited for her to become a memeber of the Catholic community. When I asked Krista last week what Baptism was for, she said that it was a "celebration"! YES, correct! Then I asked "what it was that were are celebrating?" and she said "For a baby to become a member of Jesus' family." YES, correct, again! 2/2! Religion: A++

So tomorrow Toomas' sister "Tadi" Helen, "Onu" Janne, Isabel and Elise will be arriving from Stockholm for the Baptism. We are very excited for this big event and have invited about 50 guests. We have several Estonian familes and their children coming, as well as our very close friends here from the village. We have really made some wonderful friends here in Fegersheim too so it will be great to celebrate with them all. It should be a fun day!

So that is our 7 month update in a nutshell...I'll be back with Baptism photos soon!

The First Solids

It seems so much is going on in the world of our little 6 month old that I myself can hardly keep up! There have been so many wonderful and new experiences for Kaitlyn in the last few days. Some of these "firsts" include: the introduction of solids, the first sitting ride in the stroller (we used the bassinet attachment until now), the exersaucer induction and Halloween....

Kaitlyn's 6 month birthday was a day full of surprises--both good and bad. She awoke to her big brother and sister standing around her bassinet singing the Happy Birthday song...This was her first cue that it was no ordinary day.

Next up was solid food. "Solid" food discussion has gone on for some time now between Toomas and myself, as well being a natural hot topic of conversation with other mothers. Little Erik picked up on this word and knew it would be happening to Kaitlyn very soon. Finally, he realized that this was indeed the day... and ever-so excitedly asked when we would be giving Kaitlyn her first "SALADS"? I cracked up, envisioning what must have been going through Erik's small 4 year old mind....Kaitlyn behind a large bowl of potato salad, fruit salad or the standard green romaine variety perhaps. Erik seemed pleased to find out that we wouldn't be serving her any iceberg lettuce today, but instead something a little more geared for her age!

So, finally the long awaited moment arrived and lets just say it wasn't such a pleasant one for my little sweetie. (She DID seem interested in the new highchair though, but boy was it big for her! I forgot how little she still is. Her small head barely popped out over the tray.) We decided that since Thanksgiving is just around the corner we'd opt for a nice colorful, flavorful and SWEET food (like breastmilk). The obvious choice--sweet potatoes. Krista loved them so I figured it would be a big hit with Kaitlyn as well.

Kaitlyn was really excited for the new experience, her face was glowing and once again I could tell she knew something was up. She was so cute sitting up like a big girl in her highchair, a cute litte bib strapped around her neck......... She was ready, but when came the spoon with that orange stuff on it....her tune quickly changed!

I waited for her to open and ever so delicately put a tiny bit in her mouth. It only took about 5 seconds before she gagged, looked at me with a great bit of confusion...and then SCREAMED bloody murder. She seemed so insulted! I felt so bad ruining her special day like that!!!

The good news is that TODAY we had much better luck. We let her play with the spoon herself (with a bit of sweet potatoes on the spoon), and in short--she LIKED it! She actually took about 2 teaspoons today (willingly!). So there IS hope and maybe just maybe she'll forgive me for ruining her 6 month birthday like that :)

Kaitlyn is SIX Months Today!

The Little Gerber Baby...



Oh my goodness...how time flies! Today marked 6 months with our precious little Kaitlyn. These are the golden days and the ones that I LOVE the most about babies. It really is a magical time in the life of a baby...Six months is glorious--they are discovering their world, reaching out and becoming small individuals. I'm making sure to savor every day and its small pleasures!

Today has been a busy day, but a fun one! We carved pumpkins, did a 6 month photo shoot, STARTED SOLIDS (that will be a post in itself), and introduced Kaitlyn to the ever-loved Exersaucer! Six months has a lot in store for our little girl! It will be fun month, thats for sure!!! It has started out with a bang!

These were a few pics of my little Gerber baby from our photo shoot today. I'll post more in a later post about our FIRST solid experience..(and exersaucer experience also).

Kaitlyn's Five Month Checkup

A Healthy Baby Girl!!

Today we had Kaitlyn's five month checkup and she checked-out A.OK! Her stats are: height 25.5 inches long (65 cm)...Hooray-- two feet tall! She weighed in at 7.8 kg or 17 pounds, 4 oz...and her head circumference was 44 cm. All in all her stats put her around the 65-70% for a 5.5 month old girl in France (on all measures). The doctor gave us the go ahead to start solids this month or next. I think we will wait until she turns 6 months and have a celebration for her 6 month birthday...which is only 10 days away! Right now she is enjoying breastmilk alone...and I am enjoying the last few days of exclusive breastfeeding before we start getting messy! The bad news of the visit is that she got her booster vaccinations (Prevnar and Infanrix Quinta). She didn't even cry for them, but unfortunately did start crying a few hours after we got back (and is now running a slight fever). Despite not wanting to, I gave her a bit of tylenol and thankfully now she is napping peacefully. I'm so thankful for this precious, healthy blessing! She is a pure joy for us.

Five Months Old

Hello again,

Well the news of this week is that Kaitlyn is 5 months old. It is amazing how quickly these months can pass. I have noticed that with having older children, the time seems to pass much faster for the younger one. When Krista was a baby each month was a year long, but now the months seem to pass like a weeks. At any rate, I am very much enjoying Kaitlyn and her baby-ness. She is still such a baby, and definately the most "baby" of the three. At 5 months she is still sleeping her her bassinet next to our bed...and might I add, waking at night! Despite the night waking, I am NOT looking forward to sending her off to her own room. Don't get me wrong, I did spend a lot of time decorating her "chambre" but I am by no means rushing her there. I am very much enjoying having her right next to me. It won't be long until she won't fit into that bassinet anymore and she'll have to walk up to her own bed!!

This month Kaitlyn had her first round of vaccines. She did wonderfully! She didn't even cry for the first one, but with the second shot she did yelp for a moment. She is a very laid-back and happy child. She smiles and coos for all. She even seems to know when people are talking about her and is always up to performing for an audience. She loves to "crow" and "sing" also.

Kaitlyn is now 63 cm and weighs a good bit (7,700g). She doubled her birthweight and then some at 4 months and has grown over 12 cm in her 5 months. She is still petite though---her hands are ever so dainty, with her long thin fingers and her "manacured" looking nails. She is definately a girl! Erik has his big "paws" as I like to call them, which are in fact two times as thick as his sister Krista, who is nearly 3 years older!

So, this is my update...our happy little Kaitlyn is growing, smiling, laughing, rolling (only from tummy to back), singing and tring to grab any toy that is within 12 inches of her...and generally being a WONDERFUL little happy baby.