Her First Tooth!

Kaitlyn has officially entered the world of pearly whites. After her lunchtime bottle, I noticed a little spot on her bottom gum. I put my finger in her mouth and felt a sharp little tooth sticking out. Those things come up fast! I checked her mouth a couple of days ago and didn't feel a thing! I haven't gotten a good look at it yet, much less a picture. She either sticks her tongue out or puts her fingers in her mouth whenever I try. Fortunately, she hasn't been fussy at all with this first one. In fact, she's been sleeping a lot more the past few days. Maybe the whole teething process will be like this :)

Breakfast with Santa

Yesterday, we attended "Breakfast with Santa" at our church. One of the great things about being a first-time parent is having a reason to attend all those church functions that we never went to before. Our children's ministers, Janet and Melanie, put together a fun-filled program that included Christmas carols, stories, crafts, breakfast, and, of course, pictures with Santa. There were almost 200 kids in attendance, so Santa was definitely one popular guy!

We were hoping for the best when Kaitlyn met Santa for the first time, but we were prepared for crying. After all, a stranger in a bright red suit with a white beard covering his face is a scary prospect for a baby. I kind of "backed her in" to Santa so she wouldn't get too freaked out. She barely even looked at him. Instead, she was delighted by all the wonderful sights and sounds in front of her. She flashed the biggest smiles while the camera flashes were going off around her. Maybe she has a future on the red carpet!

Kaitlyn and Mommy

Kaitlyn with Mommy and Daddy

Kaitlyn, Kasha and Mirrors

Two things that Kaitlyn loves to do during the day:

(1) Look at herself in the mirror. It's instant entertainment that apparently never gets old.


(2) Watch our dog, Kasha. She also loves to grab a handful of fur and yank with all her might. We're working on the meaning of "Be gentle." Until we master that concept, Kasha has learned not to get too close.

Noah and Kaitlyn

Jess and Noah came for a quick visit yesterday. I can't believe the cousins are almost seven months old! They were much more aware of each other this time. Kaitlyn spent lots of time checking Noah out and admiring his Exersaucer. They're going to have so much fun together when they get a little older.

Unfortunately, Kaitlyn came down with a cold last night and didn't sleep very well. Poor little thing couldn't breathe through her nose because of all of the congestion. Somehow Noah managed to sleep through all the screaming. The rest of us were not so fortunate.

Uncle Jeff and Noah

Six Month Pictures

Here are some recent pictures that Jeff took of Kaitlyn to commemorate her six-month birthday.

Asleep with her Bunny

Since learning how to roll over both ways several weeks ago, Kaitlyn hardly ever sleeps on her back anymore. She definitely prefers her tummy or side. She loves to play and roll around in her crib as she's trying to fall asleep or after she wakes up. In this picture, she fell asleep holding her favorite bunny. How sweet!

Thanksgiving in Fayetteville

We spent Kaitlyn's first Thanksgiving at my mom's house in Fayetteville. She slept through the whole dinner while the rest of us pigged out on yummy turkey, cheesy potatoes and pumpkin pie! Kaitlyn got to spend a whole day with her Dad while my mom and I joined all the other crazy people for Black Friday shopping. And my mom was in heaven when she finally got to show off her granddaughter to all of her friends at church yesterday.

Kaitlyn with Papa Bell on Thanksgiving

Kaitlyn and Gran after church

Off the Charts, Part 2

I think Kaitlyn's height is actually 27 inches, not 29 inches. I measured her myself this morning. She was pretty squiggly during the exam yesterday, so I think the nurse got an inaccurate measurement. Maybe she doesn't have a future in the WNBA after all!

Off the Charts

For those of you keeping track, Kaitlyn has been hovering in the 97th percentile of height and weight from the very beginning. Well today, we found out that she is no longer in that percentile. She is now officially "off the charts." At her six month appointment, she weighed in at 21 pounds and measured 29 inches long. When my doctor plotted her measurements on the growth chart, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Oh my, it looks like she had a growth spurt recently." A nice way of saying, "She's huge!" No wonder she's already growing out of her 9 month clothes! I'd say that Kaitlyn is well on her way to being tall like her Mommy. But even though she may be larger than the average baby, she's perfectly healthy and as beautiful as ever.

In other news, Kaitlyn has mastered the skill of consecutive rolling. She's been rolling over both ways for a while now, but she recently discovered that she can get to the other side of the room if she just keeps on rolling. It's definitely made things more interesting around here in terms of supervision and childproofing!

Back from NJ

We've been in New Jersey the past few days visiting Jeff's parents and friends. Kaitlyn, of course, was the center of attention during the whole trip. She got to meet a lot of Jeff's friends, as well as everyone at the Pitman Church. But best of all, she met her great-grandparents for the first time. Grandma and Bob stopped in NJ for a couple of days on their way down to Florida for the winter. Kaitlyn loved the "Pat-A-Cake" game that Grandma taught her.


We took her over to Philadelphia to introduce her to the big city. She'll have to wait a few years, though, before she can sample the famous cheesesteaks from Pat's.
On the way back from Philly, we stopped by to see Jeff's dad at work (he's a dentist). Kaitlyn got her first dental "checkup" and had lots of fun trying to eat the big toothbrush. It looks like we'll have to keep waiting for that first tooth!

On Friday, Jeff and I left Kaitlyn with her grandparents while we visited Amish country in Lancaster County, PA. I had never seen such beautiful farmland! I am fascinated by the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle. The little black buggies are a common sight in this area.

On Saturday, we headed up to North Jersey so that we could rock out at the VAN HALEN concert! Jeff has been a big VH fan for years, so we had to catch their reunion tour with David Lee Roth. It was a true rock-n-roll performance, complete with the throwing of equipment off the stage. Definitely an unforgettable show...and a fun night out for us!

Now we're back--with piles of laundry to do, a dog who missed us terribly, a baby who needs to get back into a regular schedule, and a long list of errands and chores to do. We need a vacation to recover from our vacation! But it was a wonderful trip and we're glad we went. It's nice to know that traveling with a small child is not impossible!