Decorating the Christmas Tree

We starting putting up Christmas decorations this weekend, including the Christmas tree. Nate had some interesting ideas about how to decorate the tree.

Kaitlin didn't participate too much, other than being in the room with us. However, she is pretty fascinated by the lights.

Also, we've realized that this year we need to watch Nate a little closer around the tree. He's very curious- he's already broken 3 ornaments. :S

Kaitlin's First Cereal

They day has finally arrived - Kaitlin has finally been given the green light to eat some cereal!

It was a bit of a rough start; Kaitlin wasn't too sure about what she was being fed. But, at the day went on (and we thickened it up a bit), Kaitlin did better and better! It really seems like she's enjoying it now!

Next weekend we'll start on something that has a little more flavor - first up: Carrots!

6 month Check-up

Well, we're happy to report that Kaitlin had an excellent 6 month check-up on Friday! Dr. Mick is very, very happy with her progress. He thinks she's beautiful and he gave her the green light to finally start rice cereal.

Here's the update on her stats:
Weight - 17lbs 10oz
Height - 26 1/2 inches

She's right around the 75th percentile for both height and weight. I didn't record what her head circumfrence was; Dr. Mick just said that she has an accountant size head. ;)

Thanksgiving

Sorry for the long delay in posting - it's been a very interesting few weeks! On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Kiki woke up with some intense pain on her lower right side - it turned out to be appendicitis. So, Kiki was in the hospital on Sunday night after surgery and thankfully YiaYia and Papou came and watched the kids. It was crazy! She was released on Monday afternoon and by Tuesday afternoon the Malarsky family was loaded in the car and on the way to Cincinnati.

We spent Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday in Cincinnati. We had a great time! It was so much fun to catch up with the family, including Vijay and Connie (and Soleil).

Also, Nate got to have a lot of fun helping to make cornbread casserole with Grandi and he made placecards for everyone involving an outline of his hand made to look like a turkey and some fun felt stickers.

n Friday morning we left Cincinnati and drove up to Crown Point (via Indianapolis for a quick bottle for Ms. Kaitlin). We had the big family party on Friday night, which involved all of the usual suspects. It was a lot of fun and Nate determined that he loves sweet potatoes and turkey!

On Saturday, we drove to downtown Crown Point and got to watch Santa fly in on a helicopter and then ride on a fire engine downtown. Nate was able to sit in the fire truck - it totally made his day (way more than meeting Santa).

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing (including a several hour long Monopoly game). It was a fun and busy weekend!

Kaitlin's Baptism

This weekend we were up in Crown Point for Kaitlin's baptism. Kaitlin did a GREAT job (and so did Nate, who was very worried about his little sister). Thanks to everyone who came to witness this important event (an especially huge thank you to Grandi, Grandpa Gino, and Aunt Kat for driving from Cincinnati).









On a side note, I have now been back at work full time for 2 weeks. It has been very interesting to try to balance everything; it's a work in progress, for sure!

Boo!

So far, this has been a Halloween themed weekend! On Friday night, we headed over to Zoo Boo with the Noel family. Nate had a great time running around the zoo in his elephant costume. Kaitlin wasn't so thrilled, but she was a great sport. It was nice and cool, so the animals were pretty active. Nate got some up close encounters with the tigers and cheetahs along with the elephants playing. It was super fun!


On Saturday, we "carved" our pumpkins. Well, Josh and I carved pumpkins (I carved a Mickey stencil and Josh carved Goofy) and Nate colored on his with markers. Kaitlin wasn't so thrilled with this activity; she lasted about 10 minutes in the high chair before needing to be moved to an alternate activity.

Minneapolis Visit

Last weekend the Malarsky family made a road trip up to Minneapolis to visit Pete and Kelly. We had a great time! We were a little nervous about the long car ride, given Kaitlin's general dislike for the car. But, overall, she did great and Nate didn't wake her up too many times with his singing (I think we might have heard the ABC's 15 times in a row).

We started off leaving very early on Thursday, 10/20 (around 5AM Eastern time). We made it up to West Lafayette before we had to stop and feed Kaitlin and then hit the road again. Thankfully the kids got some good sleep in the car. We made it up to Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells around noon, just as the resort was opening up (they had been closed for a couple of days before our trip for general clean-up). They actually upgraded our room to a 3 room condo with a loft, so we had plenty of room to spread out. After a quick nap, we went and hung out at the water park until it was time for bedtime stories (in the lobby with Violet the wolf). It was a long day and everyone was ready for bed!

Friday morning we decided to just take our time. We went to breakfast and then decided to leave early for Minneapolis so we could take Nate to the Mall of America to ride some rides. Nate had a fabulous time. He got to ride on a Blues Clues ride that went up and down, a truck, a roller coaster with Daddy, and a Bus with Mommy. Pete came up and met us at the mall and then we all went over and checked in at the hotel before going and picking up Kelly for dinner.

On Saturday, we met up with Kiki's friend Jill at the hotel in the morning and then Pete and Kelly met us around 10 for breakfast. After breakfast, we made our way over to a really fun pumpkin patch. Nate got to ride on a train, get his face painted, feed goats and sheep, and go down a huge slide. He was definitely tired after that and took a great afternoon nap and was ready for some awesome pizza at Pizza Luce that night.

On Sunday, Pete and Kelly made us Cars shaped chocolate pancakes (yummy!) and then took us over to the Como Zoo. We, of course, all had to ride the carousel too (including Kaitlin - it was her first carousel ride)! That evening, they took us for a ride on the Light Rail (Nate LOVED the train; Kaitlin was ambivalent) and then for some awesome bbq before heading back to our hotel for a quick swim.

We had a great (and busy!) trip - it was so much fun to hang out with Pete and Kelly. :)

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we took Nate, Kaitlin, YiaYia, and Pappou to the Pumpkin Patch. It was definitely the most fun we've had - it gets a little more fun every year!

Chatterbox

Little miss Kaitlin has turned into quite the chatterbox lately. This is especially true when she's playing on her playmat. She just loves to "talk". Also, we have been putting her in her walker in the kitchen lately - she loves it! She hasn't quite got the hang of moving forward; currently, she is only able to move in reverse and I'm pretty sure it isn't on purpose. But, it's a start toward Kaitlin being more mobile!

Kaitlin's 4 month Check-up

We went for Kaitlin's 4 month check-up this morning. The doctor thinks she's beautiful and is VERY impressed by her sleeping (we've been consistently getting 10-12 hours for the last few weeks). Hopefully she keeps it up! She did have to get some shots today, which is never super pleasant. The rest of the family got their flu shots too (Nate didn't cry or even act like he really noticed it!), so it was a productive day at the doctor's office!
Weight: 15lbs 3 oz (this puts her 52nd percentile)
Length: 24.5 inches (this puts her in the 70th percentile)

Her next appointment is in a couple of months - we should get the green light at that point to start with solids. Yay! :)

More Florida

I didn't want to leave Nate out of all the Florida fun (since my previous post focused on Kaitlin). He really had a great time; not only did he get to play with his cousin Ethan (who I think might be his new best friend), he got to dance like a crazy person at Kim's wedding, meet Mickey for the first time, and do a lot of swimming. And, he did a great job on the potty - over the 5 days, he managed to fill a full sticker sheet. So, we are making really good progress! Here's a collection of pictures (in reverse chronological order) - enjoy!