Re-U-Ni-Ted, and it feels so guuuuuuuuuuud...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  5 months and 3+ weeks

Family,

And a good Sunday afternoon to you from the Queen City, where the Bull and Striker are sitting in the Bonus room with the Munchkin, who's just finished her best round of tummy time EVER and has also just finished quite the bout of screaming.  Wife Muffin is heading to the nursery to put her down as I type, so I figured it was a good chance to knock out this week's update.

It's been a FANTASTIC weekend, off the back of a terrific week.  Jenny was in Orlando with Kaitlyn until Thursday, and they had a blast.  Not only did they get lots of bonding time with Julie, Steve, and their wee ones, Jenny also got a chance to hang out with some of her other college friends - Katie and Stacey.  Up here in the QC, however, the Bull was living the life of a bachelor.  And let me tell you - this house was TOOOOOOOO quiet.  WOW - there were so many moments (especially at night) when the silence was deafening.  To make things stranger, I often heard "phantom cries" or "phantom noises" in the night.  Basically I thought I kept hearing Kaitlyn breathing on a monitor that wasn't there.  Yeah, freaky.  The Bull will come clean and admit that he locked the bedroom door every night.  True, it probably wouldn't have kept out the zombies from the zombie apocalypse, but hey - a man does what he can.

AD Pi's in the house - now all with future diamonds. :-)

The weekend has been quiet but fantastic, and I've got 4 milestones to report this week.  First, the munchkin has FINALLY found her right thumb!  It's funny - JT and I don't actually think she realizes that she has it, but it's definitely there and definitely being used. :-)  She's actually much more reserved with how she handles her right thumb, but that could be because she ultimately always ends up consuming HER ENTIRE FIST.  It should be noted that she's become exceptionally adept at wiping slobber ALL OVER ME.  Seriously - this gal has slimed me on more than one occasion.  It's also worth noting that her neck has become MUCH stronger, having the cumulative effect of her being able to whip that neck around and CRACK my jawbone when I'm burping her.  Rough and tumble, just like mummy!

K with her teething chew toy that also doubles
as a gum cleaner...because daddy's too lazy to do it.

The second milestone is that she's finally found a foot!  Just her right foot for now, but she's got both of those puppies flapping in the breeze, so it's only a matter of time before she tries to consume one.  And speaking of consumption, that poor Mouse the Aussies gave K is now a daily victim of slobber, suction, and chewing.  The "Oz Mouse" is still intact, but it's only a matter of time before "Little Kaitlyn Foo Foo" ribs off one of her ears like a scene from Watership Downs.

That's a good segue way to mention that K is now chewing on EVERYTHING.  We are trying to wipe stuff down and keep her environment relatively sterile, but she is a full-on chewer and slobber box at this point, meaning the quest is pretty much futile (Borg style).  But there's no question she's more alert and aware - she's loving the jumperoo now and has discovered all the lights on the back side of the apparatus.  She's even rolling and pushing the sound button ("Lion's roar!"), but I don't yet think she's associated the cause with the effect.

The 3rd big milestone is that we've come to an end of the swaddle!  That's right, sports fans - the evening swaddle is no more.  Now, the ritual is putting her in pajamas (meaning long sleeves) and putting her down for the night.  Honestly, the swaddle was becoming almost impossible, and she kicks of violently that she was even managing to get out of it some nights.  This is good, as it's giving us a chance to try out some new outfits, all of which are TOO CUTE. :-)

GI Jane in the house - look at this little munchkin's form!
Next up - the army crawl!  But not too soon, as this house is
NOT baby-proof yet...

And the 4th and final milestone - K has really gotten the hang of tummy time!  Whilst I don't think she likes it yet, there's no question that it's working.  Today was her best session EVER - she used her arms and kept her head up for quite a while!  Way to go, Wife Muffin!!!  Your persistence has paid off.

Okay, that's it from our corner of the world.  Chat next week!

Love,

Sam and Jenny

Another Big Milestone - Kaitlyn's first flight - AND she meets the cousins!

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  5 months and 8 days

Family,

And a good afternoon to you from the Queen City, where the Bull is EXHAUSTED after getting up at 4 this morning to catch his flight home from O-town.  And why, oh why, where you in O-town, you ask?  Well, that is a GREAT story - thank you for asking. :-)

The Bull and Striker are making one last big trip before Jenny starts work, heading to Seattle to visit Uncle Chuck and Aunt Cat at the end of August and over Labor Day weekend.  Knowing that is a 5.5 hour flight and thinking some practice is probably a sage wisdom, my perfect pumpkin had the GREAT idea to take Kaitlyn on a test run.  The location - Central Florida, baby!  She picked that spot for many reasons - less than a 2 hour flight, so many great friends there with children and places to stay (translation - THEY ALREADY HAVE ALL THE EQUIPMENT), and the MOST important reason - we were due a visit to the cousins!

Jenny flew down Thursday morning, and the morning schedule for getting out of the house was a GREAT dry run for what life will be like when day care starts.  Basically, the schedule was:

5:30 AM - JT up for showering

6:00 AM - The Bull up, gets the bottles out of the fridge, rouses the Munchkin (who gives daddy a GORGEOUS smile with that single right dimple), changes her diaper, applies lotion and Lotrimin, followed by an outfit change (which must be supervised by mummy since I never seem to pick out the right outfit)

6:15 AM - The Bull feeds the munchkin whilst Muffin Puffin pumps (I am quite excited about this, as I'll now get a morning feed in and some early bonding time with Munch Munch)

Diamonds are forever - Jenny with her Big Sis from AD Pi
at their Blueberry Plantation in Haines City.

6:45 AM - Bull burps the munchin and tries some active time, Wife Muffin finishes getting ready (or in Thursday's case - finishes packing and loads the car

7:15 AM - out the door (this will ring pretty true, as I'll be dropping her at daycare and will need to get her there before 7-7:30 every morning)

The flip side to this is that the Bull will probably return to afternoon or evening running, but JT and I reckon we can figure that out in October (once we start the permanent day care and I'm done traveling with work for the year).

JT said that K was TERRIFIC on the flight - no screaming, ate a bit, had good standies, and was generally fascinated by the white noise machine that is a cabin (Batten - too true on that comment!).  And then she had a friend meet her at the airport with a base and car seat, which was a life saver (as was the SWEEEEEEEET Dodge Avenger with racing stripes - QUALITY).

Malin: "Um, excuse me - you don't look like my twin sister."
Kaitlyn: "Yeah, you don't look like the rings I like to chew on."

On Friday morning JT picked me up at the airport, and thus began a WHIRLWIND trip through Central Florida.  Now I should pause right here and say that WE WERE SOOOOOOO PROUD OF OUR DAUGHTER this entire weekend, as every 3 hours she was basically sleeping in a different apparatus in a different location after being held by a different person.  Seriously - whether it was the car seat, a pack n play, a crib, or resting on someone, we put that poor child through the ringer - and she was an ANIMAL!

Our first stop was Haines City, where we met Jenny's Big Sister from college.  They are now run a blueberry farm and packing plant, and we were given this AMAZING tour of their land and facility - SOOOOO COOL.  Munch Munch was great the whole time, even going so far as to PASS OUT during the drive around the blueberries (the heat and the hum of the Gator we were driving proved too much for her).

Proud Pappas - one of whom is showing off a nice case of
post Bell's Palsy squint eye - YIKES.

After that it was onto Valrico, where we settled in for the feature event of the weekend - MEETING THE TWINS!!!!  Malin and McKinley are 6 weeks old, and we spent Thursday holding them, playing with the Munchkin, and eating like KINGS.  Seriously - Steve Markham is a COOK OF LEGENDS, and the rare steak covered in roquefort was BEYOND DEEEEEEELICIOUS.  Talk about a great night.

We made it an early night, heading to the hotel before 10 so that we could get Munch Munch down.  She slept like a champ, and Saturday morning found her bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the drive back to their house.  Steve and I then picked up Kim and Matt (they flew down for 31 hours to be part of the action - how cool is that?) before returning to Copper Ridge for a day of laughs, incredible food, spectacular beer, and more tremendous photos than you can shake a stick at.  We had 6 pairs of hands for 3 babies, so the good news is that everyone got a break.  And the twins slept quite a bit as well, so we really did get some quality adult time (read:  CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY).

Sarah says that she's got a "little Kimmy and a little Jenny" -
one's got brown hair and the other is a red head!  Boys of
Valrico - beware!  Too cute...

The amazing thing was how teeny and fragile the twins felt after holding Kaitlyn.  She's almost double their current weights, and her head control is amazing compared to how they just flop and sag (Steve calls them the woodpeckers for how they slam their heads against your chest when you're holding them.  They slept in the most HILARIOUS positions, and the noises they made were SO CUTE - definitely brought back some good memories!

The master chefs conducting a seasoning session ahead of smoking 13 pounds of brisket.  Jenny's comment:  "Why don't you go in there and learn a few things instead of taking the photo."  I love you, too, sweetheart! :-)

Just another typical Saturday with the Taylor - Markham - Hunsucker Team (linked by Tacy women).

Again, Munch Munch was amazing ALL DAY, especially considering that we kept her up until about 11 PM (she still woke up at 7:30 on the nose - amazing!).  Seriously - that kid is resilient, and this trip was great for us, as we saw how far we could realistically push the boundaries and still keep her on (more or less) a reasonable schedule.  We pushed our luck again a bit on Sunday, but by and large she kept to the schedule, ate the normal amount, and continued to sleep like a champ.

Double the trouble - twice the fun!

The house is SO QUIET right now - this whole "life of a bachelor" thing is for the birds.  I miss my girls!  But I am sure they are having a blast with Julie, Steve, Juliana, and Reed (whom I got to hang out with last night), and tomorrow they'll see Katie Colley and the fam, so that should be great as well.  Hard to believe that we'll be on a plane to Seattle in just 11 short days - just in time for the opening game of college football - Tarheels vs. the Gamecocks, baby!!!!!!  Oh yeah!!!!!

Okay, this guy is EXHAUSTED and is going to pass out.  Chat soon!

Love,

Sam and Jenny

Lady Kaitlyn at 5 Months...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  5 months today!!!

Family,

The Munchkin rolls 5 months - seriously:  CUTEST.
THING.  EVER.

And a good Sunday afternoon to you from the Queen City, where the Bull and Striker have just put the munchkin down for (what we hope will be) a 45 minute to an hour nap.  It's official, sports fans - the munchkin is FIVE MONTHS OLD TODAY - holy moly where has the time gone?

Hard Plastic - it's what's for dinner.

The transformation between 4 and 5 months has been much more pronounced than previous ones, and every day now feels like a journey of discovery - both for Kaitlyn and us.  She's now moved beyond batting at things - she is grabbing them, holding them firm, and pulling them toward her.  And whilst her favorite thing to eat is definitely her bib (doesn't matter which one she's wearing - she thinks cotton is DELICIOUS) followed by her fingers, she has now begun in earnest the act of bringing things to her mouth.  She's got a set of chew rings that she LOVES, and every day she's getting more coordinated with getting them in her mouth.  Now granted, sometimes she whacks herself in the face about a dozen times before hitting pay dirt (which is HILARIOUS, for the record), but she does stick with it until those little nuggets of hard plastic are covered in enough slobber to create a new river (I like our friend Kluttz's phrase - "slobber box" - not really sure what that is, but K more or less fits the bill I think).

Reunited with Nanny!

More active - yes.   Better at critical thinking
(i.e. I have a bunny on my head that I didn't
put there and need to remove it) - well, we're
still working on that bit.

She's also much more active in the jumperoo, where is is now actually capable of jumping up and down (just barely, but it has happened on a few occasions).  Just today she grabbed the "elephant-lion" see-saw, and she's become quite adept at knocking the 3 blocks out of their little holders.  Today she spent a good 5-7 minutes working on just one block, refusing to quit until it tumbled - I was impressed by the "laser-like" focus and discipline (OSC and Hitman - that was for you).

Kaitlyn - when you wonder why daddy turned
you into a Tomboy, just remember - it was to
protect you from the woman holding you in
this photo who wanted to enter you in
BEAUTY PAGEANTS.  SERENITY NOW!!!

She's still consistently on 4 feeds per day, ranging anywhere from 28-32 ounces (and normally she lands in the 30's, usually between 30.7-31.5).  Knock on wood GREAT (strike that - AMAZING) sleeping at night has continued, albeit at the expense of sleeping during the day.  It's been interesting to watch, but over the past few weeks, K's not napping as good during the day as she used to.  Of course, everyone has a theory (teething, moving to an adult sleep cycle and changing circadian rhythms, etc), but most of the sites we've read suggest that this is just a baby's natural progression and that soon they'll just drop one of the naps.  And whilst I do think we'll get to that, this intermediate period has been challenging, as she doesn't always have terrific wake time (because she's' sleepy), but when you lay her down for her nap, she goes CRAZY and begins flailing in the crib.  We are lucky in that she's found her thumb and is a "self-soother," but the flip side to that is that she'll pop that thumb in her mouth anytime she's tired, bored, or on your shoulder being burped.

I have probably posted this one before,
but this is a photo for the ages - and the only
evidence she's EVER slept in that carrier.

She's definitely a big smiler at this point, and K ALWAYS wakes up happy.  She can't quite laugh yet, but just today she got very close to it while Jenny was playing with her (blowing on her belly).  I expect she'll be laughing within the next month or so.  We also think she'll be rolling over in the next month or so, as she's ALL OVER THE MAP in her crib at night.  She uses her legs to shift her around when she's not swaddled (now we only swaddle her at night before the long sleep), and it's not uncommon to find her either perpendicular to how you found her, with her head at the top of the crib, or both - too funny.  She obviously can't do that in the swaddle, but she can sure raise her body whilst confined, and both JT and I know it won't be long until she flips over.  I just hope we're awake when that happens.

Nothing like surprise visitors at 201 Central!

In terms of tummy time, she still HATES it, but Jenny's found a new way to do it that's yielded much better results.  Instead of laying her flat on the playmat, she's now laying her on the boppy and elevating her slightly.  This seems to be much more pleasant for Kaitlyn, and she is FINALLY starting to raise her head and neck.  That, coupled with "standies," is definitely making munch munch stronger.

Who'll come a'waltzin', Matilda, my darlin'...
thanks, Auntie Yazz!

The month coming up is big for SO many reasons:  K's first flight.  K starts daycare.  JT starts back to work.  But I don't want to think about ANY of that right now, as that will turn our schedule upside down and no doubt leave us more exhausted than we are currently (I can barely keep my eyes open as I type this).  All I want to do right now is live this month to the fullest and enjoy every single second I can while having my wife and child under one roof with me all day, every day.  The first 5 months have been nothing short of magical, and I want to ensure we end on the best note so far.

Okay, that'll do it for this installment.  Chat with you next week, after we've confirmed how the munchkin deals with life at 37,000 feet. :-)

Love,

Sam and Jenny

In the new world order, there are few things more precious than a quiet weekend at home...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  4 months and 3+ weeks

Family,

Check out the muscles on the munchkin -
Baby Spanx is the way to go!!!

And a good Sunday afternoon to you from the Queen City, where the munchkin is down for the count and Wife Muffin is whipping up some scrambled eggs and pancakes.  This weekend has been quiet, but NO COMPLAINTS from this guy, as Team Taylor was EXHAUSTED and wanted a few quiet nights in (even an AFD on a Saturday - somebody call Guinness!!!).

The week was good - nothing major to report and steadily busily - but good.  On the munchkin front, Kaitlyn continues to grow stronger.  We've now started "standies," which is basically where we make her stand on our lap (and occasionally on accident my twig and giggleberries when she starts kicking).  I am happy to report that her leg muscles are VERY strong, as evidenced not only by her standing time but also by the way she kicks and wiggles like a banshee trapped in a wardrobe during feeding or uses ONLY her legs during tummy time.  And on the tummy time subject, we may have regressed there a bit, as whilst the K's neck and back muscles are definitely getting stronger, she's now quite content to simply lay flat on her belly and suck her left thumb (and in case anyone's out there scoring - NO, she's still not found her right thumb.  She actually had it in her mouth the other day, but NO DICE.  I mean, why settle for the thumb when you can suck on THE ENTIRE FIST, right?

I think the biggest news of note this week is how we've really settled into a routine during wake time with the munchkin.  The schedule is as follows:

"So rock me, mamma, like a wagon wheel..."

1. Wake (she is ALWAYS smiling when we wake her up - few things in life are as precious as that smile with the single dimple) and nappy change (as well as lotrimin and lotion in the morning, followed by wiping away all "cheese" and "gunk" - both very technical terms - from her face and crevices (knee caps, pits, etc)

2.  Feed - she's consistently drinking 7-8+ ounces, and dare I say I think she's spitting up less. Now granted, when she does spit up, it's something like Mount St. Helens, and it should be noted that she still possesses an AMAZING gift for finding the one stitch of clothing the burp cloth doesn't cover and COATING IT with partially digested milk.  But let's be honest - as all of my clothes are 14+ years old, it's not really that big of an issue

Check out the WARDROBE of clothes from
the Brothernides clan - thanks, AC and Jeebs!!!

3.  Sitting time - we start in the bumbo, which is always best in the morning because she's the most rested and capable of holding her head up.  It's funny to watch as the exhaustion creeps in, as first she finds her thumb and then secondly her head begins slopping further and further forward until she's basically doubled over.  I know, I know - GREAT parenting...but we also read to her here.  Mom- you'll be happy to know that, after the storyboard books, K's first book was "The Great American Road Trip" - your gift to me on my first Father's Day. :-)  Next up - "501 Must See Destinations," courtesy of the Mad Peruvian and Brother Paul.

4.  Active time - we then move her to the jumperoo, where she's a bit more active on one condition - that mommy and daddy sing to her along with the music from the apparatus.  And now's a good time to say it - HAVE YOU HEARD HOW RIDICULOUS SOME OF THESE SONGS ARE?  Seriously - the "animal cracker" song?  Are you KIDDING ME?  That being said, Jenny and I pulled up "Little Bunny Foo Foo" and "Little Rabbit Come Inside" on YouTube yesterday and realized that, much like these songs, those are utter donkey trash.  All of a sudden the Teletubbies theme doesn't feel quite so out in left field...which is terrifying in and of itself.  But the big win on the jumperoo happens when watching K with "the letter blocks," as I think she's figuring out that if you pull the string and push them, they will fall off the board and out of her field of vision.  Now granted, she doesn't yet know how to get them back INTO her field of vision, but hey - baby steps.

Pool training continues...how cute are they...

5.  Filling the 2 hours - this is usually a combination of the playmat and the travel swing, which she's quite enjoying now.  The music is soft, and the swing on level 2 feels just about right for her.  She's also grabbing "Oz Mouse" a lot more now and lifting the little critter to her mouth.  In fact, aside from her bibs (which are CONSTANTLY in her mouth - covered in puke or no), she's now putting Oz Mouse and the KTE blanket (a gift from J-Money) into her mouth as well.  And whilst this screams bacteria, I'm quite excited, as it's definite progress from just "bone-crushing" her thumb.

The other big activity of the week has been increased time in the Bjorn, and today we've got an "excursion" to the tropical paradise that is Target, during which time the munchkin will spend more time in the Bjorn (hopefully acclimating).

This photo was taken about 4 PM on Friday - and no, I am not able to
answer the question as to who was more tired in the photo.

The weekend has been spent getting to bed early (before 10 PM last night!) and sleeping in (meaning 7-7:30...ooooooh, how times have changed), and we managed a nice walk and some overdue to-do's as well.  And whilst we always love the weekends, we know that this time is VERY special now and grows thin, as we've got one more weekend before we start lots of personal and work travel.  In fact, the rest of August will be quite busy, and then September will present a new challenge - JT's return to work.  I have no lie to tell - neither of us are looking forward to that, and there's no question it's something that increasingly feels present as we talk about the munchkin and the future.  But that will be a separate blog for sure, and I think it's fair to say I'm not the person best placed to write about that one. :-)

Okay, the munchkin is ready for food (as is Pappa Bear), so time to get up and get after it.  Chat soon!

Love,

Sam and Jenny