Kaitlyn rolls seven months...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  7 months and 3 days

Family,

The Munch at 7 months and a day! Thanks
Uncle Ron and Aunt Janet - K loves
her dress!  

And a good Monday afternoon (Columbus Day) to you from the Queen City - WHAT A WEEK!  I would say that I don't know where to begin, but that's rather silly considering that the answer is always the same:  Monday. :-)

This week has been a HUGE one for the munchkin on many different levels, beginning with her starting a new daycare - Primrose School.  We had heard AMAZING things about this place from 2 separate couple friends of ours, and we actually put ourselves on the wait list when Jenny was EIGHT WEEKS PREGNANT (that's right, sports fans - we've been on the list since August of 2012).  Well, we officially got the green light back in September, and considering a) the rave reviews, b) the proximity to the house, and c) the time invested, we decided to go for it.  Now don't get us wrong - we LOVED the other place.  However, the convenience of this spot could not be beaten (3 min from the house vs. 20).

I am happy to say that the experience thus far has been truly incredible.  When we showed up on Day 1, the front office staff was there to greet us and said, "This must be Kaitlyn."  The infant room team has been fantastic so far in terms of working diligently on the motor skills we've requested, and every afternoon I've arrived to find Kaitlyn working on sitting up or motor skills with one of the instructors (we're very lucky in that there are 5 other kids almost her exact same age in the class - new friends!).  But the funniest occurrence was on Monday morning.  I handed them my child - they handed me homework!  This guy was the proud recipient of 100 flash cards for sign language.  And YES, in case anyone's curious - we are working on some of the basic ones with her.

K gearing up for another big day working on sitting.

As for the little munch herself, this week has been EPIC in terms of developmental milestones.  She's now eating 3x per day (1.5 tablespoons of cereal twice daily, followed by a half jar of vegetables) - squash and green beans were the new veggies of the week!  We're now contemplating whether or not to introduce sweet potatoes before going back through "the greens," as we want to ingrain a love for plain veggies before we get too crazy with the cheese whiz.  She definitely prefers the veggies to the cereal, but she's not turning anything down. :-)  Soon I reckon we'll have to increase both the cereal and the veggie, but we actually reduced the cereal from 4 tablespoons to 3 this week to ensure she gets enough milk/formula (baseline minimum is 24 oz, and right now she's hovering between 24-26.  We've also reduced the amount of milk/formula in the bottles, sending only 2 six ounce (vs. 8 previously) bottles to daycare and using just 7 ounces morning and night.  So far she's still sleeping through the night (knock on wood), but we'll monitor it to see if she starts waking up earlier.

We honestly thought that she'd be taking more milk and formula given how active she's been lately - especially at daycare, where she's doing virtually ZERO sleeping.  They are working her hard on sitting and tummy time, and it is DEFINITELY paying off.  Whilst we wouldn't want to leave her unattended, there's no question that she can sit on her own now without support. She's lasted well over 2-3 minutes on her own with no support (albeit a bit slouched), and I definitely think she's on the verge of being able to maintain that posture longer.  We're working with her a lot at home as well (both propped against us and the bumbo), and the results have been quick and AMAZING.  It really is an amazing science - she's 1 month behind when adjusted for gestational age, and she's hitting all of her 6 month milestones almost exactly 1 month later than "the books and experts" predict it happens.  Way to go, munchkin - catching up fast!

Tummy time is now NO problem.  In fact, the
only problem is keeping her ON her tummy!
And this photo was K's first time in jeans - she
looks like a little girl!  Ah, heartbreaker...

I say "catching up fast" because this week she rolled over (no pun intended - ok, very much intended) another milestone - the Munchkin can now roll back and forth from her tummy to back!  She rolled over at daycare on Tuesday, meaning that her crib now has the "green check mark" and the sign that says, "Hi, my name is Kaitlyn and I can roll over and sleep on my tummy."  She'd been sleeping on her side a lot recently (left side), but now she is FULL BOARD ROLLY POLY!!!!!  Seriously - it is NUTS to watch her in her crib now - she will start in the normal position, but by the end of each nap she will have gone ALL OVER that crib - it's not unusual to find her with her feet where her head used to be, perpendicular in the crib to how we laid her, or wedged all the way in the corner (where her face is out of our field of vision - a little uncomfortable for us).  She's also flailing her arms and legs during sleep, and on more than one occasion she's had an arm or leg through the slats of the crib.  Luckily she hasn't woken up and FREAKED OUT yet when this has occurred. :-)

What made all this extra special was the number of folks who got to witness it this weekend.  You see, yesterday (October 13th) was Wife Muffin's birthday - the big 3-5!!! - and her sister (Aunt/Fairy Godmother Kim) and her husband (Uncle Matt) made the drive up from Atlanta to be with us and help celebrate.  Jenny's folks came up as well, as Kim's birthday was September 28 and Jan's birthday (that's Jenny's mom) was 1 October.  Plus Friday marked the 7 month anniversary for the Munchkin, so we had LOADS of important dates for all the Tacy women.  Saturday was a big celebration, complete with lunch out, presents, and of course - a photo shoot for the munchkin!  I mean, I know that I'm a wee bit biased, but still - SERIOUSLY - cutest.  Kid.  EVER.

K checking to see if her fairy godmother's hair
actually does contain pixie dust...

Sunday was Jenny's actual birthday, and we celebrated with a quiet (but perfect) day in - big breakfast, some football, relaxation, and lots of quality time with the munchkin.  Kim's law school roommate even came over with her wee one (Prince Henry - 4 months old and ADORABLE!  I suppose I would be ok with K dating a younger man...), so we got a chance to catch up with her for the first time in 19 months (last time we'd seen her was St. Patty's Day of 2012 - quite a bit's changed since then!).

The last big milestone was perhaps the best birthday present Jenny could have asked for - SHE'S DONE PUMPING!!!!  That's right, sports fans - after 7 months (1 month longer than her goal and with loads of milk still to spare in the freezer) of pumping, the Striker is finally done!  She had scaled it back to twice a day the last couple of weeks, but given how quickly the supply has dwindled this week, we both realized that the "return on investment" was no longer there.  We've still got enough milk to carry us for about a month, especially since 75% of the bottles are formula at this point.  I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, MUFFIN!!!!  TAKE A BOW AND ENJOY THIS NEW FOUND FREEDOM!!!!!!

Socks courtesy of Matt's mom - LOVE THEM!

The munch is now asleep and Jenny's making a "BJ's run" as I type this, so I reckon I'll load the photos and then sign off ahead of her 3rd feed of the day.  Jenny and I chuckled about this weekend, as it marks the first Columbus Day since 2003 that we've not been somewhere on vacation this weekend (and the only reason we didn't go anywhere in 2003 is because we'd only been dating 2 months).  Life is definitely moving at a different speed, but we couldn't be happier.  Kaitlyn's personally is REALLY starting to come out now, and it's a disposition filled with smiles, laughter, curiosity, shyness, and sweetness.  When I look at how blessed I am and the fact that I get so much dedicated time with my soul mate and my daughter, I can't help but think that, as much as I've always loved travel, why on EARTH would I want to be anywhere other than in this house bonding with my girls.  Once again, I have realized that my cup truly runneth over.

Okay, that's it for this edition.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WIFE MUFFIN!!!!!!  I LOVE YOU!!!!!  BEST WIFE AND MOMMY EVER!!!!!!!

Love,

Sam (and Jenny remote from Aisle 16 at BJ's)