Back to full strength - for at least 24 hours...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  10 months and 3 weeks

Family,

Ready for more solids, mommy!

And a good Sunday morning to you from the Queen City - it's Superbowl Sunday!  I thought I'd try to knock this out whilst the munchkin is passed out - in her newly lowered crib!  That's right, sports fans, Team Taylor has crossed off "Phase 2" of the childproofing today in the form of 2 big accomplishments:  the lowering of the crib and the installation of the new car seat.

The good news is that both activities were pretty quick.  The crib was actually quite easy to lower (but definitely required two people to re-attach), and the car seat wasn't so bad save the fact that IT BARELY FITS IN KATIE (that would be the name of my Corolla to the uninitiated).  We got it in there (rear facing, using the latch), and I think it will be much easier once it's forward facing (which is still quite a ways off, as the sneetch has to be something like 35 lbs before we can flip it).  In the interim, however, JT is going to be quite snug in the front seat!  We're planning to take it for a test drive today - stay tuned to final results. :-)

Droppin' the boom - lowering the crib in anticipation of
the Munch standing on her own soon.  Her mommy once
crawled out of her crib and slept in the floor, so we're being
proactive.  Plus this saves the mobile for a bit longer. 

As for the week itself, it was a good one.  The best news was that, after the third round of antibiotics, it looks as though the Munch has FINALLY kicked her ear infection.  Reports from daycare were consistent with what we've seen here at home - her smile is back and bigger than ever, the head tilt is gone, and she's no longer crying when laid on her back.  Thursday and Friday were fantastic, as she was an absolute BUNDLE of energy.  Our concern, however, is that she already seems stopped up again, and we really, really hope the medicine did in fact knock out the infection vs. just getting it close to the finish line.  Her chest if definitely rattling when we pick her up, and her breathing (which had become so quiet this week that JT and I panicked a few times when checking on her before bed) is starting to get loud and wet again.  To top it all off, she pulled on her ear (the tell tell sign) right before I put her down for her morning nap.  We have the check-up on Tuesday, so we'll see how her ears look then.  Fingers crossed the congestion is just the normal "crud" that the Peds warned us about - more to come.

It was a CHILLY week that even featured SNOW!
We keep the sneetch nice and bundled on the
drive to and from daycare.  Notice the mark by
her mouth - that's from the torrent of slobber we
are always wiping - new teeth should be here
any day now!

As for the Munch, her appetite for formula has come back with a vengeance!  She set several new "single session" records this week, at one point taking down 10.5 ounces of formula!  It's amazing how strong and mobile she's becoming, and one of the items I'm most proud of this week is her ability to negotiate obstacles when crawling.  She really likes crawling on Jenny and I now, and it's SO CUTE to watch her try and figure out the best way over us.  Also, she's learned how to negotiate the "down step" to the Bonus Room!  Now granted, it still involves something of a face plant, but I'll take it - it's a victory all the same! :-)

Within the last 24 hours we have had two finger pinches, meaning K closes something and doesn't have the strength (or understanding) to realize that it's her weight that's pressing down on her finger.  The first one (yesterday) was quite painful for her, and she screamed like a banshee for about 10 minutes.  The one today (on her pink Vtech "laptop") wasn't so much a pain as a shock, and given that she'd been awake 2.5 hours and almost instantly passed out on me, I'm writing that one off to just being tired.

Lastly, in family news - Team Taylor did manage to "get out" yesterday!  That's right, sports fans, abandoning our typical "you stay and I'll go" method of parenting, we loaded K in the Bob and headed for a local mall to knock out some shopping.  We were out of the house 2.5 hours, and K was AMAZING - not a peep from her!  She fell asleep in the car for about 20 minutes on the way home, and that little power nap carried her through until 7:20, when it was finally "night nights."  She really is the cutest kid EVER.

K helping Jenny sort through invoices - financial recon
is a family affair in the Taylor household.  After all - we're
better when we're connected.  :-)

In extended family news, I am VERY happy to report that our "Australian Family," Dean & Dom, were able to move their twins from NICU to a local hospital this week.  YAY!  The boys are both doing great and gaining weight - such good news on so many fronts.  We love you guys!

Not a whole lot else to report this week - certainly quieter than the visit to TN.  Fingers crossed that the Munch has kicked her ear infection, and GOOOOOOOO BRONCOS!!!!!!

Love,

Sam and Jenny