Fun with Family for the Fourth

We had a great time going to Hawesville to visit mine and Nick's families over the 4th of July holiday. We were able to spend the day of the fourth at Nick's aunt and uncle's cabin on the river. We had a great time, but Kate was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day - all of the excitement and no nap was a lot for her to take!

That Sunday, Nick had to leave to go out of town for work the upcoming week so Kate and I decided to stay and spend the week with my family. I hate that Nick has to go out of town for his job, but it was nice to get to spend lots of extended time with my family. We were able to go to Evansville's Mesker Park Zoo (not for very long because it was HOT!) and spend one day swimming at my Uncle Steve and Aunt Wanda's house with all of my cousins. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with these people who I just do not get to see enough. And they were so excited to get to spend a lot of time with Kate.

The Zoo. Again.

Today we visited the Cincinnati Zoo again, but Nick was off work and able to go with us. We started off the day with breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. We had a great time and the weather was absolutely perfect! We stayed for a long time, but Kate surprised us and was a trooper the whole day. She napped in the stroller for awhile thankfully. We were able to see lots of animals and, of course, ride that Zoo Train!

Baby.

Kate has been blabbering for awhile now, with lots of bye-byes and da-das for anyone who'll listen to her. But here recently we have noticed her language really start to develop and it is so exciting! She mimics us saying "duck" all the time, and said the word when she spotted one of her duck slippers in her bedroom.

But our favorite thing right now is "baby" (bie-bee). One day a couple weeks ago while we were shopping at Babies 'R' Us, we walked past a box with a baby on it and she said "baby". It stopped me in my tracks but I thought maybe it was a coincidence. Then she did the same thing at Kroger when we went past a box of diapers. Now, it's all we hear. On the side of our fridge we have lots of pictures hanging. Mostly ones of Kate, of course, but also baby announcements from friends. Almost every time we walk past the fridge now we hear "bie-bee!" Granted, she also called a picture of a cow at Chick-Fil-A a baby, and a framed picture of me and Nick. But nonetheless, we are certainly proud of our "bie-bee".

A Day at the Zoo

One of the things I love most about summer is the ability to be spontaneous. So, yesterday after Kate and I woke up I thought it looked like a beautiful morning for us to spend at the zoo together.

We had such a great time and Kate loves looking at all the animals - she points, waves, and cracks up when they are active. I love watching her be amazed by the animals and I hope to pass down my love and wonder of animals to her. It's unbelievable to be able to be inches away from a tiger and watch as lions roar at one another, and I think even at 10 months old Kate gets just how awesome it is to watch these things.

But more than anything, I cherished the day as another wonderful opportunity to have some mommy-daughter time. She won't remember the day, but I always will and I can't wait to tell her about what a good time we had.

 These last 4 are from the Zoo Train. Kate LOVES the Zoo Train!

10 Months Old

On June 17, Kate turned 10 months old! Up to this point we have noticed so many physical milestones taking place each month. But now it seems like more and more Kate's milestones are mentally developmental. It is so fascinating to watch her learn! Here's what Kate is up to at 10 months:

- She pulled up to a stand for the first time on her pink and white walker toy on May 26th (actually pulled up before she started crawling!). She is still a little wobbly but she is getting the hang of it and practices every chance she gets!

- Went from army crawling, rolling, and scooting around the room to real crawling! Yay! We first noticed this on June 12th.

- Kate now has 3 teeth! She just recently cut her third one on the top right. This one was a tough one and kept her up a few nights and caused her some pain and frustration. We always dread this teething business and are not looking forward to the next tooth on top!

- Kate loves to get ahold of our phones! We have downloaded a few Fisher Price apps that she loves to play with, one that teaches about animals, one that reviews letters, and one that reviews numbers. She really likes the animal one!

- She also will hold a phone up to her ear like she's going to talk on it. It's so funny what she has picked up on without us even realizing it!

- She also has started actively playing with the iPad. We have a toy that we can insert the iPad in so that she can color on it using yet another Fisher Price app and some shape, stamp-like toys. She loves it!

- Kate loves her dog toy! She can ride on it and pull up on it. It sings and lights up and it is always the first toy she goes to in the morning. His mouth opens and if you say, "Give the dog a treat!" she will put one of the "treats" in his  mouth!