Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas at Grammy and Grampa's house

I have had a great weekend in Augusta with Grammy and Grampa!  We celebrated Christmas on Saturday night.  It was a lot of fun spending time with family and opening lots of fun gifts!  

Here we are just playing around before we started opening gifts.  I decided to go ahead and help some people get a head start with the unwrapping by taking the bows off the gifts.

Here I am opening my first gift.  It was the biggest one!

A wagon!!!  Just what I always wanted!

Learning how to work all the parts of my new wagon.  

I decided to open all the rest of my gifts while sitting in my new wagon.  I said "Whoooaaaa!" for each gift I got!

Uncle Thomas gave me some leg warmer things called "baby legs" and a new puzzle.  I had fun putting the puzzle together and trying to figure out what sounds are made by ostriches, zebras, giraffes, rhinoceroses, etc.

I loved tearing the paper off my presents!

Aunt Katherine and Uncle Matthew gave me some very cute clothes.  I love the monkey socks!  I couldn't stop looking at them and talking about how great they were!

Here I am playing with my new puzzle.

And sitting in my wagon practicing my new game:  UP!

DOWN!

Here is a video of the "Night-night" game Grampa and I play.  He taught it to me while we were playing earlier today!

It was a great Christmas celebration.  On Thursday I will celebrate Christmas at home with Mommy and Daddy, and then later at Honey and Pop's house.  Then next Saturday we will celebrate with all the cousins.  This year is going to be the best Christmas I ever had!

9 Months Old!

Thursday was my 9 month birthday!  Doesn't that sound so much older than 8 months?  Here are some of the things that 9-month-old-me can do...

• When you tell me to dance, I will start dancing.  I will also sing along sometimes when I hear music.  
  

• I crawl around at super fast speeds.  I just learned to crawl during my 9th month, and once I finally got it, I have not slowed down at all!  
  

• I love to read books with Mommy and Daddy.  My favorite books this month are Moo, Baa, La La La! and Doggies, both by Sandra Boynton.  I also love Who Barks? by Nancy Parent.  It has a squeaky dog that you can squish and hear the squeak on every page.  I usually read this book to myself in the car on the way to and from school.  
  

• I have started pulling up to standing a lot.  This has caused a few bumps and bruises, as I have not yet mastered getting back down again.  But, hey, I'm learning!  In the mornings I stand in my crib waiting for Mommy and Daddy to come get me.  Along those same lines, I love to bounce while I'm standing up.  It won't be long until I decide start walking!
  

• I play peekaboo by covering my face with something (bib, burpcloth, blanket, etc.) and then waiting for someone to say, "Where's Katie?"  Then I pull it off my face and wait for them to say "Peek-a-boo!!!!"  It's so funny.  Today I even said "Ka-booyaeee" (my own version of "Peek-a-boo!")

• I talk, talk, talk all the time.  I say: 
  

"Da da," 

"Ma-ma," 

"Dog" (sounds like "Dahc" but whispered), 

"Bob" (yes I still talk about Bob - "Who's Bob?" you ask ...  good question), 

"Bye bye" (or really "bye bye bye bye bye bye"), and

"Hey" (sounds like "haaayyyyy").  My favorite time to say "Haaaayyyy" is in the mornings when Mommy or Daddy comes to get me out of my bed, and I'm standing, waiting for them.  I say "Haaaayyy" and make them feel super special.  

"Cooool" whenever I see a fun toy (well it sounds kind of like "Coooolll" anyway)  

"Whooooaaa" in the same context as "Cool".

• I will also imitate sounds that other people make.  
  

• I love to watch Maggie and any other animal.  I just laugh and laugh and laugh when I see animals.  Admit it ... they ARE kinda funny looking.  
  

• I love going to the nursery at church now.  You may remember that I used to cry every time, and Mommy and Daddy could never get through all of Sunday School AND church without getting paged.  Now, I love playing with all the toys there.  The ladies in the nursery always tell Mommy and Daddy that I am the happiest baby!
  

• I am eating lots of new foods.  My favorite is still bananas.  I also love my puffs and cheerios.  Although, I do get a little too excited about Cheerios sometimes, and try to eat them too fast and end up choking on them.  My favorite vegetables are sweet potatoes and squash.  I also amazingly like some mixtures of baby foods.  I rather enjoyed Apple Cranberry Turkey, a Thanksgiving treat.  I know ... weird.
  

• Speaking of eating, I have 7 (almost 8) teeth now.  I am very proud of all those teeth, as I have worked very hard for them.

• I have started to experience a little bit of separation anxiety.  I like my Mommy to hold me ALL the time.  When she tries to let someone else hold me, I sometimes get mad (which she says is bad for her back).  My mommy is happy though that I haven't cried yet when she hands me over to my teachers at school.  I think that would be really hard for her if she had to leave me crying.  
  

I went to see my doctor this week.  He says that I am entering the "Sponge" phase, so Mommy and Daddy have to make sure they keep naming everything and talking to me all the time.  They call me "Sponge-Katie-Pink-Pants" when I start imitating them.  Yes, I told them that they are silly.

Speaking of the doctor, here are my 9 month stats:

weight - 22 pounds, 7 ounces (95th percentile)

height - 28.5 inches (86th percentile)

head circumference - 17.5 inches (81st percentile)

The doctor said that he is glad that I am back ON the growth curve, as I "was above it for a while there."  I guess all that crawling has helped me slim down a little!

Well, that's all I can think of right now.  Nine months old seems like a super fun age, and I know that I will enjoy my tenth month.  Special things will happen this month including my first Christmas, and lots of time at home with Mommy and Daddy, and other family!  It's going to be a great month!

(My new bounce and spin zebra that Grandma Nonnie gave me for Christmas.)

Playing - Some Pictures Just For Fun

So....I was playing in my playroom the other day, and I found this awesome container-type thingy that holds lots of toys.  It was right up there on the shelf!  I had never even noticed it before, but when I pulled it out of the shelf it was like hitting the jackpot!  There were soooo many toys just hiding in there, waiting for me to play with them!!!  Here are some pictures from my playtime adventure:

I'm going in!

What!?!?  This is it?!

Maggie ... have you been eating my toys?

This is YOUR doing, Mommy!  I just know it!

And just as a bonus ... 

The other night we went to Athens to see Uncle Thomas' Christmas Concert (he did a great job singing).  Here's a picture of me sleeping on the way home.  I fell asleep with that toy still in my mouth!!!

Santa 2008

I went to see Santa today.  I wanted to tell him all about the toys I want for Christmas.  He was so fun and nice ...

...  ...  ... 

...from at least 20 feet away.

"I'm not so sure I like sitting here with this guy."

"Actually, I'm sure of it.  I don't like it at all!"

"Get me outta heeeeeerrreee!"

"Why oh whyyyyy?"

Just Some Stuff

How do you like my new hair-do?  

Snacking on Puffs

Making silly faces :P

The faux-hawk left over after my ponytail came out

The Pink Pig!

On Saturday, Pop, Honey, Aunt Bess, Aunt Colleen, Mommy, Daddy, and I all went to the Pink Pig.  The Pink Pig first started in the early 1950s as a fun ride for children on the roof of the downtown Richs.  Pop went to the Pink Pig when he was a little boy, and Daddy rode on the Pink Pig when he was a little boy.  It has been closed down for years but has been back at Lenox Mall now for a couple years.  It's just a little different.  It used to be a monorail-type ride (so I hear) but now it is a little train.  Here are some pictures from our Pink Pig adventure:

The view of the Pink Pig from the parking lot as we got out of our cars.

It was a little chilly when we first got there in the morning, so I got all bundled up in my stroller.  I wasn't cold at all!

Daddy and I met Priscilla the Pig.  I wasn't sure she could be trusted so I had to keep my eye on her.

I had fun playing with Aunt Bess (and her hair) while we waited in line.

We got inside the tent and only had to wait a little bit longer to get on the ride.

Pop was telling me all about the old Pink Pig.  

I started to get a little nervous so Aunt Colleen made me feel better.

Finally it was time to get on the train.  I was scared and sure that I did not like this thing!!!

But, after we started moving I decided it was not so bad, so I sat back and relaxed for the ride.  It was actually so much fun that I cried when they made me get off.

But, good thing they did, because when we walked out of the tent, look who was waiting for us!  The Chick-fil-a Santa Cow!  Again, I was not so sure that he could be trusted.  What is the deal with these big furry animals?

After it was all over, Honey and I discussed the fun that we had.  We decided we should do it again next year!

After eating lunch with the family, Mommy and Daddy took me to Ikea for the first time.  I slept most of the time in my stroller, but it seemed like a fun place.  Mommy and Daddy got me a fun new toy that I got to play with when we got home ... a tunnel!

I like looking through the tunnel to see Mommy on the other end.

Crawling through the tunnel is fun ... good thing I learned how to crawl on my knees so I could get through!

So much fun!