New videos

Sorry it has been so long since I've updated you on Cailin but here are several videos of Cailin just being Cailin.

Sometimes it's difficult to entertain a one year old but the simplest things entertain her for a long time. I had brought a blanket and put it on the floor, so simple. But Cailin spent 30 minutes playing with it, putting over her head and jumping on it, who knew?

We've really seen Cailin's language exploding lately and because of that she understands us more and more. She learned the "Where's Cailin?" game. One day she just started doing it on her own.

Cailin is trying to tell me something in this video, I have no idea what but she seems to think it's quite important and funny too. I think it has something to do with the pen she is holding but you never can tell.

Along with the "where's Cailin?" game, she has learned the "So big!" game.

Cailin has started dancing to music too, something I've been unable to catch on video but I assure you it's so funny!

She has also learned to wave bye bye and even says "Bye" now. Usually she starts saying "bye" as we're leaving daycare and says it and waves the whole way home, it's really cute. She has also finally cut her first tooth so we were really relieved about that. We have taken her off the bottle also and are transitioning her to a sippy cup, a process she is not happy with. I think she is still going through bottle withdrawal. It breaks our hearts to see her so upset but we know it's time to move to the big girl cups. Most people keep asking me if she's walking yet and the answer is not yet. She's getting more brave though but she still seems pretty wobbly so we are just enjoying the crawling for now.

First Birthday Party!

Zootastic Weekend!

Cailin had a blast this weekend at the Houston Zoo. Although traffic getting there was a headache, to say the least, once we got there, we had a good time. It was hard to get her to focus on the animals though, mostly because she got distracted by the pretty leaves and plants or the people walking by. She did get to see the tiger swim by and she thought the llamas and the giant pig were pretty funny though. She had the most fun at the petting zoo where she got to pet some goats!

We couldn't get her to look at the giraffe even though it was walking right by us, instead she focused on the bushes right in front of us.

You can tell who took the pictures most of the time...

Oh no, we're in the cage!

Cailin did get a fantastic white lion stuffed animal which she kept a death grip on all the way home. I think she's found her new favorite toy for a while.

Cailin was also really excited to see her BFF again last week! Her and Magnolia had a lot of fun playing together again during a rare playdate. Ahh, just like the good ol' days. We all went out to lunch where they babbled back and forth at each other. I think they were plotting something, we're just not sure what yet. Apparently a yellow ball was the coveted toy of the day but Magnolia showed Cailin all the great new toys she has. Cailin showed her all the skills she's picked up at daycare and how to quickly take a toy away from someone before they've even noticed.

Cailin was also really happy to see Mindy again. I think she decided Mindy was her favorite person of the day and occupied her lap most of the time, even choosing her over Mama. After a while, I think Magnolia started to get a little jealous and either wanted Cailin or her mommy all to herself.

September 25th

Well, we all survived Ike and were blessed with no damage to our house. So many others around us were not so lucky with trees falling through their houses. Cailin literally slept through the entire hurricane though. She slept in her pack n play in our bathroom and never woke up once.



Cailin loves her Daddy! She's definitely a snuggle bug. Usually when she gets home from daycare she wants to be held for at least 30 minutes and get some good cuddling in before she's willing to play by herself or even consider letting you out of her sight. Of course now that she's mobile, if I leave the room she'll just follow me.







And of course she loves the Longhorns! I'm very excited that she is finally big enough to fit ito all the UT clothes we had gotten at the babyshower. She had to debut her adorable outfits on the first Saturday I was home to actually watch UT play.

Cailin says "mama" all the time now but it's pretty much directed at me or sometimes Daddy if she wants him to pick her up. I still love hearing her say it though, I don't think that will ever get old! She trying to say more and more words all the time and sometimes she just sits in her crib babbling to herself all kinds of strange sounds. Her daycare teacher and I were talking about feeding her breakfast and she attempted to mouth the word "breakfast". Of course it didn't sound like "breakfast" but we knew she had tried to say it. She's going to be such a little chatter box one day.

Cailin got to spend some time at the park during the week the world shut down after Ike. After half a day with no power, Jeff and I couldn't take it anymore. I know, we're pansies. So, we went to SugarLand to stay in the land with electricity. She got to play at the park there with Cooper and Cody and she absolutely loved going down the slide, then crawling back up it, then going down again. Since she enjoyed it so much, we took her to the park near our house.

One of Cailin's favorite new things to do is tear up magazines. She gets so involved, I don't have the heart to stop her even though it's a habit I know I shouldn't encourage. Even when she's fussy, if I hand her a magazine, it will entertain her for at least 10 minutes. I usually have to finally stop her after she starts to eat the magazine.

"Mama" at Last!

Cailin finally started saying "Mama" last weekend and now she likes to say it all the time, especially when she wants to be picked up. I think she's figured out if she says "Mama", I'll rush over and pick up her. She's attempting new syllables all the time. One day she was playing with Toby and started saying "tatata", she's so smart! Labor Day weekend we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Burleson. We all had so much fun. Cailin got to go on to her first fancy restaurant, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We knew everyone in the restaurant would hate us when they saw us with a baby, but Cailin, being the perfect angel that she is, never cried once! She was even two hours past her bedtime. We actually had a man stop us and commented on how well behaved she was as if we didn't already know : )



She decided to help Grandpa read the paper one morning. I think she was looking for the stats from the UT game.

She got to spend some rare time with her Uncle Brad and Aunt Maggie. I guess she wanted them to herself for a while before her cousin arrives in May!

The days following coming home, both Cailin and Mama have come down with some kind of virus that has knocked us both for a loop. She's getting better but Saturday she was pretty listless and not like her normal cheery self. After a quick trip to the doctor, we were assured that she was doing okay and she just needed time for the virus to pass. Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later for all our sakes.

How Fast Time Goes!

Well Cailin has reached a couple big milestones. First she is pulling herself up to standing completely by herself now. Although she still forgets to move her feet in the same direction as her hands, and she hasn't figured out that if she lets go she'll fall, but she is getting really good at it. It's amazing what daycare can teach a baby! Also, she says "Dada" but she also says "baba", "rara", and "lala" in connection to nothing in particular but Daddy is happy. I guess "mama" will have to wait but her slobbery smooches let me know how much she loves me.


I took Cailin outside one steamy, hot morning to play in the blazing sun. Smart thinking on my part and Jeff snapped these pics without me knowing, hence the jammies :)

The pups waited anxiously for us to come back in, or a chance for them to sneak out and join the fun. Bailey and Cailin have developed a really cute bond. Sometimes if Cailin is on the floor Bailey will come lay down next to her and let Cailin grab and climb on her. It's really as if she loves it as much as Cailin does. As a thank you, Cailin often lets her lick the drool off her mouth.

Cailin had her last playdate with Magnolia and Hudson the week Mama went back to work. They're so cute how they can sit up together and play with toys now, and probably start fighting over them too. It's amazing how fast time has passed and how big they are both getting. Although they will still have many more playdates in the future and they'll remain drool buddies long after the drooling stops.

The next three videos are just of Cailin being silly (and Daddy too). She's such a giggly girl and it never takes much to make her laugh or smile. Her teachers at daycare have already fallen in love with her of course and she's well known around the school as the cute baby with the cheeks that's always smiling.

Aerobics!

(She was going around the table really fast and smiling but the camera distracted her)

Superman!!!

Giggle Attack!

First Day of Daycare!!!

Cailin had her first full day of daycare today! In the morning, when we first got there she was understandably clinging to Mama and a little teary eyed when her teacher would try to hold her. She wanted to come straight back to me and didn't want to let go. Of course, this wasn't helping me cause I really didn't want to let her go either and I was trying not to cry as well, but I was able to put on a brave face for her. It only took a few minutes for her to adjust and she spent the rest of the day playing and having fun. She understandably didn't sleep well, only two 30 minute naps but hopefully as she gets used to it she'll sleep for longer. Her teachers said that she was such a sweet little girl and they wished all the babies there were as good natured as she is. They said she was full of smiles all day long and played and crawled around everywhere. I don't have any pictures to post right now but I know a lot of people were curious about Cailin's first day so I wanted to give an update.

Hangin' with her cousins

Here are some pictures from last weekend when Cailin spend the afternoon at Nana's house. Cooper and Cody showed her (and Grandma and Nana apparently) how their toys worked. Such good older cousins showing her the ropes.

9 month checkup

Cailin had her 9 month checkup today. She is 17 1/2 pounds now! That's a 2 1/2 pound gain since her last appointment. They tested her for anemia, but she is negative. The doctor said that her social skills are excellent, which anyone whose ever been around Cailin for more than 5 seconds knows that. She said her motor skills are also excellent and to make sure the house is baby proofed because now that she's crawling, a whole new world is in reach.





Next week Cailin will go to daycare for the first time all day while Mama starts her first day of work for new teachers but it will only be for one day. Starting on the 18th, she'll be going full time. We visited the daycare yesterday so she could get to know the teachers and the other babies while having the security of Mama being there. She had fun but never strayed too far away from me. I suspect is won't be long before she starts telling all the other babies how it is and being "the boss". I'm heartbroken to have to leave her and go back to work but I know that Cailin will make lots of friends and will love all the new toys and people. It will just be me whose a mess :)

So Many Grandmas, so little time!

Cailin had a rare visit from her Great Grandma this week, also known as Mema. She joined Grandpa on the trip down to pick up Grandma so that she could see Cailin. Although Mema is not a big fan of having her picture taken, she enjoyed getting to see Cailin since it has been several months since she has seen her. Cailin also spent time at Nana's this past weekend and played with her cousins in the pool. Her other Great Grandma and great Aunt Linda also stopped by for a while.

Cailin is getting better and better at crawling now. Although she still sticks to the army crawl, it definitely gets her around. She has crawled from one end of the living room to the other. She can even go from sitting to on her belly and from her belly to sitting, but she's still perfecting that one. She's really trying to pull herself up also. I can see how desperately she wants to start walking.

She had some good giggles playing with her Daddy on her play mat. She loves being tickled!

She lounges with Daddy when he feeds her but she was able to give Mama and camera a good wave

We had a lot of fun playing with Grandma the last couple of weeks. She got some new toys, books, and clothes of course!

She got her first baby doll! She'll give her smooches and hugs, it's so cute! Then again she gives all her favorite stuffed animals smooches and hugs, and usually a little spit up too.

She investigated Grandpa's whiskers and gave him some good smiles before he, Grandma and Mema had to head back to Burleson. She was past her nap time though so she was mostly quiet.

But in the end it was hard to say goodbye to Grandma! We loved having her here and hopefully we'll see everyone again really soon!