Doing What She's Not Supposed to...

Katerina is becoming mischievious. Why is it when there is something that a baby isn't supposed to do, that's the thing they try to do the most??

For example, forget trying to work on the laptop now when she's around. She comes right up to you and tries to type. In fact I was googling something the other day, and she kept hitting the backspace button...it took me forever to find the recipe I was after.

She sort of understands the word No...or at least my tone "Katerina...No!" She has been testing me lately. She will start to go over to the shoes by the kitchen door, and I say " Katerina...(pause)" and she will stop, look at me and I say "No". I usually have to say it a couple of times, and then sometimes I need to pick her up and move her away from it.

The other day, she was going toward the humidifer in her bedroom, and I said "Katerina (pause) No"...as soon as I said Katerina, she started moving faster toward it with a smile on her face. I think she thought it was a game. I tried very hard not to laugh. So I just picked her up and moved her. She got mad...and started right back toward it...it was pretty funny.

Katerina's First Valentine's Day!

Katerina celebrated her first Valentine's day yesterday. She is so loved! She got all kinds of gifts from relatives...money, books, clothes, and even a stuffed monkey holding a heart! Thank you all for thinking of her.

Mike and I have never gone over the top for Valentine's Day because it is such a "Hallmark" holiday. In fact, many years ago I told him never to buy me roses on Valentine's Day because it is such a rip-off. Well, Mike broke the rule this year and decided to buy each of his girls a rose...it was very sweet.

Now as a parent, Valentine's Day brings on a whole new, wonderful meaning. It is a great day to remind Katerina how much she is loved.

We got Katerina a book for the bath as her Valentine's Day gift...she enjoyed "reading" while getting nice and clean.

9 months old!

Katerina turned nine months old yesterday...her first birthday is just around the corner, which doesn't seem possible. Here are some of her recent accomplishments:

• She can pull herself to standing and then while holding onto the couch/toy/ etc, she can walk around it.


• She can also get down from standing with ease, either by kneeling or crouching down.


• She is eating meats mixed with fruits or veggies.


• She can drink out of a sippy cup.


• When given a book, she can turn pages.


• She is practicing using a "bbb" sound and "mmm" sound...maybe trying to say Baba and Mommy?? It is so adorable watching her try to form the sounds with her mouth.


• She enjoys "patty cake" and "this little piggy"

A Scream!

I heard Katerina "scream" for the first time today.
Mike, Katerina and I were upstairs in her bedroom. We had just read some stories and were about to turn off the lights to get ready for bed. First, however, Mike wanted to empty the diaper genie because it's garbage day tomorrow. Being a curious little girl, Katerina got down from my lap and crawled over towards the diaper genie to watch her Baba. As Mike pulled the very large bag out of the diaper genie and onto the floor, Katerina looked at it and screamed.

Mike and I were a little stunned. And Katerina's face looked filled with fear. I picked her up, and tried to calm her down. While she calmed down almost immediately, she kept looking at the bag. I tried to sit down on the floor with her next to the bag, but she started to cry. Mike then moved the bag to the hallway, and she still kept looking at it. It wasn't until the lights were out, and she was nursing that she seemed to forget about it. At 8 months old, can you get scared?

Mike has heard Katerina scream before. A couple months ago, during drop-off at daycare, Mike sat Katerina down and went to put away her bottles, bag, coat etc. As he was doing that, he heard her scream. A little boy had grabbed a hold of her hair and was pulling on it. The teachers intervened immediately, but it still gave her a shock.

We are forunate that she doesn't scream often (I am knocking on wood right now) and hopefully that trend will continue into the future.

New Year, New Class, New Toys

In the new year, Katerina moved up into a new class. She graduated from Infant A to Infant B. With the new class, came many new toys. Toys she can climb on, toys she can stand next to, and toys that have buttons, buckets, and knobs that light up.

She also has these types of toys at home now. She has her very first keyboard. And Grandma and Papa Eddie gave Katerina a "barn house" for Christmas which she loves.

Swim Lessons

Today was our first day of swim lessons. I regret that I do not have a picture, but with all there was to do, we just didn't have time.

Katerina seemed to enjoy it. We sang songs, floated on our tummies and our backs and practiced splashing and kicking. The water was a little cold at first, but we both seemed to get used to it. Although at the end, she was shivering a little.

She only cried once--when I first got into the water. They told us to sit on the side of the pool with our child sitting next to us. Then, while holding your child on the side of the pool in a seated position, the adults turn around and slip into the water. It sounds easy, but it wasn't and I think Katerina knew I was feeling a little awkward because then she started to cry. But as soon as I took her and put her in the water with me she was fine.

In fact, at first Katerina was so distracted by everything around her--watching other kids, the water, that she barely knew I was there. But towards the end, she was smiling at me as we jumped up and down in the water. Ba watched us from the bleachers and then assisted with the long process of changing her out of her swimsuit and into clothes.

I think it wiped her out because in the 7 minute car ride home, she feel asleep. I was able to take her out of her car seat, out of her snow suit and into her crib while she continued to sleep. Although she didn't sleep long only about 20 minutes. What a great way to start a Saturday morning!

8 Months Old

Katerina was 8 Months old on January 6. I can't believe how much she's grown.

We took two pictures with Mickey this month--one is our traditional side by side, in the other, she is showing off her "sitting-up" skills.

Here are some of Katerina's recent accomplishments:

She can sit up by herself

She can crawl

She can move from sitting to crawling and vice versa

She can pull herself up to standing while holding onto something or someone

She loves cheerios!

She understands Peek A Boo a lot more...and will look for a toy that is "hiding"

Finally, she has become a lot more attached to people, particulary her parents. I might put her down on the floor and walk away, and she will burst into tears. I put her to bed at night, and as soon as I leave the room, she cries. Earlier in the week she woke up in the middle of the night and she wouldn't go back to sleep. Mike gave her the binky, that didn't work. He rocked her, that didn't work. I nursed her, that didn't work. We let her cry for over 10 minutes, that didn't work. So we brought her into bed with us. She layed there on her back looking at me, then at Mike, then back at me, as if she was checking to make sure that we were still there.

Well neither of us slept too well that night, so we vowed to be "tough" the next night. I put her to bed with the normal routine, and when I walked out of the room, she started crying. She cried/cranked for 30 minutes before going to sleep. That was tough, but the next night she only cried for 2 minutes! Yeah!