At 13 months: Remodeling, Driving Around, Photo Shoots and Flying! - June 25-July 1, 2011



Yay for me...I'm 13 months!



I AM 13 MONTHS OLD!  My parents cannot believe that it's already been a month since I turned one, but it has!  I had an INCREDIBLY busy week this past week.  We had lots of visitors and lots of fun and ended the week in a completely different state than we started...but more on that later.

 As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm becoming a kitchen aficionado.  In fact, I'm so comfortable in the kitchen, I've spent several days this week trying to help Mommy remodel her cabinet space...


Step 1:  Remove all items from cabinet; commence banging and yelling at items.



Step 2:  Reach deep within cabinets; it's handy to use one's legs to propel one deep into the depths of the cabinet.

Step 3:  Sometimes you have to really get into the cabinet and be one with it to do remodeling...

Step 4:  Show Mommy when it's empty.  Look how helpful I can be!

In addition to cabinet remodeling, I was extremely helpful with getting the furniture into BSG's room.  Mommy and Daddy had to buy all new furniture for BSG, since I'm still using mine, and don't intend to give it up anytime soon.  The most fun part of this "remodel" was the boxes in which the furniture came.  We're talking HUGE boxes.  I wanted to build a big fort, but instead, I just played inside with my Mommy (I told you they were big boxes...)!

THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

Mommy and Me inside BSG's dresser box...

Later the day of putting BSG's room together, I went on a grand adventure in my car from my Aunties Liz and Jacqui.  Mommy took me to get the mail in my fancy car!  I absolutely LOVE my car, as I'm sure I've previously mentioned, but it's even more fun when we use it outdoors.  After getting the mail, we can go for a walk around the cul-de-sac, or go frolicking in the backyard.  There's so much to DO in this car.  And when it stops moving, I just jump up and down and scooch back and forth, talking to it until it magically starts moving again.  Mommy says I'm funny. :)

On the way back from the mailbox...

You can't tell, but I'm doing the "move the car along" bounce in this shot as we explore the back yard.

The day after our big box adventure, Mommy and Daddy took me back to the park (that's three weekends in a row...WHOO HOO!) for my 1-year pictures with Ms. Nathania.  She's been the one taking my pictures every few months since I was 12 hours old!  I'm sure Mommy will let me share some of them with you when we get them back in a few weeks, but Mommy did manage to snap the picture below of Daddy and me on a park bench waiting for Nathania to switch out camera lenses.  Have I mentioned I love the park?! :)

That afternoon when we got home, I was so ready to go-go-go that I did something Mommy NEVER thought would happen this early...I climbed the WHOLE staircase - all 20 stairs!  It took me about 3 minutes, but I went all the way from the bottom to the top and then all over upstairs (looking for BSG's big box, which was nowhere to be found :( ).  I then went back to the stairs to see if I could go back down, but it looked pretty far, so I asked Mommy to carry me.  (She thought that was very wise!)  Unfortunately, she was so unprepared for the event, there was no video or pictures taken.  We'll try to capture that in the next few weeks!

We had lots of visitors this week too.  Auntie Rachel came over to babysit me so Mommy and Daddy could go out to dinner for their birthdays at a "big people" restaurant.  And then the next day, Mommy's second cousin once-removed, Bron, and his wife, Hannah, came to visit for dinner (they live in New York!).  Unfortunately, I was in the process of coming down with a cold, so I wasn't as entertaining as I sometimes am, but they said they'd forgive me.  Also, Mommy AGAIN forgot to get pictures, so we'll have to have everyone come back!

And now for the big news...this week ended with us in a different state!  We flew overnight to New York.  I haven't been here since I was 3 months old!  Mommy's cousin, Saralyn, is getting married to the nicest guy and so we came to see her and lots of other family and friends.  I really enjoyed the flight...as you can see...

...but after an overnight flight, I was VERY happy to get off the plane!

I got to visit with lots of family and friends the very first day, and spend some time with my friend, Emma, who is chromosomally enhanced much like myself.  I haven't seen Emma since she was born the very second day of her life...she's gotten a LOT bigger and she is SO sweet.  (I also think her older her twin sisters are VERY sassy & funny!)

Daddy and Ms. Emma

Kaety and Emma-bean

Conversing with my friend Emma, while Ms. Amanda holds me and Emma's Mommy, Rhiannon holds her.

I'll write more about the adventures of my trip and all the wonderful people I get to see as well as my first impressions of my new classroom and my transition week into Mrs. Linda's room...Have a GREAT week!

Cooking, Father's Day and Long Chats with BSG...June 18-24, 2011

I was a busy girl this week, what with continuing to try to grow my tooth and entertaining my parents :)  I'm becoming a regular frequenter of my Mommy's kitchen and trying to help "cook".  No one tells you how fun all these bowls and spoons and pots and pans are, but man...I can make some music on them!



I had a really nice weekend and got to spend time with friends and family.  My friend, Madison, turned 2 on Sunday and we got to go back to the park and play on the swingset.  I do love the park!

Sunday was also Father's Day and we went to my Uncle Allan's house to celebrate with our whole Spivey family out here.  We had a lot of fun and I got to play with all my cousins and their kids and spend the evening learning all about how to cook large volumes of meat from my Uncle Allan (he made 1lb. hamburgers...I couldn't eat a whole one! :))  My Mommy forgot the camera, however, so we didn't get any really good pictures.

I also met with Ms. Gay Lloyd and Ms. Colleen at my therapy center this week.  Ms. Gay Lloyd said I was doing really well with keeping my tongue in my mouth when eating.  Unfortunately, when I'm tired, and playing, I don't do such a good job with it.  So, we'll continue exercises to get my tongue to be a little less lax.  As you can see below, one of the good things I do now is try to feel my newfound tooth with my tongue.  I'm constantly playing with it...it feels very strange. Mommy says it's a "razor sharp fang".  I'm starting to use it to try to mash my food...it feels good to grind food on it.  BUT...mostly I just feel it with my tongue...ALLLLL the time!  (Good exercise though!)

Note the tongue action on my right front tooth-in-progress...

We actually had SUNSHINE this week on several days and Mommy took advantage of that sun to get to dress me in some summer clothes that I've been unable to wear up until now.  I mean, I like the sun and all, but probably not as much as my Mom.  It gets in my eyes, then my eyes water...but Mommy swears that someday I'm going to love it as much as her, especially after one of our VERY long Seattle water-filled-winters!

This is apparently called "playing in the sun"...I do love my Jesse dog's ball!

In other news, I will soon be transitioning out of Ms. Audrey's class into Mrs. Linda's class.  Mommy and Daddy met with Mrs. Linda for the first time to talk all about me and what I can do and what I can't eat (dairy, mandarin oranges, and recently applesauce ... all big-urp foods!)  They had a nice time and think Mrs. Linda is very nice, but they sure are going to miss Ms. Audrey.  After they met with Mrs. Linda, I got to go over to her classroom and go outside with the "big toddlers" and play a couple of times and that was fun. The big toddlers have a nifty little playground that I can climb on and, well, I do love to climb, so that part of it is ok with me.  I hope Ms. Audrey will come visit me once I move!!

As I'm a big girl now, I've been having some heart-to-heart talks with my Baby Sister, who we'll call "BSG" for now.  I do like to stand on her head while Mommy rocks me at night, but I also like to pat on her when she kicks me when I'm climbing on Mommy.  Mommy calls this "abuse from both sides", but I think it's great fun!

Discussing the future with BSG...

I'm excited for BSG to come visit.  Daddy keeps telling me it's not just a visit, but we'll see!!!!

Kissing BSG...

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print.  Next week, lots going on, including A PLANE RIDE to New York to visit family and see Mommy's cousin get married.  I can't wait! :)  Have a good week!

Teeth, Dr. Visits, Playtime & IFSP updates...Oh My! June 11 - June 17, 2011

Hello!!!  There is big news this week...I HAVE A TOOTH!  Mommy couldn't get a picture of it and it's JUST started to poke through, but it's definitely there!  It's my bottom right front tooth and I'm very interested in feeling it and playing with it with my tongue.  I'm very excited to try it out as it grows in!

Though I'm very excited about my tooth, I did have a little bit of a bad week because I ended up with a staph infection on my girl parts and bottom! :(  Last week, when I hurt my eye, Mommy and Daddy also had the doctor check out what looked like the beginning of a diaper rash.  He gave them a prescription cream to use on my "area" for up to 10 days.  So, Mommy and Daddy used it and my "diaper rash" steadily got worse.  In fact, on day 9 of the 10 days, it got really bad, where I had some of the sores starting to ooze and let me tell you, when I peed, it HURT!!!  So, Mommy took me straight to Dr. P.  She saw my bum area and said, "Oh My!"  She said it wasn't a diaper rash or yeast infection, but looked like strep.  She ran a strep test, which came back negative, and then said, "It's appears to be a staph infection."  Mommy felt really awful, but Dr. P assured her the issue was that the medicine the other dr. gave us just exacerbated the problem.  In any case, she gave Mommy some new antibiotic cream and some special "Triple Cream" to put on my lady parts and bottom.  I'm happy to report that 4 days later, it's starting to go away and I'm back to sleeping through the night without waking up screaming from my diaper area!  Mommy knows now that pediatricians, NOT urgent care doctors, know best about baby's sensitive areas!

In other news, my school had a really nice picnic over the weekend and I went.  Ms. Audrey and Ms. Elsa, Ms. Jayme and Ms. Ellen were all there and I got to picnic and play at the beach park where the picnic was.  It wasn't a "warm" day, but it was not raining, so we'll take it!  While at the park, I got to ride on the swingset and...a MOTORCYCLE!  I also got to eat part of a HOT DOG for the first time...now THAT is good food!

Kaety riding a "motorcycle" with Daddy's help

I did a lot of playing with new things and displaying new skills this week as well.  I am a BIG FAN of riding in my little red wagon that Uncles Kevin & Tommy gave me for my birthday...

...and I learned how to use Nester as an acrobatic platform (Mommy's not entirely thrilled with this new feat!)...


Kaety standing on Nester's back!

...I've also figured out how to stand up and open the cabinets in the kitchen.  Let me tell you, there is some FUN STUFF in there!

This makes GREAT noise!

We also updated my IFSP with Ms. Colleen and Ms. Donna this week.  I accomplished about 95% of the items from our update 6 months ago.  Things I still need to work on include:

• sounds other than "dadadada"  (I do say bababa, mamamama, though infrequently)
• learning to sign words and more sign understanding
• working on tongue control
• continued focus on building core strength so I can stand and walk on my own. 

Things I'm going to work on in the next 6 months in addition to the continuation of the above include:

• differentiating objects from flash cards
• learning at least one word that means something
• eating with utensils (what are those?!)
• more learning on "nice touches" so I don't continue to pull hair and supposedly to prepare me for when Baby Sister comes in a few months. 

I'm excited to try new things, and I'm sure I'll continue to surprise everyone with how much I want to do!

With all the things to work on, I have several things that I'm doing that surprised Ms. Donna in particular such as: 

• turning and moving from one object to another while "cruising"
• climbing up 2 stairs
• making choices in objects (though Mommy doesn't think I really do it too consciously yet!). 

In addition, Mommy's going to start taking me to swim lessons as soon as I'm 13-14 months old and they'll let me in the class.  We're already on the wait list, but we'll have to see when I get in.  I'm pretty excited about that! :)

Finally, the other news this week is I got my "walking" papers!  Officially on July 5th, I'll start to transition out of Ms. Audrey's room into a new classroom with other toddlers.  Mommy's sad we're leaving Ms. Audrey, but happy that Baby Sister will be in Ms. Audrey's room this fall.  I'm going to be going into the same classroom as my friends Peyton and Christopher, so that should help the transition a bit.  Stay tuned for more information on how this goes in the coming weeks!

Have a GREAT week...Ta Ta For Now... :)

Being One Year: The First Two Weeks: May 28, 2011 - June 10, 2011

I'm Back!  You may have noticed that I took a week off from writing after my BIG birthday.  We had a lot going on here and I got a little tied up with all the activity, so please forgive me.  I'll try to be better from this point on!

After my big day, that first weekend, I had a really nice party at a kid's museum here in Seattle.  I had lots of friends who came to my party and my Grandma Ward was here for the party as well.  My Sissy came to spend the weekend with me and she played with me a lot during my party. 

I received a lot of really neat gifts including a photo album of my first year from my friend Kayla, a bobby car, my very own beach chair and cooking pots, some really fantastic books and puzzles, a drum and musical instruments, and a beach towel for when I start swimming lessons!  You can see that I really enjoyed myself and my presents!

The following week after my party, I went to visit Dr. P for my one year checkup.  Dr. P was really pleased with all my development.  She said the only things from her perspective I really need to work on are talking and keeping my tongue in my mouth.  We're still working on the reflux issue, but it IS getting better.  I just have to keep to soy milk and not eat things like yogurt, or put too much in my body at once and I can mostly keep it under control with my daily Prilosec.  Which is good, and is proven by the fact that Dr. P says I'm a BIG girl, but still have a little head...here are my one year stats:

WEIGHT: 22 lbs, 12 oz.  (75% on a typical scale)

HEIGHT:  28.75 inches (50% on a typical scale)

HEAD:  17 inches around (5% on a typical scale :( )

Daddy says that though my head is small, it is just efficient. :)

The next big events after my doctor appointment was a weekend full of FUN FUN FUN!  My best bud Kayla turned one year old (we're very close in age!) and I got to go to her birthday party. 

Kayla!

It was a BEAUTIFUL day here and we spent it at a park at her party, looking out over the water and Olympic mountains in the sunshine....AHHHHH!

Kayla and me

I also got to eat cake!  Have I mentioned how much I LOOOVE cake?  MMMMM! :)

The day after Kayla's birthday, I got to go to my very first Special Olympics!  Mommy's old boss is the event director for the Athletics events for WA State Special Olympics, so she got us passes to attend.  I saw lots of people running and jumping and walking and it was very exciting.  Plus, they had a petting zoo there and I got to touch both a chicken and a kitty.  I even did nice petting on the kitty!  Mommy was very proud of me.  We met a very nice lady named Elizabeth who is 44 and has Down Syndrome too.  She was extremely excited to meet me, a baby with DS, and made sure all her friends knew I was special like her.  She talked to Mommy and Daddy for a while.  She lives in Olympia, WA in her own apartment!  Her brother lives in Australia, which is very exotic.  She was a really nice lady.

Unfortunately, while we were at Special Olympics, I had a moment when Daddy was holding me where I got VERY upset.  We're talking MAJOR meltdown, which I hardly ever do.  Mommy and Daddy thought I got stung by an insect or something happened because all of a sudden, my right eye started watering and got purple and started swelling.  Pretty much from that point on, I was not a very happy girl.  Mommy and Daddy left and tried to go to a nice lunch at the beach at Alki, but I was REALLY upset and just kept crying and crying.  Finally, Mom and Dad decided a trip to the Urgent Care was in order.  So, we headed over right before they closed and lo and behold, the dr. saw that I had a big ole' scratch across my eye.  I guess I did it with one of my fingernails (which were immediately cut the minute we got home!).  SO...they gave me eye medicine and put a patch over my eye.  I didn't even mind the patch, I was so relieved not to have light hitting it and from that point on, I played nicely the rest of the day! ;)

Later on in the week, my Aunties from the East Coast, Liz and Jacqui, sent me some wonderful gifts for my birthday.  One of them was a REALLY cool car that I absolutely LOVE!  Daddy put it together for me and I've been begging to ride in it pretty much every day!  Sissy, Mommy, and Daddy have all helped me move around in my new car.  Have I mentioned I'm a REALLY lucky little girl?!

Well, I think we're all caught up now.  I've got lots more fun things to share next week...stay tuned!  Have a great week! :)