Bye Bye, Blogger.

Dearest Friends,

Well, I realize that I haven't been updating this blog. I'm so sorry, but I've been busy growing up! Just recently I turned one year old. Can you believe it?!

Looking back on my first entries I'd have to say I've come a long way...and now my journey on this blog must end for now. Thanks so much for reading.

If you know my daddy or mommy I know that you can find them on Facebook and can keep up with the latest pictures of my bubby and me there. So with that, I bid you adieu on Blogger. Take care and see you around!

Love,
Katherine Tiona

Better Baby

Katherine is feeling much better. Now that the antibiotics are doing there thing, she's pretty much as cheery as normal. She is a bit more clingy, but that could just be her age. She doesn't like to be put down!

I'm working on photos and more video. Life's busy, though.

Smiles,
Michael

The Eyes (and Ears) Have It

Well, Katherine turned seven months old not too long ago.  With another month of life comes yet another illness.  We took her to urgent care Saturday to discover that the allergies and cold she started having Friday spilled over and has caused infections in each ear and likely each eye.

The ear infections were because of sinus drainage, but the eyes may also be infected because of the kind of discharge that is happening with them.  It's very possible that when her nose was running she rubbed her face with her hands and then rubbed her eyes, spreading the bad stuff too.  I'm a little skeptical that her eyes are actually infected, but we have antibiotic drops just in case.

Friday night into Saturday she was pretty miserable and whined and moaned a good part of Saturday.  We're hoping that with the antibiotics she'll start to feel back to normal soon.

By the way, at the urgent care clinic today she weighed 13 pounds, 8 ounces!

I have pictures and video coming, but I'll take care of that stuff when illness things pass a little bit.

Smiles,

Michael

Half A Year Old!

Hey there, friends!

I'm stoked! Today I turn 6 months old. I've been in the world for half a year now! Woohoo!

By the way, I'm feeling a lot better than last week. I still cough every once and a while, but I'm mostly over the whole thing.

So now some observations on being such a big girl:

• Toys are so cool! I love playing with them and even tasting them! I do have to work on my arms, however. I tend to whack myself in the face with toys when I try shaking them!
• Actually, everything is fascinating! I love grabbing at anything I can reach, including people's glasses, big people food, cords, and more. Unfortunately big people don't like for me to have most of that stuff. It's kind of frustrating.
  
• My Big Brother (a.k.a. Bubby) is hilarious! There have been so many times that he's just made me crack up laughing. I love hanging out with him and seeing him do silly things.
• I'm really into jabbering. I try to say words like the big people do, but I can't get my mouth coordinated enough yet. So I kind of make noises and say my own "words."

So enough of all that. I know you want to see the latest pictures. Well I want to show them to you!

Books are pretty neat. I like looking at pictures in books a lot. I can't read yet, but big people usually take care of that part for me.

I told you that I like grabbing at things! Mommy's faking the pain here, but those shiny things on her teeth are really fascinating!

My toes are fun to play with and tasty!

This is just me in a cute outfit. I wore this to my Aunt Marcie's re-election party!

I'm such a big girl that I can hold my own bottle when it's mealtime.

That's all for now. Time for a nap. Bye everybody!

Coughing Update II

Hello again,

Our little girl is doing better each day. The cough still lingers and we still have to give breathing treatments every once and a while, but she's still full of energy and spirit!

Katherine turns 6 months old on Wednesday!

Coughing Update I

Friends,

Katherine did much better Wednesday, coughing much less and not having any spit-up spells. She did have a rough time going to sleep just now. Mommy had to lay with her while Katherine had a few coughing fits. So the verdict is "We think things are improving."

Keep it right here for the latest.

Smiles,
Michael

Holding Our Breath

Dearest readers,

We have a bit of concerning news about Katherine today. Over the past weekend she developed a cough which got worse Monday. We took her to the doctor and Katherine is now on Albuterol breathing treatments about every four hours until the cough stops, which will hopefully be within a week. The treatments are to open up her breathing passageways while she deals with sinus drainage and the cough. While she's not been diagnosed with anything like asthma, it is a bit disconcerting that the doctor feels she needs the treatments.

Along with all that, something seems to be upsetting Katherine's stomach to the point that she's thrown up a few times. It's usually as a result of coughing so bad, but other times it's been more independent, and her stools have been much looser.

She slept a lot Tuesday, an indicator that her body is worn out from the toll this illness is taking on her. Fortunately she seems to be staying hydrated and well rested. The breathing treatments do seem to help decrease the coughing's impact on her. For the record, she's now 12 pounds, 5 ounces.

Please keep our little girl and our family in your prayers for a little while. She's a trooper and she'll get past all of this, but it's difficult on her to cough so much, be so stuffy, and have an irritable tummy. It's hard on Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother to see our baby girl go through this, too.

We'll keep you posted on her progress here.

Smiles,
Michael

Double the Katherine, Double the Fun!

Dearest Readers,

I just went to the doctor's office again today, and aside from being poked in the legs several times -- Mommy and Daddy say it's "good for me" -- I have some good news. I was a whopping 11 pounds, 7 ounces! That's more than double what I weighed when I first met Mommy and Daddy! They also said I'm 23 1/2 inches long -- 5 inches longer than I was at first. Five inches in five months: good numbers.

I'm growing up! I'm getting bigger! I'm coming up so you'd better get this party started!

Peace,
Katie Bug

Our Little Spurter

First she grew longer, and now she's growing BIGGER.

Our little girl is on a growth spurt! She's been eating SO MUCH in the last few days that she's noticeably filling out. Who knows how long it'll last, but rest assured that our little girl isn't going hungry...because she eats all the time!

A Buncha Photos

Okey doke. I promised lots of photos and I'm gonna follow up. So here goes ( and as always, you can click on any photo for a larger version):

You might recall that I typed in my own blog entry a little while back. This is a photo of me at the controls of Daddy's Power Mac, literally blogging for myself. (I've got to say, I really like Daddy's Mac much more than any PC!)

Extreme closeup!

I love getting kisses from Mommy.

I also love playing on the barnyard playmat. That cow and chicky bird play music and move back and forth. How fun! Big thanks to Mommy and Daddy's friends Krista and Matt for letting us borrow it.

I also love playing with my froggy mobil. It has a butterfly, fish and turtle hanging from it and is really quite entertaining. Sometime I'll have Daddy take a picture of me playing with my apple. It's fun too!

Hanging out on Mommy and Daddy's bed. I look like I'm getting ready to arm wrestle in this picture.

Mommy made me this (ultra-bright) hat so my head stays warm in the winter...and so that I'm visible from outer space. I love you, Mommy! ;-) It does fit perfectly.

I've talked here before about how I love to smile and laugh, this is a little sample:

Well, that's all for now. It's time to rest now. Thanks for visiting!

Katherine

Chompin' & Turnin'

Dearest Readers,

Turns out that I'm really growing up! In the last week I've taken my first bites of cereal and I'm able to turn over from my tummy to my back. Kind of a cool trick.

Cereal was interesting. At first I wasn't sure what to do with the spoon thing and the cereal. My tongue did a better job of pushing the food out of my mouth instead of in. But Mommy was there to push the food back in if I pushed it out and I eventually got the hang of eating it. Daddy took a lot of pictures:

That's a picture of my first bite of cereal ever. I got very messy just seconds after he took this. After a while I was really hoping that he'd help me out, but alas, he wouldn't:

So that was interesting.

Yeah, so the other accomplishment -- Mommy and Daddy call it my "trick" -- is that I can turn from my tummy to my back. Not so good going the other direction, but I'm working on it. Here's me in action (sorry there's no audio):

So there you have it! Two big deals for a little girl. Fun stuff. Pretty soon, maybe even tomorrow, I'm going to have a bunch of new photos for you. See ya!

Peace out,
K

Actual Post From Katherine

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And Then God Put Odor in the Poopoo.

Our little girl is growing up! Baby K is more than four months old now! She's smiling and laughing a lot more, playing with toys...

...and getting pretty stinky.

Bill Cosby did a routine in his film Himself about how parents are so enthralled by the cute little "poopoos" that newborns release. Cosby then shifts the routine with the sentence I put in the subject line.

Katherine's poopoos have progressed to be pretty darn potent. Not only that but they're more, um, substantially robust in texture. While I'm so happy that she's growing up and her internals are progressing as necessary, when that odor hit me for the first time....dang.

Just what you wanted to read on this blog, huh? ;-)

Smiles,
Michael

Laughter, the best medicine!

I love to laugh! I never knew something could be so much fun. I like to do it for all sorts of different reasons. For instance, when I am getting a new, clean diaper, I smile and laugh because it's soooo nice to have a new, clean diaper. Also, after Mommy has fed me, I like to smile and laugh, because it feels soooo good to have a full tummy!!!

I have also noticed that I when I begin to laugh, other people begin laughing and smiling too!!! It's amazing! Who knew that a little giggle from a little girl like me, could cause others to feel better! Mommy says, "Laughter really is the best medicine!"

Bye-bye
Katherine

A note from Bubby: Last week I was sticking my tongue out at Katherine and she started laughing, so I started laughing. We were laughing together for like 5 or 6 minutes!! It was AWESOME!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Smilin' and Snugglin'

Hey again, my worldwide friends!

This world just keeps getting more and more interesting all of the time! The bigger I get, the more I'm interested in stuff. I love to just look around and see what's going on around me.

People are more and more entertaining all of the time. You can bet that if you say hello to me, I'm probably going to smile at you. I love to smile! I guess people love to see me smile, too. Whenever we're out in public, people will want to take a peek at me and ask Mommy or Daddy about me.

I also love to snuggle. Daddy used to rock me to sleep at night by cradling me in his arms, but anymore I really like to be upright and lay my head on his shoulder. Oh sure, I can fall asleep other ways too, but snuggling is my favorite.

Sorry, but I don't have a lot to say beyond that. I figure people are always up for more photos, though. Enjoy!

Love,
Katie Bug

What did I tell you? I love to smile!

Big Brother (I like to call him "Bubby") reads to me a lot. Sometimes I doze off a bit, though. :-\

Now for a fashion show: Don't I look pretty in my dress?

How do you like my farmer baby look?

Catch you later!

Happy to Be Here.

My dear readers:

It is with a great deal of humility that I share a bit of disturbing information with you. Daddy has decided that my head bands are so cute that he wants to wear one every once and a while. Mommy managed to catch him on camera doing this once and the picture below tells the whole story:


But seriously...

I thought I'd give you an update on how life is going for a now-three-month-old baby. That's right, I'm three months old as of Jan. 23! At my check-up the other day the doctor's office people said I'm 22 inches long!

I've settled into home pretty well. Mommy and Daddy are getting to know me better. They're pretty good at figuring out my cries and what they mean. I usually only fuss for one of three things: I'm hungry, I'm tired, or I -- gosh this is embarrasing -- I messed my pants.

Speaking of pants-related issues, I get a lot of air shooting out of my bottom. It's a bit disturbing. Where does this air come from in the first place and -- of all the places it could come out of me, why does it have to be my bottom?!

Anyway, my days consist of sleeping, eating, and hanging out looking at stuff. Oh, my newest hobby is sucking on my thumb. Mommy and Daddy used to put the binky in my mouth to help me feel better, but I've found that I like my thumb (and fingers) much better than the binky. They're also much more easily accessible! Oh sure, I still use the binky every once and a while, but golly there's nothing quite like dozing while enjoying the soothing comfort of my favorite opposable digit.

The other fun new thing in my life is my swing! Mommy or Daddy will put me in it every once and a while so that their hands are free to do other things and it gives me a chance to hang out and relax by myself. Sometimes I even take a nap in it. When I'm tired of being in there I just fuss a little and one of them will take me out.

All of that aside, my favorite thing to do is smile. Mommy and Daddy are really starting to be quite entertaining! Daddy will do this thing where he touches parts of my face as he teaches me where my nose, chin, ears, cheeks and eyes are. I think it's pretty funny when he gets to my chin. I can't help but smile because it tickles a little!

And I kind of hate to say it, but that song that we sing together ("My God is So Big" that I sang in the video two entries ago) is starting to be pretty fun, too. I couldn't help but smile and laugh when we where doing it the other day!

So life is good. Thanks for reading, dear reader. Keep checking back for more about little ol' me.

Love,
Katie T

Tippin' the Scales

What up, homeys!

Mommy weighed me the other day at Aunt Ellen's house and I'm almost 9 pounds now! Woohoo!

Love ya all,
Baby Kate

New Year, New Blog Feature: Video!

Hello, faithful readers! Baby Kate back again with a new post in the new year.

My first Christmas was kind of neat. Some guy named "Santa" brought me this cool cow toy that plays sounds and music. Big Brother got me some head bands and a stuffed horsey (picture below). I love them both!

Mommy and Daddy said that a new year's resolution they have for me is to get me on a better "schedule." I guess they got tired of me screaming at them a lot lately. What am I supposed to do? I can't talk yet, so I had to come up with something. Whatever schedule they're getting me on, they apparently don't feel it's important enough to get me my own Google calendar-enabled smartphone. *shrug* I guess they're doing a good enough job keeping track of it, though, because I am getting to be a lot less cranky now.

I'm getting bigger all of the time! I've already outgrown my preemie clothes and some of my newborn-sized clothes are slightly snug. I guess my head is getting bigger, too, because a couple of my hats don't fit so well anymore -- they keep slipping off of my head!

I'm getting stronger all of the time, too! My head isn't nearly as floppy anymore and my legs can even hold me up when I lean against someone. Daddy and Mommy are always impressed by that and call me their "big girl"!

Daddy and Mommy are pretty entertaining sometimes. There are times that one of them is so funny that I'll actually give them a big smile to show them I'm happy! They like that a lot.

So I guess that's it for now. I've definitely got some pictures for you but this time I thought I'd throw in a little video of me performing my favorite song. Thanks for visiting and enjoy!

Peace,
KT

Me, Horsey and one of the headbands that Big Brother gave me.

Big Brother and me at church a couple of Sundays ago.

Mommy and me at church. Notice the "sleeping" theme I have going on.

Daddy caught on camera the end of one of my big smiles. I love that bib!

And now, the event you've all been waiting for: My video debut!