Katie Go Braugh

Of course any baby named "Katie Eileen" would celebrate St. Patty's day - our little Colleen is sporting a "Kiss Me I'm Irish" frock (you can't see the big shamrock in the picture b/c she kept insisting on lifting THAT foot) and is all ready to spread good luck wishes to the world.

We haven't done the math yet, but Dad's a little over 1/2 Irish, and Mom's a little less than 1/2 Irish - so she comes by the wearin o' the green honestly!

Have a great day, everyone!

Tall, Skinny Smart Kid

Katie's 6-month checkup went very well. The doctor and all the nurses just couldn't get over her thick, long hair - we also got permission to start using conditioner on those tangles (all the articles say not to use it until 2 years old because "of course" you won't need it! LOL).

Here are the current stats on our tall, skinny smart kid!

height - 27 inches (90th percentile)
weight - 15 lbs, 11 oz (50th percentile)
head circumphrence - 44 cm (90th percentile)
weight-to-length ratio - 10th percentile

She got a bunch of shots again and is sporting Bugs Bunny bandaids on both legs. She hollered for a little while but then settled down into a 2-hour nap (between the 9am appointment and the time change she lost a good bit of beauty rest last night) and now seems to be doing pretty well.

A lot of folks have asked what she thought of the big snow Cincinnati just got - she's still too little for playing in the snow but seemed interested in the few flakes that hit her face while traveling from the house to the car - just wait until next year, though!

6 months old!

Wow - Katie is a half-year old today! The whole family enjoyed Katie's tigger pic photo session, especially when they started wrestling (Katie won). We have decided that Katie will be taking tigger pics for the rest of her life, although we'll probably switch to annual pictures after this September.

This has been quite an exciting time - Katie is eating a "real" meal at least once a day with either Mom or Dad doing the honors (for a while it looked like Dad's left handed technique was the only one that was going to work....). We're pretty sure she's getting ready for another growth spurt - not only do the books say to expect it, but she's eating as though JoJo the tapeworm has moved in....of course the ...ahem... results of the dietary change are interesting - just ask Daddy, who got to do the "special" diaper change today!


Meanwhile, Katie has rolled over from her back to her belly a couple of times - the first time was a surprise when no one was watching, the most recent was with a rapt audience who cheered appropriately. She will purposefully grab for things she wants, even if it means moving something else out of the way first. Her vocalizations are getting much more elaborate as she squeaks, squeals and sings - sometimes up to a half an hour at a time.

Faces seem to hold a new fascination for Katie - she'll run her hands all over your nose, cheeks and mouth while you're holding her - pretending to nibble on her fingers is a sure way to get a giggle!

Of course, we'll do just about anything for one of those giggles, including playing peek-a-boo until we want to just hide under that blanket for the rest of the night :) Speaking of nights, the sleeping-through-the-night thing seems to be firmly established, including sleeping in most mornings!

"God, that's good!"

The pediatrician said that we could try any time between her last appointment and her next (scheduled for March 10th) so today was the big day - Katie's first "solid" food.





"Solid," of course, is a relative term but describes her meal of reconstituted rice cereal as well as can be expected.





Although this picture might suggest otherwise, pretty much all of the first meal seems to have ended up inside her tummy.





Cleanup also went well.


There are many more pictures and even two videos in the 5-6 month section of the photo album - click on the link to the left and enjoy :)



p.s. those who get the title's allusion...we felt justified since her meal is partly of human origin...although more voluntary than in the song...... ;-)

stealth ninja tricks

If a baby rolls over by herself and neither parent sees it happen....does it make a noise?

Something like that! LOL!

Katie was happily playing on her floor-mat-gym-thing while Mom and Dad were reading on the couch - all of a sudden, we looked down and she was on her tummy!



no repeat performances yet, but unless Simon the Wonder Cat got involved (and he's not saying), our girl just hit another milestone :)

About a week ago, she rolled herself right off her changing table and scared Mom half to death (not to mention Dad, who was upstairs before he even realized that he was moving) - she's a quick little thing...and a little bit sneaky.

We also had our first sickness when she woke up at 4am with that horrible barking croup-cough. Fortunately it went away almost as quickly as it started, and we got to meet another of the pediatricians at the practice. We also learned a little bit about giving medicine to a baby - definitely one of those things you don't appreciate until you experience it first-hand LOL!

Learning every day...

Katie is learning more and more about manipulating her environment - already she's getting more interested in the gee-gaws on her exersaucer (not to mention looking adorable in the mouse ears that Uncle Greg gave her for Christmas).



She's also starting to handle toys and other objects with both hands and even also using her feet to move things to her liking, like the block toy she's holding in this second picture.







And there's always that killer smile, which is at the ready more often than not.....

5 months old!

Well, Katie's 5 months old now, and she's growing and learning so much, it's hard to keep track! A few weeks ago, she found her feet and has managed to start chewing on her toes. She's also reaching out for things she wants, recognizing people beyond Mommy and Daddy, and she'll smile and giggle at just about anyone.

Current stats (measured at home): 15 pounds, 26 inches long

Our girl is finding her voice and is currently exploring the continuum of vowel sounds, squeeks and squeals. We're looking forward to consonants, and are competing to try to get "ma-ma" or "da-da" to be the first one, even though we know it's going to be quite some time for that :)

We're starting to experiment with rolling over - with a little bit of help, she's managed back-to-front and front-to-back. Tummy time is much less of a chore, and we've entered the wonderful world of the exersaucer! This was a Christmas present and is now a piece of furniture in the house - the thing had roughly 8 million pieces, and Katie's not quite sure what to do with it yet, but we can tell it's going to be a lot of fun in the coming months...

Also - if you go back in the archives to September, 2007, you can read the Daddy-eye-view of Katie's arrival....