A visit with the Doctor of Babies

Nine month checkup. Time flies, eh?

Doc was very impressed with Kaylee's physical development (crawling, standing, etc.) and not so worried about her lack of teeth. When we told him she doesn't "talk" much he said she was probably just going to start out quiet or shy.

Since the appointment she's been Little Miss Chatterbox.

She's weighing in at just over 17 pounds now. And she's 27 inches tall.

That means Mini-Me only has four inches on her. But I'm pretty sure her vocabulary is more extensive than his.

Cranky baby

You know – she just really hates getting out of the bath. Especially when you try to dry her hair. And body lotion? Forget it.

Kaylee had her first rough night in a loooong time last night. She was a little cranky all evening – but nothing too out of the ordinary. When she went to bed at eight, she went down like a rock. But sometime around 11:30 she decided it was cranky time.

And even though it's never fun to listen to a screaming child when you're trying to sleep – she was still cute. She'd fuss a bit, sit up, let out a good scream and double over and sleep. Wait 30 seconds and repeat.

Never did figure out what her problem was – but after an hour or so she finally settled down. Maybe she's finally working on some teeth?

Kaylee Mike today: Sleepy.

Kaylee weekend update

* She's up another diaper size. I can't get over how big they seem on her. But I was saying the same thing about her size twos – which you can barely get around that belly these days.

* Her first real word (witnessed by two people) is "dog." She said it about 5-7 times today. All while she was loving on Eddie or chasing Pork Chop. Granted – it sounds a lot like "da" but different enough to satisfy even a skeptic like me.

* She's getting too big for her car seat – it's about time to go buy a new one. Problem with that is I drop her off at day care and Rae picks her up. Her current car seat travels with her – the new one would stay in the car.

Which means we would need two. And those things aren't cheap ...

* Speaking of seats – she hates her highchair. So it can be difficult to get her to eat. Though she is very interested in whatever is on my plate. So she gets a little bit of food there ... not much though.

Kaylee today: Screaming. (We say it's bedtime – and she doesn't agree.)

Feeding Herself II: The Spaghetti Incident

We decided to try letting the kid feed herself again. Spaghetti this time.

She's still not real sure about this whole "feeding herself" thing.
She only ate about five "bites" – the rest of the time she was just trying to flip her plate over.

Kaylee today: Sauced.

Poor Eddie

What do you think of Kaylee's new Dog Skin Rug?*

*Just in case you're wondering – Eddie is fine. No need to panic.

From the editor's desk

This isn't the kind of blog where you would expect to read rumors and hearsay. I like to think that this site has a certain level of integrity when it comes to things like that. We do not cite anonymous sources and each fact that we publish must be corroborated by two independent and credible sources.

Unless it is the editor's opinion, which is 99% of what makes up this site. But I digress.

A story was brought to our attention today. It is alleged that Kaylee spoke her first real word this afternoon. This story is backed up by only one source – the child's mother. We have only agreed to publish her account after a certain "special interest group" weighed in during an unsolicited phone call this evening. We are not claiming that we fear for our lives – but the caller has threatened us with physical harm in the past.

Rae claims that at approximately 2:30 this afternoon, while feeding Kaylee in the dining room, the child began to get fussy. As she often does, Rae asked "Are you done?" and held the empty spoon to be seen. She claims that the child clearly replied "Done," and looked quite proud of herself after the fact.

We cannot confirm the child's actions as the father was in the other room doing something we are sure was very important. No other credible witnesses were available at this time – dogs don't count.

Kaylee declined to comment for this article.

Oh - by the way

Saturday started the official 100 day countdown to Kaylee's first birthday.

Mark your calendars. Punch and pie will be served.

Not much to say

Kalyee learns how to put Dad in his proper place.

No big update this weekend. Sorry. I spent all day Saturday at work (I hear it's genetic – right Dad?) and most of this morning either playing with the kid, sprawled out on the couch or painting the "ugly bathroom."

Therefore you, Kaylee's faithful following (and by default my loving audience), are left wanting more. Them's the breaks. Things are getting really busy around here – so posts may become a little less frequent. Or – with everything going on – I may find more to post about.

I guess you'll just have to keep checking.

Kaylee today: Squeaky.

All she wants for dinner

Mmmmm ... toes.

WE WANT PHOTOS! WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Kaylee's weekend wasn't exciting. But I took pictures anyway.
It's what dads do. That's just how I roll.

We've started feeding her from our plates. (The kid likes Tuna Helper – she must get that from Rae.) So we decided to fix her a plate of her own Friday night. Chicken and mashed potatoes. It took her about ten minutes to figure out that she could EAT the stuff.

(The fact that she is pictured with a spoon in her mouth should in no way indicate that she has the slightest idea of how to operate it.)

Don't let the photo fool you. She HATES this hat. She spent five screaming minutes trying to tear it off. Finally we took it off and opted for the covered mega-stroller (pictured below).

Kaylee's view (sorta) of our walk this weekend. I'm tempted to tie the dogs to the stroller and just teach her to yell "MUSH."

On our trip to the grocery store Kaylee was told what a cute little boy she was by three different people. (Despite the fact that she's wearing a skirt.) I'm going to buy her a shirt that says "I'M A GIRL DAMMIT!"

1 ... 2 ... 3 ... KICK ... 2 ... 3 ...

Kaylee today: Loud.

What she means when she says ...

She's got all kinds of squeals, grunts and farty noises, but Kaylee still really only has one word. "Dadadadada" ... which she tends to say when she's hanging out with me or interested in something I have.

But, she has also taken to saying it when she's excited about something. Food, animals, toys, her feet, whatever. And it's only good things. "Dadaddadadada" never means "I just pooped my pants."

So, if "Dadada" = Me.
And "Dadada" = awesome.
Therefore, Me = awesome.

It's a perfect argument. If you say I'm wrong then you're speaking out against my very cute baby. You may as well admit that you hate apple pie, torture puppies and fart in the general direction of the Statue of Liberty.

Be careful what you say. I have Homeland Security on speed dial.

Kaylee today: Dadadadada.

Worth the wait

I can't just pull greatness out of thin air people. Well, I can – it just takes the better part of a week. I'll make up for it with more photos this weekend.

In the meantime, here's a video to keep you quiet happy.

Kaylee today: Free-standing.

I scream, you scream ...

Kaylee vs. ice cream sandwich.
We estimate about one-third actually made it in the mouth.

UPDATE: Camera ate my video. Stupid camera.

Kaylee's got talent!

Kaylee's latest talent. Impressions!

Kaylee today: Balancing.

Lunch time ...

One bite, two bites, three bite-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ...