Catie is 9 months!!!!!!!!!

Catie turned 9 months the day after Christmas.  She could possibly be my favorite as she did start sleeping through the night all by herself.  I thought that was just a myth!! :)  She's turned into an awesome eater!  Once we realized that she doesn't like pureed food and started giving her solids she started eating it up.  I'm sure it's because she's the 3rd child, but we are pretty much giving her whatever we are eating and have already started giving her bites of chicken, turkey and ham.  It's amazing what she can eat with only her 2 bottom teeth.  Yes, she still only has her 2 bottom teeth and it doesn't look like her top ones are coming in any time soon.  She does look so cute with her teeth.

Catie is getting better crawling and is starting to crawl properly more than army crawling.  She's also starting to take steps if you hold her hands.  I even watched her hold on the couch and take a couple of steps holding on to it.  I'm not going to get my hopes up about her walking early, though.  Everyone thought Alex would walk early to keep up with Robbie, but he didn't.

I also decided to take away Catie's baby bath tub and am just bathing her in the big tub.  She loves it!  But she is definitely one we will have to keep an eye on when there's water in the tub because she's fallen face first reaching for toys and has tried to pull up on the side of the tub.  Who knows, maybe she'll even be a bigger daredevil than her brothers!  (Lord help me!)

I don't know if it's because Catie is older or because Alex is older, but Alex is definitely giving Catie more attention than he used to.  He'll give her hugs and kisses and bring her toys.  Of course, now that she's more mobile and grabby he's not always her biggest fan.  He has acted like she's a 10-ton boulder when she's crawled on his legs and he can't get them out from under her.  And she does want to look at whatever book he might be reading.  But both boys are so sweet with her and are great big brothers.

1 week

1 month

2 months

 3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

Visit with Santa

Robbie said a while ago that he wanted to see Santa.  This is a complete 180 from previous years when he would barely even look at Santa when we walked by (though he still wanted to keep his eye on him!).  Alex and Robbie are both out of school now and Matthew was able to meet us at the mall.  The wait wasn't too bad and it helped that my friend Amber and Robbie's best friend Xavier were there, too.  (That was a totally unplanned surprise!)

I feel like these pictures sum up our kids pretty nicely.  Robbie was super excited to see Santa.  Alex is shy and we had to carry him up to sit with Santa.  And Catie is in the beginning stages of separation anxiety.

Robbie - Yay, I'm so excited to see Santa!
Alex - Do I have to sit here?
Catie - Where'd you go, Mommy?

Alex - Am I done yet?

Yes, yes you are, Alex!

Robbie's Christmas Chapel

Today was Robbie's school Christmas chapel.  Matthew was able to take some time off to join me.  Alex and Catie were in Mom to Mom childcare.  It was nice not having to worry about them.

I asked Robbie a few times in the last couple of days if he was going to sing with his friends on stage.  He said he was and that they practiced being on stage.  I couldn't help but remember the last time we were on stage, for Catie's dedication, and he said it was scary.  Robbie did great!  After he was done he was able to come sit with us for the rest of the chapel.

Here are the 3 songs they did:

I love that Robbie looks right at the camera.  And the smile on his face at the end is priceless!  I really didn't know I was such a bad camera-person, though



I scanned the stage just to see all of the kids.  There are 4 PK3 classes.

Catie is 8 months!!!!!!!!

No one believes me when I tell them how old Catie is.  I can hardly believe it myself!!  She is such a happy baby and smiles at EVERYONE.  She still prefers the army crawl to actual crawling, but she's starting to go farther and farther on her hands and knees.  Either way, Catie gets around!  I'm always surprised when I find her in a different room than I leave her in.  She is trying to pull up, now, and successfully did it once on a toy.  And one way she has developed quicker than the boys: she has 2 teeth!  Robbie and Alex both got their first tooth at 8 months and she already had 2 when she turned 8 months.  It's hard to know when she's teething, though.  The night before her first tooth came through she slept through the night (or, I did anyway).  The second tooth came through when I was in Tallahassee and Matt was home with the kids.  It's funny because she has started sucking on her lips and I think it's because she's feeling her new teeth.  I'm sure it must be a strange feeling!

1 week

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

Feeling her teeth...looking like an old man!

Can you see them?