Kate Update

The following pictures span November through January.

While James is over our tribe's war drums, Kate specializes in war paint.

Pretty intimidating, huh?

Using her ingenuity, Kate designed a new form of tribal intimidation.
3-D is always more impressive than 2-D.

Kate is also our family cheerleader. She loves to cheer herself and others on with a hearty clap.

One of the talents she developed before heading out of town before Christmas: standing and moving from place to place using furniture.

They love each other.

Exhibit A: Evidence of James' love for his sister.

Exhibit B: Further evidence of James' love for his sister.

Exhibit C: Obvious mutual love and adoration.
James is very good about taking care of Kate. I happened to be in the other room for a brief moment when Kate ran out of "puffs." James quickly took care of the problem.

Kate is particular about books. There are only a few that she will stay put for. But, she really LOVES the ones that she'll sit for. This elite list includes: Brown Bear, Brown Bear; Petting Farm (pictured); Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? (also pictured); 10 Friendly Fish.

As you can see, Kate has gotten a number of teeth. She currently has 4 on the top (one is just barely coming in) and 2 on the bottom. She likes to use them...you'll see evidence of that later.

Our happy girl!

Yeah...so...like I said, she likes to use her teeth.
A couple of weeks ago, Kate woke up from her nap, but then went quiet. I thought maybe she had gone back to sleep. About 15 minutes later, I heard her chattering, so I went in to get her. I soon learned why she had gone quiet. The above file folder with a couple of sheets of paper within had been sitting a tad too close to her pack 'n play. She apparently spotted it and decided to practice her biting, tearing, chewing, and swallowing skills. This little girls LOVES eating paper. She is not allowed to touch it unless we have a constant eye on her. I honestly can't believe she ate that much paper: two layers of file folder, 3 sheets of paper in a two inch triangle. The little scraps of file folder on the table is the only bit that I was able to get out of her mouth when I got to her.

"It's tradition." (Most of the time)
Whenever one or the other wakes up from a nap, the one who first wakes up must get into the other's crib for a little jumping and playing before getting on with the day.

I can't remember if she was happy or upset here. This picture could really go either way. I think it really highlights how expressive Kate is. She lets you know when she's happy and when she's upset in a rather boisterous manner.

Kate's 9 Month Stats

Height: 27.5 inches
(30th percentile...or so)

Weight: 15.14 lbs
(3rd percentile...or so)

Kate is a little girl with a lot of drive and personality. In spite of her size, she can hold her own. She has been incredibly motivated to move. I witnessed her first steps by looking around a corner to check on her. No one was coaching her, she's just one motivated girl. She started walking at 10 1/2 months before it was even on our radar. That's how it was with sitting up, crawling, and standing too. We were simply too slow for her. She took matters into her own hands. Of course once she led out, we showered her with lots of encouragement. She loves to have us clap and to cheer herself and her brother on by clapping. She's an incredibly happy girl who needs far less sleep than her older brother. That has been an adjustment for me. Instead of 7:30 wake up time for the kids, it's more like 6:30 now. Her morning giggles often wake her brother. She's quite the social bug. She's often handed from woman to woman in Relief Society and Sunday School. She loves making new friends. She has been saying "mama" off and on since before Christmas. She has said "dada" a couple of times. And she went through a fun "uh-oh" stage for a bit. Currently, her favorite game is peek-a-boo. She is constantly putting objects over her face waiting for someone to say "Where is Kate?" She then waits for a moment of surprise and peeks out from behind the object with joy in her eyes as we say "Peek-a-boo." It never gets old. It's too cute. She also likes to play "chase" with James. And recently James has taken to tackling and wrestling Kate. Like I mentioned earlier, she can hold her own. She thinks its hilarious. I, however, usually stop the festivities; after all, she's just a baby. Kate loves to look at pictures of Jesus. It's adorable. She gets the biggest smile on her face when she sees a picture of Jesus. It can turn her cries into smiles and giggles. I love it. We absolutely love having this sweet little girl in our family! (I must not forget to add that she is totally a daddy's girl as of late. She LOVES her daddy!)