We had so much fun on our trip to Ohio for Easter!
We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Keller for a few days at their beautiful new home! It was so fun being able to go everywhere, with no safety gates keeping us in or out! It was nice to meet people and see old friends again at church on Palm Sunday. We played at Kaleidoscope Park, which was so cool because the steps were just our size, and the playground was made all of wood. We had a yummy and fun dinner at the Taggerts’, and got to eat out of our very own bowls with spoons for the first time. And neither of us even tried to throw or turn over anything, because we so enjoyed eating at the big table with everyone! (A few days later, Mommy started letting us use forks, and we love feeding ourselves now. We’re even trying a few sips of water from a cup, which is still pretty messy!) We had fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa and some of our new toys, and even got to go see the Easter Bunny, although we did NOT want to sit in his lap or be in a picture with him.
And then we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Sturgeon for a few days. We had so much fun when the weather was warm enough to run around outside, try the slide and sandbox, watch the tadpoles and fish in the water, swing on the swings, and chase the kitties around. And inside, we were able to get that Zoe dog to sit down with us and even take a few naps nearby so that we could get close for pats and cuddles. We had fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa, and our Aunt Mike and Uncle Robyn. Our cousins Katie and Sam showed us how to color Easter eggs – we just watched this year, but we paid close attention, so we’re all ready for next Easter! Katie and Sam also made a great Easter egg hunt for us, and helped us find them. We even learned how to fill a piñata and then break it open!
We had so much fun exploring and playing with everyone, and can’t wait to visit again! And when we got home, we went on a fun “Easter” hike with Mommy and Daddy (really the day after Easter) to see the pretty tulips and animals at Meadowlark Garden.
We had the best Easter! Here are some fun photos of our trip! There were so many, we thought we’d share them now, and share the rest of the April photos later. You can paste this link into your browser to see them. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=3CE0CE9FB333CC4D48D018FD78627C01.ecom202_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&token=9530107541105%3A2032884786&_requestid=74873
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Marching For Babies 2012
We are pleased to share that the Keller family will be participating in our second annual March For Babies on Sunday, May 6. The walk is 4 miles, which kick off at Reston Town Center.
Our experiences with preterm labor and premature birth inspire us to support the March Of Dimes. Born at 29 weeks and 6 days, Katharine and Christopher were 3 pounds, and 3 pounds 5 ounces. They needed surfactant to protect their developing lungs, air support, critical lines, feeding tubes, blood transfusions, and light therapy, and lived in isolettes to help them maintain their body temperature. They lived in the NICU for their first two months of life.
At nineteen months old now, they are almost 27 pounds and 21.5 pounds, and are healthy and happy, walking and running, and beginning to share their thoughts with us using new words all the time. As our children grow, and as we meet more and more families whose kids were born too small or too early, we realize even more how blessed our family was to have benefited from the research and treatments made available when the kids needed them.
We are proud to be walking in the March For Babies as a family, and are so thankful for your support. David and Christopher are walking as a team, and Andrea and Katharine are walking as a team.
We are signed up with the Inova Fairfax Hospital Center NICU Team. You can visit our pages to get more information or make a donation if you would like to contribute. Here is their site...
http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=1751339#team_roster
If you wish to donate to our fundraising goals you can access our pages by clicking on our names in the roster. You’ll find us under “Keller, Andrea and Katharine”, and “Keller, David and Christopher.”
And finally, here is some additional information about the organization and the event:
Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. I'm walking in March for Babies because I want to do something about this. And I need your help.
The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.
Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.
Thank you, with love,
Katharine, Christopher, David, and Andrea
Our experiences with preterm labor and premature birth inspire us to support the March Of Dimes. Born at 29 weeks and 6 days, Katharine and Christopher were 3 pounds, and 3 pounds 5 ounces. They needed surfactant to protect their developing lungs, air support, critical lines, feeding tubes, blood transfusions, and light therapy, and lived in isolettes to help them maintain their body temperature. They lived in the NICU for their first two months of life.
At nineteen months old now, they are almost 27 pounds and 21.5 pounds, and are healthy and happy, walking and running, and beginning to share their thoughts with us using new words all the time. As our children grow, and as we meet more and more families whose kids were born too small or too early, we realize even more how blessed our family was to have benefited from the research and treatments made available when the kids needed them.
We are proud to be walking in the March For Babies as a family, and are so thankful for your support. David and Christopher are walking as a team, and Andrea and Katharine are walking as a team.
We are signed up with the Inova Fairfax Hospital Center NICU Team. You can visit our pages to get more information or make a donation if you would like to contribute. Here is their site...
http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=1751339#team_roster
If you wish to donate to our fundraising goals you can access our pages by clicking on our names in the roster. You’ll find us under “Keller, Andrea and Katharine”, and “Keller, David and Christopher.”
And finally, here is some additional information about the organization and the event:
Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. I'm walking in March for Babies because I want to do something about this. And I need your help.
The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.
Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.
Thank you, with love,
Katharine, Christopher, David, and Andrea
March 2012
March was marvelous! At 19 months old, Christopher is 26 pounds, 13 ounces, and Katharine is 12 pounds, 8 ounces. Mommy can’t believe that we’re now closer to being 2 years old than 1 year old!
We made the most of the beautiful weather (the warmest March in history) by getting out for long walks and playing in the yard. We’re becoming much more independent walkers and are literally starting to run around and enjoy exploring and playing in the grass. Katharine was a little hesitant to try walking in the grass at first, but she is really getting used to it now. The early bloom has been fun for us to see all the birds, flowers, and leaves on the trees. And the warmer weather has given us lots of opportunities to play out on the porch, where we can sit at our table, ride on our toys, and watch the birds, squirrels, and neighbors.
We also had lots of fun playing indoors at our table, working with puzzles, books, stacking cups and blocks, drawing, and learning to cut shapes out of modeling clay. We finished our music class this month, and had lots of fun playing with our friends at playdates. And we had SO much fun celebrating with our friends Dylan and Ryan and Molly and Andrew at their 2nd birthday parties!
We got our first balloons this month, and enjoyed pulling them down and watching the float back up. “Up” and “Down” were two of our new words this month, as well as “Go, Go, Go”, “Open”, and “Out” (the last few associated mostly with getting to go outside). Christopher also learned “bell” and “loon” for his favorite new toy – the balloon!
And we had fun celebrating St Patrick’s Day by sharing our balloons and other toys with our friend Zach, and his mommy and daddy.
At the end of the month, we took a trip to see “the bunny” at the mall. Fortunately mommy took a few pictures while we waited in line, because the photos in the bunny’s lap were a no-go. And we did some explorations with eggs! Mommy let us break open our hard-boiled eggs at breakfast so we could learn about them. And we practiced at home with our new egg baskets, picking up plastic eggs and putting them in.
We had a wonderful trip to Ohio for Easter, and will share more about our adventures in the April blog and gallery. Photos for our March gallery can be found by copying and pasting this link into your browser. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=3EDB76CD57C82626020460D02F2803F7.ecom304_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&token=7809023541105%3A76629411&_requestid=80439
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
We made the most of the beautiful weather (the warmest March in history) by getting out for long walks and playing in the yard. We’re becoming much more independent walkers and are literally starting to run around and enjoy exploring and playing in the grass. Katharine was a little hesitant to try walking in the grass at first, but she is really getting used to it now. The early bloom has been fun for us to see all the birds, flowers, and leaves on the trees. And the warmer weather has given us lots of opportunities to play out on the porch, where we can sit at our table, ride on our toys, and watch the birds, squirrels, and neighbors.
We also had lots of fun playing indoors at our table, working with puzzles, books, stacking cups and blocks, drawing, and learning to cut shapes out of modeling clay. We finished our music class this month, and had lots of fun playing with our friends at playdates. And we had SO much fun celebrating with our friends Dylan and Ryan and Molly and Andrew at their 2nd birthday parties!
We got our first balloons this month, and enjoyed pulling them down and watching the float back up. “Up” and “Down” were two of our new words this month, as well as “Go, Go, Go”, “Open”, and “Out” (the last few associated mostly with getting to go outside). Christopher also learned “bell” and “loon” for his favorite new toy – the balloon!
And we had fun celebrating St Patrick’s Day by sharing our balloons and other toys with our friend Zach, and his mommy and daddy.
At the end of the month, we took a trip to see “the bunny” at the mall. Fortunately mommy took a few pictures while we waited in line, because the photos in the bunny’s lap were a no-go. And we did some explorations with eggs! Mommy let us break open our hard-boiled eggs at breakfast so we could learn about them. And we practiced at home with our new egg baskets, picking up plastic eggs and putting them in.
We had a wonderful trip to Ohio for Easter, and will share more about our adventures in the April blog and gallery. Photos for our March gallery can be found by copying and pasting this link into your browser. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=3EDB76CD57C82626020460D02F2803F7.ecom304_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&token=7809023541105%3A76629411&_requestid=80439
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
Thursday, March 1, 2012
We're 18 Months!
February was much like January. Up and down and up and down… Days in the high 60’s and even 70’s, then snowing, windy, rainy. We also spent several weeks recovering from some nasty colds, so we spent a lot of time playing at home, nursing runny noses and coughs.
By mid-month we were all-better, and were able to have some friends over to play, as well as able to go to playgroups, church, and music class again! We tried story hour at the bookstore. And we went on lots of fun walks with Mommy and some other friends.
We even got to go outside a few times and walk around on our own. Christopher always wants to head straight across the street to watch the neighborhood kids play basketball (“Ball”!). But Mommy always makes us hold her hands, and then come back inside, which isn’t as much fun as going outside.
We turned 18 months this month! At the end of the month, Katharine was 21 pounds, 2 ounces, and 31 inches, and Christopher was 26 pounds, 9 ounces, and 33 inches! We are walking all over the place, with more and more independence and confidence. We even like to see if we can “escape” Mommy and Daddy sometimes by going really fast. We are learning to hold the railing while walking up the stairs, but still need lots of practice, and are not quite ready yet for walking down.
And we are starting to try saying lots of words, like “more, milk, moo, ball, woof (for dog), and Vvv (for vvroom – car)". It is wonderful to be able to try to tell Mommy and Daddy what we want instead of just crying or yelling until they figure it out! ☺
And this month, we began to learn to love our veggies and trying some new foods! Our new teeth are making it easier and more fun to chew, so our food adventure continues!
Here is a site for some fun photos from this month. You can copy and paste it into your browser to see the pictures. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=04418D8160151A1DE99EB35535D97E08.ecom403_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&token=8521053731105%3A1203815124&_requestid=2585
Love,
Katharine and Christopher
By mid-month we were all-better, and were able to have some friends over to play, as well as able to go to playgroups, church, and music class again! We tried story hour at the bookstore. And we went on lots of fun walks with Mommy and some other friends.
We even got to go outside a few times and walk around on our own. Christopher always wants to head straight across the street to watch the neighborhood kids play basketball (“Ball”!). But Mommy always makes us hold her hands, and then come back inside, which isn’t as much fun as going outside.
We turned 18 months this month! At the end of the month, Katharine was 21 pounds, 2 ounces, and 31 inches, and Christopher was 26 pounds, 9 ounces, and 33 inches! We are walking all over the place, with more and more independence and confidence. We even like to see if we can “escape” Mommy and Daddy sometimes by going really fast. We are learning to hold the railing while walking up the stairs, but still need lots of practice, and are not quite ready yet for walking down.
And we are starting to try saying lots of words, like “more, milk, moo, ball, woof (for dog), and Vvv (for vvroom – car)". It is wonderful to be able to try to tell Mommy and Daddy what we want instead of just crying or yelling until they figure it out! ☺
And this month, we began to learn to love our veggies and trying some new foods! Our new teeth are making it easier and more fun to chew, so our food adventure continues!
Here is a site for some fun photos from this month. You can copy and paste it into your browser to see the pictures. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=04418D8160151A1DE99EB35535D97E08.ecom403_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&token=8521053731105%3A1203815124&_requestid=2585
Love,
Katharine and Christopher
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Happy 2012!
January was a split-personality month! We had 65-degree days with sun and 32-degree days with ice. Up, and down, and up, and down it went. So we had an interesting mix of playing at home and heading out for adventures!
We welcomed in the New Year with a morning at the park. It was so warm, and we had so much fun, leading the way this time. Mommy and Daddy followed us wherever we wanted to go! Walking is SO much fun!
We went for walks together and even went on a hike with our friend Zachary’s family. We played with friends at playgroup, and together at home. And we got to try lots of fun new games on our “snowed-in day!” It was great, because it was on a Saturday, when Daddy was home to play with us. We got to play in the tent, read books, and we even got to try out our new crayons!
We continue to grow and change a lot (surprise!) Katharine is 20 pounds, 11 oz, and Christopher is 25 pounds 6 oz. We both are working on four new teeth – two top and two bottom molars! And we both learned to stand up on our own in the last few weeks, so we don’t always have to find something to pull up on first. We continue to challenge Mommy and Daddy’s expectations about what we can reach, get to, get into… And we’re getting to be really independent, faster walkers. We even worked on our skills at the park and in our yard, and continue to get more and more confident!
Christopher graduated from physical therapy this month – ALL done!! And we both passed our follow up hearing screening! So now we start working more on speech and language development.
Katharine knows SO many words, and is so helpful about getting and bringing things – except for when she decides to play her new favorite game… of “hide it behind the couch!” Sometimes she even hides herself when Christopher goes to get into the car. She loves for Mommy and Daddy to come and find her. And she is becoming notorious for holding things behind her back to hide them, with a sly, telling smile! Along with developing a good sense of humor, she is also developing quite a vocabulary, by pointing at everything, saying “dis” and “dat”, so she can learn the name for it. She is good at copying sounds, but is not quite ready to say the words yet.
Christopher is also building a wider repertoire of words he knows. He is beginning to follow some directions more reliably, and can go get some things on request, although he mostly gets so excited about finding it that he tosses it (he also likes to see if things bounce, which might be another reason for the tossing). ☺ He is also building his vocabulary, frequently using the word “light” for everything, as his way of asking what something is. He does love the lights, especially when he directs us with “Ah” and “Ough”, to turn them on or off. He loves that he can tell us what to do. He can find lots of things when we name them, and is becoming a great mimic of sounds as well. He is also very funny, and loves to make Katharine laugh, by playing peek-a-boo, making funny faces and sounds, patting his head, doing his “dance”, and pounding on the table at dinner (much to Mom’s chagrin, as lentils fly everywhere….)
Life here continues to get more and more interesting, and we’re loving it!
Here is a link some of our favorite photos from January! Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=2A2E820EE38438CF80321DF661A487A9.ecom105_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=108317
Love,
Katharine and Christopher
We welcomed in the New Year with a morning at the park. It was so warm, and we had so much fun, leading the way this time. Mommy and Daddy followed us wherever we wanted to go! Walking is SO much fun!
We went for walks together and even went on a hike with our friend Zachary’s family. We played with friends at playgroup, and together at home. And we got to try lots of fun new games on our “snowed-in day!” It was great, because it was on a Saturday, when Daddy was home to play with us. We got to play in the tent, read books, and we even got to try out our new crayons!
We continue to grow and change a lot (surprise!) Katharine is 20 pounds, 11 oz, and Christopher is 25 pounds 6 oz. We both are working on four new teeth – two top and two bottom molars! And we both learned to stand up on our own in the last few weeks, so we don’t always have to find something to pull up on first. We continue to challenge Mommy and Daddy’s expectations about what we can reach, get to, get into… And we’re getting to be really independent, faster walkers. We even worked on our skills at the park and in our yard, and continue to get more and more confident!
Christopher graduated from physical therapy this month – ALL done!! And we both passed our follow up hearing screening! So now we start working more on speech and language development.
Katharine knows SO many words, and is so helpful about getting and bringing things – except for when she decides to play her new favorite game… of “hide it behind the couch!” Sometimes she even hides herself when Christopher goes to get into the car. She loves for Mommy and Daddy to come and find her. And she is becoming notorious for holding things behind her back to hide them, with a sly, telling smile! Along with developing a good sense of humor, she is also developing quite a vocabulary, by pointing at everything, saying “dis” and “dat”, so she can learn the name for it. She is good at copying sounds, but is not quite ready to say the words yet.
Christopher is also building a wider repertoire of words he knows. He is beginning to follow some directions more reliably, and can go get some things on request, although he mostly gets so excited about finding it that he tosses it (he also likes to see if things bounce, which might be another reason for the tossing). ☺ He is also building his vocabulary, frequently using the word “light” for everything, as his way of asking what something is. He does love the lights, especially when he directs us with “Ah” and “Ough”, to turn them on or off. He loves that he can tell us what to do. He can find lots of things when we name them, and is becoming a great mimic of sounds as well. He is also very funny, and loves to make Katharine laugh, by playing peek-a-boo, making funny faces and sounds, patting his head, doing his “dance”, and pounding on the table at dinner (much to Mom’s chagrin, as lentils fly everywhere….)
Life here continues to get more and more interesting, and we’re loving it!
Here is a link some of our favorite photos from January! Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=2A2E820EE38438CF80321DF661A487A9.ecom105_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=108317
Love,
Katharine and Christopher
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A Very Merry December!
December was a fun-filled month!
As always, we enjoyed lots of fun walks, and playing with our playgroup friends this month. Mommy and Daddy took us on some fun neighborhood hikes on warmer days!
We went to visit Santa at the mall, which was not as much fun for us as we hoped, because we both were a little nervous about Santa. Christopher made it through the experience with his pacifier, and Katharine was intent on expressing her discontent. In the end, we got one “not screaming” photo to remember the event by. When we got home, Christopher was so wiped out that he continued to sleep on the floor, even through Katharine’s encouraging pokes, making for some really cute pictures.
We continue to grow and learn so many new things! We went on our first visit to the dentist, just in time, as Katharine is getting in her first two molars (on one top and one on the bottom), and Christopher has lots of teeth getting ready to come in. Katharine is 20 pounds and 3 ounces, and Christopher is 25 pounds and 3 ounces.
Our Big News: Katharine started walking the week after Thanksgiving, and already loves to accomplish great distances! We are both becoming more and more confident walkers, walking all over with great purpose to get to things we want to see. We are great at becoming more confident climbers, and are looking forward to putting the ladder, slide, and legs on our new tree house play set to practice our skills, with lots of help. Along with walking, we are reaching lots more things now that we can stand on our own and get around easier, and are also getting really good at moving barriers out of our way. So Mommy and Daddy are working to get better at anticipating our moves and planning for safety.
We loved to visit and look at the Christmas trees this month (our tree by the table, and the BIG tree in the living room; trees at the mall, at Grandma and Grandpas – trees everywhere!). We’re trying to “be gentle” with the ornaments and the lights, but they make really cool sounds when they hit the floor! We’ve both gotten really good at recognizing some words this month (foot, hand, milk, lights), and one of them is TREE! Sometimes we even say “dah” or “tah”, which Mommy and Daddy will take to mean “tree”. We make multiple daily visits to the trees and will be so sad to see our trees go when January comes. One day we will learn that most trees are outside and do not include lights!
We’ve also become really confident “swimmers” this month, as we finished up our Baby and Me swim classes. We learned to “jump in, outstretch arms, kick, float, and even go under” the water, all of course with Mommy and Daddy’s help. On our last day, we even got to try some fun floaties to feel a little more independence from Mommy and Daddy. We can’t wait to go swimming again!
Mommy and Daddy took us on some other fun family outings this month. We went to Glen Echo Park to see a Nutcracker Puppet Show for Tiny Tots. The puppeteer has worked with the Mister Rogers Show and the Muppets, which Mom and Dad thought was pretty neat. The puppets were really neat! We really enjoyed watching them dance and move, and practiced our clapping abilities with the rest of the audience. We were so impressed that everyone else could clap too!
And we went out to have a nice dinner at Bazin’s, which was SOOO pretty! We took our clip on seats, so we were nice and comfortable. And the restaurant was all decorated with lights around the windows, and beautiful ornaments hung from the ceiling. We loved looking all around at the pretty decorations, when we weren’t watching the game on TV. The best part was that we were the first customers for Sunday night dinner, so it wasn’t crowded or noisy, and we were able to enjoy a nice relaxing family meal!
Mommy and Daddy also got to go out by themselves on a date night, for dinner at L’Auberge Chez Francois. They got all dressed up before we went to bed, and we didn’t even recognize Mommy at first, with her shorter hair down and all curly. It was great that Mommy and Daddy had a fun night out together!
The best part of this month was visiting our families in Ohio. We loved seeing our Grandmas and Grandpas, and Aunts and Uncles, and playing with our cousins. We had fun seeing Zoe Dog and the Kitties, and exploring all the new places we went to, including the back of the church on Christmas Eve.
And when we got home, we went with Christopher for another big first – His very first haircut! We went to Cartoon Cuts, at the mall, where every station has a TV, and kids can blow bubbles and play with toys while they get their haircut. Christopher was very brave as he was strapped onto the booster seat in his chair. He did great, watching the TV, when Mom wasn’t in the way, taking pictures. Katharine and Daddy watched and cheered him on, as he had the little curling tendrils behind his ears snipped off, and the rest of his hair trimmed up a bit. We were all SO proud of him, our handsome, BIG boy!
And on New Year’s Eve, we enjoyed a fun family hike on some nature paths near our house. What a wonderful way to finish out 2011!
Here is a link for our December gallery to paste in your browser. Because we were out and about a lot this month, we used our smaller camera and IPhone cameras more, so some of our “action” photos are a little fuzzier. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=A358379F17F51ADFAA4F17BE53F1583D.ecom501_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=166247
We can’t wait to see what 2012 brings! Happy New Year!
With Love,
Christopher and Katharine
As always, we enjoyed lots of fun walks, and playing with our playgroup friends this month. Mommy and Daddy took us on some fun neighborhood hikes on warmer days!
We went to visit Santa at the mall, which was not as much fun for us as we hoped, because we both were a little nervous about Santa. Christopher made it through the experience with his pacifier, and Katharine was intent on expressing her discontent. In the end, we got one “not screaming” photo to remember the event by. When we got home, Christopher was so wiped out that he continued to sleep on the floor, even through Katharine’s encouraging pokes, making for some really cute pictures.
We continue to grow and learn so many new things! We went on our first visit to the dentist, just in time, as Katharine is getting in her first two molars (on one top and one on the bottom), and Christopher has lots of teeth getting ready to come in. Katharine is 20 pounds and 3 ounces, and Christopher is 25 pounds and 3 ounces.
Our Big News: Katharine started walking the week after Thanksgiving, and already loves to accomplish great distances! We are both becoming more and more confident walkers, walking all over with great purpose to get to things we want to see. We are great at becoming more confident climbers, and are looking forward to putting the ladder, slide, and legs on our new tree house play set to practice our skills, with lots of help. Along with walking, we are reaching lots more things now that we can stand on our own and get around easier, and are also getting really good at moving barriers out of our way. So Mommy and Daddy are working to get better at anticipating our moves and planning for safety.
We loved to visit and look at the Christmas trees this month (our tree by the table, and the BIG tree in the living room; trees at the mall, at Grandma and Grandpas – trees everywhere!). We’re trying to “be gentle” with the ornaments and the lights, but they make really cool sounds when they hit the floor! We’ve both gotten really good at recognizing some words this month (foot, hand, milk, lights), and one of them is TREE! Sometimes we even say “dah” or “tah”, which Mommy and Daddy will take to mean “tree”. We make multiple daily visits to the trees and will be so sad to see our trees go when January comes. One day we will learn that most trees are outside and do not include lights!
We’ve also become really confident “swimmers” this month, as we finished up our Baby and Me swim classes. We learned to “jump in, outstretch arms, kick, float, and even go under” the water, all of course with Mommy and Daddy’s help. On our last day, we even got to try some fun floaties to feel a little more independence from Mommy and Daddy. We can’t wait to go swimming again!
Mommy and Daddy took us on some other fun family outings this month. We went to Glen Echo Park to see a Nutcracker Puppet Show for Tiny Tots. The puppeteer has worked with the Mister Rogers Show and the Muppets, which Mom and Dad thought was pretty neat. The puppets were really neat! We really enjoyed watching them dance and move, and practiced our clapping abilities with the rest of the audience. We were so impressed that everyone else could clap too!
And we went out to have a nice dinner at Bazin’s, which was SOOO pretty! We took our clip on seats, so we were nice and comfortable. And the restaurant was all decorated with lights around the windows, and beautiful ornaments hung from the ceiling. We loved looking all around at the pretty decorations, when we weren’t watching the game on TV. The best part was that we were the first customers for Sunday night dinner, so it wasn’t crowded or noisy, and we were able to enjoy a nice relaxing family meal!
Mommy and Daddy also got to go out by themselves on a date night, for dinner at L’Auberge Chez Francois. They got all dressed up before we went to bed, and we didn’t even recognize Mommy at first, with her shorter hair down and all curly. It was great that Mommy and Daddy had a fun night out together!
The best part of this month was visiting our families in Ohio. We loved seeing our Grandmas and Grandpas, and Aunts and Uncles, and playing with our cousins. We had fun seeing Zoe Dog and the Kitties, and exploring all the new places we went to, including the back of the church on Christmas Eve.
And when we got home, we went with Christopher for another big first – His very first haircut! We went to Cartoon Cuts, at the mall, where every station has a TV, and kids can blow bubbles and play with toys while they get their haircut. Christopher was very brave as he was strapped onto the booster seat in his chair. He did great, watching the TV, when Mom wasn’t in the way, taking pictures. Katharine and Daddy watched and cheered him on, as he had the little curling tendrils behind his ears snipped off, and the rest of his hair trimmed up a bit. We were all SO proud of him, our handsome, BIG boy!
And on New Year’s Eve, we enjoyed a fun family hike on some nature paths near our house. What a wonderful way to finish out 2011!
Here is a link for our December gallery to paste in your browser. Because we were out and about a lot this month, we used our smaller camera and IPhone cameras more, so some of our “action” photos are a little fuzzier. Enjoy!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp;jsessionid=A358379F17F51ADFAA4F17BE53F1583D.ecom501_main?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=166247
We can’t wait to see what 2012 brings! Happy New Year!
With Love,
Christopher and Katharine
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thankful For A Great November!
Wow! November just flew by!
We played a lot at home this month, and with our playgroup friends. We enjoyed some pretty days by taking walks, and even tried a (very chilly!) hike at Harper’s Ferry, WV. We had a great time trying out a couple of new music classes, and are excited to start taking one in January! We also started taking our first swim classes, which took a little while to get used to, and now we’re starting to really have fun!
We turned 15 months old this month, but didn’t have our checkup with the doctor until almost the end of the month. Christopher is 25 pounds, 4 ounces, at 31.5 inches and Katharine is 19 pounds, 7 ounces at 29.5 inches. Big news - Katharine is now in the 20% range on the weight chart, which is really exciting, because she wasn’t even on the chart in August! Hooray!
Most exciting this month has been all the cool new stuff we’re learning to do! Both of us love to clap our hands, and wave “Hi”. Katharine will sometimes start waving as soon as she hears Daddy coming down the stairs or hears his car in the garage.
Both of us like to copy sounds we hear, and talk with great animation, even when we’re “just babbling”. We are starting to recognize the meanings of some words, like foot, sock, milk, tree, and so on by pointing at things or holding up a particular body part. And we will sometimes even acknowledge “no” or a warning tone. Often times we will say something that sounds like a word or words we’ve just heard, even though pieces of the words may be missing. Katharine will sometimes respond to prompts, when you say “Can you say…” She has mimicked saying “Hi” a few times (usually sounding like “Ahy”, seems to say “Dat” and “Dis” sometimes, will shout “Da” when she waves for Daddy, and has said “Yaaay” once when clapping hands.
We are starting to recognize differences in shapes more and like to try getting them into their spots in the shape sorter and puzzles. And we’re on the go! We are much more likely to take off to explore when Mommy wants us to head upstairs or to the car. Mommy was pleased, but surprised to discover that Christopher was paying close attention during our practice going down the step into the living room - One day, when returning from putting Katharine in the car, she was surprised by a waiting Christopher, who’d made his was from the kitchen, down the hall, down the step, and just sitting and waiting by the door! So Mommy and Daddy completed Operation Cabinet Lock just before Thanksgiving, just in time, as we had become very interested in what’s behind all those doors, and we LOVE getting things out. We’re still working on “in” or “put back”. ☺
We are on our way to WALKING! Christopher began letting go of his push toys and the furniture to take one or two steps at a time toward the end of the month. And by the end of the month, he has been taking as many as five or six steps in a row, and is starting to be able to stand himself up from the floor without help! Sometimes he is very aware of his new tricks, and beams with pride, giggling. Other times he is just rolling along with a toy and suddenly goes on his own. Katharine is also on her way, walking while holding on to only one fingertip, and standing on her own for short periods. We got our first real walking shoes just before Thanksgiving, and they are helping us feel even more balanced and secure on our feet. Mommy and Daddy are doing a lot of cheering and clapping right now to help celebrate our achievements! When we get really good, they’ll be able to capture our efforts in pictures.
And we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We got to try some of the yummy “Very Whole Foods Thanksgiving” this year, and enjoyed playing with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma and Grandpa Keller! While they were here, we visited the historic caboose by the W&OD in Vienna for some picture taking fun, and we helped decorate our first very own Christmas tree. What fun we had!
We can’t wait to be in Ohio soon to visit with everyone at Christmas!
Until then, here is the site for our November Gallery:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=364951
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
We played a lot at home this month, and with our playgroup friends. We enjoyed some pretty days by taking walks, and even tried a (very chilly!) hike at Harper’s Ferry, WV. We had a great time trying out a couple of new music classes, and are excited to start taking one in January! We also started taking our first swim classes, which took a little while to get used to, and now we’re starting to really have fun!
We turned 15 months old this month, but didn’t have our checkup with the doctor until almost the end of the month. Christopher is 25 pounds, 4 ounces, at 31.5 inches and Katharine is 19 pounds, 7 ounces at 29.5 inches. Big news - Katharine is now in the 20% range on the weight chart, which is really exciting, because she wasn’t even on the chart in August! Hooray!
Most exciting this month has been all the cool new stuff we’re learning to do! Both of us love to clap our hands, and wave “Hi”. Katharine will sometimes start waving as soon as she hears Daddy coming down the stairs or hears his car in the garage.
Both of us like to copy sounds we hear, and talk with great animation, even when we’re “just babbling”. We are starting to recognize the meanings of some words, like foot, sock, milk, tree, and so on by pointing at things or holding up a particular body part. And we will sometimes even acknowledge “no” or a warning tone. Often times we will say something that sounds like a word or words we’ve just heard, even though pieces of the words may be missing. Katharine will sometimes respond to prompts, when you say “Can you say…” She has mimicked saying “Hi” a few times (usually sounding like “Ahy”, seems to say “Dat” and “Dis” sometimes, will shout “Da” when she waves for Daddy, and has said “Yaaay” once when clapping hands.
We are starting to recognize differences in shapes more and like to try getting them into their spots in the shape sorter and puzzles. And we’re on the go! We are much more likely to take off to explore when Mommy wants us to head upstairs or to the car. Mommy was pleased, but surprised to discover that Christopher was paying close attention during our practice going down the step into the living room - One day, when returning from putting Katharine in the car, she was surprised by a waiting Christopher, who’d made his was from the kitchen, down the hall, down the step, and just sitting and waiting by the door! So Mommy and Daddy completed Operation Cabinet Lock just before Thanksgiving, just in time, as we had become very interested in what’s behind all those doors, and we LOVE getting things out. We’re still working on “in” or “put back”. ☺
We are on our way to WALKING! Christopher began letting go of his push toys and the furniture to take one or two steps at a time toward the end of the month. And by the end of the month, he has been taking as many as five or six steps in a row, and is starting to be able to stand himself up from the floor without help! Sometimes he is very aware of his new tricks, and beams with pride, giggling. Other times he is just rolling along with a toy and suddenly goes on his own. Katharine is also on her way, walking while holding on to only one fingertip, and standing on her own for short periods. We got our first real walking shoes just before Thanksgiving, and they are helping us feel even more balanced and secure on our feet. Mommy and Daddy are doing a lot of cheering and clapping right now to help celebrate our achievements! When we get really good, they’ll be able to capture our efforts in pictures.
And we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We got to try some of the yummy “Very Whole Foods Thanksgiving” this year, and enjoyed playing with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma and Grandpa Keller! While they were here, we visited the historic caboose by the W&OD in Vienna for some picture taking fun, and we helped decorate our first very own Christmas tree. What fun we had!
We can’t wait to be in Ohio soon to visit with everyone at Christmas!
Until then, here is the site for our November Gallery:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=364951
Love,
Christopher and Katharine
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