Reading Successes

I started reading to Katy months ago.  At first, she showed zero interest.  I read while Katy crawled away, looked away, babbled over me, or did anything else she could to show her lack of interest.  Undeterred, I kept reading.  A few weeks before her first birthday, Katy started sitting with me as I read to her.  By her first birthday, we were reading books by the stacks, sometimes at Katy's insistence.  I was excited Katy had finally taken to reading, even if I suspected her interest was  really in turning the pages and having my undivided attention. 

      

Katy recently began pointing to pictures in her books while I read and up until yesterday, I thought the pointing was random.  Yesterday, however, Katy and I were reading an ABC book with a story about a dog who wants to eat some freshly baked apple pie.  There is a different picture for each letter depicting the dog's attempt to eat the pie, with some of the pictures side by side.   As were reading, Katy was studying a page showing two different pictures of the dog, one a close up of the dog's face and the other a zoomed out picture of the dog next to a piece of furniture.  As Katy studied the pictures, she began pointing between the dog's face in the close up and the dog in the zoomed out picture.  Testing whether this was coincidence, I turned to the beginning of the book and asked Katy, "where is the dog" or "donde esta el perro?"  On every page of the book, Katy pointed to the dog.  She recognized that although the dogs are slightly different in each picture, they are still the same thing. 

I don't plan to write about each one of Katy's seemingly small accomplishments, but I had to write about her purposeful pointing because (1) I'm so excited that Katy continues to take an interest in reading, (2) it exemplifies the explosion in cognitive developments that have taken place over the last couple of months, and (3) this is why having a baby is so amazing!  Before I had Katy, I wanted a tiny, soft baby of my own to hold and cuddle.  I didn't think past the baby phase, and I certainly had no idea how amazing it would be to watch a baby develop from a blob into an interactive, thinking, learning, and moving being.  The Apple Pie book we were reading yesterday is one of Katy's favorites.  She frequently brings this book to me to read and sometimes asks to read it several times in a row.  For weeks, we read this book over and over and over with seemingly no reaction from Katy.  But then one day, Katy showed me that she was making unseen connections, every so slowly, little by little, as we read this book.  Moments like this are so incredibly rewarding because they seem so sudden and yet they make me realize they were weeks in the making.  

  

Today, while reading a touch-and-feel book about animals wearing hats, Katy first pointed to the touch-and-feel portion of the hat-only images and then pointed to the same part of the hat on separate pictures of the animals wearing the hats.  Seriously, this girl is on a roll, and I don't think things are going to slow down anytime soon. 

Birds of the Valley

Last week, while walking at dusk, Chris and I were amazed by a large flock of turkey buzzards circling the neighborhood in search of a place to roost for the night.  The group of at least 200 birds silently glided lower and lower as the evening closed in.  I've never seen so many large birds flying so close to the ground.  It was so fascinating that Chris and I stopped and laid on a stranger's lawn so we could watch the spectacle. 

 

The Rio Grande Valley is a very fascinating place for bird watching.  

Camping: on the Border, with a Toddler

At the beginning of March, Chris and I took Katy on her first camping trip.  We camped at Bentsen State Park, a lovely birding park located on the Rio Grande River.  We were the only campers in the park, likely because the park is accessible only by foot and the campsites are 3/4 of a mile from the parking lot.

Camping in a natural reserve on an international border makes for an interesting  experience.  We enjoyed the lovely songs of several bird species as well as the recurring whir of law enforcement helicopters tracking smuggling operations from the air.  We saw javelinas on our walk to the bathroom, and we startled Border Patrol agents while hiking a secluded trail near the river.  At night, we heard animals dropping debris on the tent as they ate, and we heard muffled voices in the distant brush.

At a resaca

Looking across the Rio Grande into Mexico

Despite our proximity to the border, I was more worried about successfully camping with a walking one-year old than I was about encountering smuggling operations.  Camping is littered with hazards, not to mention sleeping challenges.  Thankfully, the fistfuls of dirt Katy dumped on her body never contained shards of glass or a scorpion, Katy never tripped near the fire pit, and I somehow managed to put Katy to sleep for naps and at night without a rocking chair or the ability to control temperature, light, and noise levels.  This trip definitely redefined my idea of a camping success.

Peeking through the bird blind to see a javalina 

Building a fire

Tents are fun!

Entertainment

Oodles of cheap entertainment

Cuteness Overload

Katy turned one two months ago.  Since then, her walking has improved, she's learning to run, and she has started to climb. More impressive, however, are the cognitive developments over the last two months: Tripled English/Spanish vocabulary, pointing to body parts, giving "besos," responding to questions and commands given in Spanish and English, pretend play, and mimicking like nobody's business.  It's ridiculously cute to watch.

Pointing to her ombligo (belly button)

Cochinitos (little piggies aka toes)

Nariz (nose)

Katy's also learning sounds that different animals make.  When I tell Katy, "El Lobo dice A-uuuuu," Katy responds with her own tiny howls, complete with a tilted head  This is also ridiculously cute.  She later realized that Doug howls and that she can howl with him, which usually happens as a siren is passing by our house.  Not yet understanding that people don't normally howl at sirens, she also howls when we hear a siren while running errands in town, far from Doug's howling cues.  As cute as it is to see Katy and Doug howling together, Katy's misplaced howls are even cuter.

Katy also recently learned how to beat her chest like a gorilla from an Eric Carle book that reads, "soy una gorila and me golpeo el pecho" (I am a gorilla and I beat my chest).  Whenever Katy hears the word mapeche (Spanish word for raccoon) in one of her other books, she beats her chest because peche ounds similar to pecho.  This is also - you guessed it - ridiculously cute.

A few months ago I told Chris I was afraid Katy's cuteness was peaking.  I was so wrong.  These most recent changes are ridiculously cute.

Only in Bed, Sleepyhead

A few weeks ago, I began limiting Katy's chupon (pacifier) to sleeping times only.  Initially, there were lots of tears when I took the chupon from Katy, placed it in the bed, and said, "only in bed, sleepyhead."  After a couple of weeks, however, Katy began placing the chupon on the mattress herself, sans tears, when I greeted her in the morning or after her nap.

During the day, I usually hide the chupon under Katy's pillow so that it will not be a visual temptation, but sometimes I forget and Katy will see the chupon through her crib rails.  The first few times this happened, Katy reached her tiny arm between the rails and popped the chupon in her mouth.  Lots of tears would follow when I returned the chupon to the crib.   With time, however, Katy learned to reluctantly return the chupon to the bed herself when I reminded her that the chupon is only for sleepy time.

Today, I forgot to hide the chupon and happened to be in Katy's room when she saw it laying on her mattress as she stood next to her crib.  She impulsively stretched out her hand but then stopped and began shaking her head no as she stared at the chupon with her hand mid-reach.  And then she walked away.  Lots of praise and positive reinforcement followed.

Dare I say, "Impulse: 0; self control: 1?"  Nope, not at all.  With a toddler, impulse wins 99 THOUSAND times a day, which is exactly why a seemingly small self-control victory caused my heart to grow three times its size today.

Katy's Monthly Picture Project: The Big Reveal!

I am so excited about this blog post because I have been working on it for twelve months.  I was pretty good about not sharing sneak peaks, which makes it all the more exciting.

When Katy was just a few days old, I bought some stickers for taking monthly pictures.  You know the stickers - the ones that you adhere to the front of the baby's shirt or bodysuit and proclaim baby's age in months.  In the process of finding stickers, I also found collages by parents who took a monthly picture of their baby in the same outfit during their baby's first year.  Thus began my monthly picture project, and here's the final result:

I love how Katy's monthly picture project turned out!  My main regret is not starting with a day one picture Katy had already grown considerably after just one month.

Below are the pictures individually, which are also fun to look at.

Agh, the picture in the rocker at eleven months is my favorite.  So darn cute!

After looking at all these pictures, can you tell Katy learned to smile at three months?  Seriously, So. Darn. Cute.

See my related post Tips for Taking Monthly Pictures During Your Baby's First Year for more details on this project.

Tips for Taking Monthly Pictures During Your Baby's First Year

I recently completed a 12-month photo project of my first baby.  Here is the final result of that project:

I love how the collages turned out, but I also learned a few things along the way that would have improved my images.  I've compiled what I learned into a few tips that may help other parents as they embark on a similar project:

1.  Pick an outfit that is easy to find in sizes 0 - 12 months.   Also, pick accessories wisely. It's tempting to start with an adorable bow or headband, but remember that older babies who know how to control their arms love to take these things off as soon as you put them on.

2.  Pick one pose.  It takes a bit of patience to get the camera angle, lighting, and props set up just right and then take a picture with baby looking at the camera before baby begins disassembling things or squirms into an awkward position, especially as baby gets older and can crawl, pull up, and even walk.  Why do this to yourself with multiple poses?  Picking one pose will allow you to focus all your energy on getting that one picture just right.  I believe I would have better quality pictures if I had picked just one pose (I did five different pictures for some insane reason!).

3.  Pick a picture set up that is relatively easy to replicate.  The picture of Katy lying down was so easy to replicate because all I had to do was move her changing pad to the dining table and lay the same blanket over it.  The picture in the rocker, on the other hand, required positioning the rocker at just the right angle, making sure curtains were drawn just right, and clearing out nearby clutter I did not want in the picture.

4.  Pick a picture set up that is safe.  What is safe at one month, when baby is immobile, is not necessarily safe at one year, when baby can roll over, crawl, pull up, and walk.  I regretted using my dining table instead of the floor for the picture of Katy lying down.  Once Katy was confident with her mobility skills, it was a little scary to leave her lying on a narrow table while I stood over her to take pictures.  The same goes for the pictures in the rocker  A chair low to the floor or a chair that does not rock is preferable when baby is older and able to lunge forward unexpectedly or pull up into a standing position with ease.

5.  A prop adds perspective.  In my pictures, the changing pad and the rocker remain constant in size, allowing the viewer to measure Katy's monthly growth by comparing her size each month to the rocker and the changing pad.  The size of the prop, however, is something important to consider.  Another picture I took each month was Katy lying down in the seat cushion of her rocker.  It was my favorite pose at the start of the project but didn't work in the end because Katy outgrew the seat.  I also took a monthly picture with a pink teddy bear.  The smaller size of the teddy bear gave great perspective but by six months, Katy constantly played with it.  I ended up with pictures of Katy on top of, behind, eating, holding, or falling on the teddy bear.  It sounds cute, but it actually made taking a decent picture difficult.

6.  Pick a camera angle that is relatively easy to replicate.  Again, the angle in the pictures of Katy lying down was fairly easy replicate because I just stood over her and centered her in the picture.  Variations in angle were fairly minor.  The angle in the picture with the rocker, on the other hand, was much harder to replicate, and it shows.

7.  Consider when during each month you will take your picture.  Taking the picture at the beginning of each month allows to you take the last picture on or around the first birthday, which means you can share the final collage in celebration of baby's birthday.  I was so excited to display Katy's monthly pictures on our TV during Katy's first birthday party.  Taking the picture at the end of the month, however, means that the final picture will be taken almost a month after the first birthday.    
8.  Stickers are optional.  You don't need the monthly anniversary stickers because you can add the month as text during editing or as captions when you share your pictures, or not at all.  When combined in a collage with a simple title, it's pretty clear that picture number six was taken at six months of age.  If you like the stickers and want to use them, they are sometimes a distraction when baby is older.  By six months, Katy  pulled at the sticker, stared down at the sticker, and moved so much that she often covered the sticker in her pictures.

9.  Some variation is good.  Variations in poses show off baby's development and personality and make the pictures fun to look at in combination.  The same goes for slight variations in lighting and camera angle.

10.  Be persistent and patient.  Take a break and return to picture taking later during the day if baby just isn't cooperating.  When baby is in a good mood, stick with taking pictures until you get one you really like.  You'll be glad you put in the extra minutes in the end.

11.  Editing is your friend.  My editing was limited to cropping and playing with lighting and contrast a bit, but even this limited editing made a big difference in uniformity. If you are good with editing software, your pictures will look even more uniform.

These tips require a little forethought and may even require a practice shoot of different set-ups without baby.  You'll be glad you did the prep work, however, because it will make the project easier to complete and the end result better.  I can't wait for baby number two so that I can implement these tips and see how much the project improves!

God's Little Reminders

This week Chris and I took on a new monthly expense for something very responsible and unexciting.   I went to bed a bit apprehensive about how our recent career changes would accommodate for this new expense.  The next morning, the hot water heater busted.  "Ugh," I thought, "yet another expense." Chris went right to work removing the busted hot water heater and in the process discovered there were a few months left on the warranty.  All we needed for a replacement hot water heater was the receipt of purchase...the receipt from a purchase made by the former home owners in what we suspected was September 2011.  Ugh again.  All I can say is, "Praise God," because in a drawer full of manuals, notes, spare parts, and receipts the former home owners left behind, we found the receipt.  By the end of the day, we had a new hot water heater and hot water in abundance.

This week I went to bed apprehensive about a new expense and the next day, God used a busted hot water heater and a 4.5-year-old receipt to remind me that He will provide for our needs.  Thank you Jesus for these perfectly timed little reminders.

Katy's Walking!

Katy's first steps were accidental.  It took her a while to realize she could walk but once she did, things progressed quickly.  At first, she used furniture and other objets to stand and balance.  When she fell, she continued to her target by crawling.  In no time, however, Katy realized she could stand up and take off on her own.  That's when she stopped crawling.

Katy's gait is comical: she teeters and wobbles, she has a wide stance, and she stumbles a lot.  She has a hard time multi-tasking or transitioning between uneven surfaces.  She frequently forgets to watch her step for large or small objects in her path.  None of this stops Katy from walking all over the place every chance she gets.

Before Katy started walking, she was still very much a baby to me.  She looked big to me because I compared her to her former tiny baby self.  Walking Katy is a toddler to me.  Now I compare her to other toddlers and she looks small again to me.  I like that.

Katy LOVES playing outside.

Looking small in the bathtub. 

Katy and Doug are both fascinated by the sprinkler wells.

Valley Gems

Sometimes the Valley is really, very beautiful.

Beautiful places are perfect for beautiful people... 

...Unless we're looking directly into the setting sun.  In that case, neither the people nor the place look very beautiful.