Dear Kate,

You have grown up so much over the past month. This is such a fun (and tiring!) stage as you're more interactive with us and intentional about your actions and play. Here are some things we've noticed about you lately...

* You found your consonants, and you're babbling away! You like to practice yelling and whispering these sounds. You regularly use Bs and Ds and sometimes Ms and Gs.

* You're getting very steady on your feet. In fact, there have been several times you have stood unassisted for several seconds. Once you even stood for about 30 seconds by yourself. You looked like a little surfer as you tried to keep your balance. Today you did this time and time again... you're getting good!

* Holding our hands, you love to walk to get around. Although you were doing this before, you now do it very quickly, easily, and for much longer distances. It's crazy to think you'll be walking on your own before long!

* You are a busy girl! This was the case before this month, but your skills in crawling, pulling up, and cruising have improved, so it takes no time for you to get from one thing to the next. We follow you around as you pull up on the TV cabinet, drop and go to the sofa and pull up, reach over to the coffee table to cruise around, drop and go stand to play the piano, drop and go to the dining room table, etc., etc., etc. You never stay with one task very long. It's all about exploring and finding something new to get into! (Which leads to the next point...)

* The word "no" was introduced to you this past month. You go for the stairs, "No, Kate." You go for the outlets, "No." You go for the fireplace screen, "No, no." You're a smart cookie, though. As you go towards these items, you look over your shoulder to see if I'm really watching you or not. You want to know if we're really serious about these boundaries we're setting! Once the "no" is said in a (slightly) stern voice, you cry. We then try to redirect you to something that is allowed! You're learning!

* We're making progress with feeding you textures. You will eat puffs without gagging now. You still spit them out, but you end up swallowing more than you reject. You are using the "pincer" grasp to pick up the puffs and put them in your mouth. What fun it is to feed yourself!

* While you still won't drink from a sippy cup or straw cup, you do like to drink from a regular cup. We tip the water into your mouth, but a lot of it gets spilled on you! You don't seem to mind; you enjoy copying us!

* Your third tooth actually arrived this month. What I thought was your third tooth all along was actually just a calcium deposit on your gums. I wondered why that tooth didn't seem to be getting bigger!

Your happy personality and easy going nature make you the sweetest baby ever! You're growing up so fast, and I look forward to each new stage with our darling girl.

We love you lots,

Mama and Daddy

Stats...
We know I'm not too great at taking these measurements, so take these estimates for what they're worth.

Weight: 20.5 pounds

Length: 28.5 inches

Clothes: 6-12 months, 12 months in Carter's brand
Diaper size: 3
Sleep: 6:45pm - 7am

Naps: 9:30-10:30am and 1:00-2:30pm
Food: 4 bottles per day, totaling about 25 ounces. You get two to three solid meals of stage 2 and some stage 3 foods.

This month's elephant pic...

A few others from today...