| Kathleen shows off her nascent athletic abilities. She knows she's supposed to throw and she gives it a good try, but she doesn't have much of an arm (or aim) yet. Still, she's far more excited about playing ball than her mother ever has been. |
This weekend Kathleen had a vist from Jim's friend Matt Driskill. Matt's a Naval Flight Officer, and his squadron was stopping through Hawaii on their way home from a deployment in Japan. He stayed with us overnight and got to watch Kathleen watch football on Saturday morning. (I'm sure that's what most people want to do when they visit Hawaii!) We've been trying to teach her to say "touchdown," but all she does is squeal. Still, we think that's pretty cute.
Kathleen did some flying of her own recently. She doesn't need a plane, though -- she's Supergirl! We'd found the costume through the wonders of ebay and had hoped that Kathleen would be able to wear it for Halloween. (Not that she needs an excuse to wear a superhero costume. We knew that Kathleen would be a superhero before she was even born!) Sadly, our giant little girl has outgrown the costume already, so we're on the lookout for yet another Halloween costume!
| Kathleen's post-dinner, pre-bath playtime. She's so excited she can hardly stand it. She can hardly stand, either! |
| Kathleen shows off her cruising skills on the living room ottoman. When she tumbles down, she crawls off for other adventures. |
As a concession to Kathleen's growing independence and curiosity, we finally emptied the books from the bottom shelves in the living room. Those are now filled with Kathleen's books and toys, and she loves to stand at the shelves, alternately playing with her toys and throwing them on the floor. Once too timid to venture beyond the living room carpet, Kathleen now explores the condo with surprising speed. She's always on the hunt for something that didn't get properly put away -- Mommy's wallet or a pair of flip flops or (best of all) a magazine. She still likes to test things out by putting them in her mouth, so we occasionally have to fish wads of paper out of her little mouth. Whoops!
One of Kathleen's favorite games is to be chased around the ottoman in the living room. Perhaps that's how she's acquired some speed! The combination of peek-a-boo, standing, crawling, and tickling (when she's caught!) make her laugh hysterically. She'll begin to giggle as soon as you approach the ottoman, and in no time at all she's nearly knocking herself over from laughter. When she's not laughing too hard, though, she's getting pretty good at standing. We haven't convinced her to try to take any steps yet, but she'll happily stand and clap for us.
Kathleen still enjoys pestering Daddy when he's lying on the couch and stealing the remote control or his books from him. Now that Daddy's doing a little better and can sit up for a few minutes, Kathleen likes to read her own books with him. Her favorite books are "Feely Bugs," "Touch and Feel Baby Animals," and "Spot's Touch and Feel Day." She gets very excited to touch the fuzzy animals or find Spot under his curtain. She likes other books, too, but she mostly likes to chew them!
Just before lunch today, Kathleen and I visited the park in our condominium complex so that Kathleen could have a little time in the swing. She loves that! She laughs, she kicks, she looks around. She loves being outside anyway, so the swing is just a bonus!
Some of the pictures might look a little perilous, but that's only because I was sitting on the ground photographing her. I promise, she was safe the entire time!
Kathleen shows a distinct preference for certain toys, particularly toys she's not supposed to play with, like the camera and the television remote! And she's not as easily distracted, either. She's not going to be tricked into accepted a "lesser" toy!
Kathleen will sometimes crawl, but is really only interesting in standing. She has gotten far better at pulling up on furniture, and can now bend over (with one hand still on the supporting furniture) to grab a toy. She's beginning to cruise, tentatively inching along furniture. She spends her days standing up and sitting down, worrying her grandfather when she comes close to hitting her head. She laughs at herself (and at her mother) and is generally a happy little girl -- especially when she gets what she wants!
| This morning Kathleen discovered that she can clap. She likes it a lot, and clapping seems like it might replace arm-waving as her way of expressing excitement. Let's have a round of applause for applause! |
On Friday Kathleen and Mommy visited the Bay Area Discovery Museum for the first time. We were guests of Kathleen's Aunt Caroline and family friend Dana Aughney. It was a neat chance for Kathleen to hang out with twins Daniel and Sophia and Dana's girls, Keira and Devon.
The Bay Area Discovery Museum is very hands-on and there were even activities for children as small as Kathleen. There were fun places for her to crawl around and lots for her to see.
She tried out a crab (the plastic kind) and even rode a lizard! Kathleen would have loved it, even if there weren't all sorts of fun things to do, because it was the perfect spot to do her favorite thing -- watch other children play!
The museum is in historic Fort Baker in the Marin Headlands, and it has a great view of the Golden Gate, so Mommy and Kathleen posed for a touristy picture!
