First Tooth!!

Well Kate really does have teeth under those gums! Nick was starting to have me worried that she was going to be missing teeth...not really but we had been thinking that she was teething for months now with no payoff for the pain. I felt her first little nub Monday and got Nick to help me take some pictures yesterday morning to record this great event.

If you look real close you can see her little nub.

She's so proud of herself.

She's been testing out her new tooth on books...

and her blanket and Daddy's tie...pretty much anything she can get her hands on.

Beach Baby

We just got back from our first family vacation Saturday and we had a wonderful time in Ft. Morgan, AL with the Johnson clan. All of my family was there and Kate had a blast playing with all 8 of the kids the whole week. We were all worried about the oil of course as we made our way to the beach but were pleasantly surprised with how things turned out. We did see oil but there was no smell and it wasn't just rolling in as we may have feared. There were clear spots and Kate's cousins were able to play in the surf a little here and there where we were able to find a clean patch of beach with no oil or tarballs. We spent a lot more time at the pool than we usually do but it was great to splash around there too.

I think Kate is ready to move to the beach. She was absolutely perfect all week! She was very sweet playing with her cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. As Nick would say, "She slept like a champ!". We put her pack and play in the closet in our room and contemplated giving her the same set up when we got back home because she slept more and better than she ever has in her short little life. Kate had her first dip in a big pool and she loved it! She was very relaxed and enjoyed floating and splashing around. It was also Kate's first experience with sand and she was a big fan of that too! Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better week spent with great family! Of course we snapped plenty of pictures to share. Here are some of the favorites from the week...

We took the ferry from Dauphin Island to Ft Morgan. Here's Kate with Daddy on the ferry.

And one hanging out the window with Momma on the ferry.

Kate and all her cousins our first morning waking up at the beach. They were all so sweet playing with Kate all week!

Kate ready for her first swim in a big pool.

Floating with Daddy.

Kate and her "match", Harper. All of the kids on this side of the family have their own cousin "match" that is within a year of their age. We're so glad April and Alan had their 4th so that Kate could have a "match" too.

Kate's first time putting her toes in the sand and surf with Nonna.

Kate's first chance to really get into the sand. She loved it!

Daddy very sweetly filled a baby pool with clean water from the beach house for Kate and she would have rather been back in the sand.

Another trip to the pool.

The family at the pool.

Of course we had family photo night at the beach and, thanks to Nonna's help snapping the pics and the aunts help making her smile we got some great pictures!

She was so proud of herself standing at this little fence but she spent most of the time trying to gnaw on the wood. These were probably the only 2 shots where her mouth wasn't wide open going in for a big bite of fence.

7 Months Old!!

Our lady keeps growing and we are having more fun with her than ever! Our unofficial home weigh in results from today were just over 21 1/2 lbs. Kate is busy, busy, busy these days!! She's still doing the army crawl but she has now perfected it. Occasionally she will get up on all fours and rock a little bit but then gets back onto her belly to get where she wants to go. She loves to chase her toys all over the living room. Kate crawls to something that is just out of reach and once she gets there she will push it further out of reach, crawl to it and push it further...

As you would expect with our healthy sized girl, Kate loves to eat and is now eating her regular 3 solid food meals a day. Quite unexpectedly she LOVES her veggies and definitely prefers green beans and peas to any fruits or even sweet potatoes. Kate must get her taste buds from her Daddy. She's also "chewing" some small snacks that we let her self feed even though she still has no signs of any teeth.

It is hard for us to believe that we are now closer to her first birthday than we are to her birth. Time is flying by but I guess that's because we are having so much fun. Here are some recent pictures for you to enjoy.

These were taken this morning of the happy 7 month old

Saturday morning Nick and I awoke to the sound of Kate trying to dismantle her monitor camera in her crib, which we thought was strange since she can't quite reach it when laying down in her crib. So we both went in to get her up and she was sitting straight up in her bed both hands trying to rip down the monitor. The flash was a little much so early in the morning so we couldn't squeeze out any smiles for this milestone.

A new found interest...sticking her tongue out as often as she can.