Katherine is getting more and more mobile. This week, it almost seemed as if she is approaching toddlerhood. We now chase each other around the coffee table, us crawling and her walking/crawling, which she loves. (Whenever she really likes something, she does her crinkle-nose smile.) She’ll hang on to the coffee table with one hand and walk around it, occasionally leaning down and peeking at us from under the table.
She also is progressing with her walking. Today, she walked with Raman clutching on to one hand only. We came home and practiced some more. She was very proud of herself with mom and dad cheering her on.
Da-Dee
I’ve been pointing at Steve over the last several days and saying “Daa-daa” or “Daa-Dee.” A few times she’s said “Dah!” or “Da-da” – we would nod our heads emphatically and say “Yes, Katherine Da-Da!!” Well, tonight as we were heading into our friends’ house, Katherine pointed to Steve walking ahead and said “DA-DEE.” We’ll see if she does it again! Steve turned around completely surprised and proud of his little girl.
A Visit to the Zoo
This weekend was almost summer-like, in the high 80s and beautifully sunny. We tried to take advantage of the weather by taking Katherine to the zoo today. The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle was packed with families and strollers. Katherine seemed to enjoy herself. We pushed her and her jogger through the barn area and Savanah section of the zoo. We would pick her up and show her the various animals. Unlike our last trip to the Woodland Park Zoo, we could tell that she saw the animals, and in a couple cases she actually pointed towards them.
We had a fun time having Katherine see the barn animals up close in the petting area of the zoo and in the barn. She ogled at a few, large brown cows and stared at pigs. Steve took her into the petting area of the zoo which had little goats and donkeys. She stood up, holding Steve’s hands, smiling at the goats. In the African Savanah area, the animals were farther away, but I think she did see the lion. She also saw the baby and mama elephants up close at the watering hold and the Sumatra tigers on our way out.
Perhaps the most momentous part of the visit was when we sat in the cafeteria. I was eating a berry fruit juice bar. I gave Katherine a brief taste. She put her mouth over the bar and gave us the funniest “what is this?” look. Despite her puzzlement, she reached for the bar and wanted another taste. Katherine snoozed all the way home and through a couple errands. She woke up extremely warm and unhappy. Thankfully, we pulled into the driveway, gave her a nice cool bath and water to drink.
The Seventh Tooth
I came home Friday to have Patty tell me about Katherine’s seventh tooth coming in. This explains the massive drool, the evening crankiness for the preceding several days. It is her lower second tool to the right of the center right tooth. As of tonight, the top of the tooth has almost finished breaking through, but hasn’t appeared entirely.
Sniffle, Sniffle
I went on a business trip to Texas this past Monday and Tuesday, with Steve taking care of Katherine while I was gone. Given all of the traveling and such, I managed to catch a cold the day I came back. It was one of those runny-nose colds where you’re not incapacitated. So, I went to work the next day feeling slightly under the weather and knew I had come down with a cold by the afternoon. I went home early and worked from home the next day – occasionally feeding Katherine and trying not to get either Patty or Katherine sick. Unfortunately, Katherine managed to catch the cold and trailed me by one day. So, as of this weekend, I’m feeling fine, but Katherine is still on the tail end of her cold. There’s nothing quite like a baby with green snot. ๐
