11 months

2 days before turning 11 months, Kaitlyn started walking on her own- with better balance and standing to initiate it. (She had taken a few steps before then, but mostly while falling forward.) She has taken up to about 10 steps now by herself and it's so fun to watch her. I'm not worried about chasing her yet though- she's still faster at crawling.

Kaitlyn is enjoying Sophie more and more. Today she learned how to throw the ball for Sophie. I use the term "throw" loosely, more like drop really. I've been impressed with how gentle Sophie has been with K. Usually schnauzers are not known to be good with children. Sophie's favorite thing to do is to get Kaitlyn up from her nap. I say, "let's go get the baby" and Sophie runs to her room and barks at the door.

Kaitlyn seems to be going through her "attachment" phase again. She cries more when I lay her down for a nap and has been a little more whiney than usual. I'm not sure if it's because she's teething or because I worked all weekend and she doesn't want me out of her sight. When K doesn't get her quality time with mommy she becomes a bit grumpy. At least she is making it through the church service without crying. Kaitlyn is such a "quality time" person- so I think she really likes me being home more. When she spends more time with Micah on the weekends I work, she seems to prefer him more as well.

Speaking of teething, her top 2 teeth are coming in- the one on the right has broken through the the other is trying hard. She's a pretty mild teether- thank goodness! K may have a random night that she wakes up a few times whining, but otherwise, it's mostly hard to tell.

We look forward to taking Kaitlyn on her first (real) vacation this Friday. We are going to Canyon Lake as a family, staying in a time share condo my parents graciously let us use. I'm SOOO excited to get away and have my first vacation (not counting going to a family's home) since October of 2009.

New words include: thank you, diaper, dog (her favorite word), hello, all done and uh-oh (her other fav). She is talking much more than signing these days. When Katie becomes frustrated lately, she has a form of talking that is absolutely hilarious. You can tell she is fussing at you in baby talk. I hope I can get that on video. Unfortunately, I have been unable to get the walking on video yet because it happens so randomly and she's always coming towards me quickly.

In the grocery store, Kaitlyn gets compliments on her "pretty eyes." It seems to be the one thing she didn't get from me or Micah. She has blue eyes, he has hazel and mine are green. I guess the blue eyes were a gift from God based on her mama's prayers!

Kaitlyn continues to be a joyful, peaceful child. She is content much of the time and good at entertaining herself. I realized the other day that sometimes she simply wants a "hug break," and afterwards, she's happy to continue playing with her toys for a bit. (Don't worry- she gets plenty of one-on-one time that is interactive!) Favorite toys now include: any books, hair brush, holding socks/ shoes, ball popper, blocks. For you personality guru's, Micah thinks that Kaitlyn is an ENFP- Extrovert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving. It's the only type of extrovert that requires alone time to re-charge. We'll see in a year or two if he's right!

At the Mayborn museum with the Lloyd girls. I couldn't believe K sat in the chair and played tea party for about 5 minutes.
Swimming at aunt Crystal's house. Kaitlyn went swimming for the first time on Mother's Day weekend and loved it!