One track mind...

Kaia has found a new skill...it is standing and now that is ALL she wants to do. We had to drop her mattress down because she has been pulling herself up on her bumper and crib rail. During the day all she wants to do is hold my hands. I thought it was sweet that she kept reaching out for my hands, but then I realized it was because she wanted to stand up. She will pull up on my hands sometimes, but other times she will go from squat to stand with no help from me. I am there to keep her balanced, but the strength is all her.

Kaia has gotten a great laugh too. There are so many things that we can do to get her laughing. It might be kissing her feet or tickling her or playing a rousing game of peek-a-boo. She squeals and smiles and is just plain old adorable.

Kaia has had a way of keeping me close for awhile. When she wants to make sure that I am not going to go anywhere she grabs a hold of my hair and won't let go. I haven't had a haircut since we left San Diego in October, so as soon as I finally get one it won't be quite as easy for her.

For months we have been claiming that teething has been occurring. Kaia still has no teeth, but she is chewing like crazy. We bought her some wooden teethers and she LOVES them since they are so hard to chew on. Tonight she was laughing and Bryn and I both saw a good amount of white on her bottom jaw. We also can see the two defined bumps that will be teeth. The question is if they are going to sink back down before they come up and break through.

We have been busy this last week because it is the Winter Festival here in Newport. We have been to the chili cook off, ice sculpture contest, the Toe Jam Puppet Band, live jazz for kids at a local vineyard and much more. It was great to have all of this going on with Grandma was here. Grandma's visit also allowed Bryn and I to go out on a Saturday night for a grown up dinner and then we went off to the local Blues club for some music. The next day we left Grandma and Kaia to play while we headed out to Boston. The only problem was that Kaia suddenly decided that she didn't want to take bottles anymore. We were so good in SD about making sure that she got bottles of breastmilk a number of times a week so I could have some freedom. Bryn and I had just been talking about how we needed to get better about that here so Kaia wouldn't only just eat from me. Actually, Bryn had given her a bottle days before. So that will be something else to work on:)

I am off to get ready for bed before someone awakes and Bryn is upstairs working on a test that is due tomorrow afternoon. I am so glad that he is the one in school now;)