Wordless Wednesday -- Shoes

Kate is Cruisin

Kate is making tremendous progress! She pulls up on anything she can find and is learning to balance for a few seconds with no support before she falls on her butt.

She is also "cruising", where she steps from side to side while holding on to something. It's so amazing to watch each stage of development.

All this at only 7 1/2 months old! It won't be long before she's walking!!!

On her own two feet

Kate has been pulling up for two or three weeks, and she is just developing like crazy! She started pulling up to her knees using a kitchen chair less than three weeks ago (a couple days shy of seven months), then within a few days after that, was pulling up to her feet. We lowered her crib to the middle level then, knowing she would be standing up in the crib soon.

Sure enough, when we were in Louisville for Labor Day, she stood up in the crib in an act of protest against taking a nap. (BTW, that was my crib when I was a baby.)That night, she did it in her own crib too, and we promptly lowered the mattress to the very lowest level. It's practically to the floor, and that is where it will remain when it becomes a toddler bed, until she's ready to move to a "big girl bed"!

Nonetheless, she can still peer over the edge, and may one day learn to crawl out!

She is now able to cruise around the coffee table, pulling up with greater and greater ease and slowly taking careful steps as she hangs on to the table or the couch. She's so determined--grunting and huffing and puffing when she can't seem to summit a particular mountain. She's a go-getter, and we're so proud of our girl!

Grandparents' Day

Hello--Katemonster here!

For those of you without the official calendar of Hallmark holidays, yesterday was Grandparents' Day. I got creative and made cards for my grandparents featuring my handprints with ten fingers outstetched and a tagline saying "You're a Perfect Ten!" Too bad Mommy forgot to take pictures of the cards before sealing the envelopes. She was too busy trying to clean the green ink off my hands--I looked like the Incredible Hulk!

I am lucky to have four perfect grandparents. Let me introduce you to them.

This is Popi. He's semi-retired, but still works on his computer a lot, even when he comes down to stay with me. Popi loves to take me on walks and hikes and bought me a llama puppet last week named Obama-Llama. Popi is a Republican, but we trust he doesn't mean any offense to Mr. Obama. Mommy says she would trust Obama to carry her and her supplies through the Andes, so it's all good!

This is NaLa. That's short for Nana Laura, which was supposed to be her grandparent name until she decided it would get confusing with her own mommy, who is called Nana. NaLa likes to come stay with me and then spend all her time cleaning things. When you can get her to stop and sit down, though, she likes to read to me, take walks, and play with me! This is Opa. They call him "the Baby Whisperer." I will fall asleep on his shoulder and nap there for hours (when ordinarily I just want to be left alone when I'm tired!) Opa loves Ben & Jerry's and can't wait to feed me ice cream as soon as Mommy and Daddy will let him. He got me a cool cow bib and tie-dyed onesie at the Ben & Jerry's factory when he went to Vermont on business recently (he's semi-retired too).

Last but certainly not least, this is Granna. She loves to take pictures of me, which is why Mommy doesn't have a picture of her with me since my baptism half my life ago. Granna's always behind the camera! Granna likes to buy me pretty clothes and says we're going to have fun tea parties when I get bigger. I can't wait!

I am clearly a very lucky girl, to have such loving, wonderful grandparents. I love you all!

Partying in Louisville

After church on Sunday, we drove up to Louisville for a dinner party/shower for my cousin Lindsay and her fiance Andrew. They live in the D.C. area, and my aunt and uncle and younger cousins live in New Orleans, so everyone converged on the Miller homeland to celebrate with the extended family.

The happy couple

Younger adult tableThe groom, father-of-the-bride, bride, mother-of-the-bride, my mom, and brother of the bride
Kate got to come too, and it was actually the first time she had met some of the Miller family. Here she is with Nala (my mom--short for Nana Laura) and maid of honor/sister-of-the-bride Layne.

Kate apparently shakes hands with her feet. Fittingly, she's going to be a monkey for Halloween! I can't believe the summer is almost over! I love fall, so I'm very excited about taking Kate to fall festivals, dressing her up in her costume, taking walks in the crisp fall air. I have a couple business trips coming up this fall, and of course our trip to New Orleans for the wedding! Congrats to the happy couple! We're so excited about your big day!

Wordless Wednesday -- Sunshine

Not My Pics

We're here in Louisville for Labor Day, having come up after church yesterday for a dinner party/shower in honor of my cousin and her fiance. We're just hanging out today--well, Mom and I are hanging out while Dad and Matt are off helping clean up houses damaged by flooding here last month. While Mom and Kate doze, I thought I would check out what pics Mom has on her computer that I don't have on mine.
Here are a few faves:

visiting in April

Cool cat on a strolla little blurry, but gotta love that smile

At Jazz on the Lawn (Beachaven Winery, Clarksville) in August

Backyard dip, August

Napping with Popi Kate's favorite things