All Worth It

Today I decided to take Kaitlyn back to the zoo (yes, we've been before - no I haven't posted it on here yet, but I will and backdate it) :) June was members month and since I bought a season pass back in March I could get in an hour early on Mondays. I decided to take advantage of that today and it was so great! There were not that many people there and the zoo treated us so nicely! There were demonstrations being done, prizes, and they even gave out free water bottles and snacks. The lack of the crowd was my favorite thing though, well, that and it being early so it wasn't hot yet.

I still get a little stressed though taking Kaitlyn out by myself, especially somewhere like the zoo. I feel like all the other moms are pros and I'm still learning. Even the ones with babies, I feel know more than me. They move their strollers with such ease and I feel like I struggle. They take their babies out with no problem and I'm fighting with the straps. I know I'm crazy, but that's just what it seems like to me sometimes. So as I struggled to open the door to the penguin part of course there are lots of the "pro moms" in there. They all have their kids close to the glass taking pictures and what not and here I am with my little nine month old wanting her just to look in the right direction. There were two parts of the glass and I quickly took Kaitlyn to the one where nobody was that was a bit off to the side. Then something happened that made everything worth it. One little penguin came right up to the glass and looked right at Kaitlyn. She caught sight of him and laughed and smiled. Then the penguin open his beak and acted like he was talking to her. Kaitlyn was in love. And so was her mommy. I really almost cried right there. All the struggles with the stroller, all the "what do I get out/put it the car first" questions, all the "what in the world am I doing?" were all worth it for that one moment where my daughter was eye to eye with a penguin and loving every single second. I was only sad I couldn't get a picture. That's the bad thing about going with her by myself. Nobody is there to take pictures of the two of us. But I'll always have that memory in my mind.

And I'm not gonna lie. I also loved being able to leave right before 10:00 when the general public got to come in. There were so many people at the gate and I just strolled on by them to the exit. Maybe then I looked like a mom that knew what she was doing. :)


Here she is in front of the gorillas. I caught her at the very beginning of a cough, but we'll just say she was trying to do her gorilla impression. :)


Her favorite thing still seems to be the flamingos. She could stay just like she is in this picture all day and be happy I think. Maybe it's because they are more on her eye level. Who knows? But I did have to buy here a little stuffed one that "barks" at the zoo shop. :)

Today Kaitlyn was in our living room having fun playing with some of her toys. Darcy was very jealous and came over to me with one of her squeaky toys. I made it make it's squeaky sound and Kaitlyn just laughed and laughed. There is just something about a baby's laugh - especially when it's my baby's - that just makes my heart melt. And yes, at the end I did accidentally throw it to where it hit Kaitlyn in the head - oops! But no fear! She just laughed harder! I just pray she will always have joy in her heart as she does now!!

I hope the video works. I couldn't load it normally up here because it was bigger than the allowed file size.

Swimming

I was so excited about Kaitlyn's first "swim." I bought her a little baby pool that looks like a turtle and after shopping EVERYWHERE for a swimming suit (I waited too long and couldn't find her size) I finally found one I liked at Old Navy. So got the pool, the suit, the swim diapers, and the sun screen and we were ready to go! The pool I got had a place where you could hook the hose up and the water would spray up over it...yeah, not such a good idea - Kaitlyn HATED it. So after we turned it off she was fine. I brought out some of her favorite bath toys and she had a blast splashing! :)

Kaitlyn's Must Haves

I went to two baby showers last weekend - one for my friend Lauren and one for my friend Anna. I've realized that now that I am a mom I buy presents differently. I used to get anyone having a baby the cutest little dress up clothes I could find, but now I'm a little more on the practical side. I got to thinking of all the things I could not have done without when it came to Kaitlyn, so I thought I would blog them. :)


The boppy pillow has by far been used the most. I used it in the
hospital, at home for feedings, Kaitlyn would lay down in it, and we
used it when she was learning to sit up as a "buffer." Darcy even
loved curling up in it, which is fine because the covers easily zip off
and can be thrown in the wash.



We tried different types of bottles, but the Dr. Brown ones are the ones she really took to. She can drink a whole bottle without stopping once for a burp! They are amazing!!











When we first had Kaitlyn I said I would hand wash every
bottle...yeah....I don't know what I was thinking. The
dishwasher basket works great and is such a time saver!








I know it's funny looking, but this chair is awesome! It really helped Kaitlyn learn how to sit up, and was great when she was just about to, but couldn't on her own. It also has an optional play tray that is good for toys or when she was just learning how to eat.






Seriously, probably the cheapest "toy" she has. Kaitlyn
would be happy playing with these all day long if we let
her. Plus they make it easy to hook on other toys to
other things.







The jumperoo is well worth the money (even though we got it
from Cody's parents. It is so much fun to see her bounce and
giggle in it. Plus it makes it easy to have her in the room playing
while I'm cleaning or doing something else.








Kaitlyn has spoiled us with sleeping through the night almost as soon as we brought her home. I think this little guy might have something to do with it. We turned it on each night and she was mesmerized. It even got to the point where we would lay her down and she would turn her head to look at the turtle and just wait patiently for us to turn it on.





This toy is great!!! It lights up and talks (shapes, numbers, color, etc.) And it's not that loud. It makes it perfect for occupying her in public places. (Sometimes jingle stuffed animals just aren't enough!)
Kaitlyn loves pushing the buttons and has dropped it several times and the thing hasn't skipped a beat! I honestly don't know what we would do without this toy!