Call from day care today - Katie decided to chomp on another baby's arm. Lovely. Ms. Sarah, the director, figured it was probably teeth - she said at this age it almost always is (it's when the babies get a little older that it's a behavior problem). Got a look in Katie's mouth tonight and tooth #7 - one on the bottom next to the first one that came in EVER - is coming in quite nicely - and lo and behold, she's got a MOLAR in the far back! Well, that explains a LOT. She has been especially drooly of late, and crabby. Glad to know there is a reason for it!

Katie is just getting funnier and funnier all the time:

1) She now holds phones up to her ear and "talks" (not when there is anyone on the other end - just when playing with Mommy's cell phone)
2) She LOVES pudding - yogurt too - if Skip or I am eating pudding or yogurt, she will walk all the way around to us with her mouth WIDE OPEN until she gets a spoon full
3) She blows kisses and occasionally gives kisses on the lips (usually they're, ah, pretty juicy - Katie slobber)
4) We're trying to get Katie used to a toothbrush - I give Katie her little Elmo brush while I brush my teeth. Unfortunately, Katie is as likely to think it's a hair brush as it is a tooth brush - she runs it over the top of her head (while walking around the bathroom, of course)
5) Daddy is teaching her "golf swing" - she gets her hands put together, up near her chin then she brings them down and goes "BWWWAAAH!" (no, that is not mimicking Daddy, swearing at his golf ball)

She's not doing a LOT better with the eating, although Katie does now like cheese, goldfish crackers, animal crackers, and teddy grahams. Oh, and french fries. Yes, our child will likely be horribly malnourished.

Well, seemed like there was something else to share ... guess not. This coming weekend should be a relatively quiet weekend at home - we hope. We're awaiting the arrival of baby Ace - our friends Mike and Debbie are due 8/16 and we just had a shower for them last weekend. OH - that was it - Mike and Debbie have two jack russell terriers, who Katie LOVES (Princess returns the affection; Peanut, not so much). We're all bustling around, getting ready, when we turn around and Katie's all stooped over the dogs' water bowl, trying to take a drink.

And with that, I'll sign off!

Well, we are safely back from Little Rock, Arkansas!

We left mid morning on Friday the 4th, and stopped in Texarkana on the way up. I'd always heard that Texarkana tended toward, well, white trash. Let's just say they lived up to their reputation, if what we saw while we stopped is any indication! We continued into Little Rock and arrived mid-afternoon, after driving through some pretty heavy rains. We checked into our hotel and were apparently the ONLY guests who were NOT participating in any sort of family reunion in Little Rock that weekend (I SWEAR, everyone else running around the hotel had t-shirts on commemorating some reunion - and it wasn't just ONE reunion, I think I saw no fewer than four different names on the different shirts! Who knew Little Rock was THE city for family reunions? I certainly didn't.)

ANYWAY ... we'd thought about trying to get to the Clinton museum / library that day (admission was free on the 4th) but we got in a little too late to make the trip worthwhile. So we drove around LR for a while, Katie napped, we stopped at Cheeburger Cheeburger (no that is not a misspelling, that's how they spell it), and then back downtown and to the amphitheater along the river. The LR symphony played patriotic music to the crowd while we waited for the fireworks to begin. And Katie, the newly minted walker that she is, wanted NOTHING to do with being in her stroller or sitting with Mommy OR Daddy - she just wanted to walk. Preferably up or down the few stairs they had there in the park, of course. So we did that for a bit then TRIED to sit for a while as the music played - we had some success but Katie was getting super fussy at this point, in part because she wanted to be on the move and in part because it's getting close to bed time. She's just about to nod off on my shoulder when the fireworks start to go - and she was FASCINATED. She watched the whole show and Katie even went "oooh oooh" several times throughout the display, which was pretty cute! Afterwards Katie consented to being put back into her stroller and we walked the short distance back to our hotel.

Saturday we decided to hit up the Clinton Museum - Skip and I have been to every presidential library for presidents of our lifetime, back to Nixon, with the exception now of Ford's; they're usually very entertaining and do a good job of capturing the history of the man who served the office as well as the time in which he served (Carter's museum had a lot on the Iran hostage crisis and inflation; Bush's talked a lot about the first Iraq war and how the "No new taxes" pledge was Bush's undoing in the '92 race).

Well, Clinton's museum was not nearly as "robust" for lack of a better word, I guess. It seemed to start with his '92 campaign (very little on his childhood or even his early political career in Arkansas, where he was the youngest governor in US history) and go up through the end of his presidency. The impeachment debacle did get a section, but it was under banners that talked about "The politics of personal destruction" - not even the slightest reference to the fact that oh, maybe Clinton did something to START that whole process. I dunno, I realize we're pretty biased but the library seemed more propaganda machine than a historical reflection of the Clinton presidency or the 90s. Even Carter's museum did a good job of noting his shortcomings as a president. Much space was given to Clinton's current causes (namely going green) and to Civil Rights (which, last I checked ... didn't LBJ sign that into law??!!??) And, the whole time, Skip's wandering through the whole museum wondering where the little blue dress is.

Oh - and this whole time, Katie is terror on two feet. She is totally unhappy unless she is OUT of the stroller and WALKING, thank you very much! And not walking while holding Mommy or Daddy's hand, but walking ON HER OWN. She tried to get under the rope that closed off the Oval Office more than once, and she was NOT happy with me for yanking her back out!!

We went to dinner in LR on Saturday night and Katie is just a brat - not happy in the high chair, won't eat (not even Cheerios!) won't sit with Mommy or Daddy, won't sit next to Mommy or Daddy either in the booth or in a booster seat. Katie is letting out cries of frustration or just crying the whole time. Needless to say, we snarfed our food and quickly got the check (and left a big a@@ tip).

Sunday we returned home, and I'm happy to say that for the most part, Katie did pretty well in the car (she fought like hell getting in the stroller to go from our hotel room to the car ... but the car seat is fine, apparently). We're hopeful that this is just a brief phase since she's new to walking, and that Katie has not prematurely entered the "Terrible Twos" at the ripe old age of 14 months.

In happier news, Katie IS eating again - we finally figured that if she feeds HERSELF, she's happy. Yes, it is a total and complete mess, but she does a pretty good job of managing her spoon (she has to tap it a bunch of times in her bowl before she gets it up to her mouth - but hey, whatever works). She's still not real big on anything semi-solid and slimy (tried spaghettios tonight and those were NOT a success) but she did manage to feed herself a good amount of yogurt tonight, so that is progress! And she ate well at school earlier today, so that is good news. Skip got it on video and it IS on the web site - check out the "Katie movies" page.

Well, long blog - probably the last one for at least several days as this is a busy week for us (work dinner tomorrow and Weds, and Chick Flick with my girlfriends on Thu). TTFN!

Katie's in bed, Daddy's off hitting golf balls, Mommy's bloggin. So very 2008!

Katie continues to have the snuffles and major boogie nose / eyes, but she seemed happier tonight than she had been of late. We bought her some different spoons in hopes that she'd feed herself - she does like putting them in her mouth, albeit she never has any food on 'em. She did eat some cheesy rice tonight, though, so that's progress!!

Katie WILL "share" my jello pudding or yogurt if I'm sitting in the living room eating it - she'll walk right up to me and open her mouth until I give her a spoon full (it's pretty funny - she looks just like a little bird, standing their with her neck stretched out and her mouth open). Last night I tried just regular old jello - and she was NOT happy about it. She spit it out and threw a MAJOR hissy fit - Katie was PISSED. Actually, it was sorta funny!

Well, going to keep it short as I think Katie has shared her "boogie nose" with me, so I'm going to crash early tonight. We're off to Little Rock this weekend - why Little Rock? Why not - it's relatively close, and Skip's never been to AR (I have been, once on business and once as a kid to Hot Springs - not like I remember).

SO - hopefully the next update will include some new pictures from L.R. Happy fourth!