What's This About a Ball Dropping?

She didn't quite make it until midnight, but here Katie gets into the New Year's Eve spirit by sizing up the beverage of her choice.

Traci, Katie, Geno and I wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!

Our Little "Maestro"

Katie's at that age where she is obsessed with making as much noise as she humanly can. Needless to say, she was quite pleased with her Christmas present from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim --- the xylophone pictured here. Actually, this picture sums up Katie pretty well right now. Notice the little tupperware container filled with jelly beans. That is her substitute maraca. The plastic spoons? Her drum sticks. The wooden table? Her favorite drum...when the xylophone is too far away. All she is missing is the paper towel roll that she blows through to make all kinds of sounds. She's her own one-man-band!

All I Want[ed] for Christmas...

For those that we haven't told, Katie literally got her two front teeth for Christmas. After months of checking and the doctor telling us they were just underneath the surface, we found that her two upper front teeth had cut through on Christmas Eve. Since then, she's added a third, her lower left. She's been a trooper and hasn't complained one bit (yet!).

Here's a picture of Katie just before Christmas Eve mass. She looked adorable in the formal dress sent by Aunt Krystina and Uncle David. As promised, check out the photo album to the right for more details on our Pennsylvania Christmas.

A Historic Whelp-Day

Happy whelp-day, Geno! Our hound turned 10 years old today (quite an achievement for the greyhound breed). We celebrated with cake, several treats, and a new squirrel squeeze toy. The G man is doing quite well for his age and told us he is looking forward to a distinguished second decade. His kennel even described him as "playful" over the holidays. Traci thought they were describing the wrong dog, altogether, until they described his favorite activities as lounging on the couch and sneaking between people's legs. That's our hound!

Congratulations, Geno. We're honored to have now been with you for over half of your life.

Katie vs. Crayon

We promise that we will have a full update on Katie's first Christmas holiday as soon as we can. In the meantime, this picture sums up what happened when Katie was presented with crayons as a stocking stuffer. For some dumb reason, we assumed that she would follow in her Dad's (and Granddad's) footsteps and just draw like crazy. Instead, she mistook the blue crayon for a nice piece of food. Since she was on Mommy's lap (and not in Mommy's view), she got away with eating some of it. Good thing crayons are non-toxic and washable! Perhaps we'll have to wait a bit for her first masterpiece.

Happy Holidays!

We just wanted to wish everybody a wonderful holiday season! The Cuddycam will be on a short hiatus while we visit family and friends in good, ol' Brockway. We will take lots of pictures of Kate's first Christmas.

Until then...Katie is already snug in her bed dreaming of seeing her Grammy and Papa, Geno is lounging at his doggy spa dreaming of the bones hidden in his stocking, and Daddy is at work (15 hours today!) dreaming of finally enjoying some vacation time.

Mischief in the Kitchen

Kate may look nice and innocent in this photograph, but don't believe it for a second! Not too long after I took this, I gave her some Cheerios to snack on so that I could get some stuff done around the house. (She loves sitting in the kitchen on the tile floor...don't ask us...) Anyway, I noticed that Geno (who normally avoids Katie like the plague) was also hanging out in the kitchen. When I went in to check out the situation, I saw Cheerios all over the place. Geno was dutifully trying to find and lick up every last morsel, but he couldn't keep up with Katie's throwing skills. She was so delighted that she had her doggy's attention all to herself.

What's going to happen when this kid starts to move?

Getting Steadier

Ever so cautiously, Kate is entering the land of standing on her own. She's now willing to hold on to things with only one hand so that she can use the other to play and investigate. Every once in awhile, she will let go with both hands for a millisecond. Of course, we're not fast enough to catch that on camera. Now if we could only get her to move her feet, we'd be on our way!

More of the Con-Man

Today, Katie met up with her good buddy Connor (5.5 months). They shared some toys and squeals, while grabbing each other's hair, faces, and ears. Connor also gave her some words of wisdom on teething - he already has 2!! Katie is very thankful for the awesome Christmas gifts she got from Connor and for the yummy meal served by "Aunt" Mo.

Hmmm...I'll Take This One

A girl after her Mama's heart...Kate is catching the shopping bug. She especially likes to browse in the clothing section. She usually reaches out and tests fabrics, checks out price tags, and tugs at the clothes she likes. Watch out, Dad - it looks like the little one is already going for the crazy leopard print...

Katie Meets Tree

Alas...the new digital camera has been purchased, but we haven't synched it to the computer just yet. However, we are back online with a quick video of Katie and our Christmas tree. She was a little grumpy, but she's never met a tree that she didn't like. Honestly! She gets very excited over all forms of shrubbery. She about near combusted when she saw the tree at Mass this morning. Rumor has it that her Uncle Greg bought a 16 foot tree this year. We fear she may not make it back from Pennsylvania.

On Dasher, On Dancer...

Kate seems to be channeling Santa and his "sleigh" in this picture from last weekend. Sorry for the old pic...it seems like our digital camera is dying a slow and painful death. Each day it gets worse and worse. I suppose it's time for us to get a new one. Not sure when we'll be able to post a new picture again.

In other news, the little one is extremely close to being able to say two new words, in addition to "mama." She's just one consonant away from both "book" and "ball." So, who will win this battle - Mom (book) or Dad (ball)??

Best Buds

Isn't this picture so cute? Kate is pictured with her friend Sam, who was born just 6 days before her. They have been playing together at least once or twice a week since last spring at playgroups. Katie, Sam, and the rest of the playgroup crew are starting to get to an age where they actually pay attention to each other. Sometimes they play nice passing toys back and forth. Other times...there is a lot of eye poking, kicking, sitting on each other's laps, crawling over each other, etc. All of the moms (and dad) get quite a kick out of the pandemonium.

The White Stuff

Our area got its first "substantial" snowfall of the year. (And, by substantial, we mean about an inch or two.) Katie didn't seem to mind during our walk this afternoon. In fact, she spent half the walk sucking and eating the snow off of what had accumulated on her gloves and coat. (Yes, this kid will put anything in her mouth.)

Katie wanted to send a special first birthday shout-out to her buddy Ellie. Ellie and her parents have been through a lot this year so this occasion deserves lots of best wishes!

And One More to Grow...

Our little one turns 11 months today! Only one more month until the big 0-1.... With her healthy appetite, she's still growing like a weed. In fact, she's so proud of her buddha belly that she continuously pounds on it. She's also taken up clapping...probably in anticipation for the big showdown between the Steelers and Patriots this weekend. (Go Black and Gold!) Even though she cannot say any real words yet, she continuously amazes us with what she understands. She can point out many things, including Geno, "tree," "books," and "bottle." Any guesses on what her first word will be?

Getting Colder

It was a chilly, blustery day today and reminded us of the Chicago wind we thought we'd left behind. Anyhow, keeping with the chilled theme, here are some pictures from Michigan over the Thanksgiving holiday (better late than never). Kate got all bundled up for some playtime in the front yard. She wouldn't move an inch at first, but then livened up when she saw her most prized possession these days...LEAVES!

Cousins Ben and Tom got in on some of the playtime (after finishing putting out Grandma's Christmas lights and throwing the football around).
However, Kate was soon horrified when the two scoundrels destroyed her well-manicured collection of maple leaves...

Basket Traveler

Katie has always enjoyed playing in the piles of freshly washed laundry, but now she's taken her fun to a new level. She got a free ride downstairs this morning in her own little basket-cockpit. And it's become her preferred method of transportation. First, it was gasoline at $3.00 per gallon. Now we have to worry about detergent!