Weekly Roundup

Side note: every time I write Roundup I think of the weed killer.  Maybe I should choose a different name.  Anyone?

Don't forget about the giveaway!  I'll pick a winner on Thursday (7/28). [Giveaway]

If you haven’t seen it, check out my feature in FTLOB. [For the love of blogs]

I also entered their photo contest!  I think you should go check it out and vote for the ones you like (*cough* mine *cough*) [For the love of blogs]

Go read this hilarious post on “Momma says the darndest things”.  Warning: this is, again, about poop.  And I think we all know about me and poop. [Pickles & I Scream]

Another side note, I changed my first “real poop” diaper this weekend.  I gagged through the whole thing while Jon stood nearby, encouraging me and laughing his butt off.  I keep thinking I’ll just get used to it, but I don’t think anyone could get used to that.

In case you were living under a rock, climb on out and check out my kid, who is now officially half a year old. [6 month post]



I’m loving the new Wordless Wednesday photo link up.  Here’s a photo you wouldn’t want to miss. [Lindsay Blogs]



How was your week?

Peanut - 6 months

Hey, P.

 

 

Yeah, mom?

 

Do you want to take your 6 months pictures?

 

But I’m le tired.

 

 

Okay, P. We’ll hold off for another day.

 

How about now?

 

I don’t know, ma.  I’m pretty busy.

 

 

I’ve got things to do,

 

 

floors to play on.

 

 

You can’t hold me back.

 

Okay, P.  Guess we’ll just make do with what we have.

 

So, umm, at 6 months Peanut has become very opinionated.  The end.

 

Here’s a recap of our 6th month together:

• At her 6 month appointment, Peanut came in at just over 13 lbs and 26 inches.  That puts her in the 5th percentile for weight and 50th for height.  How true to her nickname.
• I can’t say this enough - the kid’s got opinions on everything.  Her little personality is showing through in everything she does.  She’s an incredibly happy kid, but I can see the mischievous streak in her.  She gets this “I’m-up-to-no-good” look in her eye whenever she sees something she’s not supposed to touch (cord on her wipe warmer, the remotes, my iPhone) and then immediately lunges for it. 
• She loves to do things on her own.  She wants to stand, walk, and attack the dogs.  As I type this, she is standing between my two arms and trying to type. (This makes for a very difficult job for me since I’ve had to retype multiple sentences she’s deleted.)
• She’s officially sitting without any wobbling.  She can even correct herself when she starts to fall back. 
• She’s also practicing standing and walking.  It all started innocently enough - a little lift to her feet here and there, but now she insists that we stand her up by reaching out with her hands, grabbing my arms and pulling up.  She’s also learned to shuffle her little feet and walk while I’m holding her hands.  The dogs are terrified because she’s usually aiming for them.
• Addi is still in 3-6 months clothes (although there are a handful of 0-3 onesies that she still wears) and size 2 diapers.
• She is taking between 3-4 naps a day (about 30-45 minutes each) and sleeping soundly from 7:30/8pm-5:30/6am.
• P has learned to hand things from one hand to another, reach for things around her (then promptly stuff them into her mouth), look for things that are out of sight, and play peek-a-boo with her blanket.
• Some of her favorite activities include jumping in the jumperoo, playing in her exersaucer, and sitting up on her playmat.
• Addison absolutely loves food (hard to tell from her weigh-in).  To date she’s tried apples, pears, zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, yams, rice cereal, oatmeal.  She knows it’s time to eat and opens her little mouth as wide as possible.  She tries to grab and stuff the spoon herself, since we seem to be too slow for her.  She’s also started drinking out of a sippy cup (although we still have to hold it for her).
• For such a quiet kid, P has started “talking” a lot.  And loudly too.  She loves to shriek, yell, laugh, coo, and even imitate some of our sounds.  No one can get the sounds out of her like the pups, who then scramble away as she lunges toward them.
• Addi is getting very good at imitating us.  If you press a button and look at her, she’ll usually try to press it too.  Some of my favorites right now are the phone (I will pick it up and say hello then put it back; Addi will pick it up immediately…then stuff it into her mouth), the rattle (I’ll take it and turn it upside down then back again; Addi will take it and turn it upside down and back again, then look up and beam at me with pride).
• This month we went away overnight to the Cape for the first time…and came back that same evening since Peanut was really sick/fussy.  We also went to the beach for the first time, and then hung out in the pool in our back yard. 
• Addison is still (I hope I never get tired of saying it) the happiest kid.  She rarely ever cries or even whines.  Mostly she just observes everything around her, smiles her gummy smile, or is content playing with her toys.

 

My 7 Links

Peanut didn’t want to cooperate for the 6 month pictures this morning,

 

 

So we decided to re-take them tomorrow morning.

 

Instead, I’ll entertain ya.

 

Gina at Running to the Kitchen tagged me in the 7 Links.  So here goes,

 

1. My Most Beautiful Post: Our love story: the first kiss.  I loved writing our story down (and really do need to finish it).  But this post is definitely my favorite.  I don’t know if you know this about me, but I love writing (and talking…duh).  But I don’t always end up writing a lot in my posts.  This one was all about the writing.

 

2. My Most Popular Post: The Hearty Chicken Enchiladas in a slow cooker.  This recipe is amazing and apparently ya’ll think so too (I have no idea where the southern accent came from).

 

3. My Most Controversial Post: I don’t really have a very “controversial” post per se, but I did write about a controversial topic: breastfeeding.

 

4. My Most Helpful Post: This one is only helpful to those of you who are dealing with some baby sleep issues - the Ferber sleep training.  It changed our lives - for the better.  We’ve had very little sleep issues with P since we decided to go through with the sleep training.  I’d recommend it to just about everyone.

 

5. A Post Whose Success Surprised Me: Belly update - 40 weeks.  If you search “40 week belly update” on Google, it actually comes up as the 4th result.  Crazy.  PS- I was huge.  And now I miss my belly.

 

6. A Post I Didn’t Think Got the Attention it Deserved: Pelmeni, a family affair.  In it, I make fun of my dad.  Love you, daddy-o.

 

7. The Post I am Most Proud of: The Jasmine post.  This was one of the hardest things to write about, but it was something I needed to do to process it all in my head and let it go.  I can’t really tell ya honestly that I’ve really let it go, but I can tell you that I cried for 5 days straight while writing all the Jasmine posts and then I felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

 

Here are the other 4 Blogs that were tagged on Gina’s 7 Links:

• Anne at Fannetastic Food
• Cait at Beyond Bananas
• Katie at Sweet Tater Blog
• Erin at The Healthy Apron

 

And now it is time to start tagging.  Hope you participate!

• Jenn @ Growing with the Greens
• Doctor’s wife @ Life of a Doctor’s Wife
• Katy @ Monster Proof
• Lori @ I Can Grow People
• Emily @ The Culinary Couple

FF - Favorites

For today’s Friday Five, I’m going to ask you some of your favorites.

If you have a blog, feel free to post a Friday Five with the answers and link up.

Otherwise, leave me a comment!

<center><a href="http://www.livinglikethekings.com/search/label/Friday%20Five"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5105/5671375328_fa84c29f3f_m.jpg" /> </a></center>

1. Favorite cuisine:  Japanese.  I loves me some sushi.  Some of my all-time favorite are rainbow roll, spicy tuna, Philadelphia roll.

2.  Favorite vacation:  Aruba honeymoon.  (Laura, I want to say DR because I had an amazing time and I can’t think of a better way to spend a vacation than with my 2 favorite peeps, but the honeymoon wins).  Jon and I spent the whole time laying around, touring the island in a jeep, drinking some yummy drinks, snorkeling, and just generally enjoying the “honeymoon.”

3.  Favorite hobby:  Photography.  There are so many options: nature, the dogs, the baby. The lenses galore. I can’t get enough.  Although, I must tell you, this is one heck of an expensive hobby.

4.  Favorite Holiday tradition: presents! lol I’m just kidding.  One of my favorite traditions is the Progressive Dinner. Jon’s family, who all live near one another, host a progressive dinner every year, about 2 weeks before Christmas.  Each family is assigned a meal (apps, soup, salad, entre, dessert) and everyone decorates their house with the Christmas decorations.  Then, we all get in a car and go house-to-house, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the Christmas trees, taking pictures, and generally have an incredible day full of conversations, kids, fun, and great food.

5.  Favorite “the-baby’s-asleep-the-chores-are-done-now-what-shall-I-do” pastime: Drinking wine.  Lounging on the couch, watching some TV and blogging.  It’s my way to unwind.



Link up your Friday Five posts (put the direct link please).

What’s in a name?

When I was born (in the cold, tundra of Russia….I’m totally kidding, I was born in July in Moscow which is just about as hot as NYC in the summer), my parents named me Ekaterina.  Or, Katia.

 

 

At the not-so-ripe age of 12, we moved to New Jersey, USA.  My parents got some advice about helping us learn English faster by putting us in school almost immediately following our move.  (I’m not going to lie to you, I’m still a tad bitter about this since I already finished 6th grade early in Moscow.)

 

On the first day of school, the school counselor sat my dad and me down and told us that we needed to register.  She asked my dad what my name was and he said, “Catherine.”  I watched them closely, not able to understand a single word being said.  The counselor wrote out about 5 different ways to spell “Catherine” and let him choose.

 

My dad chose “Catherine.”

 

Because it looked pretty.

 

There is no “C” in the Russian alphabet.

 

 

When I finally got to my classroom, the teacher introduced me to the class (while I stood there, not understanding a single word) and wrote out some nicknames.  Apparently there were 4 other Catherines in the room and she needed to differentiate us.  My new nickname was “Cathy.”  I sat down in my new seat and introduced myself to my designated “buddy.”  She was Russian and translated the whole thing to me.  I was too confused and overwhelmed to say anything.

 

In seventh grade we moved to Massachusetts.  My new school-mates automatically called me “Cathy.”  I was already beginning to resent that name.

 

By High School, a lot of my friends started calling me “Kat” after listening to me complain about my name and its spelling.  “Kat'” was short for “Katia.”

 

Side story - I don’t go by “Katia” because I love my name, but have very little patience for its mispronunciation in the American language. (It’s Kah-tya not Kah-tee-a). 

 

By the time I finished High School, I decided that I would start over in College.  on my first say I introduced myself to my roommates as “Catherine.”  Then one of my friends came by and asked for “Kat.”  It stuck.

 

I tried again on my first day of work, but Jon (the hubs, then friend from college) called me “Kat” on the first day.  I had to explain the whole “Catherine with a C” and “Kat with a K” fiasco.

 

When we got married, I thought it would be the perfect time to (finally) change my first name to “Katherine.”  Apparently it takes a court date to change your first name (and only a marriage certificate to change your last name).  I bailed on the process.

 

So, Hi, I’m Kat, short for Catherine….it’s a long story.