Funny how babies hit milestones in clusters. Yesterday an eruption began, her first tooth started peeking through her gums. It is her bottom tooth, front left, and only a speck of white has appeared outside the gums, but it's definitely trying to come all the way in. Could this be why her sleeping schedule has been off for the last few weeks? Last night she finally went back to a six hour stretch, much to my relief. It's amazing how painful this process is for them. She has been beside herself with the crying, and I've been giving her Tylenol and baby oragel. Now she seems perfectly fine! When this tooth pokes it way through completely, we'll take a picture for you!

Joel surprised me big time today. Not only did he come home early without my having to ask, he showed up with cake, flowers, and a bracelet! We spent a quiet evening at home, because as we were discussing which restaurant we wanted to try, Kate fell asleep. Since she's been sick and a bit out of sorts, we decided to go down to Union Market and get some really good steaks and cook a nice meal at home. It was great. We got to spend some much needed time together and Kate was able to snooze in her own bed. Then we stuffed ourselves silly with ice cream cake! Happy birthday to me!

I've been talking to the cats for years about getting a Friskies commercial (hey, other cats have jobs, why can't they?), but they have seemed uninspired. Pedro complains they don't pay in mice, and Chloe mumbles something about commercials not hiring the disabled. So after years of trying, I've given up on the idea.

Now, however, my very photogenic and sociable daughter seems to embrace the idea. (Ok, she just looks cute in pictures, but hey!) I decided to pursue the idea, and we've taken steps to start her off in the business.

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Kate said her first words this week, and I was so excited that it was "Mama!" At first I don't think she associated it with me at all. She just discovered how to make a new noise and kept repeating it. However, over the last few days I have been so pleased with the new word, and repeated it back to her while tapping on my chest to show she was referring to me, I think she's catching on that it is me she's talking about. Joel told me this morning that when she heard me in another room, she popped her head up and said "mama." Now I do think she's associating it with me.

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We took our first train ride last weekend, when we went to DC to visit my sister and her two daughters. Boy did we have a blast! Kate loved being around the older girls, who are five and three. We stayed with friends who also have a five and three year old, so we had five girls under the age of five for four days. Needless to say, the girls enjoyed it!

We took Amtrak, mostly because I thought it would be easier than driving with a 7 month old for five hours in a car. It really went smoothly, I have to say. I got some attachable wheels for the car seat, which helped in navigating the train station. (more...)