A few pics...

With new rattle and puppy from the returned Eurotrippers. Garden peas and new backsplash.
Modern girl. (she will be smarter than us with computers, won't she?)('scuse the red eye)

The Age of the Chariot

Did we mention we did go a head and purchase a Chariot for Katie? We shopped around and decided that, for us, a new Chariot would be a worthwhile purchase. We are now the proud new owners of a Cougar 2. We can't run with Katie just yet, maybe in another month, but walking is great fun! We had our first outing on Saturday morning.

Getting buckled in... All ready to go...Dad's ready to go too.

We woke up early (by the Katie-Alarm...patent pending) and headed down to Emily Murphy park while it was still cool (yes, it's still smokin hot here) and walked along the trails around Hawerlak park.

Nice and cool in the shade until the mosquitos woke up. Katie thouroughly enjoyed the ride...looking at the light and the breeze in the trees. She did get tired and fall alsep though and looked very relaxed by the end of the hour. Ben and I thought she deserved a treat for all her hard work and in Canadian tradition stopped at the local Tims. Hope everyone had as great a weekend as we did!

Heather

Not an old dog...

Right away, I'll let you know this will be a post with many pictures. We've been having lots of fun lately and not been posting much and I intend to make up for it!

Katie has proven that she is definitely NOT and old dog and CAN learn new tricks! She has started to get close to turning over onto her stomach from on her back. It pretty much looks like this:

From the bottom up, with her legs turning over and then tummy and now the only thing left to do is get over that one arm. She'll get a little frustrated, so mom helps her out...
...and flips her over so we can see what might happen when we flip over...FUN and kisses!

The new tricks continue when we see this...Which is also known as Mega Head Control and Leaning Up On Arms. I can totally see her doing this as she gets older to read books, do homework and watch TV...oops, scratch that last one, we're never letting her do that! =)

Dad and Grandpa Ken thought they'd start teaching her to be handy, starting with an observation session in the garage. Something tells me those boys didn't get a lot of work done on the slate backsplash that day.
Lunch breaks at the kitchen table are a very important part of being handy.

Speaking of handy, the hands are becoming more active and grabby...it might be time for contact lenses instead of glasses. And maybe I should copy Andrea's short haircut lest I become bald before my time. (Watching out for those Dunnigan genes!) Katie looks like she's planning something devious anyway!
Watch for another post to follow shortly, because there's more fun still!
Heather

3 Months Old

I almost forgot!
Our little Katie is officially 3 months old today! And we had her weighed and measured yesterday...14 pounds and 12 ounces and 25.5 inches long.
That's some good growing Katie! Keep up the good work!

Dad and Katie's Day O' Fun

This week on Tuesday, I went into work for a special retreat (which was interesting and lots of fun!) so Ben got to spend all day with Katie. All Alone...supposedly. Until Coreen called and said the magic word "playdate". So Katie went to Joanne's to hang out with the twins and Coreen's nephews. Sounds like fun was had by all. Dad did a great job with his girl and I could tell they both had a great day. I had fun at the work thing, but boy was I ever ready to see my girl again. Sometimes, if she has a nap that's 2 hours long, as nice as the break can be, I really feel like I miss her and am glad when she's awake again. Isn't that crazy? Is that normal??

Andrea and Sheldon dropped by for lunch the other day and Katie was more awake than the last visit... ...And a little less fussy. Wouldn't you say Sheldon?
We did actually happen to have a really great laughing session during this visit, so we might let Sheldon back.

The weather continues to be warm, although we did have a couple of days of cool 20C. We had an awesome thunderstorm the other night and showed Katie the lightning and listened to the rain. She appeared to be quite mesmorized by it all.
Otherwise things have been good and we are enjoying each day. Hope you are all enjoying yours!

Heather

Down Under

This is Katie wearing an outfit gifted by Coreen that she brought back from Down Under. Isn't it cute? It says "I'm a Koala" on it and comes with a hat that we can't wear right now because it's too hot and a cute cuddly koala which Katie has actually been grabbing onto. (grabbing is the new skill this week...slowly but surely!) Down Under refers of course to Australia...Hi Auntie Patti, Uncle Andrew, Charlie, Georgina and Angus! Here in Babyland, it sometimes also refers to noise coming from...well, down under. She is a noisy girl down there!

(You can tell there's not much going on when I resort to poop jokes eh?)

I also have pictures of our garden. Ben worked hard this year, with the help of Great G. Mary, to plant a real Veggie garden this year. In this garden there are: beans, carrots, lettuce, swiss chard, peas...some kind of zucchini...a tomato plant...and other stuff maybe? I can't remember, Ben did ALL the work! Oh, and sometimes we grow weeds too...without trying of course. The one thing this garden doesn't have is Dill. Maybe next year.

12 weeks and a Surprise!

Katie is 12 weeks old today and today and we have lots of pictures to show it.

One of my favorite things about being home every day (besides the Katester) is getting the mail. Actually, that's a favorite when I'm working too...anyway... Yesterday the UPS guy drove up and delivered a huge box addressed to Katie...huge as in 5 ft tall! Inside the box was this:

A huge, lifelike, plush and posable Giraffe! No mention of who it was from, but mom's know everything (right Mom?) so I figured it was a gift from Auntie Alli and Uncle Shannon. A quick trip over to my Gmail and my suspicions were confirmed. Thanks guys, it really is gorgeous and amazing. Katie noticed the new addition right away and immediately jumped on for a ride.In other news...Andrea's Sheldon came back from Gagetown yesterday, after a 4 month stay. They stopped by on the way home from the airport for his first viit with Katie...she was happy to see him but kept her feelings on the inside and played "fussy/tired" instead. No pictures as I totally forgot...will get some soon.

After dinner we went for a walk in our new Baby Bjorn carrier (yes, we still have the sling but wanted something that was a little more liked by Katie...she's still not sure about the sling). She and dad had a great time.

Last but not least...for those of you who know I knit...I reveal my very first knit for Katie...The pattern is Anouk from Knitty and I started knitting when she was 7 weeks old and waited about 2 weeks to put buttons on. Yay!

Have a super day!

Summertime!

Well, we're still sleeping in the basement and it's still 30+ degrees but now with more muggy!
We had Joanne, Chad and their twins, Claire and Gracie over for dinner the other night. Katie didn't really seem to understand the concept of "playdate" and slept through almost the entire visit! The girls are about 9 months old and messily eating all kinds of yummy food. Also they look like they're close to standing up and/or crawling...so neat to watch them try! You can see they're also used to being in photos...this shot took all of two seconds to get lined up.

We were all driving around yesterday and decided it was too hot..so Ben and I stopped at a 7-Eleven for our once a year slurpee/slushie treat...only to discover something else:Squishees! For the Simpson's movie coming out later this month 7-Elevens have turned into Quik-E-Marts and are selling Squishees. Tastes just as good as a slurpee. Katie likes them too. And here's Katie modelling an adorable Classic Pooh outfit from Auntie Alli and Uncle Shannon...This photo was taken this morning. Katie's no longer wearing the outfit though because she liked it soo much she peed on it. This is the new thing Katie does, pee on things she likes. (I know this because she likes mom most of all!)

Enjoy your day!

PS...in keeping with special Hellos...Hi to Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ken in Summerland. Katie says she'll make sure to pee on you when you get back.

Sweet Laughter

Warm Weekend

Hello! This weekend has been super hot! We're coping by living in the basement and eating lots of popsicles (well, Ben and I are...Katie looks on longingly...in due time honeybunch!) Going to The Mall also helps...And I think the sign of a truly loving mother (in today's world) is posting pictures that are more flatering of the babe than of her. I sure wouldn't dare post this pic if I knew you weren't all just here for Katie. (Look at those dainty fingers!) Here's a better picture of the outfit...This was a gift from Andrea and I think it may be the first dress we ever had for little Katers.
Katie also participated in her first outdoor BBQ at Hawrelak Park...with Jon, Shelley, Michael and the "newly-returned-from-backpacking-trip" Coreen (she's the one who's well practiced at being the subject of pictures and actually waving).Katie did really well for the 30+ weather...had an early nap in her travel playpen and didn't cry too much...except as we got closer to her bedtime. The bugs were starting come out anyway. Yay for picnic BBQ's! And thanks to Shelley for organizing.

I think that's it for now! Talk to you soon!

Heather and Ben and Katie

PS...Special "Hi" to grandma and grandpa Dunnigan travelling in Europe...we're thinking of you! Katie's trying not to grow too fast without you, but I'm not sure it's working. =)

11 Weeks

Katie is 11 weeks old today. Wow! She is awesome. I swear we've heard her laugh once or twice, but we have to get a more reliable way of making her laugh before we take a video.

This week Katie joined mom and dad at the pool...we took turns watching her while the other swam. Katie can't wait to join us...she already practicing her backstroke...

Other than that we have received new footwear from Auntie Alli...they're a little big but we couldn't wait to try them on!These shoes are SO CUTE in person that Grandma Cheryl brought them into her work to show them off before giving them to Katie!

It's another hot spell here and we're back in the basement. Katie has had some marvelous sleeps lately, including a new 7.5 hour "personal best".

Just don't ask us about last night. =)

She Speaks!

Sometimes, we are Not-So-Daily...

Had a great week. Miss Katie was 10 weeks old on Thursday and we were lucky enough to have not just one but two parties to attend!

One was at my work to celebrate the three beautiful babies born this past year. Very nice to see everybody. Katie was not so happy to be there...I suspect that despite my attempts at making her nap before we went out she was still sleepy/grumpy (Hmmm...were the 7 dwarfs named after baby moods?). She had on a pretty party dress which we took off because I thought maybe she was too warm...good thing she's got the confidence to pull off a look like that. The food was great and it was really nice to see the people who made work so much fun.

The second party was a BBQ for Grandma Cheryl's staff. There was a hat theme so we all wore hats...even Katie! I wish I had remembered to take a picture. Did I mention it was a super hot day? Definitely 30-something, so hats were a really good idea. Katie elegantly slept through this entire party. Guess we don't have to worry that she's turning into Paris Hilton just yet.

What? You want pictures? OK...

These were taken at my mom's yesterday out by the pond and by their apple trees.

Ouch!

Katie had her first round of immunization shots yesterday. Ouch! 3 shots in the legs and she was crying and crying! It's so rare to hear an "I'm hurting" cry from her and that made it really hard for Ben and I. But she was tough, and as soon as it was over she was ok. She was sleepy enough afterwards to be "tricked" into her sling for cuddling, which I really enjoyed since I have been tryin to get her more used to it for a few weeks.

We went to IKEA on Sunday (Canada Day) mostly for browsing and found a super cute girly lamp for Katie's bedroom...the Storm table lamp in purple...can't find the exact one on the IKEA site. IKEA had some activities and specials on for the holiday, including yummy red and white frozen yogurt...for a buck, I was totally up for the treat! Would you like a taste?SPEACIAL: Two random cute outfits for today. One, the T-Shirt from Andrea's trip to PEI that we hadn't yet photographed...still a bit big, but adorable...The shirt reads "I'm too cute to throw back". Thanks Andrea, it's totally a winner!

...and speaking of winner, a Winners find!Have a super day!