Spoons...

Everyday Kate seems to discover something new(or say a new word). She is finally wearing dresses (walking has become second nature...and yes, I finally understand the warnings behind "you will regret wishing she walked"). Still working on getting a bow in her hair...

Saturday at Vivo she decided to take matters into her own hands and use spoons to eat(2 of them). It made for quiet a mess but it is just another example of her becoming a "big girl".
Speaking of "big", yesterday, Kate pointed at Sesame Street on the TV and said "big bird". My mom and I looked at each other stunned (did she just say what I think she said) until Kate repeated it as she pointed at the bright yellow figure on the screen.

Everyday is a new discovery...

34 Weeks!

Best put this way...

From this point on your baby has the level of development necessary to survive outside the womb. The baby's eyes are opening and closing in conjunction with its activity and resting periods. The eyes are nearly fully developed but will require a few weeks exposure to light to complete the pigmentation process. Over the final weeks of pregnancy, in anticipation of blood loss with the birthing process, your blood volume will add 2-4 pounds of weight to your body.

YEA!!! She will also hit 5 pounds this week...the C-Section will be the week of March 20th(likely the 21st but it will be confirmed at the 36 week visit).

Happy Birthday Aunt Funny!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT FUNNY!!!

(and please do not leave me here in Texas with these people...)

Happy Birthday Grandad!

Happy Birthday Grandad!!!!
(aka My FAVORITE babysitter!)

Rainy Days are here again...

Finally Austin gets rain! And Kate was ready...
She spent the day in Roundtop, Texas(about 2 hours from Austin). In what has become an annual event to celebrate birthdays, all of her Queenie's side of the family meet up for lunch at Royer's Cafe. Here she is on the road...(with her beepee by her side)Kate and one of the birthday girls(her Great Granny)...
Since I am unable to travel, Dan and I spent the day staying dry and working on the nursery. Had my last appt with Dr Barry (the perinatologist) on Thursday and we are looking forward to the final 2 months of this pregnancy. Lauren Elizabeth is over 4 pounds now and responds when she hears Kate laugh or cry.

Kate's New Poncho

During our recent battle with the stomach bug, Kate received a great poncho from her Great Aunt Julie. Julie has been key in providing Kate with wonderful beepee's and blankets. Now that the weather is finally getting cooler(this IS January right?), Kate has plans to show it off...

And Girl Scout Cookies taste even better when she is wearing it...

Little Girl Scout??

So after our mess of a week, who should come knocking at our door but a Girl Scout! Not just any Girl Scout but one with a box of cookies AND she is able to provide them to you today(none of this ordering now and getting it months later stuff....). Her dad, always one for nutrition and goodness in Kate's meals, glady handed over his favorite peanut butter cookie to his beloved daughter... We now seem to be running low on this variety...
Fear not because our favorite neighbors have a Girl Scout in their home and we have promised to buy more (many more).

Infirmary Report

Should I even begin with this time a week ago?? After the roller coaster and weird week since, it is probably the best way to start. Beware it contains some graphic images...

Kate and I had lunch with Alyssa ( a good friend from law school) at Chez Zee. I have always liked going there and the food is generally pretty good so I figured it would be a nice, "Austiny" treat for someone from out of town. We will not going to go back anytime soon. The food was average and the service was terrible...just terrible. Granted I am probably a little more sensitive to time when my 18 month old is starving and no one has taken our order yet(for drinks or anything else for over 10 minutes and then...well it just gets worse so I will spare you). But to cap the meal off, as we were waiting for our check (after our plates had been cleared for over 20 minutes) Kate throws up all the food she had eaten("just dessert" in my mind for the treatment we received at Chez Zee).

OK so this is not an unusual thing for dear Kate as we all know. It is something that has gotten better as she has gotten older but well...did not think much of it. Until she did it again-as her dad and I were getting ready for a black tie wedding on Saturday night.

Still we took her to Queenie and Grandad's thinking that it must have been the food at Chez Zee because she was still acting fine. Wrong again...once we got home from the wedding and got her in her bed-everything came up once again (all over her bed and us) and her fever was up above 100. Hours later(aka 5am) we were at Children's Hospital ER getting her rehydrated. They told us it was a stomach bug (or rotavirus) and could last 72 hours.By Tuesday she still had fever and was showing no real progress so I took her to her pediatrician. She provided us the welcome news that this "bug" could last as many as 7 days. So here we are at 7 days and finally we are seeing the Kate we know and love. Her appetite is coming back and so is her energy(this picture was taken today-so love to see her smile back!!)

Trifecta

What a day January 4, 2006 was for the Benzon/Wood clan!!!

It started early...As I was getting ready Kate decided that today would be the day for real steps...first 7 then 11 then 17 and the rest is pretty much gravy. She is still real unsure but she will walk on command (a feat that she scoffed at the day before). Yea!!!

Second, both aunts had something to celebrate! First, Aunt Funny...We now have a Patent attorney in the family!! She passed the Patent Bar yesterday!!! Yea!!! And she has decided that she can't leave Texas and is going to live in Kate's room(ok that is only half true...she can't leave Texas(whether she likes it or not)). Also, on the aunt front, Aunt Christine turned the big 4-0 today!

Finally, and most important to Kate's Dad, the victory in Pasadena. Kate was all decked out. She fell asleep during the first five minutes of the game but I am sure she knew they had the victory all wrapped up. Austin is going to be the lovely shade of burnt orange for a long time (sadly Kate and her baby sister to be named later will not remember this day..sadly)

Happy New Year

For Kate, Christmas came twice. Dan drove to Dallas for a surprise party for his sister and came back with all sorts of goodies from Kate's Nana and Bieboo. Here she is opening all the gifts:

We also took a New Year's morning walk (and Kate was all dressed up in an outfit from her Nana).

Computer Bug

Today was a mini-milestone...Four solid steps. Queenie and Grandad witnessed the occasion and not a dry eye remained afterward.

Kate, never one to be behind the curve, is now attempting to e-mail all of her pals. On each visit to Grandad's computer, she unleashes a torrent of typing. We know that her boyfriend Jeremy (who just got a beautiful new baby sister, Helen Mabrie-born at 38 weeks and weighed 6lbs, 6oz!) is at the top of her address book.
Kate's baby sister may not have a name yet(Lauren is still in the running but the race is not over) but she is 28 weeks along!

According to the experts, she can now open her eyes and bat her eyelashes. She weighs about 2 1/2pounds and is beginning to keep a regular sleep schedule. We are thrilled to be in a third trimester and look forward to seeing her little face in late March!

Merry Christmas

Kate had a great Christmas! It all began on Christmas Eve when she ventured to the Farmer's Market with her Grandad and Queenie. Kate loves to see all the people and animals and this year there was a Gospel band belting out Christmas tunes.

Kate's Uncle B came in late Friday night so his first chance to see her was at lunch on Saturday. We met up with him and Aunt Funny at Matt's El Rancho for a mexican feast. Not as good as Vivo but we were all very full when we left.

Turkey and dressing were on tap for dinner and Queenie and I had to forgo napping in order to prepare everything. Kate loved Queenie's dressing and gobbled it up like ...well like we all did(and always do).

Santa came just after Kate went to sleep and left some great toys to surprise her on Christmas morning.

Kate was overall a little overwhelmed with the whole thing but still managed to play with all her new toys. She had a really great Christmas (as we all did!).
(Still working on walking...)

Christmas is coming

Christmas is coming and we are ready for Santa! Kate has finally shaken her runny nose and we have had no further visits to her doctor-yea!!

We have been busy baking breads and other goodies. Kate loves to eat the finished product right off the cooling trays(which have been moved to a varitety of Kate-resistant places to avoid overindulgence-did not realize how creative I could be in my placements...).

Lauren will hit Week 27 tomorrow-a huge milestone for me since Kate was already in the world by this time...She is happily kicking and elbowing and I am cherishing every second! Last week, the perinatologist had nothing but good things to say about her development.

O' Christmas Tree

The holidays sure have come quickly! Here is Kate, intent on getting Queenie's tree just right...

So far we have spent the weeks trying to get everything bought and ready for Santa. Kate is not quiet sure who he is but she is able to say "ha, ha, ha" to my "ho, ho, ho".

This morning she took two steps before grabbing hold of the wall. This is a little progress but she is still rather fearful and unsure. Maybe this is what Santa is going to bring???

Kate's little sister is going to be named Lauren Elizabeth and she is doing great. We are about 25 weeks(a little over 6 months) along and going strong. She and her big sis had it out the other night. As I was trying to rock Kate to sleep, Lauren kept kicking Kate every time Kate would breathe out(expanding her stomach to bump against Sissie). I have a feeling this is the first of many sisterly battles...

Thanksgiving Holiday

We had whirlwind couple of days. Kate's Beiboo and Nana came in from Dallas and we went to the Driskill for Thanksgiving. Kate did not make it to dessert....

Friday we watched some football game(can't even remember what teams they were...haha) and hung out with Kate's Uncle B. Many attempts were made to get Kate to walk (i.e. offering her a cell phone-which almost worked) but after one step she was done. We will continue this battle...

After the weekly lunch at Vivo, Kate got to have steaks with her Aunt Funny on Saturday night.

Kate still has a bit of a runny nose but the doctor ruled out any ear, chest or throat issues. Overall she had a great holiday weekend and she loved getting to eat breakfast with her Dad four days in a row!

Sissie

Breakfast with Santa

Queenie treated Kate and I to Breakfast with Santa at the Christmas Affair last Friday. Kate met Santa. AS you can see, it was not the best first meeting and I don't think he got the gist of what she wants for Christmas(but could there be a better looking Santa??)...

Kate is now standing on her own but still not ready to take any steps solo. She has her first runny nose and we are headed to the doctor this am to check it out.

Tonight Kate's Nana and Beiboo are headed here to spend Thanksgiving. Our "big meal" will be at the Driskill and we will spend the rest of the afternoon in pure sated bliss (and watching football).

I failed to mention that Kate's Uncle B(my brother Barrett) passed the Texas Bar(yea!) and is happily practicing in El Paso. Laura, aka Aunt Funny, also passed the Oklahoma Bar but is now headed back to Texas(yea!) to take both the Patent and the Texas Bar! We are still working on getting her to stay in Austin and just be our nanny(no Bar's necessary). They are both headed here over the weekend and will get to see Kate-Uncle B has not seen her since May!! What a difference a few months can make!

Deep into November...

So what Kate has been up to???

A little over a week ago she met her second cousin Ben, his wife Ama, and their new son Rogan Obadiah Jupiter Schenk. They are residents of New Orleans but were forced out by Katrina in Sept. It seems someone was looking out for them because they were able to find a midwife and free housing here in Austin until after the baby was born. Ben's mom(Dan's aunt-his mom's sister) Pat was also visiting them in Dripping Springs and is pictured holding the baby. It was great to see them all looking so happy and well! They made us a nice dinner and we had a great visit!(Below is a picture of the family just after the birth)

Lately we have had a few medical issues-Kate was diagnosed with pneumonia on Tuesday only to be completely fine on Wednesday(we do in to re-check her chest tomorrow). On Saturday morning I went to St Davids-briefly-because I thought I was having contractions. Thank goodness it was only gas and a few Mylicon later I was home. Dan was great in getting us to the hospital and staying calm. He assured me that we can visit the hospital anytime I feel I need to until this baby decides to come in late March(when she is due to arrive).

Today Kate and I decided to try a new recipe for cookies. I call them Brownie Black and Whites(basic brownie cookie w/white and regular chocolate chips)..Picture is upcoming(they are headed to Dan's office for a taste test tomorrow)

Looking forward to the week ahead as we are headed to the San Marcus Outlet and on Friday, Kate gets to meet Santa!!

Halfway there...