Monthly Archive

Kivrin met her Great Grandma Donna Ruth Fogt in Marion, Ohio . Kivrin especially liked Grandma’s smiles, and her glasses.

Kivrin liked playing on the floor at Girard Ave, where generations of Fogt children have played before her.

And Kivrin might not have actually looked out the window, but we did drive her past the classic Marion tourist attraction, the Harding Memorial. I’m sure we will visit it again — the cemetery where Great-Grandpa Fogt is buried is just past the memorial.

One cool benefit of staying in a hotel is that we had access to a swimming pool. After some frantic shopping in Collinsville to locate appropriate swimwear for the family (it took three stores to find swimwear for everyone in February!) we finally got to enjoy the very warm and very humid pool.

Dan took Kivrin in the water first, and they practiced splashing around a bit. I liked pulling her around in circles, or lifting her up and then splashing her down again gently. We didn’t try anything fancy yet, like putting our faces in the water. We went swimming every morning we were in Ohio (always followed by quick baths to get the chlorine off the baby’s skin).

estimated distance 752 mi – about 12 hours 9 mins (not including baby)

An assortment of toys kept Kivrin happy and entertained, at least for a while.

We finally arrived in Marion, Ohio, at midnight, and Kivrin wakes up to meet some relatives. Thirty minutes later, she shows no signs of ever getting sleepy again.

Eventually she sleeps. But the next morning she is bright eyed and ready to play before eight am. (That’s before seven am Topeka time, but it sounds so much more relaxing to imagine that we stayed up later and slept in later during this trip…)

We stopped in Collinsville on Thursday night before continuing our driving on Friday after lunch. Here are the adventures we crammed into a 14 hour layover…

Grandpa got out the old wooden high chair from the attic (that is drawer liner on the seat to keep Kivrin from sliding around) although Kivrin has been doing more eating than playing at our practice feedings lately.

Kivrin can scoot on her bottom in pursuit of things she wants to reach. Here she was pulling toys out of her duffel bag and while trying to reach more toys she scooted herself into the bag.

Nana came over for lunch (and brought yummy vegetarian baked beans) and some snuggles with the baby. Here they are sharing some smiles.

Aunt Gloria came by to visit and she was showing off some gifts she is sending Madison (Madi, if you are reading this blog, please act surprised when your care package arrives!) Kivrin scooted across the floor to reach the stuff. I don’t know what it means if Kivrin’s first interest in playing with dolls is Project Runway paper dolls?

Kivrin was supposed to be napping, but she woke up early and played “got your nose” with Grandpa. A hint for those of you who haven’t played this game recently — babies have surprisingly strong hands and amazingly sharp little finger nails, so this game sounds and looks much cuter than it actually is….

orange bowl

rabbit ears

One of our favorite books from the library is a board book called “What’s on my head?” and these photos are inspired from WAY to many readings of that book.

Kivrin changes so fast some days it makes me wonder if I shouldn’t just live-blog it like a techie keynote…

Anyway, best I can tell, Kivrin cut her first tooth this morning when she was exactly six months old (to the nearest hour)!

I’m not sure I can get a picture, I could barely get a glimpse myself, but it is plenty sharp!

Facebook has a photo category called “mobile uploads” which seems like the
perfect way to collect and share the random pictures you take with your cell phone.
As anyone who gets email from Kivrin’s parents must know, Dan and I do most of our communicating with our iPhones these days. And since my iPhone is ever-present (because what else can you really do while breastfeeding day and night besides play solitaire, check facebook and email and read the internets?)
I’m lucky that it has a decent camera built in. I havent found a way to upload those pictures directly from the phone to this blog, so I don’t get them posted as often as the ones from the camera. Here are the best of the random iPhone pictures from the last few months…

Laughing at the little cat.

Serious faces from Kivrin.

Enjoying the park on a warm winter day!

Sitting on the slide like a big girl!

Splashing at bath time.

Playing with one of her favorite toys at school.

Passed out on my lap.

“Mama, are you ready? Did you pack up my stuff? I have your stuff right here.”

It’s not crawling yet, but I put Kivrin down on the floor with her toys back by the red block (see it there, 4 feet behind her?) and without any help, she “reached” her way across the floor in pursuit of one toy after another.

Over the weekend, I invented this practical and popular teething device (I call it “celery”) for Kivrin’s enjoyment. She loved gumming the cold hard vegetable. I think she is sad now that we used the rest of the celery stalks in the soup we were cooking!

With Kivrin’s 0.5 birthday only a few days away, we thought we would update the baby book and reflect on her accomplishments this far–

Success! Things Kivrin loves to do already:

• Smiles, laughs

• Can bear weight on legs

• Coos when you talk to her

• Rolls over, from tummy to back

• Plays with her hands and feet

• Recognizes own name

• Turns toward sounds and voices

• Separation anxiety may begin

• Lunges forward

• Sits without support

• Passes objects from hand to hand 

• Drags objects toward herself

 Milestones that are coming soon…

• Imitates sounds: “baba,” “dada”

• Jabbers or combines syllables
• Cuts first tooth
• Is ready for solid foods
• Rolls over in both directions
• Starts crawling

Dear Kivrin,

Someday, someone will tell you how babies are made. It’s pretty interesting, and a lot of fun, and there are plenty of books on the topic if you want to learn more about it.

I’ve been thinking a lot this week, and there are a lot of things in the world that are upsetting to people. Some of those things are written down in books, and sometimes the books have illustrations.  Not everyone is upset by the same kinds of things. Sometimes people talk about whether kids should be allowed to see those pictures, and whether those pictures are harmful to minors.

In case it ever comes up when you are older, (and in case I get all puritanical in my old age) here is a short list of some of the things I worry may be harmful or upsetting for you to view someday.

assassinations
natural disasters
ethnic cleansing
people hurting other people
segregation
weapons and their damage
poverty and hunger
crime scene photos

I know that you will see images of all of these things, maybe before you are ready, definitely before I am ready. I’m not going to blindfold you to protect you from seeing the world. I don’t think you will ever be “old enough” but I’ll do my best to talk to you about what you see, and explain anything I can to help you understand.

Love,
Mommy

Kivrin loves looking out the window, especially when cars or people go by — I’m sure she will enjoy it even more once we can open the window and feel a breeze!

Aunt Leigh Anne got her this cute new shirt from H&M (they are both such trendy women!). I figure it is actually a subliminal message to our cats….. “hello, kitty!”

No real theme here, besides pictures of our baby from the past week or so….

Kivrin got a giant box from Georgia (where Gramma Mary lives) for her half-birthday. She opened it all by herself (okay, I helped her a little bit). She enjoyed grabbing, flinging around, and tasting everything in the package. I can’t wait for a warm day so she can wear the cat-in-the-hat onesie. Because Dan loves ORANGE so much, my mom works hard to find presents for the baby in that special color (and that makes all of us happy.) Thanks, Gramma Mary, for the wonderful presents!