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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!

Our friend Stephanie threw an awesome birthday party for her 5 year old daughter. Instead of presents, everyone brought canned goods for the local food pantry. And instead of party games, there was a live musical performance from children’s singer and storyteller Dino O’Dell. It was a blast!

Kivrin loved it, of course — Watching all of the other kids running around and dancing, listening to the fun music, bouncing around with Mommy and Daddy, and giving lots of people nice smiles.

After the concert, Kivrin got her first autographed CD — and we have been listening to it ever since! Our favorite song is “Smooching with a Giant Squid” and while the song advises giving high-fives instead of kissing the squid, Kivrin mostly just gives regular fives right now, and she’s getting pretty good at it!

Wearing her new Dance-Bot pajamas, Kivrin posed for some silly tongue-sticking-out pictures on the couch, then settled down on the floor to see some indoor bubbles! She liked trying to pop the bubbles but didn’t really watch them while they were moving, just reached for them once they settled on the blanket.

Kivrin’s room at school is wonderful for many reasons– great teachers, nice kids, fun toys, good social interaction, and support for baby and parents during all of the changes that accompany the transition from baby to toddler. Also, they do art with the kids constantly and display it in the classroom and send it home with the parents. Here is a gallery of some of Kivrin’s masterpieces:

Kivrin started clapping on her own around 5 1/2 months. For a few days before, she slapped her open palm on everything (pillows, the floor, her legs, other people’s hands) and then suddenly she realized she could put her hands together! Of course, since we cheer for her whenever she claps, she loves clapping more and more!

And her favorite activity of all time is still…. cat watching. She laughs and shrieks, stares mesmerized, giggles and grins, all for the love of Big Kitty and Ella. Kitty started out wary of the baby, and has progressed to something closer to terrified. He refuses to be in her line of site, and will leave the room if she shrieks happily at him. We aren’t sure what will happen in our house with Kivrin starts crawling, but I’m pretty sure that chasing after the cats will be the motivation for her to get up on her knees and scooting across the floor.