Thanksgiving

Dan's cousin Leigh and her husband Caleb invited us over for some good company and delicous food for Thanksgiving. Dan's Uncle Stan, Aunt Monique, and cousins, Stanley and Michelle were in town for the holiday too. Dan loves seeing his family. Here is Dan, Stanley and Paul taking a break from catching up for a picture.
Monique just loved Kylie. And Ky loved her too.

This was the first time the second cousins met eachother. This is Avery, Leigh's baby girl. She is about 9 months, and as you can see, a beautiful little baby. She was already crusin' and crawling around. It was cool to see how much she had grown into the little person she is because the last time we saw her she was only 4 weeks old.

And we discovered that learning the joy of sharing and teething do not make for a happy baby. Or maybe it's just that Ky wanted to do it by herself (and teething)? She is very independent...

Ok, feeling a little better.

Aww, what sweet hearts.

Thanks Doughty family for having us over. We're so happy to have finally met Avery and to get the girls together!

Parents

Being a parent is the most rewarding experience of our lives. It's brought us humility, love, laughter, tears, patience, and desire for better things in our world. Kylie's an amazing little lady and our number one mission is to make her happy. ...so far so good!!

Here are a couple pics of Ky at 6 months with the parents

1/2 Birthday!!

It's hard to believe Kylie's 6 months old. She is growing into such a little individual and it's so amazing watching her personality and sense of self develop. So far, I know that she is strong willed, determined, and easy going. She is very vocal about her emotions and loves music. Kylie really enjoys meeting new people, although she will not give you a smile as quickly as the next baby. She makes you work for it. She's imaginative and we always see her little brain thinking away.

She's scooting across the floor pretty quickly now, and she favors scooting backwards. I would guess she's going to crawl pretty soon. She also likes the sensations of being on her feet, and has great leg strength.

She says "hey", "hi", and "da da" as well as many other words that we can't quite interpret yet. I've also been teaching how to sign, "Mommy loves Kylie" and "Daddy loves Kylie" - and last night she signed "Mommy"! So I am excited to teach her more signs.

Kylie is a super eater, and is taking formula and a variety of homemade baby food. Her favorites are green beans and pears, but she really likes everything so far. It is fun to introduce new foods because with every new taste she makes an icky face, but she keeps eating and eating. So I'm assuming that means she likes it. Soon, we will start feeding her combination foods and finger foods!

Her teeth are also coming in fast. Her two bottom teeth are very visible and her top front two are only beginning to break through. Needless to say, she has been pretty cranky the past few days because of the discomfort. And she has been waking in the night due to the pain. I'm hoping they will show soon, so my baby can be pain free again.

Last Monday we took her to get her 6 month well baby checkup and vaccinations. She is a very healthy baby and developmentally on track! Here are her stats:

Weight: 17 lbs (75%)

Height: 26 in (60%)

Head: 17 in(75%)

Afternoon Walk

We love taking our afternoon walks around the neighborhood. Here are a few pictures from one of our strolls last week. It was a beautiful fall day: cool and sunny. Kylie likes to check out the trees, hear the sounds of birds and the neighborhood dogs, and then take a little nap.

Kylie's Room

A little late posting this, but better late than never! About 1.5 months ago we moved Kylie's crib into her bedroom. It took a whole days worth of naps to get her comfortable being in her room, and for her to be reassured that we'd still be there when she called for us. And that night, she slept the whole night through - as if she'd been sleeping there the whole time! Now, she enjoys some play time and night time stories in her big girl bedroom!

Here are some pictures taken the other day of the little gerber playing around. Look how buff she's getting! And notice the drool from teething?!

Teething

They started breaking out two months ago, but now Kylie has her two lower front teeth about half way out! They are pearly white, and beautiful! These days, she is a super duper drooling princess and loves to have her teeth/mouth brushed. We will start using the baby toothbrush soon, but for now, she loves this rubber gum messager. I think it helps relieve a lot of pain she gets from teething, so we are sure to do it every morning and night.

Such a sad face, isn't it? I was getting some gunk out of her nose and the suction always makes her cry. But...THERE THEY ARE!!!

Dancing Queen

Put on any music and she'll start to dance! Her favorite music to dance to is reggae, but she also really loves Shakira. She really enjoys bouncing herself up and down, and moving her hips back and forth.

She has also been our little talker the past couple months. As you can hear in the video, she has strong, developed lungs - and uses them with her new found voice. Sometimes she does these dinosaur noises and other times she babbles at a normal tone and decibel. I think she just likes the reaction she gets out of us when she squawks like a pterodactyl. (Which is always laughter.)

In this video, she's dancing to some techno. She's doing all the work. I'm just there for support. Check out her moves!