Patty Salgado

Pictures

I finally downloaded hundreds of pictures from a couple cameras.

Yes – Katherine lost that loose tooth. It had been getting very wobbly for a couple weeks. Finally, Patty looked at Katherine and said, “your tooth is sitting sideways…” and plucked the tooth right out. Katherine was delighted to have the Tooth Fairy give her $5 for her first tooth. (Going rate is less for following teeth!)

Our kids are more aware of money and how to save it for special purchases. Allison saved her money and bought a $20 Hello Kitty stuffed animal at Build-A-Bear last month. Katherine couldn’t afford that, so she settled for a post-holiday moose with light-up antlers on sale for $10. 🙂 We also took them to our bank last weekend and opened their savings accounts. They were very thrilled to use the change machine, and the prospects of depositing money is very exciting.

You’ll see that both girls are riding bikes that are just a little too big for them. Allison likes to ride the 16″ Novarra bike; since she can’t fully extend her legs all the way around, she’s actually slower on this bike than her 12″ bike. Katherine flies on her new 20″ bike. It’s got six gears and handbrakes. It was very amusing the other day watching Katherine riding down the road with Steve running full-tilt next to her.

Skip! Skip!

Katherine has decided to “teach” Allison ballet. As a result, Allison has become enamored of her little pink tutu, white sandals and sock ensemble. Ballet seems to involve both girls running around the kitchen island yelling “skip skip skip!” Katherine throws in a “tag, you’re it” for good measure and whacking me on the back when I’m making dinner.

You’ll also see some pictures from Allison and Patty’s expedition to the zoo today.

Allison’s 9 Month Checkup

Katherine and I took Allison to her checkup today, with the high hopes that Allison would be packing a bit more weight and height. In short…she’s grown but not quite as much as we had hoped! She’s 16 pounds (10%), a slight improvement over her 5-10% trajectory. Her height improved a bit – measuring 27.5 inches (50%), increased from her 25% height at the last appointment.

OK. I think it’s fair to say that Allison really doesn’t like the pediatrician office. We walked in, looked at the fish tank and entered our exam room. Allison did well up until I sat her down on the crinkly examining table paper. Her face crumpled, and she started opening and closing her little fist – seemingly saying, “Feed me Mom and Get Me Off This Table!!” I took off her clothes and placed her naked on the scale. The wailing then started and continued while the nurse measured her length and head circumference. Of course, Katherine reveled in the experience. She sat crisscross applesauce on the table, telling Allison “it’s OK baby, it’s OK.” Then Katherine, with a huge smile on her face, turned to the nurse and said, “Allison’s getting shots?” Allison finally calmed down as I held her and the nurse left the room.

Our pediatrician came in and checked out Allison as she sat on my lap. He assured us that she looks great and that the nurse would be back in. The next several minutes were just traumatic for Allison. First, we sat in the lab part of the office while the nurse pricked Allison’s toe and squeezed out blood to check hemoglobin (all’s fine). Then we went back into the room and the nurse gave Allison two shots in the leg. I tried to nurse Allison, but she was inconsolable. We ended up going to the minivan, at which point Allison calmed down and nursed. Needless to say, it’s a Baby Tylenol night. 🙂

Where did you hear THAT?

Katherine is just a sponge. Here are some choice snippets that have emerged the last few days…

– “Bye kiddos!” – going upstairs to play in the playroom. I have no idea who says this.
– “Uh Oh Spaghettio” – this one is from Patty.
– “I’m doing the best that I can!” – working on a puzzle. I admit that this is from me.
– “I’m going spinning!” – I asked her if she knew what spinning was, and she had no idea. She’s just heard me say this before I go to the gym.
– “Ste-fe-scope” – I asked Katherine what the doctor uses to listen to her chest. She still can’t say the “th,” but she tries.

We have the most interesting conversations. Katherine, my mom and I went to an Asian grocery story yesterday. On the long drive home, Katherine was getting antsy, and they had this conversation:

My mom: “Katherine, can I take Allison home?”
Katherine: “No”
My mom: “Why not?”
Katherine: “Because Mama wants her!”

Maps and More Maps

I recently went to a teacher’s supply store in Bellevue and picked up, among other things, a US map place mat and a laminated poster of the continents. Katherine thinks these are really cool. She’s been learning a song in preschool that goes like this: “North America, South America, African, Europe and Asia. Don’t forget Australia! Don’t forget Antartica!” Now she points to the continent map and gets Africa and Australia. North and South America get mixed up and Europe and Asia are indistinguishable to her. This afternoon, I asked her to tell Allison about the continents. Katherine at length told Allison that Mom and Dad had been to Africa and that all sorts of animals lived there. She then dragged the Africa book (Art Wolfe) out and flipped through the pages naming those animals she knew. Thankfully, she managed not to hit her sister with this enormous book.

She also eats sitting at the counter on her US map place mat. I’ve been telling her stories like, “I grew up in New York…it’s the pink state!” or “Your Aunt lives in Massachusetts, where’s that?” or “Mickey has a second house in Florida!” It’s cheesy but she really enjoys these discussions. She can pick out states that she’s visited and where family lives. She also makes up silly stories about Lambey living in Lake Michigan or Katherine spending lots of time at Cannon Beach.

She’s Standing!

Allison is well on her way to walking. Today, I saw her remove her death grip from the coffee table and stand unassisted for a good second. Patty reminded me a few days ago about the walker that Katherine used at 8-9 months. I dragged it out and set it up. Allison’s eyes lit up and she was SO excited to be able to push and walk behind the walker. Initially we had to remind her to walk as she pushed it and leaned increasingly horizontally. Now both girls can push the “Baby grocery cart” and “Big girl grocery cart” shopping among the three upstairs corner rooms.

She’s also walking more surely and quickly with assistance. It’s not unusual for us to walk down the hallway and around the house. Funny enough she loves walking so much that, at times, she won’t bend her legs to sit down. Instead we’ll try and put her down on her bottom and she’ll push hard to stand up!