Katie learns to laugh!

It has been another exciting week of firsts this week at the Carpenter homestead. We spent the week rehabbing my back from back spasms and preparing to cater a wedding reception for our friends Seth and Jane Johnson. (In my opinion it turned out fabulous) Katie kept the stress level low by constantly reminding us that she is the cutest baby that we have ever had. Nothing melts our hearts more than hearing Katie learning to laugh. Over the last couple of weeks she started to associate her big smiles with making a noise. The sound usually ends up being a big sigh after several of her patented big smiles. Now as responsible parents looking out for the best interest of our precious little girl we know that the way a person laughs says a lot about that person and can often serve as a sort of signature or crowning jewel of ones personality. Jolene and I decided to have a laugh off to determine which one of us has the best laugh. Katie absolutely must have the best role model possible for her laugh. Jolene won after several tie breakers and oreos, and so it was determined that Katie should model her laugh after her mother. So Saturday morning after eating, Katie was feeling especially happy and we had a feeling that today would be the magic day of Katie's first official laugh. We both instinctively knew our rolls as Jolene grabbed Katie so she could model the art of laughing and I grabbed the camera. We knew this could take some time so we settled in, determined to not only experience her first laugh, but document it for all to see. I warn you, what you are about to see is the real, raw and uncut footage of Jolene's brilliant teaching moment!

PS - I let Jolene win the laugh off because I want Katie's favorite food to be Peanut M&M's and her favorite toy to be Legos. Don't tell Jolene my secret plan of trading the laugh for the right to teach Katie that she loves Peanut M&Ms and Legos!

Love Kimball (Super proud Daddy!!!)

Tummy Time

She is 3 months old this week and has been practicing all sorts of new things. Here is one of them. She has also been trying to roll over, laugh, and push herself forward with her legs while on her tummy. We haven't been able to catch any on video yet, but soon I'm sure.

Jolene's Birthday

Here are my birthday cakes. They are Angel Food Cake with yummy stuff in between the layers. One of them has pineapple and strawberries and the other one is chocolate peanut butter.

Kimball bought me an Ebelskiver pan for my birthday. This is Kimball's first time making them. Ebelskivers are like pancakes made in a ball and then rolled in butter and sugar. They are a long time tradition in my family. Yummy!

Sleeping

Here are a few of her favorite nap time positions.



Katie hasn't always been the best sleeper, but is now doing much better. We have had to angle her bed so she is not laying flat to sleep. However, she wiggles so much that she ends up at the end of the bed horizontal. She is supposed to be in between the to rolled blankets to keep her upright, but that doesn't seem to be very effective as you can see. She has also taken to sleeping on her side.

Camping Trip

We had the great opportunity to go camping last weekend. Katie got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter. We stayed at Upper Canyon Creek. It was beautiful and peaceful. We did a little dutch oven cooking and enjoyed the cool air. Kimball's brother let us borrow his truck. It brought back memories of Kimball's old truck.


Here are some pictures of the wildlife there. These massive beetles were falling from the sky when we turned on the lantern. We think this one is just sleeping.

Long Hair

A little while ago she had a long hair. If you look closely you can see it. We decided we should cut it before someone thought it was a stray hair and accidentally pulled on it. We called it her half haircut. And yes this is what happens when she eats (that's why we have a bath every night).

First Swim

We took Katie for her first swim last weekend. She didn't seem to mind. Here we are trying out our new swimsuits. I think she was a little confused when we got home and gave her "another" bath.

Blessing Day

We blessed Katie on June 29, 2008. Here she is with dad after the blessing getting ready to go to her cousin Kaylee's blessing. Kimball did a fantastic job.
Here's a picture of the two together. Katie's the one on the right who is done with the photo shoot and would rather practice turning onto her side.

Shot Day

Last week was shot day. She got one oral and three in the leg. She sucked the oral one down. Apparently, it tastes better than her medicine. We also gave her Tylenol and she slept all day.

The Tylenol is finally kicking in.

Medicine

We recently found out that Katie has reflux. This just means that the muscle that keeps all the food inside her stomach isn't strong enough yet and sometimes food comes back up and burns because of the acid from the stomach. It is worse when she is laying down flat on her back or when she is curled up. She sits in her bouncer a lot and she sleeps on an angle (which has been a challenge since she wiggles a lot). We have been giving her Zantac. It comes in a very strong peppermint flavored syrup. She doesn't like it.

This is Kimball trying to give her the medicine. She thinks it's really funny. She usually gives us a great big grin halfway through as it all dribbles back out and down her chin. We have found that she gets the most if we give it to her when she is crying.

This picture is her with her medicine all over her despite our efforts to wipe it with the burp cloth or push it back in. If you notice her onesie is two different colors at the top. She usually smells delicious after the whole ordeal is over.

Also, if you look really close you can see bubbles foaming out of her mouth. She usually does that for a while afterwards. It's pretty funny.

Playtime

Here are a few things we like to do during playtime.

This is her second favorite place to be. She likes to "talk" and smile and play with toys.

This is her favorite place to be. Laying on the floor. Sometimes we like to do yoga together. This is her wearing her yoga pants.