hello katie

Baby K has had a most productive week.  I told you about how the little professor has been busy studying her hands and feet.  She has been so serious that she has been withholding smiles from everyone.  Well, all of that work has paid off.

When Katelyn was first born, it was obvious that she had no idea of her limbs' existence.  Sometimes her hands even offended her.  She would hit herself and claw at her little face.  One time, I was changing her diaper and she screamed in pain.  I couldn't figure out what was hurting her until I looked up and saw her little hand clutching a fist full of her own hair.  The worse it hurt, the louder she screamed.

She has finally discovered that she has control of her hands and legs.  I've watched her all week stare at her hand and slowly bring it closer to her face and then lower it away from her face.  Over the last few days, she has learned how to put her hand to her mouth.

This afternoon, I was folding laundry and I put Katelyn on the bed next to my laundry pile.  She was laying on her tummy and lifting her head up as high as she could to see me.  I took a brightly colored towel and started waving it in front of her like she was a little bull.  I shook the towel back and forth in front of her so I could watch her try to track it.  Pretty soon, the weight of her head made her roll right on to her back!

Later that night, my mom and D and I went out with Baby K to get some dinner.  It was past Katelyn's bedtime so we figured she would just fall asleep in the car seat.  To our surprise, K did not want to sleep at all.  She just wanted to watch the people in the restaurant eating their food.  We sat her next to my mom and every time my mom started to eat her food, Katelyn would fake cough to get her attention and then smile and make noises when my mom looked over.  We couldn't believe how social she was being so late in the evening.

When we got home, it was bath time and even though she was so tired, Katelyn continued to hand out the smiles.  My mom took her out of the bath while I went to my bedroom to get some pajamas for her.  When I came back into the kitchen, this is what I saw:

So clearly, I have a baby genius on my hands.  I'm sure you heard that she spoke at three months old.  She very obviously said "hi."  D and I are now just finishing her early application to Harvard.