Here are some photos of Karis taken at a wedding we were at this morning.  

Daddy's little girl

Karis stayed nice and quiet during the ceremony.  During the reception, her sleepiness kicked in and she became quite talkative at the most inopportune time (the bride's father was not able to make it to the wedding due to a stroke the day he was supposed to fly out. She tearfully started to talk about him when Karis started to "talk" too.  Yikes!).  We went outside during the speeches and took a few more photos.

The Word "No"

I recently read an article in a parenting magazine about how not to overuse the word "no" with your baby. If you're always saying, "No, don't do that," or "No, don't touch that," your baby will likely tune the word out. Or worse, their first word may be "no" (we'd prefer it to be "mommy" or "dada"). They recommended you save the word "no" for safety situations. If you say "no" when they're about to touch something hot or do something dangerous, they will be more likely to take notice.

We've been trying to make a conscious effort not to overuse the word so we've been frequently saying, "Karis, let's not do that" and "Karis, why don't you come over here and play with your toys?" We say it often as there are many things that Karis is drawn to that we would rather she not play with. She has a whole area in our living room with toys galore, but she always wanders off looking for something else.

Other things she does include trying to get at her baby monitor camera while standing up in her crib.  She also loves to eat paper and we'll find a receipt or a piece of paper in her mouth that she's found laying around.  

She also doesn't sit still for too long in her bouncer or her rocker. This is one of the many positions she would rather be in. 

 

Bath Time

It's been awhile since we've taken photos of Karis' bath time. The last time we shared photos (http://sweetfamilyrobinson.blogspot.com/2009/01/bath-time.html), bath times looked very different.

Here are a few pics of Karis' pre-bath time.

First Pull Up

Last Sunday, I tried to get Karis to take a quick nap before going to church. No such luck. I went into her room to get her but she was playing happily in her crib so I let her be. Earlier in the morning, I saw her for the first time go from a crawling position to a sitting position. Then what seemed like within the same hour, I was watching her in her crib pulling herself up. Is life in fast forward mode or is it just me?

Needless to say, when Derek got home from church that day he lowered the crib once again.

6 1/2 Month Update

Here is an older post that I never published. We went on vacation and I never finished it. Here is a look back at what Karis was doing when she was 6 1/2 months old.

Here are a few pictures I've taken recently that show what she's been up to. This is more for me to remember all the little things she's doing at this age. I know I will quickly forget if I don't blog about them.

Sitting pretty.
Karis has been doing pretty well sitting up. She enjoys playing with her toys while sitting up and seldom likes to lean back. She also loves to stand up (with our help) to show off her strong legs.

She can't crawl yet but she sure can roll.
She definitely likes to move and it's hard to get her to stay still... especially during diaper changes. She always tries to roll onto her stomach which leads to a wrestling match. It's a struggle to get her diaper and pants back on. She seems to be quite strong-willed already -- it's scary.

I'm so thankful that she quickly learned how to roll over from her back to her stomach. We no longer have to "flip" her when she rolls over on her back during her sleep. She now sleeps on her back, stomach and side. She has been sleeping through the night. She'll go down for the night between 6:30 and 7:30 pm and wake up around 5 or 6 am.

She no longer acts like she's in a torture chamber when we put her in the car seat.
She always has a toy to play with in her car seat so she is content in the car. We'll take her to our doctor's appointments or to a restaurant, and she'll hang out in her seat until we're done. Below is a picture of us after we enjoyed breakfast together on my birthday. Notice how she's trying to look like the perfect child in her seat.

The two-finger pacifier works wonders.
She sucks on them to help her fall asleep. She also sucks on them to signal that she's hungry or sleepy. We only give her the pacifier when we're out and about and she's tired and cranky. She can get pretty loud with her squeals that tell us she's had enough and needs a nap!

She has been eating better lately.
She is now regularly eating the minimum amount for her age (for awhile, she wasn't anywhere near the minimum). She is also eating solid food regularly. Her favorite so far seems to be the green beans; her least favorite would be pears.
She likes to chew on the spoon so she'll often grab the spoon as it's going into her mouth. You'd be surprised how fast she can whip her hand out to grab it.

She loves tags.
She can find tags on her blankets and burp cloths. She loves to play with them and suck on them.

She's not a talker but she sure does make noise.
She doesn't "talk" a whole lot, but when she does it's typically in the mornings or when she wakes up from her haps. I love walking into her room and hearing her babble in the crib. Her talking consists more of sounds and not so much syllables.

The other sound she makes is a high-pitched squeal (see her in action below). She makes this sound when she is tired and needs a nap. She also has this drunken stupor act she puts on in the evenings when she's deliriously tired. It's quite funny. She gets loud, starts to grab things, wants somethings then quickly changes her mind. She really acts like she's drunk.

Everything in the mouth.

She loves to explore things this way as well as soothe her teething gums. Below is her reaction to a pine needle that made its way into her mouth.

Developing stranger anxiety.

While she is quite social and loves to be around people, it'll sometimes take awhile for her to warm up to a stranger. She no longer flashes her smiles at everyone. She is most "afraid" of others when it's around her bedtime and she's tired.

Our Summer Vacation: A Night at Wrigley Field

We spent our last evening in Chicago at Wrigley Field.  Go Cubs Go!  

Derek's friend Tom had four tickets and invited us to join him and his fiance.  We jumped at the opportunity to watch the game and to meet his fiance.  Kelsey graciously agreed to watch Karis for us.  We took the train and made our way downtown.  The weather was perfect and the game was fun to watch.  To top it off, the Cubs won!

After the game, we missed our train home by minutes.  =(  We had to wait another hour for the next train. It made for a late night and of course Karis woke up in the middle of the night.  But it was worth it and we had a great time.

Here is a picture of Erik Estrada singing during the 7th inning stretch.

Our Summer Vacation: More Visits With Friends

We sure did pack it in!  Here are more photos of some friends we visited with in both the DC and Chicago areas.  We also visited the grave sites of Derek's father and grandparents. 

Our Summer Vacation: Things Karis Enjoyed

Besides all the attention and meeting new people, we discovered a few new things Karis really enjoyed. While staying in Chicago, every home we visited had a cat or dog. For the first time, Karis was able to be up close and personal with animals.  She was so interested in them. She loved when a cat would brush up against her toes and she would giggle every time a dog came to check her out. Here she is with her great uncle David and his pooch.

Karis' Dad even bought her a stuffed puppy (affectionately known as Douglas) and it quickly became one of her favorites.

Another thing that Karis really enjoyed was being on the river. We spent a half day on the river with Derek's sister and her family.  Karis was so excited to be outdoors with the wind blowing on her.

She also enjoyed just hanging out by the river while men held umbrellas for her. 

Our Summer Vacation: We Are Family

Here are some photos from the visits with Derek's side of the family in Illinois and Indiana.  

  

Our Summer Vacation: Kim Family Reunion

While in the DC area, we had a Kim family reunion. All three daughters and their families met at Dad's home in Maryland. We had dinner and celebrated the many birthdays our families have in June.

Here is a photo of the eight grandchildren, from age 6 months old to 13 years old.

Here is a photo of the three girl grandbabies (one from each family). Each of them have Heijah as their middle name, which is their late grandmother's Korean name.


We spent a day in Harrisburg, PA to spend some extra time with my sister and her family. Here is a photo of Derek and my brother-in-law.