An educational visit to Oma's

We always feel like we are learning things about Katy, how to take care of her, what her needs are, etc. The problem is that this seems to change about every week. This weekend we went to visit my mom and Greg in Pittsburgh, and we learned a few things:
Lesson #1: Late afternoon/early evening is not the best time to travel by car with a 9 month old.
Lesson #2: Whatever you do, and I mean whatEVER you do, do NOT accidently get on the turnpike in the dark snowy night when you MEANT to get off at your mom's exit, adding 35 minutes to your trip.
Lesson #3: Now that Katy is aware enough to realize when we are sleeping in the same room, everyone sleeps better if her crib is in a different room than mom and dad.
Lesson #4: A full baby belly is the difference between a happy trip to Target and a stressful one.

All that said, we had a really fun trip. Katy is just growing and changing so fast, it's really fun to see what she does in new situations. She loves Oma and Opa Greg and their interesting home. Also my mom babysat and gave Brian and I a chance to get out, which sent us to IKEA, of course. We love that store, and it was nice not to be rushed to get back for Katy's nap. Then we had dinner at the bar at Smokey Bones because everything was an hour wait.

This is my childhood lovey, Dumbo. Katy didn't appreciate how wonderful he is...

Katy has also developed a serious (and developmentally appropriate) attachment to her mommy. If I am in the room, it's difficult to get her to engage with others. And sometimes she doesn't want to play at all, just be held. This is bittersweet: bitter because it's hard for me to get things done because she's so clingy, but sweet because it makes me feel really close to her, like she's a human being instead of just a baby.

Once we got home, Katy helped her Daddy put together her new toy box from IKEA. She loves to "help" and basically imitate everything Brian does. (including some very silly and obnoxious things, Lord help us all)

And of course, if you are interested, you can view some videos of Katy's weekend activities, including "walking" with a "walker" and her first piano lesson.