Catching Up

I've been terrible this last month about keeping up our website...maybe becuase it's become tougher keeping up with Cassidy! She has been very busy this month, going from pulling herself around to officially crawling. It's amazing how fast she became fast! Here are some more highlights...

Cassidy enjoyed helping me pick blackberries

The Pruiett family came together for the new picture and got some wonderful shots on a beautiful day in Bellingham

The grandkidsCassidy continues to love her bath and getting comfy...

Now that she is mobile, she loves playing with the dogs. Chad caught her trying to share the ball with Remi who was being the wonderful dog she is and not taking the toy she knew to be Cass's, despite Cassidy pushing it towards her.

Cassidy loves to be standing and works hard at pulling herself up on anything that she can get her hands on. She can even stand up just using the wall for balance! Here she is waiting "patiently" for me to get done with dishes to get her out of her playpen and turn her looseReady to go feed horses in her carharts every morning!

Cassidy's first hunting trip to Dayton and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa on the farm

Cassidy enjoying a stroll around the kitchen with Grandpa. She is ready to move on to walking, just ask her! Looking smashing in her camo waiting with Grandma on opening morning hunting report

So we know this picture isn't politically correct and she will probably hate us for it in about 12 years, but you can't choose your family so she's stuck with us. The hunting report was good, 2 bucks opening morning with 2 more to follow. All tags filled and meat for the freezer.
Later she did a little hunting of her own. The poor bear didn't have a chance!

Riding horses... and finally figuring out what those long ears are for! Our little pumpkin in fall, 8 months and 1 day old

1st Trip to Spokane

Cassidy and I were off to Spokane for cousin Jason's wedding, with a stop in Dayton along the way. We were very excited as Cassidy hadn't met any one on Mom's side of the family yet



Cass getting cleaned up for the big event...

After the wedding we stayed with Aunt Sue. Her granddaughter Mya was very excited about helping Cassidy eat her breakfast, and did a great job.


Cousin Pam and her family came up to visit us before we left. Cassidy had a great time playing with Pam and her oldest son Payton. Pam and Jeff have 4 boys and I'll never forget her comment to me..."Cassidy is very active!"


Jeff and Payton getting some cuddle time

Aunt Sue getting her "baby fix" while I was getting the car packed up


We had a very nice visit, but wish it could have been longer. We are hoping to see every one again for Thanksgiving

Havin' Fun

First off, look what baby girl can do all by herself! Needless to say we have lowered the crib mattress after we got over our inital shock when we were greeted by her standing up after her nap. She loves standing up and looking around.

Cassidy likes to practice her cowgirl skills in her bouncy horse. She also enjoys a good pony ride on a bouncing knee. By the time she can sit on Rocky by herself, she's going to have a great seat, probably better than mine!

Cassidy loves playing and talking with the dogs. Here, Echo is talking back....

Echo and Floyd babysitting

Cassidy continues to really enjoy her baths, and is getting more and more into splashing and moving around. She gets herself into a vey "yoga" like position in this clip. I got the camera out because she was splashing so much, notice all the suds on the counters...but of course when I started filming she toned it down.

She finally has enough hair for a mohawk...Chad is so excited!

After playing so hard, a busy girl has to get some sleep. This position is a new one with Cassidy's growing ability to move about. I thought this was pretty funny, especially since I was able to lay her down on her side without waking her!

If she has Lulu (the pony) and either her Nuk or her thumb, she is out cold. I checked on her yesterday after putting her down for a nap because I could hear her talking on the monitor. As I peeked around the corner, baby girl was sitting up talking to Lulu and having a good old time. She proceded to stand up at one end of the crib, saw another Nuk at the other end of the crib and so worked her way over to get it. She then sat/fell back down, played a little longer, then fell over on her side and went to sleep. If she is this active without officially being mobile, once she starts crawling I think we'll be in trouble!

Hikers

Cassidy and Floyd

Floyd hasn't been with us for a few weeks. He has been helping take care of a friend who needed company while recovering from ACL surgury. Cassidy has changed a lot in those weeks, becoming more active and mobile. This morning, Chad put Cass in her "exersaucer" and as usual she went to town, jumping and playing with all the toys, making lots of noise. Floyd, her self-appointed babysitter, was tentatively watching, not sure if all was ok. Cassidy, watching Floyd watch her, began to jump even harder, laughing and squeling. Floyd decided he was out of his league and sulked away to his bed. Cassidy, losing her audience, stopped all action and turned herself around to watch Floyd walk away with a frown on her face, as if to say "Hey that was some of my best stuff....Where are you going?"

We got some antics, but these are pretty mild...Seems she gets a little shy with the camera going, but she's still cute!

Starting strong

August has started off with a bang! First off, I have surrived starting my new job and it is going well. I even get to be back in Anacortes at the Middle School, so I'll have lots of great people to work with . I've been working the last week on orientation and getting settled, along with Joceyln, who is the full time therapist in Anacortes. We have hit it off and things are going well. I'm anxious to get back into the schools though and start seeing kids again, enough of this being in the ofice stuff! Chad has been having a great time getting Cass all to himself every morning too, it's fun to hear of their adventures when I get home.

Also, Cassidy got a new ride...

The saturn was making some not so nice noises and Chad and I decided we needed to make sure our girl was in the safest and reliable car. So, we bought a new Honda CR-V and I must say I'm feeling very grown up these days. It is a great car with tons of safety features and actually has more cargo room than the Saturn, so the dogs get to ride in style too.

Cassidy has been gaining more skills with her Cherios, but she still needs some work on the aim! I'd love to know what she was thinking...."Hey, where'd they go?" Along with the Cherios comes her first adventures with real food. I've decided to try to make most of her baby food and my first attempt resulted in a serious mess, but also a store of sweet potatoes, carrots, and yams. I think the next go round will be better, I should have gotten all the kinks worked out! It was kinda fun though, and I put the pureed veggies in ice cube trays for freezing single servings. It has worked great and Cass seems to like the sweet potatoes as her starter! For her Birthday tomorrow I think we might try some carrots....yipee!

Other developments for our girl have been constant movement...or as we like to call her "wiggle butt"! Now when you put her down on her blanket with toys she is all over the place. She is able to roll from tummy to back and from back to tummy. She can also sit for a long period of time, at least 10 minutes, content to play and if she falls forward she can pull herself back up and if she falls back into a pillow she can also get back up. It's amazing, but I think there might be a six-pack under her buddah belly! For the first time today we went in to get her from her nap and she was on her tummy!

24 weeks

Yesterday Cassidy turned 24 weeks old and today we went in for her check-up. It was kinda a tough day...She had to hold still lots for all the measurements and exams. She is now 17 lbs 6oz (75%), 26 1/4 inches long (60%) and still a petite little head of 41 cm (25%). She has dropped a little in the percentiles, she was 90th and 75th for weight and height 2 months ago, but nothing to worry about, just something to watch. As most of you can attest too, she is by no means skinny. Then the really hard part had to happen. The nurse came back in to give the shots...Mom was with us and this time I had to help hold her down and because her brain is working much better, the pain registered much faster and she was crying almost as soon as the needle went in, and so was I. She only got two, we have to go back in a couple weeks when she is actually 6 months, wich is frustrating. I wish I had known before scheduling this apopintment. I would much rather have the torture over all in one day. Her leg is very sore. She didn't want to lay on that side to nurse, so we had to get creative today and she seems more tired and definitely more cuddly. I'm sure she will recover, and so will I. I'm glad that her next appointment is 3 months away (after we get the next 2 shots in a few weeks).
On the up side, the doctor said she could start eating finger food, such as cherrios, and that we can start introducing more veggies and fruits into her diet. Mom was so excited we bought a box of cherrios on the way home and Cassidy was game. She was able to pick them up, but struggled with figuring out how to actually get them out of her hand into her mouth. She seemed to like them when I put them in for her and I'm sure within the next couple of days she will figure out how to make those cute little fingers work.
I think today was tough on me for a couple of reasons. Just realizing how big she is getting and as exciting as it is to watch her grow I am a little sad that she is needing me a little less every day. I can't believe it has been 24 weeks since she laid on my chest and we met her for the first time. It has been amazing and I have been so blessed to be able to be home with her for all this time. But I have to get back to work, starting Friday. We continue to be blessed and I found a part time position as a mental health therapist working in the schools and if everything works out the way we are hoping, Chad will be able to take care of her in the mornings while I'm at work and then either go to sleep or go to work himself. Kit has also volunteered to cover the afternoons that I'll have to work, so we get to keep her in the family! As perfect as it seeems to be working out, I know I'm still going to have a tough time walking out the door Friday morning.