Evacuation Plan

Although we are waiting until tomorrow to make a final decision on whether evacuation will be necessary, I wanted to go ahead and post our evacuation plan. We are fortunate to have good friends in Birmingham who have often opened their home to John, Mr. Biscuit, Ford and me, and they have been kind enough to make room for one more this time (Cate!). We will make a decision sometime tomorrow (Friday) and if evacuation is necessary, we will most likely evacuate either very early Saturday or very early Sunday. Hopefully we will not have any problems with our cell phones, but in the event that we do, John and I can always be contacted by email or by leaving a comment on the blog.

Growing, Growing, Growing

The last month and a half has been a very busy time for us. John sat for the Louisiana bar exam in late July, so Allison and Cate went to the beach with Cakki for a week in mid-July so that John could concentrate on studying. Unfortunately, Cate picked that week to go through a very cranky phase, and the only way to soothe her was to rock her in the hammock on the balcony. However, it was good to get the first "traveling with baby" experience over with!

When Allison and Cate returned from the beach, John's mom (Nana) had arrived for a visit. Nana was a tremendous help while John was taking the bar and kept all of us well-fed. Nana also helped us establish a successful bedtime routine for Cate that works almost every night. Between 7 and 8 p.m., Cate gets a bath, a swaddle, a song, and a bottle, and generally falls asleep quickly. One night, it worked too well and Cate fell asleep in the bath!

Cate had her first set of immunizations at about 2 1/2 months old....this might have been more traumatic for Allison than it was for Cate. Cate cried for a few minutes when she got the shots, but was quickly distracted by a bottle. She was fussy for a few days, but she has definitely been fussier lately, so it was hard to tell how much of the fussiness was actually due to the shots. As of July 31, Cate's statistics were:

Weight: 8 lbs, 15.5 oz (5th percentile)

Height: 21 inches (5th percentile)

Head Circumference: 36.5 cm (~5th percentile)

We took our second trip with Cate during the first weekend in August. We traveled to Montgomery for the wedding of our friends Andrea and Sam. Allison was a bridesmaid, so Cakki and Pepere came along to help John take care of Cate while Allison was busy fulfilling her bridesmaid duties. It was a beautiful wedding and we all had a good time. Being away from home seemed to wear Cate out, though, as she slept the entire ride home!

Overall, Cate continues to be a pretty good baby. We are working on getting her to sleep longer at night and take more consistent naps during the day, both of which seem to make a dramatic difference in her mood. However, it is amazing how quickly she sometimes goes from this:

To this!


A few more recent pictures of Cate:

Cate relaxing in the boppy.

Cate waking up from a nap.

Cate with Nana.

Cate tries out her new Bumbo seat...note, it was John's idea to prop up the bottle!