A Month of Firsts.

Well, October was quite a month of 'firsts' for Baby Cate.  She attended her first Appalachian State University football game, had her first visit to Chapel Hill with a stop off at Peppers Pizza, and did her first round of trick or treating.  On a sadder note, Cate attended her first funeral for her Great-Grandfather Howard Butler, who was a retired, two-war Marine Corp veteran.  He was buried with full honors at Camp Johnson/Lejeune near Jacksonville, NC.   

The biggest (positive) news of the month, however, is walking and clapping.  Cate started walking several days before her 8 month "birthday."  Since that time, she has increased her walking skills and is now walking more than crawling. In fact, we can't stop the little monster.  Needless to say, Baby Cate has been busy and her parents are exhausted. She keeps us on our toes and we enjoy every minute of it!

November 8 marks 9 months for Cate.

Here are some recent pictures and I included a video of her learning to walk and a video of her at the mall walking with her mommy  in her Halloween costume.   (Blogger reduces the quality, so they may be a bit blurry.  One of the videos you have to turn your head sideways . . sorry.  Maybe one day I will figure out how to work the camera!)

Cate learns the "Motor Boat."

While dining out one night with friends, Cate finally mastered the motor boat sound.  Enjoy.

Going up the steps.

Its a little dark and fuzzy and you have to turn your head sideways, but nonetheless, she crawled up the steps by herself.


Some other recent cell phone photos of Baby Cate.

The First Vacation

Earlier in August we took Cate on her first vacation to the beach.  We visited Tybee Island, GA right outside of Savannah.  Cate thoroughly enjoyed her week off from the fast-paced life of being a 6-month old.  While Cate loved the pool and beach, many of our pictures  were taken in the condo. 


We also had several friends join us on the trip.  While our friends Ian and Nicole visited, Ian took some great shots of Cate on the beach and I hope to post a few of those in the future.

But for now, enjoy Baby Cate relaxing all her worries away . . . (except in the last picture, in which she was demanding more food!)

5.5 and counting

Five and a half months and counting.

Crawling . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . check

Pulling up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . check

Standing while holding onto my hair . . . . . . . . . . . . .check

Bouncing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . check

Into everything she can get her hands on . . .  . . . . .  check

Making messes in which she is physically unable to clean up . . .  double check

Cate is getting around very well these days and really starting to enjoy entertaining herself with toys and things that I would rather her not touch. (Mainly the latter, of course.)  We obtained a bouncer a few weeks ago and she has really taken to it.  Hopefully I will be able to post a video of her bouncing as it is rather hysterical.  But here are some pictures of her playing in the bouncer as well as some pictures of recent water events with Cate's good friends, Chloe and Stella Higdon.

Last two photos taken by Bryon Graeber who kindly allows us to borrow his pool on occasion.

Cell phone photos

Usually, my Nikon is not around at the times when I need it most; thus I must turn to my cell phone camera. Here are a few pics featuring Cate caught on mine or Jenn's cell phone.

Baby Monster

A week and a half ago, Cate started eating the infamous Rice Cereal.  Prior to her birth, I did not know such a thing even existed.  To me, cereal meant Apple Jacks.  For all you future parents (especially dads), rice cereal is nothing more than rice flakes in which you add formula, then heat.  Although rice cereal is pretty much a liquid, you feed it to your baby with a spoon and it is the first type of "solid" a baby will likely eat.

Well, Cate likes the rice cereal . . . a lot.  I think we have created a little baby monster.  Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself.

First Father's Day

This weekend marked two significant milestones.  My first father's day with Cate and my first weekend watching Cate without Jennifer.  Jennifer had to go out of town Friday evening and Saturday and needless to say, I learned a lot things which I had probably taken for granted over the last four months.   Cate and I had a great weekend bonding, but both of us were happy to see Jennifer return home.

Although Jennifer was away, I did have some help in that my dad got to visit this weekend.  It was good to see my dad on Fathers' Day and Cate enjoyed spending some QT with her grandpa.

For Fathers' Day, Cate (Jennifer) got me a new 50 mm lens for my Nikon, which was used for some of these pictures.

Three generations of Shatley's

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

These are some pictures of our recent trip to Pigeon Forge with my family, including my brother, sister-in-law and their two children. Their newborn Aiden, is 8 months old and is quite the little hunk.

Cate got her first swimming lesson in the pool at the condo.  It took her a day to take to it, but by day two she was enjoying the water.  Although Cate is only four months old, she already has more bathing suits than I have swimming trunks.  Go figure . . .

Little Aiden eating his breakfast wearing Cate's bib.

I have been attempting to create this blog since Cate was Born, but being a new parent has its own sets of challenges which have kept Jennifer and I busy.

But it is my hope to share pictures and stories with Cate with all of our friends and family. So many of our friends and family members live hours away from us and we want them to be able to experience Cate's growth and development.

I hope you enjoy our posts.

Catherine Pearl Shatley

February 8, 2010 ~ 6:36 a.m.

8 lbs. 9oz.