Guest Post from Baby Kate

Hi, Ah-pah! Happy (day after) Doctors' Day! I love you, and I can't wait to see you when you get home today! Love, Kate (with a little help from Mommy)

Here are a few photos Mommy took of me in my "Future Doctor" outfit from Aunt Robin. Sorry it's not an official "Doctors' Day" bib, but don't I look cute?

Here I am just out of surgery.

Checking some x-rays for a patient

You're my most favoritist doctor ever!

march madness

yes folks, it's march madness around the lim household. i'm watching basketball these days, mom and kid have their own madness going on with malls and shopping and such. as you can see below, there's been some st. patrick's day madness going on as well. i think karen has a "baby's first ... " bib for all occasions. there might even be a "baby's first arbor day" bib laying around somewhere. incidentally, doctor's day is in 3 days (although observed at our hospital today). i wonder if she has a "baby's first doctor's day" bib and if not why not.



kate's been getting into all sorts of things these days. if she could, she'd like to get into her little aquarium toy. she keeps trying to get her head into it but it just won't fit.



one thing i haven't gotten a good picture of is her teeth. yes, her lower ones popped up a few weeks ago and now a couple of the top ones are coming in. as you can imagine, it's a little hard to keep her still enough for a picture of her teeth. the kid does not like having her face messed with. she still doesn't like it when we mess with her nose trying to get the ol' boogs out. she can bite hard, too. as a warning, do not stick your finger in her mouth without expecting some damage.

the babe's pincer grasp as improved. at first she would play with puffs but now she'll eat them up if they're around. i don't know about karen, but i also sort of make her feed herself at times by holding the bottle up herself. tough love as i see it. i need to get a good video of that. the coordination isn't completely there. sometimes she'll almost poke herself in the eye with the bottle.


"i think i will eat this puff"

here's kate hanging out with some friends.


"i'm outta here guys; call me when you're ready to roll ... and i do mean that literally. i love rolling around."

the easter bunny hit town recently as well ... or is this an imposter???



oh yeah, i guess that was preceded by palm sunday. kate's first palm branch. i think she tried to eat it. pretty much anything around will go in her mouth.



by the way, karen's obsessed with smart cars. they're all over europe but there were some issues getting them to the u.s. but i think mercedes has started importing them. here is a recent sighting.



in other news, my dad went out and bought a sax and keyboard. here's "david g" grooving. he's too old for a midlife crisis so i guess it's like an old man crisis?



we went to a park recently and kate loved crawling around the grass and putting things in her mouth. karen would keep taking them out but hey, it's nature, grass is good for you. isn't it? anyway, the kid can crawl like a champ. for some reason she loves crawling into the bathroom. she also still loves crawling to cords and putting them into her mouth. the way she's drooling, probably not the safest thing in the world. oh well, "she'll learn" as i say. ha!





here are some of those easter pics. again, they had live animals there. kate's obviously more interested in other things than getting pictures taken.







karen had some sort of picture session set up here. if you have all three of these pics set up and bring them up quickly it looks like she's busting through the animal barrier. you better watch out, nothing will stop this kid.







i'm not exactly sure what's going on with the camera angle here but when kate falls asleep in the car seat these days, she's out big time. such an intense look in her sleep face.



she also has a new toy, straws. this will definitely keep her occupied for a while when at restaurants.


"how does this thing work?"

karen has the kid dressed in all sorts of outfits these days. here's a happy giraffe.


"see ya next time!"

it's over

yes, the little one is crawling! watch out world. we're gonna have to lock down everything now. she loves pulling on cords and she can track down that froggy pacifier like a missile. in case you didn't believe me, i actually have a video of it here. we should have the froggy paci on bin laden and then we would finally catch him. karen left a couple of weekends ago for tennessee and before she left she was almost starting to crawl (as shown in an earlier video) but when she came back a few days later she was scootin' around like crazy.

here's a pic in her borrowed duckie tub and an action shot with the water splashing. she still loves the baths.



we've also been to the zoo a couple of times. karen signed up for a family membership which i think is a great idea. we can go anytime all year for pretty cheap and we have discounts for friends/family too so if you're in town and want to go, let us know!



i was scanning the photos and i found this one deep in one of the folders. i think karen was trying to hide it from me. really, at what point do you call the authorities for child neglect? ha! just kidding honey, love ya!



i couldn't resist this one below either. getting the cousins together has never been funner! actually, riley is smiling pretty well but the rest of the gals just aren't interested.



this was also from the tenn trip. it looks like an early trying-to-crawl pic. this could be a poster for a "do not drink and crawl" campaign.




"he guys, i'm hittin' the art gallery later. come with?"

we were in savannah recently for a medical meeting. as soon as we get in the hotel room karen puts the kid on the bed for a photo op. karen notified me that it was her first hotel stay as well.


"ahh, nice fresh linens and so soft!"


kate's first boat ride. she ain't afraid.

okay, i'm gonna get yelled at for this next one but it'll be worth it. i had to put it in. here's mommy and baby not quite awake yet. look how karen's arm is up by her head and kate has her hand on her head. like mommy like baby.



here we are y'all at paula deen's restaurant. i ate the buffet on consecutive days for lunch. actually, including the buffet earlier in the week at a mongolian bbq, i had 3 buffets last week. almost like the med school days.


"i'm ready to chow down on some gourmet formula y'all!"

yes, babe is now eight months. not much of an update since the seven month point i guess. here's what kate really thinks about being 8.


"man i'm getting old. i guess i'll just eat this paper."

this next pic looks like kate is auditioning for cult follower of the year ... cutest cult follower of the year i have to say.


"whatever you say i will do master."


look at that smile. she still loves grabbing her feet, too.


just hanging out. "hmmm, what should i do now?"


easter's right around the corner in case you couldn't tell!

quick update

just wanted to upload a video. i have a whole bunch of pictures to upload, even from the last post but that will have to wait. karen and kate are actually in tennessee for abigail's b-day. it's weird how boring/mundane it gets when they're not around. on the one hand i'm like "oh yeah, i get to do stuff on my own, play b-ball, go out, party, etc." but after the first night i'm so lonely. poor me. anyway, i caught a nice vid of kate when karen was out one day. it shows kate trying to crawl, in her infant (pun intended) stages, but it includes many nice features such as her flailing her arm and leg around, slapping her feet against the floor, talking, pulling on her sock, etc. the girl will actually stand on all fours trying to figure out what to do but then her knees will drop but she can't figure out what to do with them then she'll either cry or just roll on her back. so funny. anyway, here's the link to the video.

happy b-day, kiddo!

yes, kate turned 7 months yesterday, the same day my dad turned 71. no, i don't have pics of kate with her obligatory "i'm 7 months old today" sign courtesy of karen. it's still on the camera i think. there are actually a lot of pictures from significant events lately (zoo, family visits, etc.) that will be posted later, unfortunately. that's what happens when you fall behind.

these days she's rolling around like crazy. can't quite crawl yet but she's almost there. wow, once that happens, there is no keeping up with the kid.

the girl loves to kick, too. she inherited a duckie inflatable bath from her cousins and she will kick her legs like crazy and splash water everywhere. also when she's trying to get to sleep we'll hear loud thumping in her room where she's pounding her feet against the mattress.


at a friend's baby shower. girl's so fashionable thanks to mom.

here's a pic from a christmas party with our church sunday school group. there was a prize for whoever wore the ugliest christmas outfit. karen picked up some stuff for us from goodwill. you can't tell but i'm actually wearing black cotton sweatpants. they were actually mine but i haven't worn them in years. really. kate's wearing her now famous gymbofriends camouflage onesie.



a couple of more pics from the seh-beh in california.


"am i doing this right, mommy?"


"ah yes, payday is mine." note mystery arm delivering money.

didn't mention that my brother has become a big raiders fan and the mens took a roadtrip up to oakland for the last season of the game against the chargers. dad's looking stylish with the raiders cap.


left to right: dad, me, bro-in-law ted and bro mike


another pic at the airport all decked out in her fancy hat


just enough hair to get a couple of bows in

karen's mom came to visit for a week. there are several other pics i'll put up later but here's one with the three ladies. you do not want to get in a staring contest with this baby.



we were watching kate roll around here and there when she started posing in the style of the old breakdancers. here is her first pose, could be coming off of a nice backspin. definitely taking after daddy.




relaxin' with with her pillow


LOOK at this girl! she is going to break some hearts one day, that's for sure.


yeah, this was taken in the dead of winter. never too early to get ready for the beach in today's global warming environment.


one day this girl was so tired she fell asleep just like this.


quick visit with uncle norman and aunt mary. looks like kate's staring down some hoodlums stirring up some trouble somewhere.

oh yeah, we had a live nativity at church and some animals running amuck on the property. didn't stop kate from getting in there for a good photo op.


hmmm, not much resemblance to the camel


houston, we have contact ... with a sheep. i believe this is kate's first contact with livestock.


happy with pacifier and cousin riley


getting a few walking lessons from cousin rebekah who started walking pretty early herself.

okay, in case you didn't know, karen has this fascination, dare i say obsession with groundhog day. she was even in punxsatawney, pennsylvania for the "phillennium" on 02/02/02. no, i am not making this up. anyway, in true atlanta (metro area, at least) fashion, we have a knockoff groundhog ourselves, general beauregard lee. after a 3 am fire alarm in our condo, we all got up at the gluteus-crack of dawn in ungodly cold weather to see this rodent prognosticate about the weather. karen stayed up all night doing various things, including making many signs, some of which actually ended up on the website of the place hosting the general! see if you recognize the kid on the website as well. click here to see it. not sure how long it'll be up but make sure you also go to the other pics to see some of karen's work and relatives. i'll post more pictures from the event on here later. as an aside, they are a lot more cordial here and wait for general lee to come out instead of dragging him out like in pennsylvania. hey, southern hospitality. well, needless to say, this year he decided to take his time and a lot of people ended up leaving before he came out because it was too cold. many children were out there complaining of digits and phalanges and such going numb and i think we all missed his big moment too. in case you were wondering, he did not see his shadow. interestingly, the very next week it was in the 60's for the high. coincidence? i don't think so.


kate in her groundhog bib and hat. "daddy, where am i?"


"what's all the ruckus about?"


"mommy, help me. i can't feel my body."

more updates later!