First, I realize it’s not Halloween. You don’t have to call the crazy police on me.
I just couldn’t put this away without trying it on her. She’ll be far to big by October. Truth is she is too long for it now, but we got it on her without too much tugging. I just had to have these cute comparison pics.
Kinlee 1/23/10 at 11 1/2 months. 
Braska 10/31/08 at 23 months 10 days.
Kinlee’s been flying through the milestones lately. I suppose she’s been doing that her whole life. I can’t get used to it, and I definitely can’t keep up with the blogging that I’d like to in order to document it. But I’ll do my best in short bits…
She had her first cereal on her 5-month birthday. She was a fan. I marveled at the fact that you could just offer her a spoon of mush and she happily opened her mouth. 
I’ve never experienced such a thing!!
She did have a few faces that were kind of funny, but for the most part, she was very pleased with this new element to her routine. 
At 6 months, we started introducing some veggies, touched with a tiny little bit of pears to make it a bit more enticing. She has done great with all of it except the green items. Those will have to wait a bit more. She’s a fan of squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and chicken with apples.
This past week, I gave her the little crunchy things from Gerber Graduates, and I just stared and laughed at how she just seemed to know what to do, and she enjoyed it! This is so foreign to us with Braska and her feeding refusal. I can’t believe that a kid can just take food, put it to her mouth, and eat it. Chewing! What a novel idea!! 
She started army crawling just after she sat independently before she was 6 months. She’s gotten quite fast at it and she can get anywhere she wants in no time flat. And if that weren’t enough, now the girl is crawling too! She’s not even 7 months! Maybe that’s normal, maybe that’s what all kinds of babies do, but I’m amazed at this little crazy girl. No video yet, but we’ll get some. She’s still kind of wobbly and slow about her steps, but she does it.
Check out this pic I got this week, it reminded me of another and I looked back on Braska’s blog to find it. 
Same hand-me-down shirt, same BabyLegs, and almost the same weight. Kinlee is the same length as Braska was in that pic, and she’s less than a pound under the weight that Braska was there. The big difference is that Kinlee was 6 3/4 months, and Braska was 16 1/2 months. Almost 10 month difference in age. So funny to me to see how similar and still different.
Sunday was Kinlee's first chance for swim fashions. And she, of course, went with Braska's old suit for her first try. AND the swim hat, too. This may be Kinlee's only time in it. It was none too big.
Braska wore this one a while, with the hat of course. Enjoying the same great perch, Grandma C's lap.
7/22/07, 8 months old.
Back in the day, Grandma C (AKA my mother-in-law) and Miss Karen A happened through the state of Nebraska at a particular university, if I remember correctly, and practically bought out the store of Nebraska-wear. This was one of those purchases, and it was a favorite of mine on Braska. Now it's been passed on, but I just this week remembered it and found it in a bag of things I had thought would be for later in the summer. Nope...not for this chickadee. She's in it now and it's almost too small already! I can't get used to this *growing* thing!
Here's KiKi on 5/26/09, 3 1/2 months old.
(More of this photo shoot to come soon in it's own post...lots of cute happened there.)
And this is Braska, 5/10/07, 5 1/2 months old.
Another shot from 5/26/09 of Kinlee.
This is one of Braska's first professional shoot pics, from 5/24/07, 6 months, 3 days old. (We cheered at how far she held her head up that day!)
This is another one of Braska, from 9/1/07, at almost 9 1/2 months.
When Braska was born, she received more than 10 hand-made blankets and afghans. Our good friend Karen K made her a blanket that I thought was great. It was so unbelievably soft and pretty, and it was a perfect weight--like not too heavy, but yet still warm enough. It quickly became my favorite blanket for Braska in bed because it would move with her and stay on her during all her wiggling in her sleep.
Braska's never really had a favorite anything. She has no real preference for a toy or blanket or doll. But I always kept this blanket consistent whether we were at home or Grandma's or at the hospital. It seemed to work for her, to calm her. This blanket became invaluable, and we never left home without it if an overnight stay was involved.
This is Braska back in early April 07 after she had been flown to Children's for severe dehydration and Rotavirus. As the helicopter was taking her from C-U to StL, I was rushing home to grab things and I made sure to grab the blanket. 
This was one of our favorite pictures during that hospital stay. Braska's little toes peeking out through the blanket weave while she slept. Too cute. 
Right before Kinlee was born, I talked to Karen and asked her what she'd used to make the blanket, thinking I'd try knitting one myself. Braska was needing one just a bit bigger by this time, and I figured I could do it. But after about 2 seconds of thinking I'd have time to take on such a project, I decided to take Karen up on her offer to make another one, as she'd planned to for Kinlee. It was determined that she'd make another blanket for Braska and I'd pass on the original blanket to Kinlee since it was just so perfect for the tiny ones.
That's what happened. The new blanket is gorgeous! And it's just what Braska needs now. Kinlee's had her inherited blanket from day one and really seems to like it. She shows preference for things like her little blanket bunny (thanks Lainie!) and this soft blanket. When she was sitting in the chair last month, I took a few pics, and I was pleased to find this one when I took them off the camera. 
She often wakes up with her hands through the weave, just holding on to her special blanket. If I ever get a chance to go back to knitting, (not that I ever did alot of it!) I'll attempt to replicate this wonder so that I can be sure that the girls always have one, and I can share them as gifts in the hopes that they can be as cherished as ours is.
Thanks again, Karen!! We miss you guys!
For Mother's Day, Kinlee wore a dress that Braska wore a few times, though much later. Mr. David got it for Braska when she was born, and we used it in her 6-month pictures.
Here's Kinlee on 5/10/09 at 3 months, 1 day. The dress fit, as in actually fit properly.
Here's Braska from her 6-month session on 5/24/07, at 6 months, 3 days. The dress was quite big.
