G.I. Zadie

Here's Zadie in her pink camouflage outfit that my dad bought at a recent Seal Team reunion. It may be hard to see the little Seal Team insignia on the right-hand side. Let's just hope she sticks to Seal Team onesies and doesn't go out and get the Seal Team insignia tattooed on her forearm like her crazy Granddaddy Hal!

My mom came up for two nights and just left today. She was really surprised how much bigger Zadie had gotten and couldn't believe all her new tricks. She seemed pretty disappointed that I hadn't mentioned that Zadie could sit up on her own (which she's been doing for a few weeks now). Sorry, Mom!

This is my favorite age so far (Tori laughs at me because she says I say that at every stage). But really, Zadie is super fun and interactive, but she doesn't know how to crawl and get around very well so I don't have to chase her all over. I don't look forward to that one bit.

Back-Back

One of my favorite Jamaica stories that Tori has told me is the one about a chicken in her community that only walked backwards. Everyone called the chicken "back-back" and they never ate the chicken because that thought it was too special. Anyway, we just started calling Zadie Back-Back because she just started learning how to crawl backwards. Well, it's not really a crawl, but more of a scoot. Still, she can cover a little bit of ground -- but she can only go backwards!

She WILL Eat Her Veggies!

I know I already posted one video of Zadie making bad faces while trying to eat zucchini, but this one was too funny. She's actually grown accustomed to the zucchini, but this is her trying avocado for the first time. We've also given her rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, which she likes, but we're pretty determined to make her like green foods. She's being a good sport and downing what we give her. Sorry for the poor video quality...

Summer with Cousin Cheryl

Since Zadie was about five months old, she's been in the loving care of cousin Cheryl. Cheryl is Grandma Linda's cousin, so we have no idea what that makes her relation to Zadie exactly. Either way, Cheryl has taken care of Zadie four days a week for the whole summer and we could NOT be any happier with the wonderful love and care she's received. Cheryl and her husband Stacy take Zadie on a walk almost everyday and often take her down to the beach. Everyday when Cheryl comes to pick her up, Zadie smiles really big and that makes me really happy. I wish I could spend more time home during the week, but in our absence Cheryl has been a godsend. Oh, and Cheryl is a very talented seamstress and even made Zadie a dress -- the first of many handmade dresses, right Cheryl? :)

Thank you, Cheryl and Stacy, for being such loving and wonderful caregivers!

Grandma Linda

I don't know if I mentioned in earlier posts about the visit from Grandma Linda. She left about a week or two ago. Grandma Linda, along with Uncle Hank, took Zadie on lots of adventures to the beach. She even got to go on a bike ride, pulled in the little trailer behind the bike. And Zadie *particularly* enjoyed Linda's visit because she fed her LOTS of milk and made sure she was always stuffed and happy!

This is a sweet photo of Grandma Linda taking Zadie swimming in my parents' pool.

Six Month Checkup

Zadie had her six month checkup last Friday. She weighed 15 lbs, 8 oz, which is less than I reported about a month ago, but that time I didn't take her diaper off. The doctor said her weight is fine (47th percentile), but I feel like I haven't been able to give her all the milk that she wants, so I may have to start supplementing with a little bit of formula. She was 26 and one quarter inches (73rd percentile) and her head was in the 95th percentile. So she's really slowed down in all the growth areas except for that enormous head!

She's finally started liking rice cereal and a few other vegetables like peas and squash, so that's been a new experience.

Like Mother, Like Daughter?

I know that Zadie is wearing this outfit in a lot of these blog photos, but it's because I really love this onesie that my cousin Amy sent her. Some of you may already know the background on this -- aside from being a cute little outfit, it's very reminiscent of my high school uniform.

The summer before my senior year in high school, I was riding in the car having some talks with my aunt Kay (Amy's mom), as we often did. On this day, we were arguing about the merits of private school education and I was arguing that she should send her kids to public school. But I did concede that uniforms were really cool and that I wished I could wear a uniform and never have to worry about what I wore to school. And Kay said, "Well, you know you can wear a uniform and go to public school." And so was inspired the idea to create my very own school uniform at a public school (this is, by the way, one of the many half-brain ideas that Kay has inspired, most notoriously convincing Tori and I to sell bbq off of Granddaddy's old fishing boat on Lake Jacksonville!).

Anyway, when I came home that summer I bought three Dickie's work shirts and had my name sewn on them (see photo). I also had a few matching pairs of navy blue shorts and also jeans that I wore. I remember showing my mom my new uniform and being so confused as to why she wasn't really excited that she didn't have to go school shopping that year. I can't imagine why she wasn't thrilled about that outfit!!

So for my entire senior year of high school I wore that baggy work shirt, tucked out, with Birkenstocks (except I wore "normal" clothes on Halloween). In the hallways at school, lots of people I didn't know would yell out, "Hey, Kate!" or "I want 5 bucks on #3" (I looked like a gas station attendant). The previous year I wore a baseball cap every single day and refused to be seen without it, but that's another story.

So hence Zadie's cute little outfit and this photo. I hope Zadie grows up with a strong sense of self and individuality, but maybe she won't have to go quite as extreme as I did. Although I would like to save $$ on her wardrobe!

Zadie Meets Mary Alice

Dear Zadie,

Here is a photo of you and your great-grandma, Mary Alice. I'm so glad that you got to meet her because she has been a very important and treasured part of my life. I spent many summers in Jacksonville, Texas with my grandma and granddaddy. Grandma was always full of fun: she would organize watermelon seed spitting contests with us, take us driving on scary roads and tell us criminals had just escaped from the local prison, and teach us how to crack mass quantities of the pecans that had fallen from their trees. My memories with my grandparents are some of my favorite childhood memories. Granddaddy Kirk isn't here to meet you, but I'm so glad you got to meet Grandma Allie.

Zadie Rolls W/Her First Quake

I've gotten behind on my posts, but I did want to commemorate the fact that Zadie experienced her very first earthquake this past Tuesday. It only measured 5.4, but it felt stronger than that to me. Zadie was over at cousin Cheryl's house (she's watching her for the summer) and her Uncle Mike Wilson was rocking her in the rocking chair when that chair started really rocking! Zadie is reported to have taken it all in stride.

This weekend we're in San Diego hanging out with my parents and also Grandma Linda and Uncle Hank. Last night we went to see the wonderful and amazing Dolly Parton, but poor little Zadie didn't get to go because infants needed a ticket. We're sorry she missed the experience, but in honor of our love and admiration for Dolly Parton, we are hereby re-naming Zadie Dolly. She'll officially be Dolly Wilson Kuykendall. And we expect her to be just as musically talented -- but hopefully not so surgically enhanced!

Oh, this photo is from the family reunion and it's our little Zadie swimming in the buff (or actually just finishing swimming). The reunion has a great swimming spot called the Blue Hole and Zadie floated around in there for a while. And that's her great-aunt Dana gazing lovingly at her.