Kate's Christmas

Kate really got into Christmas this year. She'd open a present, put it aside and say "more presents" and be on to the next thing. She was really excited about all her new toys and puzzles and seemed a little overwhelmed when she was finished opening everything. She wanted to watch a movie so we put on her new Cinderella DVD and she sat there for about an hour immersed.

She got a new rocking horse ornament from her aunt and uncle and he didn't have a hanger. She ran to the tree and strung him up by his reins! She later asked if she could ride the rocking horse.

She's going to be very upset that the Christmas lights come down soon. Fortunately for her, our neighbors across the street had a nice display this year. Each night before bed, she would say "look at lights" and go lift the blinds to check them out.

Kate's also talking about Jesus now. We can't really tell what she's saying but are excited she's at least thinking about what she's hearing from us and at church!

Cookie Monster!

Today I decorated cookies for Kate's Kindermusik classmates and to go into the mail for our families. I had packaged most of them up and all the little wrapped ones for her Kindermusik class were on the kitchen table with a couple I hadn't packaged up yet. She wanted to watch Mickie Mouse, so I turned it on and went to check a few things on my computer. She was quiet and I really thought she was still on the sofa watching TV. When I came back, she was sitting at the kitchen table in a regular chair. She had a cookie in each hand and was licking them alternately. There was a bag beside her with a pulverized cookie inside that she had tried desperately to get to. Also in the family room in front of the sofa was an empty cookie bag! She looked so happy, I couldn't get upset with her. She had fun! The above photo was taken when I told her she could have a cookie after she smiled for the camera.

Tonight as I was getting her ready for bed, she put her hands on my cheeks, said something very sweet but unintelligble and proceeded to kiss me on the lips about 7 times in a row. There weren't little kisses, these had suction. Between her sucking and me laughing, I could barely catch my breath. It was just such a big show of affection, it just melted my heart!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Yesterday, Kate watched me put the lights on the tree and hung a few ornaments because she just couldn't wait. I thought she'd be too young but she did great. So today, we turned on the music and finished together. She had so much fun and wanted to look at every ornament before it went on the tree. She put the star on her head and said "happy, happy" because she thought it was a birthday hat. She broke a couple non-important ones but she had a blast and that's what's important. She really enjoyed "helping" daddy put the star on the top. At one point, she pushed off of him and got them both off balance and I thought they were going to go down on the tree. :-) Kate basically decorated the whole bottom of the tree. I think she did a pretty good job!

Kate loves Poppy!

Poppy came to see us for Thanksgiving and Kate has been so spoiled! She says "Poppy" more than any other word now. He gave her a little armadillo named "Bubba" and when she can't find him she just says "bububububub..." until he is located. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner and of course, Kate's favorite was the pumpkin cheesecake. Every time I open the fridge now, she asks for "cake."

DAIQUIRIS!

Kate loves cleaning up with napkins and asks for them at every meal, sometimes 2 or 3. We've been trying to teach her to say napkin please. She says dakin peas and when she runs it all together, it sounds just like she is saying daiquiris, daiquiris. We can't help but laugh as she grins and says it over and over.

Thanks Ms. Cissy!

My friend, Celia, who I used to work with made Kate a picnic quilt! Kate really likes it and points at the balloons and says "ba-oons!" We feel very blessed with such a nice gift!

Look, mom! This lipstick matches my eyes!

I let Kate play with her markers today and looked away for only a second. She ran over to me like this. She really seemed to think it was lipstick!

Candy!

Kate was a UT Cheerleader for our church's candy carnival and was totally adorable! This year she actually threw the balls and bean bags on the games and sort of did the cakewalk with some help. Tova won cookies for the cakewalk and they quickly demolished them!

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

PIGTAILS!

Kate loves her "pigtails" and will say it over and over holding her head until I put some in. Here I told her to pose and she went to the wall and turned and said cheese until I took her picture! She's growing like a weed and talking up a storm. She is trying to sing the ABC song now. She's got the tune down but not the letters. She can count to ten sometimes but usually comes out more like 1,2, 4, 8, 9, 10 Yay! and she claps.

Pretty Pumpkins!!!

We took Kate to the local church pumpkin patch to play. It was perfect for her. They had a great photo tent where we took our family photo and she got to paint a pumpkin. She had a blast!

See how she's sticking her tongue out while she paints? She gets that from me. It must be hereditary because she's been doing for a while, don't think it's learned. Hehehe

Mini Picasso!

Kate fingerpainted for the first time today! She had a blast. She ate a little but it must not have tasted good because she didn't do it again-don't worry, it's Crayola and non-toxic. I love how she delights in everything new. It's so fun to watch her.

Kids' party for Kate and Noah's birthday

Kate and Noah and their friends had a blast at their Sesame Street themed second birthday pool party. Neither of the kids could blow their own candles out this time but they really enjoyed the cake. Kate managed to get an extra large strawberry into her mouth all in one bite and give everyone a good laugh!

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Kate had an awesome second birthday. She had a blast opening all her presents and eating her cake. She even blew out her own candles! She was NOT happy when we set the cake in front of her and wouldn't let her eat it right away, though. She cried and wouldn't smile for a picture. She got happier when we sang "Happy Birthday" and then even happier when she got to eat the cake. I can't believe how fast these 2 years have gone by!

1st Sentence!

Kate said her first full sentence today. I felt bad because I basically tortured her into it. She had gotten a really cute pair of hand-me-down shoes and I really wanted her to be able to wear them, even though they are not wide and I should know better. So, I thought, since we were going to walmart and she would barely walk, we'd see how she did. Well part way through walmart she started asking to walk. She never does this but was very insistent. So I told her as long as she stayed with me, she could walk. She did great! But when we got to the front of the store, she sat down and said "Take shoes off, PLEASE!" Hehehe. So I removed them and put her back in the cart. Feeling bad and proud all at once. The joys of motherhood!

Little Lady

Kate has been so good this week. It's been so fun just hanging out with her. She will stop and just give me this cheesy grin until I smile back and then continue with what she's doing. Don't get me wrong, she's been into a lot in the last seven days, from pouring powder eye shadow on the carpet to getting stamp pad ink all over her hands, but she's been good-natured about everything. Today, we went to the gym, the grocery store and the chiropractor and she happily went along with it all. Then after her nap, I immediately put her back in the car to get her haircut(above) and she was content to just sit in my lap and allow it to happen, no big deal. What a little lady!

Mess!

Kate's favorite new word and action is "mess". She says "made mess" very appropriately. She came out of the bathroom the other day with my toothpaste. She had a little in her mouth and it was coming out the tube. Thankfully, we headed off that mess! But, she got me later that same day. I found her sitting at my vanity playing with my makeup. Unfortunately, she wasn't playing with regular eye shadow. She had the powder kind and it was on the carpet! Luckily, most of it came up with the vacuum.

Last night, after dinner, she said "peas-mess" and proceeding to pick up the peas she had dropped on the floor and put them in the trash. At least she's cleaning up after herself! :-)

Texan to the core

I was trying to do a photo shoot with Kate today to get a cute picture for her birthday invitation. I held out my two fingers and said, "say you're gonna be two!" She immediately did "hook 'em horns" and I caught her! She's my little Texan. Maybe she'll go to UT someday. hehehe

Little Mommy

After visiting our friend's new baby, Kate has taken an increased interest in her baby. She likes to sit on the sofa and feed her. She was holding her face and cramming the bottle in her mouth. Here she is after I showed her how to hold a baby. Doesn't she look so proud?

Personality

It's amazing watching Kate develop her own little personality and do things no one has specifically set out to work with her on. She now says "bless you, baby" when we sneeze and "thank you, baby" for thank you. Neither of us say that so we are puzzled at this new development. Another really cute thing she does is when she is very excited, instead of yes, she says "YESH!" It's going to be so fun to see what's next!

Grandma's visit

Grandma left this morning and we were sad to see her go. We had a great time, she doted on and spoiled Kate. Kate had a blast with all the attention and really blossomed this week in her vocabulary, saying everything from "O-toodles"(from Mickey Mouse clubhouse) to "woohoo" to "alligator!" She's really going to miss her!

Playing Night Night

Kate has really started to pretend. Today she would lay down and give me her blankie, say "night-night", then lay down and wait for me to cover her up. When I got out the camera, she really hammed it up. Can you see that little smirk that says, "I know you're taking my picture!" Grandma got her a couple of new little dolls and she's been talking to them, washing them and holding them all week.

A trip to the Zoo!

Today we met friends at the zoo and got to see all the different animals. It was really fun this year because Kate could name some, like donkey and monkey. She really enjoyed watching the Tiger play in the pool and kept saying "pool." It was really hot and I think she would've liked to have taken a dip with him!

Seafood

One of my fondest memories with my dad is going out for all you can eat seafood. The pressure was always on, we had to eat our monies worth! No stopping, because then you started feeling full. Tonight I got to share seafood with Kate. We had a mommy-daughter feast of steamed spiced shrimp for dinner and she ate 6 whole shrimp all by herself! She loved them and kept asking for more! I called my dad and he laughingly said, "don't give her any crab then!" It was nice to share that bond from many miles away. He doesn't get to see her much, but she still has little pieces of him in her.

My little monkey

Kate loves to go to the mom and tot morning at the local gymnastics center. We usually go with her best friend, Grace and her mom, Aimee. They have a blast on the trampoline, hanging from the bars and jumping into the foam pit. Here they are swinging from the bar which Kate loves. Believe it or not, Grace was having as much fun as Kate but we couldn't get her to smile. We would take her off the bar and she would want to get right back on.
















I never would've thought a few years ago that I would be having so much fun as a stay at home mom, but Kate is the best thing that ever happened to me. She will give me these funny looks just to make me laugh and then get all happy when I do. She's a little clown. Last night, she was putting the wrong end of her fork in her mouth and bouncing it up and down and looking at us with this look that said "why aren't you laughing at me?" Of course we did and she accomplished her mission.

First Independent Artistic Decision!

Today, Kate was coloring with markers and got a little on her hand. She tried to make a handprint which didn't work, of course. Then she looked at her hand, then at me, then pointed to where I keep my stamp pads. I said, "do you want to make a handprint?" and she said "yes." In the past, I've had to put her hand in the stamp pad and hold her hand and put it on the paper. I got the stamp pad out and put her hand in it, then she stamped it on the paper three times! She was so proud of herself! She ended up covering one up with a sticker but here's the finished product.

Happy Father's Day!

Kate had her portraits done for daddy!