Christmas: Part 1

Katelyn loves all things Christmas... well, most things Christmas, anyway.

Funny thing is, she likes looking at pictures of Santa, wasn't scared when we were standing in line, and even likes to say "Ho Ho Ho" herself. My parents have pictures of me being equally dramatic.

Safe distance was a candy cane.

We drove around to look at Christmas lights, and Katelyn LOVED it. She constantly said "Ohhh! Ohhh!" and if we passed more than two houses in a row without lights, she frowned and said, "More? More?"  It was really fun.

She is fascinated by the Christmas tree. I modified ours this year. As much as I wanted to put up our beautiful glass ornaments, I didn't know if our little pink tornado would go crazy and pull the tree down. So I opted for non-breakable ones and lots of bells instead. 

Christmas in Texas

She's giving the Christmas tree a hug.

More to come!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! We went to Mississippi to be with the Taylor family. 

Katelyn quickly identified and befriended MawMaw and said her name all weekend. It was sweet!

She found a latex glove and immediately put it on her arm. It dawned on me later that she picked that up from school, where the teachers wear gloves to change diapers.

She CONSTANTLY asked me to go outside.

Playing with Daddy...

...and Papa. I love Mississippi in the Fall!

 Post- sidewalk face plant. Sometimes leaves just have to be chased!

She was fascinated (and highly entertained) by the bunny statue.

Such a big girl!

Playing one of PawPaw's old autoharps. I love this because it reminds me of children's choir in Snyder!

 Ok, so it's not the best family photo, but it makes me laugh!

So sweet.

Katelyn said her first full sentence over Thanksgiving. While watching a dog show with Dave, she pointed to the TV and said, "That's a doggie."  Am I surprised that her first complete sentence was about an animal?

Parent/Child Dedication

We had Katelyn's Parent/Child Dedication at church recently. Since we moved and were in between churches, the timing never worked out for us to do it when she was a baby. My parents, sister, and her family came to the dedication.

Katelyn was in full activity mode, running up and down the hallway before the service started. She did not want to be held and squirmed and fussed up until they called our name to stand before the congregation. She behaved for the two minutes we stood there, and then the minute we left the Sanctuary, she bolted from our arms and loudly ran down the hallway. At least she was good when it counted!

See what I mean? Flight risk.

A few other updates:

• She's communicating more clearly with us through nodding/shaking her head, saying no (a lot!), additional baby sign language, and a little bit of talking (though it takes awhile for us to translate what she's really saying).
• She runs everywhere she goes. EVERYWHERE.
• She's in a growth spurt and has a huge appetite. Her current favorite food is strawberries.
• Her word for Annabelle is "Beh"-- as in, AnnaBEHlle. I didn't live close to one of my cousins until I was 16, so I'm glad Katelyn gets to share lots of childhood memories with Annabelle (and Annabelle's sister Zoe, who will make her debut in April). Plus, having my sister nearby is just convenient. I'm glad she started the parenting thing before me, because she is full of good advice!
• Katelyn LOVES books, music, coloring, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and PraiseBaby. She doesn't stay with one activity for more than 10 minutes.
• She is most often disciplined for hitting something (or someone) when she's mad. And she makes valiant effort to avoid eye contact with the person disciplining her.
• She loves throwing trash in the trash can and putting dirty clothes in her hamper. We love this, too, and are taking full advantage. :)

Fall... literally

We were so excited to take Katelyn to her school carnival on Friday night. She was going to be dressed as a Dalmation puppy-- so cute! 

Instead, we spent Friday evening at an after-hours clinic. At 5:00 on Friday, Katelyn tripped and fell at school and, in the process, bit all the way through the skin underneath her bottom lip. OUCH. It didn't appear that she needed stitches, but we went to a clinic as a precaution. 

Long story short, it was a horrible experience on every possible level.

Horrible.

Thankfully, the doctor confirmed that Katelyn probably didn't need stitches, unless we just wanted to go that route. We did not. She gave us an antibiotic prescription in case of infection, and we were outta there. Despite the antibiotic, Katelyn ended up getting impetigo anyway (infectious rash that spreads, often the result of a nearby injury) on her chin, which was also not fun. But we're over that now and I'm grateful.

This picture was taken two days later, but you can kind of see the cut underneath her lip. 

Since we didn't make it to the school carnival, we joined cousin Annabelle for Trunk or Treat at Annabelle's church. It was fun! 

Dalmation Katelyn and Cinderella Annabelle... and one of my favorite pictures ever! They are such sweet friends and cousins.

At the petting zoo... and likely contemplating eating the animal food herself.

Finally getting to pet a goat

giving the giant pumpkin a hug

Loved the bean bag toss

October was rough. Katelyn also had a stomach virus and major teething misery (but those two molars FINALLY came through, hooray!). Here's to hoping for a much smoother November!

Soccer game

We met Mia and PawPaw (precious friends from Waco) in Arlington to watch their grandson's soccer game. Katelyn loved it and was eager to go wherever the ball was. Good thing Mia found an extra ball for her to play with-- otherwise she would have been on the field!

A few other updates:

• Katelyn loves pumpkins. She calls them "balls" and laughs and laughs when she sees one.
• Her latest fascination is apples, or as she says, "app-e." We discovered this when she took a bite out of an apple Dave was holding that he intended for himself. She ate 3/4 of it.
• She understands the concept of a trash can... sort of. She understands that's where we place unwanted things. So when Katelyn's socks and shoes go missing at school (as they often do), the trash can is the first place they look because that's where she likes to put them. Sigh.
• Ironically, she loves identifying her toes and feet, socks and shoes.
• She will also identify anyone's hair by tugging gently on it, and eyes by poking them (sorry, Baylor).
• She is most proud of her bellybutton-- and when (not if) she shows you hers, you'd better be ready to show yours. If not, no big deal. She'll find it anyway.
• She likes something to be HER idea. For example, if I offer her a sippy cup of milk in the morning, she'll often get mad and refuse it. However, if I place the sippy cup on the table where she can reach it when she's ready, she'll likely drink all of it. Good grief.

Painting, Elephants, Shoes, and Daddy's Girl

Katelyn's teachers say she is doing very well at school. Her favorite activity?  Painting. Am I surprised? No. She is all smiles when her hand is being painted, too. Her teacher said she is one of the only ones in her class who can correctly grip a paintbrush to make brush strokes. And when it's announced that painting time is over, she becomes silent and glares at the teacher.

She also likes markers and immediately colors her little arm before marking the paper. And why not? It's within reach, it's a smooth surface... makes sense to me.

As mentioned in previous blog posts, it's safe to assume that at any given time, Katelyn is walking around pretending to be one animal or another. Lately it has been an elephant. Her teacher told me that other kids in the class have noticed and are following suit... all walking around doing Katelyn's arm-behind-her-head-and-say-aaaah elephant imitation. Not sure if the other kids know what they're doing, but Katelyn is leading a herd of elephants. 

On our last trip to buy groceries, I looked in the cart and saw Katelyn's sock... which meant one of her expensive Stride Rite shoes was not on her foot. I exclaimed, "Where is your shoe?!" and Katelyn grinned from ear to ear. Using the items already in the shopping cart as my guide, I retraced my steps until I found the lonely shoe in the middle of an aisle:

Relieved, I said, "There it is!!!" and Katelyn grinned, laughed, and started clapping for me, proud that I had won the prize in her little game. I don't know how to keep shoes on this child!

Katelyn has a bad habit of throwing her sippy cup on the floor when she's in her high chair. The other night she threw her cup and I firmly told her "NO!" Didn't seem to phase her, and not surprisingly, she did it again awhile later. This time, however, Dave told her no. Her response? She stuck out her bottom lip and started to cry, devastated that she had disappointed her Daddy. Are you kidding me?! So the next night, she took a drink from her cup, gave Daddy a little smile, and then set the cup down on her tray. Then she then started clapping for herself. Throwing her cup hasn't been a problem since.

And just like that, it became glaringly obvious just how much of a Daddy's girl Katelyn really is. 

It was like seeing a glimpse of myself in her. Test Mommy, obey Daddy. I invented that! I informed Dave that he and Katelyn would likely have a strong relationship in her early teen years while she would make my life very difficult. I know firsthand the uniqueness of the daddy/daughter relationship, and I'm so grateful Dave will share that with Katelyn. And to my own mother: I love you, and I'm sorry for the grief I gave you as a sassy, stubborn kid. Go ahead and laugh... you've earned it. :)

Florida

Katelyn and Dave spent 5 days in Florida visiting Nana. I wasn't able to go, but they reportedly had a great time!


Here are some highlights:

• Her first plane ride.  She did really well!  Hats off to Dave for braving an airplane ride with an active one year old.
• Her first trip to the beach. 
• Her first trip to the zoo.  Not surprisingly, Katelyn loved the zoo, especially the elephants.  She also wanted the monkey-- or rather, the banana the monkey was eating. 

waiting for the plane

at the beach with Nana

with Daddy

It didn't take long to abandon riding in the stroller at the zoo.  Zoo map in hand, she preferred to push the stroller and point in the direction she wanted to go.

She's pretended to be an elephant ever since.

She loves water!

Molars and Animals

Holy Molars!  This round of teething somehow caught me off guard.  Since Katelyn only has three bottom teeth, I was surprised to discover a first year molar coming in on top. Teething molars is ROUGH.  The fever spikes, erratic sleeping, fits of unconsolable screaming, unpredictable eating... it's all very fun.  Wow.  It's like having a newborn all over again.  This too shall pass, right?

Here are a couple of random, happy pictures I took... before the molars began... it was a simpler time.  :)

Lately, this has been Katelyn's expression of choice right when I'm about to take the picture.  After I take the picture, she giggles like she did it on purpose.

About 90% of the time that Katelyn is awake, she is pretending to be an animal.  I can't stress this enough.  Whether she's eating, playing, almost asleep, or not quite awake, chances are good that she's pretending to be an animal-- usually a dog (although monkey, fish, horse, elephant, and alligator are also favorites).  Last weekend she had a fever of 103, and as I lifted her out of her crib to give her medicine, her eyes barely open, she pretended to be a dog.

My favorite is when we're in the car and I adjust the sun visor.  As soon as I raise my arm to move the visor, she raises her arm and pretends to be an elephant.  Every. Single. Time.  It keeps me laughing!  When I first noticed this and wanted to see if it was coincidental, I had a little fun and raised the visor up and down, up and down... but sure enough, she would raise her arm and make her "Ahhhh" elephant sound repeatedly, as if on cue.  Love it! 

pretending to be an elephant

This is how a normal "conversation" goes on our way home in the afternoons:

Me: Did you have a good day?
Katelyn: *makes a fish face*
Me: We're going to stop at Wal-Mart on our way home.
Katelyn: *pretends to be a dog*
Me: Daddy is excited to see you!  We're almost home.
Katelyn: *pretends to be a monkey, then quickly switches to dog, since, in the mind of Katelyn, home = dog.*
Throw in a couple of elephants and several more dogs, and then we're home.  Love her!

Baytown

We went to Baytown to visit family at the end of July.  We had a great time!

Katelyn will go ANYWHERE with Daddy and Uncle Joey.  Even for a 5 mph ride around the block in a Gator.

Wearing Uncle Joey's hat.  I suppose anything goes with pink flowers...

Sweet cousins Cassidy and Katelyn

They play so well together!

Worn out!!