She Keeps Us Laughing!

Me: "Do you want to meet cousin Isabel?"
Katelyn: (frowning) "Isabel in my tummy, Mommy."
Me: "Really? What's she doing in there?"
Katelyn: "Playing with baby Zoe. There are 1...2...3...4...FIVE babies in my tummy." (Then she proceeds to name our five little cousins who were born in 2013.)

(meeting one year old cousin Isabel for the first time, who, like Katelyn at that age, doesn't have a lot of hair)
"Oh! Isabel just got a haircut!"

Me: "Eat your broccoli, Katelyn." 
Katelyn: (very seriously) "I'm not Katelyn. I'm Morgan."
I've since found dinner to be much more productive if I just address her as Morgan. 

(on the way home from school)
Katelyn: "Mommy, I want to watch bus, please." (this means she wants to watch "Wheels On the Bus" on my phone)
Me: "Maybe in a little bit, but first I want to hear about your day."
Katelyn: (takes a deep breath and says the following very quickly) "Pancakes, songs, books, Hailey, lunch, nap, play, Hannah, color. I want to watch bus now."

In the bathtub, she covered the top of her head with a washcloth and announced, "I'm a policeman!!" After sliding the wet washcloth off her head, she noticed that it caused her hair to stick up and exclaimed, "I'm a crazy policeman!!!"

To any man she sees wearing a hat, she loudly announces, "That's a cowboy!" Imagine what fun it was for Dave (who does not like to draw attention to himself) when he and Katelyn went to Academy on what turned out to be the store's "Customer Cowboy Hat Day."

Me: "Let's go. Pronto."
Katelyn: (adamantly) "But I'm not Pronto."

(Playing with wood chips at the playground) 
Me: "Look, I found a stick that is shaped funny. It can be your digging stick."
K: "It's a shovel."

Me: "Why are you throwing a fit?"
K: "Because I'm tired."
Me: "I understand being tired. But that doesn't make it ok to throw a fit... How about we work on that?"
K: "But I don't want to."
Me: "Why not?"
K: "Because I'm tired."

Katelyn: "No!"
Dave: "Excuse me? Did you just tell me no?"
Katelyn: (slaps her forehead with her hand) "Oh! I was just being silly!!" Then she quickly starts acting silly.

Walking into Hobby Lobby, she stopped and gasped, "Look at all the beautiful things!!!" This was a proud moment for me.

We were visiting PawPaw's grave and she started singing as we were leaving.
Katelyn: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so… (suddenly forgetting the words)… Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust Him more." LOVE!!!

Breakfast, Play Dough, and Dance (well… sort of)

I'm behind on blogging, so I'm going to recap several things here...

Saturday mornings have become special daddy/daughter time. I need some uninterrupted time to freelance, so Dave and Katelyn go to breakfast and then to...wherever the mood hits them. Lately they've been going to PetSmart to look at the animals, which is cute and all until they almost came home with a turtle. Haha, no. They also go to Academy, where there is a small putting green set up and Katelyn likes to "play golf." I love this sweet time and hope it continues for years.

We've played with play dough a lot lately. I'm not sure who enjoys it more, me or Katelyn!

Katelyn's school had their Christmas program/mini dance recital. Katelyn LOVES school and dance and was very excited about this.

See? Proof that she was all smiles with Grandad before the performance.

Minutes later… well, let's just say it did not go well.

Yep, we were the parents of the single child who wailed during the entire performance. In Katelyn's defense, the entire program was extremely unorganized and loud. And while she is NOT shy, she does like to thoroughly analyze new surroundings before she is completely comfortable. There was too much going on and it was just too chaotic. Also, she's 2 1/2 years old. Young and unpredictable. She didn't want to sing her favorite songs with her class. Didn't want to dance. I felt bad for her… but at the same time, it was also really funny. Does that make me a bad parent?

After her class finished singing their songs… still a little teary-eyed and contemplating what to do next.

Katelyn's class performed their songs first, and after that she sat with us until it was time to dance at the end. Still a bit shaky, our little tear-stained negotiator agreed to dance on one condition: Grandmom had to go with her. 

She still didn't dance, but she wasn't screaming, so I'm calling it a win. Thanks for taking one for the team, Grandmom!

All smiles again when it was all over. As soon as we got home, she sang the songs perfectly and danced for us. Of course. And the next day she asked when it was time to go back to dance class.

Stay tuned for an upcoming blog about the holidays. Happy New Year, everyone!