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!!

Independence

Katelyn has become very... opinionated lately.  At 13 months old, she is "expressing her independence" and has mastered the art of throwing tantrums.  Not just burying her face into the floor when she's mad, but angry for hours/screaming/refusing to eat or sleep/trick the teachers into thinking she's sick kind of tantrums.  It. Is. Awesome.

My favorite story is how her teacher described lunch time: Katelyn pulled out her chair by herself (for the first time!) and sat down at the table.  Her lunch plate was placed in front of her.  She promptly threw it on the floor.  They gave her another plate, and she turned it upside down.  She then calmly took her Sippy cup and sat down on the play mat by herself until lunch time was over.  Her teacher said she composed herself very well-- no tantrum, just a calm defiance towards lunch that day.

My mom suggested I read Dr. Dobson's The Strong Willed Child.  Apparently there are updates since reading it during my childhood.  Sigh.  I can't take full credit, though-- both sets of grandparents would agree that Katelyn gets these traits honestly from BOTH her parents.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  While we certainly have our hands full and will discipline/parent appropriately, I'm thinking long term-- I would MUCH rather her grow to have strong opinions and convictions than to become a follower who is easily swayed by her peers.

Just one of my favorite pictures ever.  Love her!

Anyway... I have managed to catch a few funny Katelyn moments between tantrums:

Lately Katelyn has been pointing to her name letters that are spelled out above her crib. I spell them out and tell her it says Katelyn. Last night as we were walking into her room, I asked her, "What's your name?" She gave me a "duh, mom" look and pointed to the letters.  Smarty pants!

The other day Katelyn and I were playing in the office.  There were some pants hanging up in the doorway to dry, and a 5 lb. weight was propping the door open (because it tends to shut on its own).  Katelyn made it clear that she wanted to shut the door.  Not wanting to move everything, I told her, "No, we can't shut the door."  She looked at me, walked over to the door, moved the weight out of the way, and shut the door.  Challenge accepted, Mama.

And my favorite story... She is such a cuddle bug.  She wants-- needs-- for her day to end with cuddling.  The other night I didn't feel well, so I cut our pre-bedtime cuddling short.  After singing/rocking very quickly, I put her in her crib.  And she screamed for the next 15 minutes.  Because this is very uncharacteristic of Katelyn, I went back into her bedroom.  Through her tears, she stood up in her crib and pointed to the rocking chair, as if to say, "WHY did you leave so soon?!?  I wasn't done!!"  So, my mommy heart melted and we rocked and sang some more.  That's all she needed-- just quality time. Apparently insufficient cuddle time is both noticed and unacceptable to this child.  THAT'S my sweet girl!

ONE YEAR OLD!!!

What a wonderful, blessed year we have had.  Turns out those first few months of colic and sleepless nights really were temporary!  I love the age Katelyn's at right now; it seems every day is a new little milestone or discovery.  Mastering a fish face, closing doors, identifying objects, giving kisses, etc.

We were able to have two family gatherings for her birthday: one in Baytown and one in Dallas.

Some pictures from Baytown:

She LOVED playing in the balls.

Not a huge fan of birthday cake, but we tried.

Swimming with Daddy

with Nana and Cassidy

Cassidy showing her how the horn works.  Katelyn LOVED the car.

Sleepy girl!

Some pics from Dallas:

Enjoying her first popsicle!

Cousins Pierson and Annabelle

on the swings

intrigued by bubbles

Oooo, bubbles are neat!

Figuring out what to do... 

...sort of.

Decides to eat sidewalk chalk instead.

Something doesn't seem right about orange chalk.

Was that not ok to eat? (don't worry, we scooped it out of her mouth)

The next weekend we had a great time with Papa!  Katelyn chose to REALLY take off walking when Papa was here.  She loved walking back and forth to him.