Hanging Out With The Cousins

It was an especially fun Thanksgiving for Katie this year. She is nearing her second birthday and is starting to really enjoy having other kids around. She is beginning to have playdates of her own and she loves playing with her cousins when we get a chance to see them.

Lucky for her, we got to spend the holiday with three of her many cousins. She and Peter had a ball in their enormous playroom and on the play structure out back. It was hard to leave, but the moment we drove away, they were both sound asleep. The sign of a good day, I'd say.

Coffee Date With Mommy

Tuesdays are a treat because once we drop Peter off at preschool, Katie and I can have a little girl time. This week we decided to have a coffee date at Nordstrom Cafe.

Katie was a perfect lady, drinking her water without spilling and sharing her barbecue potato chips with her pet duck. She said hello to everyone who walked by too, nice and loud to be sure they heard her.

This week the sweetest exchange happened between Katie and her big brother that melted my heart. Peter heard her cry when she was woken from a nap by the telephone, he knocked on her wall and called out: "Katie, it's okay. I'm right here, don't be scared." I hope they are always close.

I REALLY love to read!

As you can see, Katie had a busy morning. I tried to stop her, but she seemed to be enjoying herself, so I let her have her fun. I love the expression on her face.

Katie has outdone herself this week. She has less than a month to go until her second birthday and she has given me many previews of what to look forward to: screaming for no reason, tantrums over the tiniest things, egging her brother on...

She has also started talking a lot more and is thrilled when I understand what she is saying. She is very polite and says "thank you" for everything. She has shown me that I have to make sure I have the lid to the toilet locked if I don't want her to stack her Legos inside. She loves to pick out her shoes each day and she even loves to help me around the house. Thankfully she helped to clean up this mess!

Crazy Day

Somehow we thought it was a good idea to plan three events for Halloween day. I have no idea what we were thinking. Okay, so I made the plans, as my husband likes to remind me. Bad idea.

Peter and Katie were not in the mood to sleep at naptime (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the sugar they ate just before). We barely made it out trick-or-treating due to melt downs. Peter did NOT want to wear his costume and it wasn't until we told him that no one would give him candy, that he decided to get dressed up.

Katie was pretty excited, distracting people with her chatter and then grabbing as much candy as she could while they were laughing at her silly costume. We went to about 10 houses and they were ready to call it a night. Thank goodness.

Here are Katie and her brother. Peter, heading out for the night...