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...

"Look Mommy, the Moon!"

Katie has really been talking up a storm lately. I am constantly surprised at the things she says. Today she surprised me when she looked out the car window and exclaimed "Look Mommy, the moon!"

Lately she has been telling her Baba and I that she loves us...A LOT! Just can't hear that enough. And she says thank you in the most heartfelt way. And usually after I have done some mundane Mommy task like wipe her hands and face or brush her hair. She really knows how to keep me wrapped around her finger. She's a smart one.

Here she is "rock climbing" up our friend, Jake's, play structure. She wanted to do it about a hundred times, of course.

I Heart Crayola Markers

As you can see, Katie was a busy girl this weekend. She was full of energy and she completely made up for all of the whining for the previous two weeks by being a doll. She was constantly running up to us, saying "Hi Mama, Hi Baba! I love you!" (Of course it wasn't quite that clear.) It was very sweet and made it extremely difficult to get angry when I walked in and saw that she had taken a Crayola Marker to half the house. Thank goodness it's washable.

Later Peter informed me that Katie was coloring on herself. Sigh...

Playing With Christopher

Christopher is really Peter's friend. On occasion, however, Christopher will dote on Katie and she just loves it. He is very polite, pushing her in her stroller or taking her hand and leading her down the sidewalk.

On this particular day, Peter must have been busy with his Star Wars toys because Christopher and Katie decided to hang out together on the back steps. It was pretty cute. Jenelle and I often joke that they will marry one day. Peter and Christopher already fight like brothers (over their toys) so it would be just as well.