More felt food

I couldn't resist posting some more of the felt food I made recently. These were for my two nephews who like Chick-fil-a :)

First ski injury

Kate took a ski boot to the face this afternoon while at the ski lodge. A man coming out of a door didn't see her and almost trampled her, luckily, only her face was scratched up, but she looks pretty rough and has a huge goose egg on her forehead and a fat lip. The first aid people at the lodge called the ski patrol who came and inspected her and cleaned off her cuts. Otherwise, she is having a ball playing in the snow and playing with Nana and Papa!

15 months

Wild toddler on the loose!

Felt Food!

Meet my latest obsession: felt food:) I've been making various play food for Kate's Christmas present this year and I'm having so much fun! I have a "wish list" of nearly 50 different items I'd eventually like to make...right now I'm on about #15. Loren thinks I'm crazy. These are a great project for me because they are creative and I can work on them on the bus on my way to school. I'm hoping Kate will enjoy them! I'll post occasionally with my progress:)

Pancakes

Asian Foods- sushi, fortune cookie, shrimp and fried shrimp

Fruits

Veggies- these are a bit low, looks like we need some more!

Baked goods

Word List

Yes/Yeah
No
Hi/Hello
Book
Ball
Baby
Eye
Peas
Mama
Dada
Dooduh (Stella)
Throw
Apple (Pineapple)
Woah
Woof Woof
Moo

Yeah!

Kate has a nice list of words going now: baby, mama, dada, eye, hi, ball, throw and yeah. She will answer any question you ask her "yeah." Kate, are you a puppy? Yeah. Kate, do you want to go to Alaska? Yeah. Kate, do you want to eat snails? Yeah. (Actually she doesn't want to eat anything...). Recently it has been turning into "yes" instead. She can point to mommy's eyes and nose. She constantly takes her shoes and socks off, so we had to switch to tie laces. She has also learned how to pull the chairs back from the dining room table and climb up them and onto the table. She continues to be low on the weight chart.
Kate was Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween, a beautiful costume made by Granny Annie, with me as Grandma and Loren as the Wolf. We went to our neighboorhood costume contest, our church Trunk or Treat and then to the Perio Halloween party at a fellow resident's house. Kate was up way past her bedtime, but was a great sport through it all.

Coloring

Clear your refridgerator doors-Kate has just started to show an interest in coloring. It is so cute to see her concentrate on her artwork! She uses both hands and talks to herself. I'm hoping to get some large paper to spread out on the floor. I was really surprised to see her hold her pen correctly, as well. We didn't show her, she just did it!

The Princess and the Pea

Aunt Beedoh and Uncle Brad

Aunt Beedoh and Uncle Brad came to visit us this weekend. Brad surprised Beedoh with the trip for her birthday, but the even bigger surprise was that they went to South Carolina first and got engaged! We are so happy for them. It was a wonderful weekend--we went to a swim lesson with Kate, went to Duke gardens and took some photos, had lunch at Lindsey Berutti's soda fountain, had our nails done and went shoe shopping for Kate. I wish we lived closer:(

Bebe

Kate loves the baby doll Mom and Dad gave to Beedoh and me to tell us we would have a new family member. Kate hugs "Bebe" and rests her head on her. She rocks her in the rocking chair and puts the phone up to her ear. She is adorable!

h

I am so disappointed Kate won't let me put cute ribbons and bows in her hair anymore. If I even pretend to put something in her hair, she reaches up and pulls it out. I managed to put her hair in pigtails for about a half an hour today--just long enough to snap some photos of Kate and Bebe

Birthday Video

Happy Birthday Kate!

I can't believe my little baby is 1 year old. She is walking and chattering in her own language and has been so happy the last few weeks. We were in CA for Val's wedding over Memorial Day and then we were in Seattle for Kate's first birthday on 9.7.08 (ignore the date stamp on the photos). Kate and I are quite the travelers! Kate has made 23 individual flights, nearly all of them we have done alone-without Daddy. I'm exhausted! Kate spent her first birthday with Nana, Great Nana, Papa Craig, Great Grandpa, GiGi, Great Uncle Mark, Great Aunt Judy, Brent, Ella and Lilly. She spent almost an hour climbing in and out of her stroller and laughing over and over again.

Today we had a party for Kate. Her friends Ryan, Addison, Mimi, Irene and Anthony and their moms and dads all came to our house.

Kate wasn't too interested in her first cake, but she loved the pizza!

11 months

I can hardly believe Kate is 11 months old. I remember last year at this time being very pregnant and hot in the NC heat. We get the first 2 weeks of August off each year, and last year I spent my 2 weeks getting ready for Kate and finishing up our wedding scrapbook which I figured would never get done otherwise. This year we took a trip to CO for the first week. We stayed with both Kent and Debbie and my parents. Kate got to meet Great Gagy, which was wonderful for both of them. We went to the county fair and had popsicles naked outside.

Kate loved playing airplane with Papa Kent:

...and cuddling with Papa Craig.

She enjoyed being pulled in the wagon by Uncle Alex...
and having her toenails painted by Aunt Beedoh.

She spent lots of time outside playing on the slide...

and going for a dip in the hot tub.

Everywhere she went, she left her mark...

Kate is walking all over the place now and is very stable. Only the occasional crash now. She is very independent and enjoys her new freedom. She has also started saying her official first word: "Hi" and will say "Hi Dad" on the phone. We are having so much fun with her, especially now that she is interacting with us more and more.

While we were gone, Loren surprised me with new wood floors throughout the main level of our house. I was shocked! They are beautiful! In addition, he cleaned the bathrooms and refrigerator. I've got to leave more often!!

I admit I'm a little nervous to go back to school for the fall. My schedule is not as good as it has been in the past and I don't get as much time at home. I am trying to have a positive attitude and keep reminding myself it is only about 3 months...

How easily we forget...

When Kate is fussy in public, people sometimes make the comment "oh poor baby, life is rough isn't it..." but I'm not sure they actually think about this sarcastic statement. I think sometimes life really IS rough for a baby.

Imagine not being able to communicate your needs very well, having to guess and use trial and error to get what you need. Imagine using building up your muscles to be able to take a few steps and then once you can actually walk, you have no balance, and so you fall all the time. You also have decreased spatial perception, and so you also run into things all the time. People sometimes pick you up and take you places you don't want to go. You get interrupted during your playtime. You are tired and don't know how to go to sleep, and you DO have worries--people come and go and you don't really understand why or where or even if you'll ever see them again. You get sick and can't breathe and don't know why, or what to do about it, or even if it will ever get better. People tell you not to do things and you don't understand why.

Ok, you get the point...so when we are out and fussy, just remember: they are babies, not adults!

Chameleon head

Kate's hair changes color depending on the light- I can't tell if she is going to be a red head or not!?! What do you think?

Summertime and the living is easy...

I love summer- the pace of school is slow, the days are long and warm and the humidity is high (especially in our house, with a husband who is anti-A/C)--oh yeah, I don't love the humidity, but that doesn't stop me from loving summer! Kate has been participating in all the great summer kid activities including drinking water from the hose, taking naps in the afternoon, and playing outside in the rain.