Katelyn's {half} Birthday

Kateln's 2nd birthday came and went last August.  It was pretty lame and luckily she doesn't remember.  I had just returned from a 5 week trip, we headed off to live in a hotel for the week for David's job, and then my mind was in baby mode since I was about 8 months pregnant and hadn't prepped for him at all.  Her Birthday was mid week and living in a hotel, I couldn't make a cake, didn't think to buy one, and found a couple gifts she'd like the day before her birthday and didn't wrap them because that seemed dumb to buy wrapping paper since we have plenty at home that we rarely use.  She did get a balloon and a paper crown from Toys R Us and was pretty happy with those, until she decided she didn't want it tied to her wrist and then it started blowing away just faster than my pregnant body could chase it!  Someone had to be sitting at the security room at the back of the store laughing about that one for awhile...probably replaying it and showing anyone that passed by.  I am just so entertaining sometimes and I tried my hardest to snag that balloon but as soon as I got close enough to snatch it, a new gust of wind would blow it just out of reach, so I let it go!  I thought about chasing it down in my car...though about it.  And now that I have two kids, I ALWAYS think twice about leaving the house and sometimes it is just worth it to avoid the embarassment and stay home :)

So...When Katelyn turned 2, David happened to think about her and brought home half of his dessert he ordered (we don't like to go out with his co-workers because it has often proved to be less professional and more on the embarassing side so we avoid those) and we sang Happy Birthday, let her have a couple bites, showed her her presents (She loved the baby doll stroller best!) and then put her to bed.  Pretty lame, but in all honesty I didn't feel too bad about it.  She was fine with it and was too young to really care, let alone know who her friends are.  I just had higher expectations for birthday's and know that it will only get more difficult as more kids and more birthdays consume the years!

The week of her 2 1/2 mark came (at the end of February when I wrote this up and am just now updating and adding pictures to post it) and I thought it would be fun to arrange a play date.  She has a few friends that she really knows, but can have fun with any and all kids.  We set up to eat lunch at Chick Fil-A and then the kids could go play on the toys and us moms could hang out and chat.  It was simple and fun for them and for us and nothing crazy fancy.  I did make a cake...well it was a half cake for her half birthday.  We sang and ate cake and to our surprise, Chick Fil-A brought out little cups of ice cream for all the kiddos!    That was a nice little treat that I think all of us mom's ended up eating :)  We did some candles at home and we did them again when David got home because she is so fascinated with them.  It was just a fun day with friends.

A little about Katelyn lately:

• She is now 38 inches tall and 31 pounds.  She is stretching out!  She is on the average/tall side of things I think.
• She is such a chatter box now!  She often hogs skype calls and I have to put in a movie or let her play games on the iPad to get my turn to talk.
• She loves her Daddy so much!  If she ever sleeps in and he sneaks off to work before she gets up then she asks about him all day checking with me if he is still at work or if we are going to get him anytime soon.  Once he's home, she is glued to him and wants to show and tell about her whole day.  She always gets an extra boost of energy once he gets home and he loves it even if he doesn't get any alone time...even in the bathroom :)
• Skirts, dresses, or tutus are a must.  She now prefers them over pants and loves them for spinning and dancing (reminds me of her cousin Edison).  She has always enjoyed dancing a little jig here and there, but now she likes to include some "graceful" spins and CANNOT dance without the proper attire.  Sometimes we hear a fun song and "Dance Time" is announced and we all will dance.  David and I are usually told to stop and she remins us that we don't have our tutus on!  We forget all the time!  We were at a Valentine's party and all the kids were playing a musical chairs type of game and while the music played, everyone danced.  Katelyn broke down in tears as they were telling everyone to dance and she told me she didn't have a tutu and she couldn't dance!  What were they thinking trying to get all those kids to dance without tutus!?  And what mom in their right mind wouldn't come prepped with a tutu for dancing time?!  C'mon Mom! ;)
• She still loves her "Baby Butter" and she likes to do balancing acts that hover over him to kiss, hug and get smiles out of him.  They have both been sick this week and with how much she adores him, there was no way we could have kept them from sharing sick germs.  Anytime she gets a smile out of him, she is delighted and giggles and shares the news with everyone around letting everyone know, "Baby Butter 'filed' at me!"
• She is the queen bee in nursery now, I've heard.  The first six months were torture for her and I as we tried every technique to drop her off tear free.  Once the new year came and the oldest kids went off to be "Sunbeams" it just clicked and she has been pretty good ever since with the whole getting dropped off thing.  She got really confident now that she is the oldest and now she goes in and plays and sings her little heart out to Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam, Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus, and I am a Child of God.  She likes to say prayers, knows the answers, and jabbers away making everyone giggle at her cute body language that comes along with her chattiness!  
• She knew her letters and their sounds by her 2nd birthday and we have been working on reading simple words and sight words.  She knows about 30 sight words and likes to spell out words she sees on signs around town now.  This is fun until we drive too fast and she can't finish....then she gets irritated and will ask us to stop the car. 
• numbers, colors, and shapes are another story.  We haven't spent as much time on those, and since she knows her letters so well it was funny to us how far she had come with those and every shape was a circle and every color was green (except green things were always another color)  and every number was 2 or 48...random I know!  She has come a long way in the last 6 months and knows most of her colors and numbers.  Shapes are coming too, but those are hard to say and differentiate...square vs. rectangle, hexagon vs. pentagon...it is really cute to hear her say the longer ones like triangle and rectangle!  Her pronunciation cracks me up and I love it! Lullow, gween, wed, peent, puhp-owe...too fun.  She will grow out of saying things so jumbled and cute, so I try to enjoy it without laughing and making her feel dumb as it is so cute to hear her talk and awesome how much she is learning.
• She knows lots of animals.  She has lots of puzzles (one of her favorite toys) and some are bugs, dinosaurs, sea animals, farm animals, and so on and she loves books about animals the best.  She has recently been attached to a stuffed bear that she likes to take everywhere with her and this little bear gets treated like her child.  Katelyn likes to make sure her bear has her jacket zipped, purse with snacks in case Bear gets hungry, and books to read.  Katelyn makes sure the jacket doesn't get in Bear's face so bear can be happy...I am not careful enough with Bear sometimes and Katelyn helps me know how to take care of her bear.  If we drop David off at work, she makes sure that he gives Bear hugs and kisses just like he does for Katelyn.  She is very particular about some things and wouldn't have it any other way.  Her animals are part of the family and have been treated as such!  
• We went to see the circus elephants.  They came to Lexington Market to eat lunch and for entertainment there were clowns, a live band, and Chik-Fil-A cows dancing around.  She LOVED this and still talks about it over a month later to anyone she meets.  A cow came and shook her hand and she was so giddy and thrilled by it.  She loved watching the elephants eat their "betch-ya-bles" (vegetables) and then for a treat each elephant got a watermelon and they stomped on it and then scooped it up with thier trunk to eat it.  Katelyn was in animal heaven and thought it was the most awesome thing ever!    



Davy was happy to hang out in the stroller the whole show!


• She loves to sing and usually it is "Happy Burpee".  She loves all of her songs she learns in nursery and has a few others that we have learned on our own.  
• She isn't as shy with strangers now and has often initiated conversations with kids and adults.  She just has so much to say to everyone lately!
• She is better able to say all the words with their proper sounds.  Her name has now transformed from "Tay-nen" to "Kay-nen" and words like frog and truck don't sound like the "F" word anymore...Thank goodness!  One thing that is new that shesort of picked up from me is that I say "Oh Good!" often...like "good job"... and now she says it, but a little different.  She will ask if I am done eating, and  I will say "Yes" and she will say "Oh God"  ...not good, God.  It drives me crazy because we don't use God's name in vain, EVER, and I try to correct her and she keeps saying God...and, she can say "Good job" just fine.  I have trying to get myself to just say "good job" now hoping that will help her grow out of it sooner.  ...and now she has started saying "Oh gosh" and I think Heavenly Father will be happy about that!
• With her being sick this last week, she has had a super runny nose.  It is constantly dripping and I am constantly wiping her nose.  She can sort of wipe it herself, but has figured out that her sleeve does a better job..gross I know!  What is worse than the grossness of that is that her sleeves are so rough that she has rubbed the skin under her nose completely raw.  She is now sporting a painful red mustache and slowly realizing that the tissues are really soft and don't hurt.
• We dog-sat a small terrier/shitzu a few weeks ago named Mickey.  She followed him around holding on to his leash that whole weekend.  I couldn't stand him most of the time and wished he could be outside, but Katelyn loved him and couldn't get enough of him.  She asks about Mickey-dog often wondering where he is.
• She doesn't care much for the books and toys that are spread around the house until it is time to put them away.  Sometimes I will get her to read with us by asking her to put a stack of books away...works every time so far!
• She likes her independence.  Anything that she has done on her own once before, she doesn't want help with...until she realizes she can't really do it and then will ask for help.  If I try to help right away, then she lets me know she can do it herself and will start over.  It takes a lot of patience on our part and we usually get around this by asking her to do something 5 minutes before we need it done (like getting dressed) so that she has a chance to do it on her own before we come to help. 
• She is learning and understanding more and more...like she can play games and take directions and remember what's going on.  She and a friend played hide and seek together on a jungle gym and the girl (who was 5) explained what to do and then they played and it was so cute to hear all about it from her and David after their Daddy-Daughter Date.  I tried to play this game awhile back and she didn't get the whole idea of one person counts and the other hides and then the counter comes to find the hider.  So it is cool that her mind is learning and grasping new and fun ideas!
• If she doesn't get her way she goes for the limp body approach and will just stay on the floor.  How do kids figure this stuff out?!



pretending to be some sort of puppy or bunny

• She is quick to say "sorry" and if she isn't sorry, she would rather put herself on the naughty chair for time out.  Hearing her say "sorry Mommy" is so sweet and sometimes she even follows up with a hug and kiss and melts my frustration away!  She's good! 
• Now that she has been potty trained and had lots of coaching on what to do she feels confident and can coach us in the bathroom.  We usually dismiss it, but then we have gotten caught off guard when we are in a public bathroom and she is coaching and  cheering us on every step of the way!  ...a personal favorite is when she announced in a quiet stake conference "Daddy!  Mommy go-ed potty and gets two chocolates!"  Thank you for making my personal accomplishments open to the public...now give me my candy I earned.
• She can open the fridge now... I just imagine a big mess of eggs, milk, yogurt, ranch, and anything else that looks interesting on the floor one day soon.  Or maybe she is planning on bringing me breakfast in bed one of these days :)  The sound of the fridge opening makes me jump up from whatever I am doing now.
• She could play in the sink all day every day.  Water is too fun!
• She can use a computer no problem.  We have ABC Mouse bookmarked and she knows how to turn on the computer, click on "the eye" (Chrome) and then click on the little mouse on the top to play her games.  She has figured out the old fashioned hand-held mouse and the pad on our laptops...crazy!
• She loves to play with Davy.  She loves dancing and jumping with him the most! She also loves it when we help him pin her down.  She thinks he is the funniest (He always gets the credit!)...unless he drools, spits up, or poops...then her extra sensitive gag reflex kicks in and we have to divert her attention quick before she pukes! (this has been tricky with her own potty training!)  
• Her hair is long enough for two pig tails!  It is my favorite way to do her hair lately!  They curl just right.  
• 
• She also LOVES to dry her hair and I have to limit her to doing it once a day although she is always a sweaty mess when she wakes up after her naps.  
• She is in a phase between one nap a day and no naps.  If she wakes up aound 8 am, she isn't tired until 3-4 pm.  If she naps at 3 then she isn't tired for bed until 11 or so.  If I lay down with her to help her to take a nap around 1 pm, then she falls asleep, but so do I for about 2 hours.  She will go to bed at a decent hour.  This is great some days, but I usually have so many things I would love to do during her nap time so it drives me nuts!  More importantly, this doesn't always work because Davy has  ants and needs too and isn't always asleep at that time.  I have tried to keep her entertained and tried the no nap, but around 6 pm, she willingly puts herself to sleep wherever she is.  So the no nap thing doesn't work, and I have to hope Davy is ready for a nap at the same time so I can go help her get to sleep.  
• She uses the phrase "little bit" all the time and it deosn't always work, but it is so cute.  Like she will say, "I'm a little bit all done eating." or "I little bit goed potty." or "I little bit wake up." or "I little bit make a mess" She  just throws it in there not really meaning "a little bit" but just that she did whatever she said she did a little bit of.  



Singing and in her own pretend world the other day.

• She is into a pretending phase where she will play with pretend friends.  She is usually playing with "Princa" (how she says princess) and Liz (the lizard from Magic School Bus) and she will "carry" them around, parent them, put them in time-out, help them go down her slide, push them in her car, and just have a good time.  Sometimes Liz and Princa don't get along and she gets so frustrated with them and asks me to help.  
• Potty training for the day time is pretty much complete.  Every once in a while she will forget, or have an accident for who knows why, but 95% of the time she goes in the potty.  We will work on the night time training later...any tips for that would be wonderful!



She misses her little friend, Logan!  He is as strong as Hulk but Katelyn loved having him around  and asks about him all the time!



Our friends, Colette and Logan!  We needed each other often and will miss them!

• She loves going anywhere, but leaving is ALWAYS an issue!  She never wants to leave!  The library, the grocery store with those awesome car carts she loves, the toy section (we have to run past those!), friends' houses, our own backyard ....Why does everywhere have to be so fun?!  She will run and hide when she hears that it is time to go and carrying Davy and her to the car isn't an option unless David is with me.    
• She could eat "Kangaroo Cereal" (Marshmallow Mateys) for every meal and ususally asks for it for every meal.
• She will announce where we are going in our own house as if she is leading an army..."To the potty!", "To the downstairs!", "To the nap time!"
• Brushing her teeth usually isn't her favorite thing to do.  Singing like Ariel the Little Mermaid always works...almost.  "Aah ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh"



Feeding the birds the leftover pancakes!

• She's even cute when she's sick!  We love this girly and love the spunkiness she adds to the family!  She loves to be involved with whatever we are doing and likes to be a helper.  She is opinionated, but will go with the flow too.  She gets emotionally attatched to people and when they are happy or sad, so is she.  She could play tag all day every day and loves the thrill of being chased!  It brings out the best of her laughs and makes us all laugh too.  She is very expressive when she talks and uses her shoulders, eyebrows and facial expressions thoroughly when she talks and we love hearing the recap of the day because she will tell you the ups and downs of the day and show all the emotion with her body as she tells you about it.  She can be tough, but it is usually when we are all tired or hungry so it is preventable!  She is so fun!!