Fun with Aunt Jennifer

When my mom had a doctor's appointment, Jennifer took an early lunch to watch Katie. Just like always, Katie had a blast with her Aunt Jennifer!

I got my backpack on. With Aunt Jennifer, you always have to be ready for an adventure! 

I brought these plastic lids to Aunt Jennifer and said, "These are heavy too me!" (How in the world can Jennifer hold them in one hand?)

Happy Thanksgiving, 2013!

Another Thanksgiving has come and almost gone! Katie was pretty excited for Thanksgiving this year. I don't think she understood what the day was about, but she knew there were people coming for dinner, and that was enough for her.

On Thanksgiving Eve, Katie was happy because we were doing some cooking. She got to help stir the pumpkin pie and was really excited to help Grandma roll the crust. When we got done with the big pies, we let Katie make her own little pie, or "baby pie" as she called it. We didn't have a small pie plate, so we just made do.

Later in the night, Katie watched me as I cut up the vegetables for the stuffing. When I shredded the carrots, she ate a carrot. When I diced the celery, she ate a celery stalk. When I diced the onions, yes, she ate onions. Her first reaction to eating onions was to stick out her tongue. Then she decided to eat three or four more. Yum!

On Thanksgiving, Katie had lots of energy. She played all morning, skipped her nap, and waited for dinner.  My parents, Garyldine, Jim, and my Aunt Jody joined us for dinner. At dinner time, Katie ate vegetables from the vegetable tray. I got her a small dessert plate with Thanksgiving food on it, but it was left untouched. She did enjoy her baby pumpkin pie though.

After dinner, Katie finally fell asleep for a very late nap. She had a good day!

I liked watching the pumpkin pie filling change colors as we added ingredients. 

I wasn't sure I wanted to get my hands dirty in the flour, but I went for it. 

This rolling pin is a lot heavier than my Play-Doh rolling pin! 

My baby pie is ready to bake!

Thanksgiving, 2011 - Aunt Jennifer thought it would be funny to stick me in this pot on Thanksgiving Eve. 

Thanksgiving, 2012 - My mom and aunt didn't think I'd still fit in the pot a year later, but I did, and it was fun!

Thanksgiving, 2013 - I still fit!

This was my plate when I started dinner. 

This was my plate when I got done with dinner. 

While my mom cleaned up, I took pictures with her camera. I see you Garyldine! 

Grandpa enjoyed some TV after dinner while Garyldine and Jim played with my toy trains.

Grandma, Garyldine, and Aunt Jody had to get a picture before the party officially ended. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

A Tutu

One night Jennifer came home with a new outfit that she had bought for Katie. Part of the outfit was a tutu-type skirt. Katie fell in love with her tutu and insisted on wearing her ballet slippers with the outfit and dancing and twirling around the house. She didn't want to even take her skirt off at night when it was time for a bath. I compromised by letting her wear it over her pajamas.

My tutu made me feel glamorous! 

I tried to stand like a true ballerina!

Dancing makes me happy!

I twirl and twirl...

…and then I bow!

I loved wearing my tutu with my bear pajamas and reindeer slippers! It was perfect!

A Pajama Party

The weekend before last, my mom, Jennifer, Garyldine, and I went to a couple of Michael Buble concerts. Since we were going to be home really late after the first concert, our friends, Kathy and Brandon, generously offered to let Katie spend the night at their house. From the first time we mentioned it, Katie seemed excited to spend the night at Kai's house. I wondered how she'd do since nighttime isn't her favorite time - never has been.

As she neared the time to spend the night, Katie started to seem a bit nervous, so I switched from calling it a sleepover to a "pajama party." As soon as "party" became part of the name, Katie was excited. She was even happier when we pulled out her Winnie the Pooh suitcase to pack.

Kathy told us that Katie did really well. Katie reported that she had fun too. By looking at the pictures Kathy took, I think Katie was telling the truth!

I enjoyed a healthy treat when I got to Kai's house. 

Kai helped me eat part of it! 

I discovered that it's fun to snuggle with Kai. 

He can be really funny! 

I love him! 

Kai loves my teeth. 

I'm glad I had a friend for my first sleepover. 

I promise I won't take your toys. I just want to see them. 

You have some fun things for the bathtub! 

I got to help dry Kai's feet after his bath. I love to help! 

We played with some of Kai's toys after his bath.

I had fun copying everything Kai did.

After Kai went to bed, I got to watch The Little Mermaid. 

We woke up happy the next morning. 

We had time for some wrestling. 

Then we decided to have fun looking out the window. 

Thanks for having me over!

Passing Moments

Katie still makes us smile each day. There are more and more stories that are just memories that I want to keep.

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Language

Katie's language has continued to become clearer, which I'm glad for, but I will miss certain phrases. She loves to say, "You're welcome!" with such joy and enthusiasm when anyone thanks her for something. For a long time, it came out as, "You're gelcome!" in her sing-songy way. It has since switched to "You're welcome."

Katie also talks about pencils a lot. Pencils are still "penskills." 

Sometimes Katie surprises me with her exclamations. We were on a walk one night, and she said, "Look, a stop sign. It's an octagon." I knew she could identify an octagon in her shape puzzle, but I was surprised that she could transfer it to real life objects that easily. Toddlers amaze me with their ability to learn.

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Seeing the Stop Sign Again

Other than identifying a stop sign as an octagon, Katie is just interested, in general, in stop signs. She loves to point them out on walks. One night I was helping Katie walk Chloe. Someone passed us with a dog, and of course that set off Chloe's barking. She barked and barked while Katie told her to calm down. Then Katie looked and saw her favorite stop sign and said, "Chloe, stop! There's a stop sign! Stop barking! Stop sign says stop!" If that trick starts working for Chloe, I might need to get a miniature stop sign to carry with me everywhere!

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Meow Meow

Katie's stuffed cat is still one of her favorite animals. She goes through phases where she is more attached to her cat than other times. During one of these phases, we looked over and Katie had placed her stuffed cat, Meow Meow, in front of the Bingle's water and food dishes, so she could get a drink. She was just standing next to the stuffed cat waiting patiently for her to get a drink. I tried to get a picture, but the picture was taken just a bit late after Katie had moved the cat to her arms.

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Making Water Fun

Katie loves to use a straw when she drinks water. She usually has some extra straws around that she can pull out when she needs one. My mom was with Katie when she looked over at the pet's water bowl to see that Katie had put a straw in it for Chloe to use, so they could be just alike.

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Goodnight!

When it's bedtime, Katie will usually wish anyone goodnight. One night as it was getting close to bedtime, she looked out the back window and saw the bird poop that some bird had graciously left behind for us. Katie really doesn't like it and often asks it to go away. This particular night however, she just said, "Goodnight, bird poop!" and left it at that.

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Writing a Letter

One night Katie was helping me compose a note for my friends, Noreen and Joe, for Thanksgiving. She got really excited when I printed her name and let her trace the letters. It inspired her to write her own letter. She grabbed her paper and crayons and started writing a letter. I asked Katie what she was doing, and she promptly answered, "I'm lettering and drawing!"

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Think, Think, Think!

During Katie's Winnie the Pooh movie, Pooh Bear sat down in his thinking spot and tapped his temple while saying, "Think! Think! Think!" Katie picked up on that pretty quickly, and now she often says, "Wait! Let's think! Think, think think! Oh, I know! Let's…." Instead of tapping her temple though, she taps her cheek. Instead of using her finger, she usually uses a crayon to tap.

Drink Up, Chloe!

One morning, Katie got her salad bowl and poured some water from her teapot into the bowl. She carefully walked it over and set it down by Chloe. Then came the waiting game. Katie was very patient as she waited for Chloe to figure out there was water waiting for her.

Are you almost ready to drink, Chloe?

A Balloon

Katie was playing with her duck one night and also had one of her "toobers" from her building set. Jennifer had the idea to make a balloon out of the toober and tie it to the duck. Katie was very happy and made Jennifer pose with her for lots and lots of pictures.

You're the best balloon maker, Aunt Jennifer! 

Say cheese! 

You're funny, Aunt Jennifer!