A Bunny

Jennifer's friend, Kathy, was bunny-sitting for a neighbor, and she invited Katie over to help her one morning. Katie got to feed the bunny lettuce, and according to everything Katie told me, she got to see it hop and hop and hop.

Kai was waiting for us when we walked in.

I get put behind a gate like that sometimes too.

This is the closest I've ever been to a bunny.

I loved it!

This is what I fed the bunny.

Is he eating it?

Bye, Bunny!

When we got back to Kathy's, I got to play with Kai.

We played with the ball for a while.

Then we played with this toy together.

Appreciating Nature

We decided to take Katie to one of the most peaceful botanical gardens we have ever visited. It feels like you're miles away from a city. We went fairly early on a weekday, so there were no crowds and Katie could just enjoy. She was so happy there.

Her favorite discovery was a huge leaf that had fallen on the walking path. She picked up the dying leaf, which turned into a bouquet of leaves. She never picked them off the trees. She only took the ones that were on the path, and she was thankful with what she got.

As we got close to the car, I tried to convince Katie to let the leaves live in the soil with the plants. She was having none of that though and insisted on taking them home. The one bad thing about carrying her leaf bouquet all over is that her allergies were terrible that day. She didn't even seem to care. Her experience more than surpassed the annoyance of allergies.

Before our walk began, I had to do a quick twirl! 

I really liked looking at these flowers until I saw a crawling ant. 

This is what they looked like at a safe distance from the ant. 

The trees were all so tall that I couldn't quit looking up at them. 

I stole my mom's camera, so she had to switch to her phone for awhile. 

I still love pink flowers. 

I'm getting better at taking pictures. 

Look at this giant leaf! 

It's bigger than my head! 

I had so many leaves that I had to give the camera back. 

I love being out in nature!

Sharing My Toys

You never know what Katie is going to have in her backpack. Her treasures change all the time. One night, Katie was a little too quiet. I walked around the couch to find her and I wasn't sure what to expect. I saw that she was sharing her backpack toys with Chloe. I was shocked that she gave Chloe Winnie the Pooh. Then I saw what she had chosen to use for herself. Earlier in the day, she had found her grandma's Kindle and packed it away in her backpack! That was her toy that night. Luckily, she treated it well!

Entertain yourself, Chloe, while I read this ebook.

Swimming Pool Weather

In a recent heat wave, Katie's swimming pool re-emerged from the garage. She helped me fill up her pool in the morning, so the sun could warm the water up during the day. She was really excited to try it out in the afternoon.

I remember sitting like this last year. 

My pool seemed a little bigger back then. 

Uh-oh! I see something coming! 

Here comes the water! 

 I love getting sprayed - at least when there's a countdown to it.

Don't you want to come and get sprayed? 

I also like to splash! 

Didn't you call this a swimming pool? 

It's sort of hard to swim in it. 

Oh well. It's fun anyway!

Toobers & Zots

A little while ago, Jennifer brought home something for Katie called Toobers & Zots. (See what they look like by clicking here.) I had never heard of this toy, but Katie was interested right away. She dumped all of the pieces out of the bucket, and quickly pointed at it and said, "Mess!" Jennifer showed her that some of the pieces had little dots in them that could be punched out, and that alone kept her entertained for a long time.

The thing I love about this toy is that it opens up imagination. Katie's still a little young to create detailed objects with her foam pieces, but she really likes to watch and help as someone else creates. The things she loves best in her bucket are the toobers. They are long foam pieces with a bendable wire in the middle, so she can twist and turn them into whatever she wants. Over time, her creations have taken more time to create. The other night she made a seat belt, and she had created a latch for it to help it close.

The thing her toober becomes most often is a horse. She rides on her imaginary horse as she shouts, "Yee Haw! Giddy up, horse!" Of course, she always gets someone else a horse to ride with her and often gets her riding partner an interesting cowboy hat.

Yee Haw! Giddy up, Horse! 

I gave Gaga a small horse and a cowboy hat! 

This was my guitar. 

This is just part of the mess every time I dump the bucket out. 

A toober can sometimes be used with my other kitchen tools. 

I'm fishing off the back deck. 

I think I may have caught one!

I invented this seatbelt. It's handy for holding my saxophone!

Out the Back Window

In the last posting, I mentioned how much we like to look out our back window for any creatures we may see. Yesterday morning, we had a surprise visitor, which thrilled Katie.

A raccoon!

Yes, it is strange to see a raccoon in daylight, but it was still exciting to see something out of the ordinary. I was the one who spotted the raccoon first. I told Katie to hurry and come see the raccoon, and she moved faster across the floor than I have ever seen her move. I went quickly to get my camera and started taking pictures when we got another surprise.

The raccoon had a friend.

At this point, Katie started shouting, "Hi, raccoons!" and jumping up and down on the couch. We watched the raccoons as they hunted and played until they disappeared into the blackberry bushes. We were shocked when we saw them again about a half hour later as they continued their hunt. 

No one will be surprised to hear that Katie burst out into "Old McDonald Had a Farm. E I E I O! And on that farm, he had a 'coon! E I E I O!"

Can you spot the second raccoon? 

One liked to crawl on this rock. 

The top raccoon was about to jump right next to the bottom one and scare it! 

The raccoons acted cautiously most of the time.

The started heading back towards our house. 

They continued to look for food. 

Later in the day, we spotted the raccoons behind the fence.

Funny Things Continued

A little while back, I posted "Funny Things." It was just a random list of things Katie does that make me laugh. I'm finding that she does more and more that I don't want to forget, things that don't necessarily have pictures tied to them.

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I did it! I did it!

Can you imagine what a happy world we might live in if we all kept our toddler enthusiasm? I guess it might be a little strange for adults to have it, but I love it with Katie. Whenever she accomplishes anything on her own, she blurts out, "I did it! I did it!" It may be something as simple as unzipping her purse or as complicated as finding a correct piece in a jigsaw puzzle. She's just so happy with any accomplishment. 

I did it! I did it! I put my socks on!

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Heavy!

Katie has the ability to be very dramatic when she chooses to be. Lately, she's dramatic about lifting things. Awhile ago, she learned the word heavy, and she used it correctly. I guess she decided it was a fun word to use. Now, she often uses it for things that are quite light. The other day, she was helping me cook eggs. I asked her to get the salt shaker. As she got it out, she said, "Heavy!" in a voice that sounded so put out, with a face that looked like I was asking her to carry bricks. I wish I could capture the voice and the look. I try to correct her and let her know when things really aren't heavy, but she does make me laugh with her dramatics.

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Names

I love the names Katie gives to things. I've already talked about her beloved friend, 'Nie Pooh (Winnie the Pooh). I'm going to miss that name when it changes.

She also has a little pig that goes with her building set. I asked her what his name was. She shouted out, "Hammy!" Isn't the pig on Toy Story called Ham? I think it is, but Katie has never seen that movie. I know she doesn't know that ham comes from pigs. I know that she loves both ham and her pig. I can only assume that she has a coincidental sense of humor!

The other name that I love that she uses is Gaga for her grandma. These days, she's starting to play around with using "Grandma." If my mom doesn't hear Katie calling her Grandma, or if she happens to be busy with something else, Katie switches back to Gaga, and she usually gets heard. I asked my mom if she would miss Gaga, and she said that she actually would. I'll miss it too.

Katie doesn't name a lot of things yet though. Her doll is Baby. Her polar bear is Bear. Her brown bear is Black Bear - yes, we're still working on colors. Most dogs are either Dog or Chloe. Most cats are either Cat or Bingle.

Hammy

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A Match!

Katie loves to find matches of any sort. When she finds them, she always shouts out, "A match!" Sometimes she matches things that are the same color. Sometimes she matches things like animals - a cat in a book and her stuffed cat. She finds lots of matches whenever she goes into a store. "A match! A match! A match!"  

I always like when she matches things in her books. I was reading her new book to her the other day. The main character was a dog, and the dog had seen birds in the garden. Later that day, she got out her drawing pad, and it had a dog and a bird on the front cover. She shouted out, "A match," and ran and got her book and opened it to a page with the dog and bird and put it next to her drawing pad cover. 

She has always loved all of the books that my friend, Noreen, sends her. Every time, Noreen sends a book, she writes a note in the front. Katie loves to find Noreen's notes and put them together. "A match!"

We hear "A match!" around 638 times a day, and her excitement when she says it never wanes.

A match!

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Hey, Guys

Several months ago, Katie came running into the living room, wanting our attention, and shouted, "Hey, Guys!" It was so funny to us when she did it because we have no idea where she learned it. She usually calls us by name individually, but as a group, we're "Guys!" 

Hey, Guys!

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Where have all the cowboys gone?

Speaking of not knowing where Katie gets some things, the other day, she started talking about cowboys and cowboy hats. I was watching out our back window with Katie the other day when some yard guys came to mow the grass. They were dressed as you would imagine most yard guys would be - t-shirts and jeans. It was a hot day, so they each also wore a hat (not a cowboy hat) to protect their heads from the sun. As soon as Katie saw them, she said, "Cowboys! Cowboys wear hats!" She watched the "cowboys" the whole time they worked. Then she watched them leave. For a long time after, she kept going back to the window and asking, "Where cowboys?" I guess she needs to narrow in on the definition of the word cowboy.

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Old McDonald Had a Farm

As most people know, Katie loves to sing. One of her favorite songs is "Old McDonald Had a Farm." The funny thing is that she doesn't connect singing the song with just farm animals. She thinks the song fits all animals and plugs anything into the animal slot. Right after visiting Uncle Bill at Memorial Day, she started singing, "And on his farm he had a goldfish, E I E I O!" 

Later she started plugging in zoo animals. "And on his farm he had a giraffe, E I E I O!"

She has an ABC book with photographs of African Animals that she loves. It didn't take long for her to start using that book to help her with her song ideas. "And on his farm he had a dung beetle, E I E I O!"  Now the tricky part as you might imagine is helping her come up with the sounds her animals make. What noise does a giraffe or zebra make? How do you describe the noise of a dung beetle? I had to get creative.

One day, she chose to sing the song in the car. "And on his farm he had a Gaga, E I E I O!" When she was singing to Aunt Jennifer the other night, she sang, "And on his farm he had trash, E I E I O!" It's pretty funny to just wait for her next idea.

Where's the giraffe?

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A New Song

Katie was looking out our back window with Aunt Jennifer one night. We often look out the back window to find animals. We usually see rabbits, birds, and squirrels, but we have been known to see raccoons, owls, and a bobcat, so it's always fun to watch. On this particular night, there wasn't much to be seen other than two doves on our back fence. That was enough to please Katie though. 

After watching the doves for awhile, Jennifer asked Katie if she wanted to sing. Katie wasn't coming up with any songs, so Jennifer started, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." At this point, Katie, who always likes her music to fit the situation, interrupted, and said, "No! I see birds! Twinkle, twinkle little birds. How I wonder what are birds. I see birds. I see birds. I see birds. I see birds. Twinkle, twinkle little birds. How I wonder what are birds."

We liked the new version.

It's hard to find clip art to match, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bird."