Cinderella. . .dressed in toast?

Wondering much at the title of the post? Kate was getting a little creative with her breakfast this morning & started off with a face that quickly morphed into one of her favorite story book characters -- Cinderella! Can't you see it? The picture was my ploy to save Cinderella in picture form so her dress could be eaten. I walked back to see if said toast was eaten & Kate looks at me quite glumly & says, "I'm disappointed, mom." Apparently she had been making all sorts of promises to Cinderella that her dress would stay perfectly. :-) She lives in another world sometimes!

Rachel is getting cuter by the second! I discovered her in the room yesterday opening books & reading them in a load babbling voice. Adorable! She is very close to walking on her own, but not quite. Favorite summer foods are watermelon & blueberries. I need to catch a picture of her chowing down on a slice of watermelon. The unfortunate thing is that it condemns whatever outfit she has on to watermelon juice being squeezed all over the front no matter what bib I have on her. Maybe I need to change her into a bathing suit first? Still loves to climb into things & almost hide, but since I cleaned the fireplace out, she hasn't been nearly as attracted to it. Is she craving charcoal or something? She's pretty outgoing when she wants to be. She'll give waves to people at the grocery store, but smiles have to be a bit weasled out of her. She loves her Auntie Jen & a few times I'm pretty sure she called her Momma. :-) Most of all she cannot wait to meet her two cousins very shortly! Woohoooooo!

One other note is that we are on the hunt to find out the source of Rachel's eczema. As it hasn't faded on its own (characteristic of infantile eczema), I'm trying to eliminate a food allergy as a possible cause. Since I'm still nursing her, that means I have to go on these elimination diets too. We did two weeks of soy-free living (just for me, since Rachel doesn't eat any soy). No results from that. We are in our second week of a gluten-free diet which has been significantly harder than soy-free. Gluten free basically means wheat free. So, no things like bread or baked goods, but there's also gluten in some hidden things like soy sauce & barbecue sauce. So, today at Chik-fil-A we enjoyed Cow Appreciation Day at with grilled chicken filets (no bun), french fries & a drink. I've actually seen some improvement in my skin, but none that make it seem worthwhile to me to go without bread for the rest of my life! And, the jury's still out on Rachel.

rollin', rollin', rollin'

As usual, too much time has passed since we last spoke. Spring has finally showed up & here's how we're celebrating:

going to the park

playing after supper

taking tours of the yard to see which flowers have started budding

raking old leaves from last fall

greeting geraniums that are showing in my planters

crawling

pulling up

standing

walking (with her walker)

writing more letters (It was J today)

learning about the feeding of the four thousand

hating baths (the oldest one)

loving baths (the youngest one)

eating table food almost all of the time (youngest one)

struggling to finish all of her food on the table almost all of the time (oldest one)

having our first sleepover at our house (LOADS of fun)

riding . . . her first trike!

This was a seminal event at our house. We live on an extremely steep hill, so while most parents would have already bought & helped their children use any variety of riding toys, Kate has never had any. We never even had a riding toy for inside the house. She does play with Little Tikes car at Mima's house, but, she was pretty much as inexperienced as they come. I finally decided that we could just let her play in the garage or downstairs in the spare room (linoleum flooring), and that this was the year for the trike. I never thought about the back deck! I had dinner to fix, so she begged to bring it upstairs into the living room. Um, no. But, then she came up with a good solution. Before dinner she was crashing into the chairs & was halting at best. By the time she got back up onto the trike after dinner, she was cruising around on her own personal race trak, round & round the table. It was so fun to see her doing such a big kid activity!

Hey Mom, when can I do that??

It's quite funny, she sits right at the threshold when the door's open, but won't cross over. I don't know if it's the texture of the metal threshold or the rug right outside the doorway, but she will not cross over. . . yet.

Trying really hard to show her pedaling skills for the camera.

Look what Kate stowed in the basket. . . she had been playing church earlier, so they were out on the couch from that morning.

Trike Evangelist

Shh, mom, we're having a chat!

bigger sis

Big sis is growing up every day. I cannot believe she is three! Well, maybe I just can't believe she's not five! She acts so old sometimes, it kills me.

What is Kate up to?

Learning her letters -- she's got a few down cold K, J are her two best letters. So far, her favorite associations are people's names. So, we have L for Lydia, J for dad's name, K for Kate & Grandma Kathy. We've started adding B, P, R, and M to list. Her best letter in writing is E. No promises on how many bars it will have though.

Drawing -- she has started to EXPLODE in her artistic expression. She has always had great fine motor skills (i.e. she likes to draw very tiny things, and has a fine time picking up tiny things too), but she's finally putting her skills to use in creating things that are other than squiggles. She can now draw a smiley face (the same pattern every time -- two dots that are very close to the perimeter, if not actually ON, the circle. Two bars over the eyes for eyebrows. One line perpendicular to the eyebrows is a hair, and usually a straight line for a mouth. I know, it's supposed to be a smiley face.) She can also draw balloons, dots, and cats. And circles. The other night she drew maybe thirty circles on her page, some very small (like the size of an a lower case o). After she would draw ten or so, she draws a circle around the entire lot of circles.

Matching -- she's very good at picking up on whether things are matching or not. She has a harder time with the idea of complementary -- so on Sunday she told Josh that his tie did not match his outfit. :-)

Memorizing -- we are working on a few Scripture verses, but she likes to memorize all sorts of other things, too. We have a Between the Lions Cd of stories and she likes to recite parts of the them (Red! Green! Red! Green! On one side the hat was Green. On the other side the hat was red!).

Potty -- she wears undies all of the time now, but we still have a ways to go with finishing up our training. We'll just leave it at that!

Mothering -- She plays mommy games every day. Now she has an entire troupe (like 8) of friends, children, daddies, and mommies that she moves from one room in the house to another. The other day I was making dinner, and I peeked into the living room to see her entire "family" arrayed on the couch. And the couch was full. She uses dolls, stuffed animals, large, small, it doesn't matter. Favorite names -- Mountain, Falia, Steve, Micah, Emily Charlotte, and then a random assortment (as if that wasn't random enough) of names from whichever book she's been reading. Today we had Mr. Mallard, Mac, and Baby Mallard. Today she had me take care of her kids while she had to take a nap. Taking care of her kids involved driving them to Mexico in the car (couch). She even had one baby in a car seat & put the stroller in the car (couch) before she left. She made me promise that if they wanted a snack, I'd give them one; and if they wanted a toy, to give them that too. Oh, and take them to a store with breakable things. They're very 'sponsible, mom. They can touch breakable things. Sounds like Kate's dream trip!

Thinking -- I think she spends a good deal of time thinking about things, figuring out things, and she has a really great intuition about people. A funny example of this: Last night we were driving home from prayer meeting & she realized that she'd forgotten to thank Mima (prayer meeting is at their house) for giving her snacks to take home. We called Mima and she got to talk for a bit with her, then Papa. Then, she asked me if I needed to talk to Papa. I didn't. But, she really insisted that I thank Papa for the chili (we eat there too). So, I reached back & grabbed the phone from her. I put it to my ear and realized the line was dead, but I decided to play along & say, "Papa, thanks for the chili; it was delicious. Bye." A few seconds past & then she asked me, "Was Papa there?" I couldn't believe she had figured me out. I laughed & confessed that I had just pretended. A few more minutes past & then she said, "I forgot to thank Papa for the chili, too. Can I call them?" I told her it was too late & we would just talk to them another day. "But, I want to do how you did it, mom." Ahhhh. . I handed the phone & she had her pretend conversation, too.

And lastly, and pretty uniquely, Kate is really into families. I know I've mentioned this before. She loves to have Josh or I go through all of the names of people that she knows. I didn't realize that this love for names extended outside of our family, but in our Family Bible Story books, some of her favorite pages are the family tree charts. She LOVES to have us recite all of the Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Japheth had a son, and he had a son, and . . . you get the picture. Maybe we have a future genealogist or historian on our hands.

Her schedule (if one even exists):

8:00 Wake up

12:30 Lunch

2:00 - 4:00 Nap or not (lately it's been not)

6:00 ISH (very ish) Supper -- she always eats w/ Josh & myself, unless Josh gets home extremely late, like tonight, and then she, Rach, and I eat together.

8:30-9:00 Bedtime -- She is a night owl, like me. . and can stay in her bed awake for a very long time. Isn't there a shut off switch somewhere?

Happy Birthday

As the days dwindle, I've been extremely busy in Santa's workshop (which happens to be located downstairs). Last week was Kate's birthday party & I can't tell you how great it is for that to be enjoyed & done with. I think next year I'll have to move the party to the week before her birthday. Maybe. Thankfully, her birthday present had been finished for some time, so I wasn't staying up incredibly late with THAT, however, I did stay up late making her slideshow. And, her cake was another crafty project. Josh said after he saw the work I was doing, "Now we know why people pay party places to do birthday parties." Yea. But, it's so much more FUN to do it all at home! :-)


These pics are from her birthDAY, and you can see one of her favorite gifts -- her watch. She's holding it in both of the above pictures. She even wore it to sleep that first night. Remember getting that excited about things?

I was totally planning on having a Curious George birthday, but Kate, a few weeks ago, started talking about wanting a red cake, with a Winnie the Pooh candle, Eeyore candle, Piglet candle, Tigger candle (and who else, mom?). Well, in the face of such firm ideas, I couldn't say no. Although, they instead of buying candles, I bought a balloon weight that can be reused. :-) It sounds so simple, right? Wrong -- that red icing is one of the HARDEST colors to make. It just takes so much food coloring. Remember Elmo last year? Well, as I was decorating it, Kate looked at it and said, "There's grass, mom." Ahh, recognition of where I was going w/ the green icing. Excellent. I think she enjoyed her red cake with balloons.

We're so grateful for our little girl, who is not so little anymore. I'll post her slide show on FB eventually.

some things that made me laugh

For some reason, Kate has a hard time hearing "l" sounds. So, when we were in Texas, I heard her say Auntie "TheRain" & today I told her about a special book that my Grandma gave me -- from Kate's lips Grandma "TheWeez."

Last month, Rachel must have whispered da-da to Josh once, but hadn't repeated it again. When she said Pa-pa last night at church, Josh couldn't believe he was getting so far behind ma-ma & ba-ba. Well, today she started with da-da again. Once for me in the morning, and then at night, she said right as we were all saying goodnight to her. I think it made Josh's day (which had been a bit rough!). She even does a little wave when she says ba-ba sometimes. Soooo cute!

Rachel grabbed the pom pom on her winter hat & pulled it down, then it popped out of her hand & flew back up. It was hilarious! (maybe you had to be there).

When I leave Rach in a room on the floor, I never know where I'll find her when I return. Once she was under Kate's bed, one time she was heading towards the door in her room (and was really close!). I think she was coming to find me. Slightly more dangerous is when big sis is involved. I found her being the "horsey" to Kate's "cowgirl." Uh, shouldn't it be the other way around. Rach isn't crawling, she just rolls & wiggles around.

Kate pronounces a few words in a completely southern manner. My current favorite, Thanksgivin'. I don't think she gets it from me.

And, in one week and a half, I'll have both a 7 month old & a 3 yr old. I can't believe it!

road trip!!!

Last week the Bailey family took a crazy car trip to Texas to visit my mom & dad. They had planned on being in my home town visiting family for Thanksgiving. Since we weren't going to see them for Christmas or until next summer possibly, we thought it would be great to meet them in the middle. Well, perhaps not the exact middle.

So, we took three days to drive down south, and we stayed with family & friends along the way. It took Kate awhile to get used to the fact that we weren't going home every night. By the seventh night she was wanting to know why we weren't going to anyone's home??

We spent three days in McAllen, and got to visit not only with my parents but with my great girlfriends Jamie & Imee as well as all of our extended family. We stayed with my great aunt Clara, and the girls had a real ball getting to know her.

Over the past years, I have seen my usage of the word "home" in reference to south Texas gradually be replaced by "home" referring to Georgia. This transition was made more concrete as I drove around my home town & didn't recognize streets, shops, and restaurants. Of course, all of my major landmarks were there, my home, my elementary school, middle, and high school. My grocery store. My park. But there was a disconnect that made me a trifle sad. I even thought that I've been driving around Georgia longer than I drove around Texas. Weird!

It was wonderful to be with our family for Thanksgiving. We ate (a lot), and apparently, Josh thought the food to be right up to par with a Bailey Thanksgiving.

Kate, o shy one, did pretty well meeting all the various groups of people. She did best in small groups, so Thanksgiving Day, when she met most of her cousins, was a crazy day! She was quiet as a mouse, but they wanted to please her so they kept bringing her toys and really took great care of her. As people gradually trickled out, she became more friendly & talkative. It was a little bit hilarious. When she took her afternoon nap, all of the little cousins kept coming up to me asking, "When will Kate wake up?" Elizabeth, the 10 year old, did a great job being the "babysitter." Kate really liked meeting with Jamie & Imee since they were able to give her undivided attention. Her favorite! She did very well on the road with mom's special stash of books, coloring books, cds and dvds. Elmo DVD was high on the list of favorites. The DVD highlights parts of the body, and she kept showing me different moves from the movie. The one she actually learned how to do was hop on one leg. We also had a few potty adventures, too.
Rachel was so wonderful! She did great on the road. Unbelievable, in fact, when you think about the fact that she can't really entertain herself. So, she sat next to Kate and pulled off Kate's blanky, played with her toys, and took cat naps. She did great with all of the new people. She's just the right age for that. She also started scrunching up her nose when she smiles. I love when she discovers these new things about her body. Ah the joy of being six months new.

Day 1: Met cousin Ethan for the first time! Stayed with Jana & Ethan for a night. We had a lot of fun. These are two Johnson cousins of eight to be born within 12 months. Talk about a baby boom!

Day #2: We stayed with Imee & Phillip one night. Kate really warmed up to Imee very quickly & even did some reading in Spanish with her.

Yum!

Thanksgiving Day photo shoot. (Rachel had just been woken up)

This picture just makes me laugh. Cousin Elizabeth & Kate -- this is Kate's fake smile. I think I promised her an olive if she smiled.

Another day at the park with Jamie! Woohoo! Jamie taught Kate how to play I Spy!

Would I do it again? Not tomorrow! But, it was the golden time for traveling. To have this golden time again, we'll have to wait until these two are 2 and 4 yrs.

fun in the bathtub

Anchors away, my friend!

We got inspired by reading Curious George Rides a Bike, and decided to fold our own newspaper boat. It wasn't as easy as I remembered it being as a child. I think my newspaper is the wrong size! Once I got it all folded, Kate wanted to see if it would float, so we sailed our boat in the bathtub!

The book highlights various ducks, insects, and wildlife hitching a ride on Curious George's boats, so Kate's first question, once I told her we could float it in the bathtub, was, "Who can ride in the boat??"

Running out of real estate

Kate loves to squish inside our baby bathtub with lil' sis. Since Rachel is REALLY into kicking & splashing with her feet, this can't be too comfortable for Kate, but it's worth it just to be close to sister.

A bonus: Kate favorite game to play in the tub (when she's not sharing with her sister) is scuba dizer! She fell in loves with scuba dizers when we took our trip to the aquarium this summer. How to play scuba dizer? Lay on your belly in the bathtub & kick your legs while blowing bubbles in the water. The other pretty amazing thing she does in the bath is lay down on her back so that her hair & ears are submerged in the water but her "face" is still out of the water. Pretty brave, I think.

Rachel loves bath time. If she has any evening fussies, a bath takes care of that quickly. She splashes & kicks & giggles & coos. She even practices her newest accomplishment, saying "mamamamamamamama." Kate can't believe that her little sister is saying a word! And, of course, nothing thrills a mom's heart more! Josh's view, "What about dad??? Da-da-da-da-da."

dress-up

Look who's wearing the cowstume this year??? This golden oldie has been worn by Lydia, Lauren, and then little Rach.

My beautiful ballerina & the cutest cow on the block!

What is it about costumes that are soooooooo irresistible for parents? I don't care two licks for the candy at Halloween & trick-or-treating would be Kate's worst nightmare (having to smile at strangers?????), but I just can't resist a little kid in a costume! We went to the Fall Festival at our local mega church, and Kate had a lot of fun. Although they also have typical games like ring toss & fishing & cake walks, we spent most of our time in the inflatable games area. Sometimes, I get little glimpses into how much Kate is really growing up. We don't go to places like Monkey J oe's very often (a play place with loads of inflatable jumpers & slides), so the changes in Kate are pretty obvious. She used to be too small to go on most of them; she also used to be too shy to just play in front of so many strangers. Last night, my shy Kate was bouncing a long with the best of them, and clambering up using hand holds & sliding down big old slides. She still had a moment of anxiety when she saw a guy dressed up in a full body gorilla suit. He was a little scary even to me! Not to mention that when we happened to catch a glance of him, he was shoving another adult. Probably a very friendly shove, but nevertheless, a bit frightening for the little girl staring up, up, up at a big, hairy, black gorilla!

sing a long

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping?
Parma Jean? (pronounced in the French way) Parma Jean?
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong.

In my mind, "What? Farmer John? That's not how it goes. . . " Thankfully, before my over conscientious mommy mouth could kick in, I realized she was saying Parmesan. . . and that was too cute to correct. So, mum's the word.

Incidentally, almost any condiment that sits on the table & is shaken onto the food is called Parmesan at our house. Well, not the s & p. But Cinammon sugar is!

My favorite is when I DO try to correct her pronunciation, it usually goes something like this:

K: Who is in that picture?
Momma: Grandma Louise.
K: Grandma Wouise?
M: No, honey. . L, L, Louise.
K: Oh, L, L, Wouise. She repeats the correct sound & then continues on with her mispronunciation. I love it!

craftiness

I have been bitten, and bitten badly, by the craft bug. Many naptimes & nights find me sewing, reading blogs about sewing, or staring at my fabric stash WELL into the night. I even *daydream* about sewing when I have a spare moment. I find it to be incredibly cathartic and addicting. It's something I can do when the house is quiet & my stash of books has been depleted. After a series of late nights, Josh reminded me that I didn't REALLY have a reason to wear myself to the bone, after all, I wasn't working under a deadline. :-) I just smiled.

To combine my hobby with actual usefulness, I've decided to start working on Christmas presents. So, instead of having all-nighters the nights leading up to Christmas, I am just having them in September & October. I have several children projects & 1 garment in the works. I also have a real hankering to do a quilt. I just want to try it! So, I had to make up a project for one of my kids, even though they both technically have quite enough coverings for their cute sleeping little bodies. Looking at some of these Modern Quilting Blogs is enough to make me start salivating!! Of course, I imagine that my first outings won't look exactly like these, but I have to start somewhere.
Here are a few of my fav blogs:
http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/
http://www.filminthefridge.com/
http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/
http://myauntjune.blogspot.com/

I have also fallen in love with tutorials! I wonder how people ever sewed before the world of fast, free information WITH PICTURES! Can't get much better than that. I've completed a few projects, but as I'm working on gifts, I can't exactly post pics of them until the recipients, um, receive them. I will note that most of the recipients are children, and since they don't check my blog regularly, I just may post pictures of them before Christmas. ha! So, I'll leave you with some pics of my fabrics. Not all of the groups of fabric are necessarily all going to be in the same project -- they just "matched" enough for me to take a picture of them together. :-)

Herein lies my biggest projects. I approach with fear & trembling.
Projects #1 & #2

Project #3

Projects #4 & #5

Project #6

Come outside & play with me!
This is a dress I finished in the late summer, right before we went on our vacation. I'm hoping it will transition okay into a Jumper. What do you think?

She rarely accomodates a mommy photo shoot, but she finally looked at the camera & flashed me one of these gems.

growing up is fun to do. . .

As Kate rounds her 2nd year and heads toward the 3rd, I'm amazed by the weird connections her synapses make. Case in point, we were going to Gramma's to eat lunch with her in her downstairs apartment, but Kate was most concerned about where everyone was going to sit. You see, Gramma only has 2 chairs in her pad, and Josh was going to eat with us as well. Well, not only does she think about logistics & planning ahead sort of things, she also is pretty observant. For instance, she noticed that Rachel had a wet diaper. I'm clickety clacking at the computer, happy that my two children are letting me get some e'mails done. I turn around and look on the floor and find THIS!


*Helpful* Kate took Rachel's diaper off & headed off to the nursery to deposit said diaper. I think I interrupted her before she got the replacement diaper. She had found a disposable diaper trash bag & was waving it in the air, trying to get it to open. It'd be great if I could harness this awareness of diapers & train her to get the new diaper out BEFORE she takes the old one off.


Another funny example, I was doing an exercise video at the house last weekend. Kate has probably NEVER seen me exercise like this in her memory. Immediately she's enamored with my mat, and thinks there's something very obviously missing -- can you find what she brought to the room to complete my exercise kit? Then, she started watching the video herself and attempting some of the moves. I was laughing so hard, it was difficult to finish some of the stretches. Lastly, she saw that I was sweating and became so anxious for me. "Mom, you're sweating! You don't want to sweat!" (ha!) She ran to the bathroom and grabbed a tissue and even proceeded to wipe the sweat off of my face. I guess I haven't let her see me work hard enough. . .


Just plain cute! Rach is now rolling over from back to tummy. So, now she likes tummy time because she can make it whatever time she wants -- back, tummy, side, spinning, whatever.

a day at the park

Last Wednesday was a perfect day. We scouted out a new Farmer's Market/Stand in a little town next to ours. Kate had a fun time sampling all of the goods, especially the natural bath & body products. I had an equally fun time trying some delicious jam. After I picked up a few tomatoes, cucumber, and strawberry-fig jam, we explored. You know the type of exploration that has you turning down small streets that feel as though they should be one ways, and pausing at 4- way stops a little too long as you try to decide whether to go left, right, or straight. Around a corner and through a stop sign, we came upon the sweetest little city park. The play area is surrounded by trees and benches, and they even have some old fashioned playground equipment like a merry go round! I wish I could have caught it on film, but the early yellow leaves were cascading down like golden snow on a perfect fall day. We've already been back for a picnic lunch, sliding down the tandem slide with two girls, and Rachel's first time in a swing.

Evidence of a truly happy day.

Although not in focus, you get a great view of Rachel's beautiful smile. :-)

taking the leap

Armed with a potty seat (ring that sits ON the potty), elmo panties, training pants, pull-ups and a whole new set of rules, we are attacking potty training with a vengeance. Quite a few times, Kate has asked where the potty train is. :-) Ha!
In the morning, we put her training pants on. If she goes in the potty successfully, she gets to wear her underwear. She has to wear pull-ups at nap, night, and when we're on the go. I've embraced the pee on the floor, couch, bed, rugs. (Just crossing my fingers that she choses just the floor for her accidents). Monday we had 1 time on the floor, 1 time in the potty, and 1 time in a pull-up. Tuesday, I had my goal for twice in the potty and we made it! Extra bonus: no accidents!

Prize: Ben & Jerry's sorbet

Mom got a prize, too!

looking into the future And, as a bonus: one finger or two??????

for the first time

matching outfits

Rachel -- 3 months, Kate -- 2 years 7 months

she found her fingers after this, I just like how Kate is looking down trying to calm her sis.

what's new, pussy cat?

Happy Father's Day Breakfast!

I thought I'd sit down & write an update on Kate. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. There's so much I could write, so trying to be concise (ish) is a bit difficult here. I chose a few words to describe her personality: smart, curious, role-playing, growing in independence, extremely imaginative, and shy. There are so many more that I could write about: funny (this is actually one of my favorite traits of hers, but it's so hard to describe!), hospitable (she's always asking me or Josh if we need grapes at the dinner table or would we like some goldfish), kind, daddy's girl, and affectionate (likes to be "snuggled" at bed time).

Smart -- She learns new concepts & words very quickly & uses many words that are quite adult, such as "awfully cute," "practically", and the other day she told me that such and such an item was "similar" to another. The way she learns is through repetition & imitation, as most kids do at this age. If I find that she's asking me a question over & over again, I know that she's trying to learn it and eventually wants me to ask her the question so that she can repeat the information. The same holds true when she's trying to learn a song. She may ask me to sing it 10 times in a row. Her latest conquest is "Glorious Things." When I try to go to the second verse, she typically stops me and says, "NO, no, not THAT one."

Curious -- As I mentioned, she asks questions a lot, as most children do, but is very curious about particular pieces of information -- like what city we live in, where other people live, lists of people that belong together, what jobs people have, and where people are currently. So, she knows that we live in Dacula, that Becky & Elias live in Guatemala, that Ben & Jen ALSO live in Dacula, and that the softball fields are in Suwanee. She knows that the name Kelley goes with her "friend Greta." (She also says her name in this fashion, my friend Greta). She knows that our cousin Brad, whom she has met once, is a librarian. She has recently learned the title of daddy's job and likes him to play "builder" with her using blocks that we gave her at her 1st birthday.

Role-playing -- At this point, her favorite role to play is mommy, but sometimes she plays nurse or doctor. Whatever she finds in her hand to make a "baby," she does. Things recently made into babies: cell phone, water bottle, and a faux razor (something that came on a VEET canister). Speaking of the "razor," she has picked up two of these things & totes them around, at various times telling me that she needs to take a shower and shave.

Independent -- She is learning to be much more independent in her playtimes. When I ask her/ tell her to go in her room and play by herself, she does! She also spends about 2-3 hours in her room in the afternoons napping & playing in her bed. She has very fixed opinions about her clothes, her hair styles and her shoes. She LOVES shoes and one of her favorite things to do when we go shopping is try on shoes. She is currently in to pokies (pony tales), but just one, not two. And, bows are for Sundays, so she informs me, but even on Sundays, it's very unreliable that she will cheerfully wear one. She is pretty good at matching her clothes & likes to be involved in picking her outfits. I frequently give her "choices" & just the other day she told me, "I choiced myself, mom!"

Imaginative -- Anytime I tell her to hurry up, she asks, "Because the bear is coming?" This all stems from one time of pretend play with Lydia where they played that a bear was coming to get them. She has a pretend house that she plays in, pretend babies, pretend peaches, pretend mommy, and pretend stores that she goes shopping at. And when I say pretend -- I mean invisible! My favorite thing is the phrase that I get to hear quite frequently, "No mom, it's preTEND!" She uses in this type of context.
K: Mom, do you wan to go to the store?
M: No, we have to have lunch, so we don't have time.
K: No, mom, for preTEND!

Shy -- She gets put off her feed pretty easily by having someone new around, or even a lot of her favorite family, or any number of social situations. At home she's cheerful, bubbly, funny, and very talkative. In public she's shy, sometimes to the point of being morose. This is quite a conundrum to me, especially when it happens around family. At some level, I guess it's a result of being out of her comfort zone, but in my mind, her comfort zone is very tiny. Another example of her shyness. We were at Bob & Lisa's the other night for dinner, and when the adults were talking, she sat next to us just whispering in her own pretend play. Even when she had a question for Mima, she whispered it.

some firsts . . and other miscellanea

First hold. Pure joy on Laurie's face as she got to hold "Ray-ful".

First (ish) smile -- or a moment or two after a smile. She does really well with Josh, and I have gotten a few *real* smiles, as well. I put this down to Josh being WAYYY sillier than I am.

More thumb sucking goodness. She is getting so big & I'm having to adjust straps & things on her car seat & the little pillow in her swing because she's taking up more space.

At a recent family gathering & behind clothes doors. TA-DA!!! Snow ballerinas!

While the older cousins are getting into mischief. . .Laurie finds a baby to mother. She can't wait until she has Rayful to play with!

3 days old

little Rachel taking a snooze actually found her thumb! She has found it one more time, but has yet to acquire a real habit. We haven't convinced her about a paci either, so mom is doing the trick for now!

Kate loves to spend as much time as possible with her baby sister every day. She wants to be next to her, checking on her, even cuddling with us when I'm nursing. I cannot believe how in love Kate is with her new little sister. She is always telling us about how cute her ears, toes, hair, etc. are. After one day of practically coming to tears every time Rachel cried, she has come to terms with the fact that babies cries aren't always sad.


Great story (and a little scary)! I was putting some q-tips into a small container on Rachel's changing table. Kate saw me & asked if they were for baby Rachel.

Me: Yup
Kate: But, one ear is out and the other ear is sleeping!

Assuming that I was going to use the q-tips to clean Rachel's ears, she had gone over to check on Rachel in the swing. Little one was lying such that one ear was exposed but the other was hidden. The connection between the two didn't dawn on me until a bit later, when I caught Kate leaning over the swing with one of the q-tips in hand! yikes! Lots of love, but sometimes 2 year old discernment is a bit frightening!