August 31 - Look Ma, No Hands!

I discovered I can hold a block using just my chin and thought I was super cool. It worked great, until I tried to take a drink from my cup!

I enjoyed playing with my bears today. I had to have all of them taken down from the top of my toy cubes. Don't know if you can see them in the pictures, but yesterday I found Mommy's 100 piece cookie cutter set in the pantry. Oh, I am having the BEST time playing with those. Mostly I take them out of the plastic bucket and put them back in again and again and again and again. You get the picture... :-)

I had a good day today. Played hard, napped hard (3 hour a.m. nap) and went to my grandparents for a sleepover. Mommy and Daddy got to have a kid-free date tonight!! I guess they went to dinner (Thai Orchid) and a movie (Tropic Thunder). They had a groovy time, and I had a wonderful time with my g'rents!

 
 
 
 

August 30 Pretty Dress & a BBQ!

Tonight, I went to a bbq at the G'rents. I saw my cousins Chris and Brad and also the Howards. It was really fun! Here are a couple pics of me in my pretty dress and in my sleeper. I love sitting on my dad's lap while he reads to me.

 
 
 
 

August 28 - Play Group and a Picnic and Living History!

The other morning, mommy came in to get me and noticed that I had turned on my musical crib toy. It's the first time I've done that (for her to see). She thought that was pretty neat, and I'm happy to impress. I slept through the night 2 times this week. Last night was a bit of a deal. We got home very late, because Mommy went to get her hair colored after work. It looks smashing! One of the most daring colors she's done. I didn't get home until a little before 9 PM, and it kinda through my night schedule off. I woke up a couple times, but mommy didn't have to come get me.

I was feeling a bit peculiar today. I guess you could say I was cranky. I did eat pretty well (oatmeal & 3/4 banana for b'fast, brown rice with peas/green beans/broccoli for lunch, the same for dinner & some watermelon, yogurt, cottage cheese, crackers for snacks), and I had 2 naps (1.75 hours AM and .75 afternoon)

I got to do a couple new things today. I went to my first Mommy and Me Play Group, and I liked it very much! I'm looking forward to getting to know some of the boys and girls in my neighborhood and Mommy is happy to get to know the grownups. We'll have a standing Thursdays 1 PM play group. I hope to sometimes have the par-tay here at my house.

After my PM nap, I went to Leverich Park for Grandma's department family picnic. The picnic is for families in the program Mom oversees and for the employees/families as well. I had a lot of fun watching 3-legged races, water balloon tosses, etc. and I enjoyed some watermelon while I was there.

Daddy got home tonight. I've missed him very much.

Today was an historic day in politics. For the first time, an African American has been nominated to run for the Office of President of the United States. Mommy had tears in her eyes watching Barack Obama deliver his nearly 50 minute speech. He is such a fantastic speaker and has such great ideas (we'll see if he's able to put dream into action.) Her heart swelled with pride and hope and idealism at the notion of Senator Obama representing her and her countrymen. I won't remember this day, especially because I was enjoying a nice warm bath, making speeches of my own while Mom and Dad tried to listen to his speech, delivered in Mile High Stadium in Denver to a live audience of 75,000 people. But Mommy and Daddy will, and they will tell me about it as I'm growing up. Perhaps having a person of color elected to the highest office in the land will be "no biggie" when I am the same age as my parents are today. Many barriers were broken in 2008, not only for people of color, but for women as well. Senator Hillary Clinton (whose Hubby Bill is a former 2-time president) ran neck & neck with Senator Obma, both vying for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Perhaps I'll be President one day??? The world could (and has) do worse!

August 24 - Quiet day

I had a great nap this morning, over 2.5 hours!! This afternoon? Not so much. Daddy managed to get me to sleep for about 30 minutes on him, but then I got too warm. Even as a fussy-I-don't-want-to-take-a-nap Chicklette, I was awfully cute. Daddy brought me into the guest room where the comfy rocker is. He had my afghan set on the table. I saw it and signed, "Please". Daddy put it around me and I snuggled into him. I can't wait to see the herd of ponies I earned with that cuteness!!

Not much else happened, just the usual... playing, poohing (3x's!), picking out books to read, patting Max, (I'm out of "p" words). I ate like a champ all day and got lots of fresh fruit and veggies in me. And I'm done with the garlicky ravioli for now, which will make the G'rents happy!!

Oh, I can now tell you that a dog says "woof", so that's something new and kinda cool. I'm getting super skilled at using a fork, and this morning I ate nearly all of my oatmeal with a spoon! I don't think Mommy helped one iota... A girl's gotta learn to take care of herself, ya know!

Hmmmm... what else happened today? I know... when Mom and Dad were eating dinner, I tried going behind the couch to play with the electronics back there (mini-stereo, power cords, etc) I know I'm not supposed to go there, so I made sure to turn around to see if anyone was looking. Dad SO busted me! But, he had a hard time doing it without laughing. My impishness is so adorable!

When Daddy had my bottle to give me tonight, I signed, "Please". Daddy said, "Put your duck away", so I took my rubber ducky from the living room floor and put it in its "home" in my kitchen cupboard. After I closed the cupboard door, I got BIG applause from my parents and myself! I thought that was very neato!

I think you're caught up, now! Love ya!

August 23 - The Library and a Play Date!

Today, Andrew came over with his parents for a play date! I haven't seen him in nearly 5 months, and I couldn't believe how much he's changed (we've changed!) I really enjoyed sharing my toys with Andrew. He especially liked my radio flyer Quad! We had a lot of fun having lunch at the local bar & grill (hey-- it's Ridgefield, we have like 6 restaurants, only 1 pub-ish). I had a grilled cheese and applesauce (which was my SECOND lunch of the day).

After Steve, Christy & Andrew left, Mom, Dad and I went to Costco. That was fun for me. I was pretty wiped, so I fell asleep in the car when we were almost home. Then, it was more leftovers and while Mommy laid down, I bonded with Daddy until bed time. Apparently Mommy didn't feed me enough dinner (mom begs to differ). When Daddy was making his own dinner, I came up to Daddy and I looked at him, signed "please", followed by "cracker"... twice. How could he resist? Then, when he was making me a nigh-nigh bottle, I really wanted it. I sighed please earnestly. Daddy looked at the mess of toys I had on the kitchen floor, and said, "Put your toys away". I put the 2 rubber duckies and my little shampoo bottle in my kitchen cupboard and closed the door. Daddy was so impressed (as was mommy when she heard the story!) After he gave me the bottle, I looked up at him and contentedly sighed, "Da Da". I love my Daddy so much.

Speaking of talking, in the last week or so, I've developed a new way of saying "MaMa". it's up about 1.5 octaves from how I previously said it! And it ends with an up sound ("Ma MAH") Not sure where I got this from. Mommy will have to record it and post it so you can get the full effect. My parents aren't sure if they think it's cute or annoying, grin!

Christy noticed yesterday that I no longer laugh like a dolphin. Mom and Dad hadn't even noticed I retired this sound. It made them a little melancholy, knowing I've outgrown the Flipper Laugh. :-(

One of the most exciting thing (for my parents) is I slept through the night the last 3 nights-- hooray! It was such a relief for my parents. They're not ready to declare that I sleep through the night again, but they have very high hopes!

I hope you enjoy the pictures and the slide show below!
 
 
 
 

August 22 - The Library!

August 22 - This afternoon, Mommy and I went to the library-- I had a lot of fun there, pulling books and videos off of the shelves, having mom read to me, and playing with the puzzles and toys. I liked some of the toys so much that I even
kissed the little people pirate on the pirate ship. 2 young, but schoolage, girls showed up to color. I liked one of them, and kept bringing her things, puzzle pieces, toys, etc. The girl grumbled about it a lot, but I think she secretly relished the attention. Good a.m. nap, no PM nap. I went to see the g'rents in the early evening and hung for almost 2 hours. And, I slept through the night the last 2 nights!!

August 20 - Field Trip!

Guess What, People?? I slept through the night last night!! So did Mommy... Apparently only Daddy had a rough time of it, which is nearly as unusual as me sleeping through the night these days!

I had a nice time with Grandpa today. He and Mommy gave me a yummy breakfast before she took off to work. I was not an excellent napper, but we can't all be perfect. I got to go on a field trip, which was kinda cool. Grandpa and I took my cousins Chris and Brad to the dentist. I shoulda sat in the chair for my first exam (which will just be to get me used to being in the chair)

Daddy fed me lots and lots for dinner... I was still eating when Mommy got home at 7 PM. At least it looked that way... When the tray was lifted up, Daddy saw about a 1/2 of food I'd horded next to my leg!

Lots of good play time w/ mommy and daddy, and I even showed mom I can say "Ball" (ba)

Good day over all!

August 19 - Laundry List of Signs

Katie's Mommy here..... I was reading online today that at this age, a child can usually say "Dog", "Ball", and "Bye"... Katie doesn't say any of these because she can sign all of them.

So, I thought I should document that in addition to saying her name (Eee-ee), Ally/Allie (Aah-ee), Hi (Hai-yee), key (ee), apple (aaah-buh), cheese (eesh), Night-Night (nigh), ouch (ow), ooh (ooh), mama (ma... ma), dada (da-da-da) and making the following animal sounds [duck (gack, gack, gAAAAck), cow(ooooh), a monkey (oo oo), a lamb (ba) and a bear(grrrrrr)], she can also do the following signs (and knows how to use 'em to boot!):

- eat - drink - cracker - water - cereal - milk - banana - juice - finished - mom - grandma - dad - grandpa - diaper - potty - more - bird - fish - cat - dog - horse - frog - hurt - where - baby - shoe - sock - hat - coat - please - thank you - sorry - car - train - bus - bike - airplane - boat - ball - doll - bear - wash hands - soap - sleep - bath - brush teeth - book.

That ain't too shabby, is it? With Katie's rapidly developing vocabulary, it may be time for Mommy to re-instill her Push-Ups punishment when she cusses, because Katie probably has enough language that she could closely pronounce one or 2 choice words :-)

August 19 - Not a whole lot to report

 
 
 
 

Here are a few pictures of me hanging out with Daddy. I enjoyed very much his rendition of "The Ugly Duckling" I have been sleeping better these days, usually waking just once/night, and that's been before midnight. So, mommy and daddy (and I) get around a 5 or 6 hour stretch, which they will take!

August 18 - Ouch!

I was wrasslin' with Grandma today and I bonked my head. Grandma said, "Ouch", and I said, "Ow" and then made the Sign for "hurt". Grandma was pretty impressed :-)

I didn't have an afternoon nap, but otherwise I had a pretty good day today. I am really starting to enjoy dancing, I even danced to a few ditties from Les Miserable. Grandma was flipping through the TV stations and happened upon BET. There was a hip-hop video playing, and I REALLY liked that, so Grandma had to keep it on until the video stopped was done. :-)

It was the last night of golf league, so Mommy and Daddy went out for dinner with Uncle Ross afterward. That was nice for them, and it gave me extra "hang time" with my g'rents.

That's about it.

August 17 - New Words

I probably already mentioned I can say Apple (Ahhh-bu), so I'll just mention that I can also now say Night-Night (Nigh). That gem-of-a-word started last night! :-)

Nigh!

August 17 - A Little Visitin', A Little Shoppin'

I slept pretty good last night. I woke up a couple times before 11 PM (which compelled Mommy to watch Michael Phelps win his record 8th Olympic Gold Medal in swimming), but I slept from 10:50 until 7 AM.

I had an enjoyable Sunday. After lunch, Mom and Dad stopped off at Uncle Dean/Aunt Kelley's to return a card table and chairs they loaned us for a party last month. We stopped in and visited for about 30 - 45 minutes. After that, we went to Target and then Fred Meyer to get some groceries. I was so tired when we got home that, after a snack, I took a nap (at 5:30 PM, mind you!!) Daddy got me up around 6:30, and he and I bonded while mommy made dinner. I enjoyed a nice stir fry with my new big-girl fork. I handled the new stainless pretty well!

I read lots of books with my folks tonight before hitting the hay a little before 9. Fingers crossed for a peaceful night's sleep!!

August 16 - Party Time!!

I had a very fun evening. After a nice day with Mom and Dad, which included 2 pretty nice naps, we went to a BBQ at Daddy's friend's house. Fortunately, his friend works with Mommy, so she knew a few faces and lots of names there.

The best part for me was running around in the back yard and playing with the water toys. Unfortunately, Mommy forgot my swim diaper. So, after my diaper soaked up about 1/2 the kiddie pool, I ran around naked for a while. Matt said that's OK, because a party isn't a party until someone gets naked. So, I officially got that party started!!

I spent most of the evening running around in a diaper and fake crocs, which is OK, because it was HOT outside!! Temperature was near 100, I think.

I suuuuuuure wanted to get into the Slide Pool with the older kids. Maybe next year when I'm bigger. Here are a couple pictures of me in the "deep end" of their Slip 'N Slide:

 
 
 
 

August 13 - Happy Birthday, Ally!

Today my cousin Ally turned SIX! We all celebrated at Big Al's, having fun in the arcade and even bowling a little. Well, "we" is an overstatement. I actually stayed the night at Grandma/Grandpa Gaylor's, because Mom and Dad have to take the family to the airport very early tomorrow morning. Still, after they went to dinner at Red Robin, they did stop by the G'rents' house to say goodbye to Grandma, Grandpa, & me. That was a nice visit. I was sad for a while when Mommy was leaving, but I got over it soon enough!

Here is a slide show from Big Al's:

August 11 - Picture Day!

 
 
 
 

We cousins had our pictures taken today together at Flash Photography. We looked soooooo cute in complimentary dresses. Ally and Morgan had the same dresses, and mine was similar. We were very summary in white / red & white checked dresses.

Today was not without its stresses (Mommy opened the expensive bottle of wine tonight after pictures, grin) I had a very nice bath in the afternoon and Mom was waiting around to put me in some clothes to go to the mall for pictures. Aunt Amy had been painting Ally's toenails and had not tightly closed the polish. Well, me being a kid, I was very curious about this bottle, and the next thing my mommy heard was Amy's scream and then my tears. I had grabbed the top of the bottle and opened it up. I got beautiful red nail polish on both of my hands, some on my back, on my tummy, on the coffee table and a spot ended up on the couch (though this may have been a by-product of "the incident", possibly a spot off of Ally's toes). Mommy was grateful that I was only in my diaper and not in my dress, but this did mean another bath for me. And, she had to use nail polish remover to try to get the stuff off. That made her uncomfortable to use it. So, she used the remover lightly and rinsed frequently!! She managed to get most of it off before I insisted she stop (I was DONE with that bath!!)

Anyway, the pictures turned out super cute. I can't wait to get my own copies! :-)

August 10 - Sharing My Ride

I was on my quad-cycle when Morgan hopped on behind me. For some reason Mommy & Daddy thought this was soooooooo cute. :-)

We had a very nice day today. I was a terrible sleeper, but I did get a couple of naps in which perked me up. We went to dinner at my G'rents tonight, and that was a lot of fun. Auntie Lynn came as well.

I have a bit of a rash, but hopefully it'll clear up soon. Tomorrow we are having our pictures taken, we 3 cousins. I can't wait!

August 9 - The Fair!

Here are some pictures from the fair. I had a great time looking at the animals, especially all of the birds! And don't get me started on the Duck Races!!!!

August 9 - Bath and Play Time

I had a very pleasant bath tonight after dinner. My cousin Morgan thought it looked pretty fun to take a bath in the sink, so when I was done, her mommy drew her a nice bath, too! While she was enjoying playing in the water and with the pumpy soap, I had fun having a book with Grammy and playing on my Zebra with my cousin Ally nearby. I really like Ally and show this by giving her a kiss.

August 7 - 8 Christmas in August, and the FAIR!!!

As mentioned in the previous post, we kiddies celebrated Christmas on Thursday. Although we did not have a tree, mommy put on some Christmas music and made some hot chocolate for Moran, Ally and herself. I got some neat board books (3 Brown Bear Brown Bear types) and some Melissa & Doug stacking/nesting alphabet blocks. They're really cool! Morgan got a neat tool set with a tool belt, and Ally & her folks got 2 sets of Nerf target dart guns. The darts are Velcro, and they come with targets that you wear on your chest and safety goggles (safety first, always safety first). Mommy also bought a 30 pack of darts that stuck to the wall/windows/cars/coffee mugs... you name it!!

We had great fun playing with our toys yesterday.

I'm happy to report that I slept pretty well last night. I woke up a little bit around 10, but I fell back asleep on my own. I managed to sleep until 5-ish, when I started stirring. I didn't get out of bed until just before 6. I went down for a nap around 10 this morning, and I'm happy to report that as of this ghost writing at 11:30, I am still sleeping.

The Turner clan have headed for the fair, and I will join them after I wake up and have lunch of some kind. Expect a big slide show in the near future from the fair!!

In the meantime, here is one from our Christmas celebration yesterday:

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August 6-7 Chuck E. Cheese, Christmas and MORE!

Wednesday August 6: After a morning of playing with my cousins and a fantastic, albeit late, morning nap, we had lunch and then went to chuck e. cheese. I had such an awesome time, though this time I didn't like riding on the rides. We were there a little too long for me, and I was soooooooo tired.

Here is a slide show from "The Cheese":



You'd think I would have conked out in the 25 minute drive home, right? Nothin' doin'!!

I was soooo over tired when I got home, but I just couldn't let go. I went to bed around 9, was awake at 10:20 and again at midnight. My mama brought me downstairs and I "Snapped" (a snack-nap, which means I was nursing in between cat naps) until 1:30. I stirred loudly again around 5 and then fell back asleep until 6:30.

I went for a nice walk with Grammy, my cousins and Aunt Amy after breakfast. We then had our Christmas in August Celebration. I got some neat books and stacking blocks from my cousins. I think they're so cool. I missed the window of opportunity for a morning nap, though my folks tried for almost 2 hours to get me to sleep. There was just TOO much stuff going on that I didn't want to miss.

I had a good 2 hour afternoon nap, though. Mommy, Grammy & Aunt Amy had some girl time. They met Auntie Cyndi for dinner and went to see "Mamma Mia" the movie. Daddy made me a nice dinner, gave me a bath, and put me to bed. I love my daddy (so does mommy!) I went down to bed a little before 9, stirred a bit around 10, and hopefully I'll sleep thru the night this time!

August 6 - They're HERE!!

I'm so excited today. After a wonderful night at my Grandma and Grandpa's house, mommy came to get me and brought a big surprise... My Grammy Turner was with her!!! I haven't seen her since March. I wasn't too sure about her at first, but I'm warming up quickly. We got home and I was REALLY surprised to see my Aunt Amy, Uncle Mike and my cousins Ally and Morgan. We had so much fun playing this morning with all of my great toys. I played so long I didn't go down for a nap until almost 11 AM. But, I had a pretty good nap so far.

Many more exciting postings to come!! After Morgan and I get up from our nap, we'll have lunch and go to Chuck E. Cheese!!