November 30 - Sandy Claws

We went to the 2008 Festival Of Trees at the Hilton in Vancouver today. It was really fun. I loved running around the wide open spaces and dancing to the school kids' holiday songs.

I can't say I loved looking at the trees (it was alright), but I did LUV walking around the ropes cordoning off the trees. Did I say, "walking"? Running was more like it.

Anyway, here is a picture of me with Santa. I felt strongly that Mommy and Daddy needed to be in the picture with me.



I fell asleep in the car "reading a book" on the way home from the festival. My car seat doesn't recline, so it wasn't actually very comfortable, so I woke up a few times, because my head was drooping pretty far forward. We'll try to fix the car seat so it tilts back a bit.

We got home, and Daddy read me some books. Mommy and Daddy were relaxing on the couches (they were pooped after chasing me, can't imagine why). Around 4:30, Mom took to decorating the tree. Well, for some reason, only 2/5 (I can already do fractions, wow!) of the lights on the pre-lit artificial tree would cooperate. Rather than going bulb-by-buib, Mom decided to just add strings of lights to the tree. A feat easier said than done, given my insistence on helping.

Mommy put me down for a nap at 5 PM, in part to get me out of her hair, and in part because I was so obviously tired. I slept until 6:30, when Mommy woke me up so I could have dinner.

I was SO excited to look at our tree and touch all the ornaments I could reach!

November 30, part II - Festival of Trees

Not too many pictures of the trees in this slideshow, but plenty pictures of ME! Here are some pictures of me from the Festival of Trees, reading a book with Mommy, and evidence that I was TUCKERED out that day!

 
 
 
 

November 29 - Getting Into the Spirit

Here are some pictures of me checking out the tree and checking out Mommy's Mrs. Clause hat. Of course I wouldn't stand still for ANY photos today, so the pictures are a little blurry. Mommy weighed the blur against the cuteness of the pictures. Cuteness won out, of course!

November 28 - My New Sofa

Mommy and Daddy and I went shopping on Black Friday. They got me a few things for Christmas, and this groovy new chair, which I LOVE!!! Here are a few pictures of me enjoying a snack of juice and mandarin oranges while sitting on my chair.

Pardon the crazy hair. I have fly-away short hair right now!

November 26 - "Lovin' the Baby"

Here are some pictures of me responding when Mommy says, "Kiss the Baby" and "Can you love the Baby?". I like hugging mommy's growing belly (and boy, is it growing!!) When I "love the baby", I put my head on Mommy's belly and coo. Makes Mommy melt!

November 23 - Gaylor Thanksgiving

We had our family Thanksgiving this Sunday at the G'rents. All of my aunts and uncles were there, and we had a marvelous feast! For some reason, I get really squirrely when I'm in a dress. These are the best pictures Daddy could take at the house before we left.

You'll just have to take my word for it... I looked wicked cute.

 
 
 
 

November 21 - Hurray for Toys/Babies R Us!

Jantzen Beach had the grand opening of Toys R Us and Babies R Us today. Mommy and i went bright and early. Store opened at 7, we were there by probably 7:30. There were almost no customers there, which was GREAT-- The ratio of employees to customers had to be 5:1!

Mommy got me a different car seat, and we love it!! It's a Graco 3-in-1 Nautilus, Galaxy style. Grandma and Grandpa met us there and got one, too. I can't wait to go on field trips with them now! We'll return the Eddie Bauer one as soon as we can to Target (I hope they don't hassle us)

We were home by around 9 and I had a nice Cheerios and milk breakfast. I have much fun eating that for breakfast! I had a great nap, and in the afternoon, we went to see the g'rents. Mommy ditched me there to go to Costco and Safeway. That's OK, cuz I always have such a great time there. I was in the middle of a nice walk around the block when Mommy left for the store.

We went to see our neighbors tonight. They are heading back to California tonight to finish up some medical issues before they move up here for good (hopefully). Made for a long day, because I didn't get dinner until about 7:40!

I went down for bed with no problem, so hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight (fingers crossed!)

November 17 - What's Happenin'???

What's Happenin'? I'm not sure, as it's been soooooooo long since Mommy updated my blog. Shame on her!!

We're unable to report on the day-to-day haps, so we'll just have to wing it and recap some of the highlights of the past few weeks. We've kind of created our own "sign" for elephant Mommy showed me how an elephant's trunk looks kind of like an arm swinging from the nose and she makes a trumpeting sound. Well, I though that was swell. So, now when asked what an elephant says, I throw my arm over my head and say, "OOOOH".

We've also been working on our vowels, and that process is morphing. The first couple times, I did pretty well repeating A, E, I, O, U to Mommy. Within the last few weeks, that kind of changed. It would go like this:

"Katie, say 'A'"
'A'

"Say 'E'"
'E'

"Say 'I'"
'I'

"Say 'O'"
'O'

"Say 'U'"
'Kay-tee'

Then, mommy and Daddy would start cracking up, they thought it was so funny.

Next gen:

"Katie, say 'A'"
'A'

"Say 'E'"
'E'

"Say 'I'"
'I'

"Say 'O'"
'O'

"Say 'U'"
'A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA'

It was the return of the dolphin laugh. That's where we stand now. That's OK. I'll get it. I'm also starting to work on the alphabet. I do great on probably 3/4 of the letters.

I had a very nice weekend. On Friday, Mommy took me to the Mall and I had the BEST time playing in the Kiddie play area. It was my first time, but definitely won't be my last! We also ran into Santa Claus. Although I didn't get my picture taken with him, Santa gave me a little rubber ducky with a top hat on it. Very festive. I loved it so much, I started quacking as soon as it was in my hand. I even gave Santa AND an elf "knuckles". That made my day.

On Saturday, Mommy and I went to the Zoo with Renae and Alyssa. I had just the best time. We did some things we hadn't done before. We got to see the new baby elephant, Samudra. I also got to go into the Lorakeet area and watch people feed nectar to the beautiful birds. Mommy didn't buy any nectar, because she had a hard enough time just keeping track of ME! I REALLY wanted to pet the birds. Next time, when Daddy comes, too, she'll get some nectar to feed the birds.

I ALSO got to ride the train for the first time. I LOVED it!!! I kept clapping and saying, "YEAYEE"! We'll come back in a few weeks and ride the Zoo Lights train. It'll be dark and we'll see all the neat Christmas lights throughout the park. It'll be great fun!

Mommy has been working on adjusting my nap. I had 2 good afternoon naps on Thurs/Fri. Saturday was a bust. I fell asleep in the car 10 minutes from home, and rather than having Daddy carry me in still strapped in, Mommy tried to get me out herself. I woke up, of course, and refused to take a nap all afternoon. That was tough, and I think it affected me the next night. I woke up at 4 a.m. Sunday morning and refused to go back to sleep, refused to nurse, refused Mommy... I only wanted Daddy. Which was fine by Mommy (poor sleepless Daddy) I made up for it by sleeping hard Sunday night!

Speaking of Sunday, Mommy was kind of AWOL. She has a hurt back. We went to see Uncle Ross and Aunt Lynn that night so Lynn could try to work the kinks out of mommy's back (massage goooooooood) All I wanted to do was race up the stairs at Ross', so I kept Daddy and Uncle Ross very busy!!

I have 3 molars that have more or less popped through or are popping out and receding back in again. That's exciting. Maybe when the 4th pops in, I'll get a little bit of a reprieve. That's the hope, anyway.

I've become a voracious "reader". I love looking through books, and I'm actually pretty good with regular paper-paged books (as opposed to board books). Grandma told Mommy that we must have read books a hundred times today! I think Mommy will need to give Grandma some new (to her) books to keep the g'rents stimulated! Uncle Ross gave us dozens of books they had for his kids (Dr. Seuss, etc), so we have lots of good reading material. Unfortunately, I get stuck in a bit of a rut (Daddy must've read about the Wocket in the Pocket 3 dozen times this weekend!)

That's just about it.

TTFN... I'll post some new pictures when I can. Peace!

November 14 - Dental Hygiene Is Very Important To Me

 
 
 
 

Here are a few pictures of me brushing my teeth. I mostly chew on the toothbrush, but I'm learning to brush as well!

November 7 - Sidewalk Chalk

I found some ways to entertain Mommy and me today. I saw myself in the reflection of the fireplace. I looked at "me" and said, "Katie". Then I'd stomp my feet and watch the other Katie do it. Then I'd dance up and down, walk backwards, and kiss the Zebra I was holding... The other Katie did it, too! I was SO tickled by this, I couldn't stop giggling!

Mommy was feeling very under the weather today, so Daddy sent her upstairs to sleep and he and I played. We had a good time playing with my sidewalk chalk, as the slideshow will show.

I hope mommy feels better soon.


 
 
 
 

November 6 - Peek-a-boo

I was having a good time lazing in my chair watching "The Wiggles". Dad got me to engage in some Peek-A-Boo time. Man, as much as I've played that game, I still love it!

 
 
 
 



Here is a brief slideshow showing how I chill in my chair:

November 6 - Visit to the Midwife

We had a nice day today. Mommy, Daddy and I went to visit with the Midwife, Kathleen. It was the first time I met her, and I liked her VERY much! Mommy just loves her. Kathleen was able to feel where the baby was and said everything was groovy. Unfortunately, my little brother or sister was being difficult and would not come out from behind the pelvis so we could hear the little heartbeat. Mommy was very disappointed.

BUT-- to make sure everything was copacetic, Kathleen sent us down to imaging to get an ultrasound. That was so cool! I got to see my little sibling moving around, and we confirmed the heartbeat was good (156 beats / minute)

Here is a picture of my new little sib:



The only bad part was I was knee deep into my nap time, so I was pretty darn cranky by the time we left! I only napped for maybe 30 minutes in the morning, and nothing in the afternoon. You can imagine how fun I was to be around!!

BUT, we got through it, and I will be a good sleeper tonight!

November 2 - Hodge Podge of Pictures

These pictures were taken mostly last week. I love reading a good book after a nice bath, so Daddy obliged me while I was still al fresco.

I had a nice weekend. On Friday (Halloween), we went out and did some early trick or treating. Mommy brought Halloween candy with us in case we ran into other trick or treating kids (which we did)

Saturday, we went over to friends' house so Daddy could help replace a hot water heater. They made us a lovely dinner. Joe and Debbie have 2 girls (4 and 6), and I LOVED playing with them!! They were so good with me. I couldn't help but hug Caitlin several times.

Today, Mom and I went over to the Grandparents'. They are home from Hawaii (YEAH!!) I missed them SO much. I was very needy all day long. Every time they left the room, I got upset. I'm lucky, though, because I get to spend the next two nights with them!! Daddy is going to be out of town, so this will be a very big help for Mommy to have me stay with my g'rents. Hopefully, Mom will come visit me tomorrow before I go to bed Monday night.