Valentine's Day, Easter and more!

Despite Mommy being in bed the past several months, Kate has had a great time celebrating Valentine’s Day and Easter, going to a couple birthday parties, and just having fun with family and friends. I’m so thankful to everyone who has helped us watch Kate recently – don’t know what I would do without you!

This past weekend I was able to spend a little more time with her than I have been. I learned if I put on the “Christmas Mickey” or a Strawberry Shortcake movie, she will lay still with me on my bed and I love it – even if it means I have to watch a Christmas sing-along movie in May! Another activity we have been able to do together lately is stickers. She loves to put them all over my arms and I’m sure I would be covered from head to toe if I let her.

Kate reached the two and a half year mark in March which means our tuition for daycare when down by $50! I guess I shouldn’t get to use to that since we will be paying more than double for two at daycare less than a year from now. We still love Good Samaritan Academy (where Kate goes to school) and I couldn’t be more pleased with her teachers. She is going to move up to a bigger class in June, which makes mommy nervous, but I know Kate is more than ready. She is right on track for her development and can count to 15 (after 15 she just says “teen”, “teen”, “teen”), knows the alphabet, knows her shapes and colors, and can tell us words that I had no idea she knew (like walrus and octagon).

Lately, Miss Priss has been getting into trouble at school. Mimi (Justin’s mom) went to pick Kate up one afternoon and Kate’s shoes were in the front office. Apparently she had taken her shoes off a couple times that day and threw them at her teachers, so the third time they took her shoes away and put them in the front office. Sadly, Kate also lost her outdoor play time privileges that afternoon since she didn’t have her shoes. I spoke to the director the next day to get the full story and apologized to her for Kate’s behavior. Apparently my “sweet” little girl spends a bit more time in the front office than I was aware of. The director reassured me it was a phase and that some kids express their frustration by hitting, biting or throwing. Kate is a thrower. Justin and I try to remind her before school each day to “be nice” and “do not throw your shoes”. I never thought I’d have to remind my child each day to keep her shoes on.

Luckily the “terrible twos” have been relatively mild so far. I’m very proud at how well Kate will listen and obey. Of course there are plenty of times when she says “no” and crosses her arms in protest but those times are more the exception. There are also times where she gets upset or embarrassed, so she runs and puts herself in timeout. But one thing she loves to do is help. She helps pick up her toys, feed Nemo (her pet goldfish), throw any trash away and loves to help pick out her clothes and shoes for the day. She’s going to be a great big sister and will be a big helper for mommy.

Potty training has not been a priority for us – yet. But that’s going to change as soon as I start feeling better. Justin has his hands full with keeping up with all the cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc, so we haven’t pushed Kate. She goes a little bit at school, but her teachers say she will protest sitting on the potty. At home she just yells “NO” and refuses to sit on the potty, despite our bribes. Kate is very smart so I know she will catch on quickly whenever she decides to try potty training. Mommy refuses to have two kids in diapers so I’ve got between now and October to accomplish this goal.

Kate’s eating habits have improved over the past couple of months- hallelujah. I realize most two year olds are picky eaters but it gets tiring after a while of fixing them the same thing. Chicken nuggets and French fries are still her favorite, but now she will venture out and Daddy figured out if he helps Kate clean her plate after she says she is “done”, she is willing to keep eating her vegetables. Ketchup also helps, Kate loves to dip all her meat and potatoes in ketchup. Daddy also figured out if he calls her meat “nuggets” and a chicken quesadilla a “chicken nugget sandwich” she’ll eat it up. Hey, whatever works.

My sweet girl has also become quite the talker. She is obsessed with wearing sunglasses in the car and on the way to work, we have to face the sun until we turn off of Park Ave. As soon as we pull out of the driveway she says “Got your glasses Mommy?” and when we pull onto Capital Circle, off of Park, she asks “that better Mommy?” – referring to the sun no longer being in our eyes.  Kate will point to my growing belly and ask “you got a baby in there?” and other times she points to my pump site and ask “that feel better Mommy?”. This weekend she started saying “I’ve got a problem” and “fast it” – meaning she wanted me to fast forward the movie we were watching. Another funny thing she says is “We’re Home!” when we pull up to school. I think now she just says it because she knows it’s not true. We are still working on “No m’am” and “Yes sir” but she hasn’t mastered that yet. The other night she asked for her cup and instead of asking “What do you say?” which is what we always say when she hasn’t said please, I asked “What is the magic word?”. I smiled when I heard her respond with “Misca-Mouska Mickey Mouse!” – which is the password for the Mickey Mouse clubhouse to appear on her TV show.

Kate’s favorite TV shows still include Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates (all Disney Junior shows). We get spoiled to Disney Junior because there are no commercials, so when we put on Curious George or some other show not on Disney, Kate thinks the show is over whenever a commercial comes on.

I just love this little girl so much and know she will be a great big sister!

Here are a couple pictures to share from the past couple of months:

Daddy and Kate reading.  She has really become a "daddy's girl" lately.

 A couple of Kate's favorite books to read.

 Valentine's Day!

  A couple days before I took a turn for the worse, we went to a park in Southwood with our church small group. 

 The dads - Matt and Nolan Sapp, Daniel and Maddox Mundie, and my two!

Kate was probably grinning from ear to ear because she got to wear her Minnie shirt - one of her favorites.

 I was also able to visit little Sawyer Reavis on his first day home before I got sick.  Sadly, this was the first and only time I've seen or held him.  But that's going to change soon - I can't wait to see how much he has changed in 3 months.

 A big "thanks" goes out to my mom and Aunt Katie for taking Kate to the park to have Chick Pics taken with Mrs. Betsy.  I was afraid I wouldn't able to get her picture taken this year, but they were up to the challenge!

  Brave girl!

The same day as the pictures, Aunt Katie took Kate to Audrey's 3rd birthday party.  Here's Kate with two of her best girlfriends:

And finally, here's a few Easter pictures to share.  Good Samaritan Academy had an Easter Egg hunt and Kate was the clear winner for hunting the most eggs (if it was a competition).  She ran circles around all of her friends and loaded her Easter bucket full of eggs.  I was so proud.

 Hunting eggs at Gigi and Granddaddy's house - she even found the prize egg! 

 The Easter Bunny visited - and this doesn't include what he left for Kate at Mimi and Papa's house!

Thankfully Kate didn't miss out on many (if any) events while I have been sick and I am so thankful to everyone who helped us out!