Early birthday celebration

We celebrated part of Kate's birthday a little bit early - it's nice to have people who are giving the presents see her open them up. So since my parents were in town . . . and they brought presents . . .

This present was actually from Marla, et al. It's a gardening bucket, complete with a little shovel and rake. Upon opening it, she immediately declared it to be a hat. You can see the shovel and rake hanging from the 'chin strap'.
It's so dang cute!

With each present she opened, she was so animated. "Wowwww!" The chalk is for her new art-easel, of which I still need to get pictures.

Grandma & Grandpa visit

My parents were in town for the weekend. And mom is staying for the week. Here are a few Kate-and-grandparent pictures.

Kate and mom in their jammies.
Grandpa sure is funny!

We have fun reading together!

mid-month self-portrait

You tell by the number of entries posted tonight that it is quiet around the house. Kate is asleep. Doug is at work for a Senior Awards banquet. And I'm eating school-fundraiser-cookie-dough while blogging. Ahhhh.

Baby fruit

You kinda have to know what you are looking for, but this shows 3 of our baby pears. . . . . . . . . and lots of baby cherries.

I'm so excited for all our fruit to come into season!

Very thirsty

She grabbed the container out of the recycle bin, to use with her pre-dinner ritual of playing with the water in the sink. Gotta tilt your head waaaaaay back when there is just a little bit of water inside.

Bandana Girl

I was putting away a bandana, and Kate decided she wanted to wear it. She actually left it on much longer than I thought she would - probably 5 whole minutes. Many time, Kate is just too fast for the photographer to keep up.

This graham cracker sure is ymmmmmy.

Can you also see that I got my bangs cut this evening? The first time scissors have touched my hair. But mama was clear - only adults get to use scissors on hair. I'm sure I don't know what she means by that, though.

22-month self-portrait

Yeah, yeah. I know this is about 2 months late in posting. Maybe it's because I couldn't really get a good shot of the two of us that day. Eh, you can't win them all.

The Water Table

We pulled the water table up from the basement on Saturday. Yep. That's how nice the weather was - I officially allowed Kate to play in the water. Unofficially, she had been using buckets and cups for about a week . . .

She enjoyed dumping water. Into the toy. Onto the grass. Any which way. She will also take a 'stirring device' (like a spoon), add 'ingredients' (like grass or rocks), and then been "Cooking with water."

Here is a link to a little less than a year ago, when Kate was first playing at the table. I knew she was much more grown up from when she last played with it, but I was still surprised to see how much she has changed in a year.

3 confessions

I have 3 confessions to make to my friends and family across the blog-o-sphere.

1) I now listen to NPR. Yep, I'm a follower of the National Public Radio. Almost even pledged during their spring pledge drive. But I had only been listening for only about a week at that point, and I used that as an excuse for not sending money we didn't have to send in the first place. I swear to you, I won't be that person who says, "I heard on NPR that . . . ". But I do learn fascinating things, from titles of cool movies that I've added to the Netflix list, to good interviews on issues surrounding the Gulf Coast oil spill.

2) I love to tape. You need a room prepped for painting, I'm your taping girl. This week, a co-worker asked for people to come over and help tape at their new house. It was like a dream come true!!

3) We've taught Kate how to say, "Monkeybutt." When she sees a money in a book, that's what she says. And it's so cute. Mon-kee-butt. Very enunciated. I know my mother will shake her head at this. But it's so funny.

Baby in a Box

After unloading the newest box of diapers, Kate wanted to play in the box. Usually this means she wants to sit in it and have me pull her around. "Wheee!" But I didn't really want to pull her around, so tried out this option. She liked it a lot. If she angled it just right, she could look out the slit in the 'top'. Otherwise, she just used it as a bumper box.

Taking a break from playing hard.

Here I am!

A sleeping first

When I got home from work earlier in the week, Kate was still napping. I peeked in on her, and found her sleeping - sitting up! Terry said she spent about 30 minutes talking and playing before quieting down. Apparently she just tuckered herself out so much she didn't even lay down to sleep. I like how she's holding on so that she won't fall over.

23 month self portrait

Taken a day late. Posted even later. Enjoy!