The Kate Effect

encouraging the 80's thing.

 

kate's love for 80's type stuff is expanding thanks to me and my family. although kate has no idea that it is all indicative of  certian decade she absolutely drawn to toys, cartoons and style of my child hood era. Can not blame this on me because I would love not hing more to have her look like a little punk-rocker. kate on the other hand favors my little ponies and strawberry shortcake (which thankfully are coming back into the trend arena). She also got boggle jr. and hungry hungry hippos.

it's terrible fun to relive my childhood with her :)

 

riding in the jeep

 

 

 
  she has her eyes closed int he last half because we were listening to this awesome instrumental music from the Blue Sky Project, which you might recognize for the Clorox commercials. I love the songs and I tried to explain the other day that songs can tell stories without words. I had her close her eyes and listen to the music and I told her about Peter Pan playing with his friends and then battling Capitan Hook. Now she closes her eye every time we listen to it and imagines the story.

My favorite part is when her intense face relaxes and a little smile slides onto her lips. She does this when ever she  ere the tinkling sound of "tinkerbell". If you ask her what her favorite parts is she says the "BOM BOM BOM of Capitan Hook".

 
  

i love hunters new shoes. reminds me of sandlot.

hunter is holding on for dear life here - Kate likes to go as high as she can which makes him a little green around the gills.

after he jumps off she goes full throttle.

the entire swingset rocks and jolts, thankfully poppi has it staked down.

 

 
 
 

am I sewing kitty pjs or creating a cat lady....

this is what happens when I take kate to the fabric store and ask her opinion.

she now has kitty cat pajama pants and shorts. i picked out a modern design with greens and oranges but kate said was ugly and then FLIPPED out over this very pink kitty cat fabric.

i am coming to the realization that this "kitty obsession" may not be a phase.

despite the feline print, they are super cute pjs and fit her adorably. I struggle with jeans and pants because she just had a growth spurt and has quite long legs at the moment. (which is cute and surprising considering she is from a short squatty family) She also has some hips and and a bum (thank the lord) but a smallish waist. I made a pattern out of some old short for her and i LOVE it. i hope she doesn't grow too fast.  it fits her bum quite well and I put a two inch strip of wide elastic on each side and it flatters her little shape.

 
 

 
 

the guessing game.

kate's letter this week at school is 'Tt' and last night we were discussing what she should take to school for the letter 'Tt'.

(Talk about loosing your childhood. some days I am so tempted to cuddle her and watch cartoons all day because I think it's ridiculous that she has homework from preschool and that her childhood is slipping away too fast. then i remember she is in school for only a few hours a day and how we drive each other crazy when we are together 24/7...still, homework? seriously?)

so kate begin to lament in the car that she "Has absolutely nothing to take!" in her best drama-queen voice. Brad jumped right in with a guessing game. He said, "Hey Kate, what is orange with black stripes, looks like a giant cat and roars?"

Kate, "...um, a jaguar?"

(no joke. said jaguar. brad and I just giggled.)

Brad, "Nope, try again."

Kate, " oh, I know. a PUMA!"

( this time we stare at each other blankly.)

Brad, "Not a Puma, listen to the clues...what is orange with black stripes, looks like a giant cat and roars?"

Kate, "It's not a lion...is it a TIGER?!"

"YES!! a Tiger."

This morning I am still pondering how it is that my child know various species of large cats. I blame Go Diego Go commercials.
 

month fourty six

Kate, this is your forty-six month. About forty-seven months before this I was sternly telling you to be born before Halloween and ignore your due date. You were stubborn but because you love your mommy so much you managed to be born just in time. You arrived on the 29th of October and went home on the 31st, which made things perfect. Your going home outfit was your halloween costume.

Not that I love halloween but because I love dressing up. And now your birthday will forever be a big event - you can pair it with Halloween and hang out with your friends or have elaborate theme parties, or ignore it all together. Plus you get your gifts before all the other holidays arrive and people run out of money!

This year I planned a perfectly adorable theme birthday "Bedtime Party". Since your birthday falls on a Wednesday this year -which is a school night - kids could come in their Pj's and have milk & cookies and a bed time story - we would jump on mattresses in the living room and everyone would bring you a new book.

Unfortunately right as  I began to design your invitations - you decided to stop loving my idea and had your own. Thus the difference between 3 and 4 years old. YOU want a My Little Pony Party. With bows, and streamers, and LOTS of PINK. You want a giant cake and to play "Pin the Tail on the Pony". Seriously, you came up with it all on your own.

I therefore tried to convince you to go the western route so boys would feel more included. NOPE. You must have understood what I was doing because you have made a list of RULES. (curses to preschool teachers who go on a nd on about rules. you like to make rules up for everything now. including how I am allowed to eat my sandwich. the rebellion in me bubbles up every-time you say, "mom there is a rule about...")

So here are your rules for your party:

1. No Boys, only girls.

2. No Balloons.

3. No Candles.

the no boys this is sad because your only two cousins are BOYS! thankfully the Judah is a baby and has no idea and Hunter has no desire to be surrounded by pink. He will be content to celebrate your birthday at our family dinner.

The balloon issue has to do with the fact that we have ceiling fans in all our rooms, like good Texans. When you were littler a balloon hit the fan while you were taking a nap. It sounded like a machine gun and freaked you out. Ever since you have demanded that balloons be popped and the limp latex put in the trash outside before you can sleep. Now we just avoid them all together. You think they are pretty but don't want one.

Candles = Fire.  Some kids are scared of dogs, some are scared of heights, some are scared of the dark - you are scared of fire.  Petrified. It includes fire in all forms. In the past it hasn't been as big of an issue, just a little encouragement for you to relax around a candle but lately it's getting more obvious.

Like when Brad watched Pinocchio with you last month. He sat with you thinking he might need to fast-forward through the whale scenes. NOPE, the whale you thought were cool. Completely flipped out when Pinocchio lite his finger on fire. Screamed, ran in circles, cried, had your hands over your ears.

Tragic but secretly a little funny.  Then we had a family dinner for Uncle Justin and Dad's birthday. The guys are fooling around by the cake wait for us to start singing and Uncle Justin swipes his finger through the flame of the candle, just playing with the flame while he chats with Dad. You saw this and immediately start screaming and crying, think horror movie scream when the bad guy gets you. I comforted you while I explained to everyone the Pinocchio association to what Justin was doing...

To make things worse, your teacher tried to explain to your class that they have to leave their shoes on at nap time in-case there is a fire alarm and they have to leave the building. She managed to convince you to keep your shoes on but now you refuse to sleep!

Bottom-line, no candles on the cake!

I am moving forward with operation Pony Party. Yes, there will be pink, rainbows, and glitter. It's amazing how you are so different in taste from me, your asthetic is that of a 1980's teenager, and yet we both like to do things big. You have big ideas and I love it.

Let the party planning begin.

 

 
 

 

me & kate.

what else do you do while you are waiting around to be seen by the dr.

yes, spinning ong the dr. chair is definately and option but our list of symptoms included vomitting so we nixed that activity.

Of course, take photos of yourself refected in metal objects!

 

food challenge

 

this past tuesday afternoon I made scrambled eggs for kate. it was the weirdest feeling. I am not sure if it was because i have not cooked or eaten eggs in often since discovering Kate's allergy or because I knew they were for kate.

The dr had directed me to make eggs in a form i thought my child would eat and not to add anything to them, so scrambled eggs it is. I even had to get brad to pick up a carton of eggs on the way home...20 minutes before we had to leave for our dr appointment. We always buy eggs but never manage to use them before they go bad. Seemed equally as weird to go grocery shopping and not buy eggs so we always do.

it was the fateful day. the day of the the food challenge.

About five months ago we switch to a new allergist who requested that we do blood-work to confirm our allergy since it had been two years since Kate began reacting to eggs. It would give us a good idea of whether anything had changed and a starting point for the new doctor. So we went and had kate's blood drawn... which you can read about here.

to our surprise her blood-work showed no allergic reaction. we were happy but conflicted. the next step would be to have Kate do the Food Challenge which required Kate to little by little touch, taste and swallow eggs  while in the dr office. i struggled with this because up until this point kate's only knowledge was that "eggs made her sick." she had become great about asking what was in her food and not wanting things with eggs. this would rock her world. I was not ready to confuse her.

How do you tell your three year old to ignore what you have told her and just eat the eggs. the eggs that should make her sick. Kate already questions me and keeps tabs on whether I follow through with things I said. this was a bit bigger. it could be traumatic if she did have a reaction. And although i really didn't expect it I had to acknowledge that that was a real risk. What if she is no longer allergic and is she able to understand that we did tell her the truth but the truth changed..

Those were only the first thought - there were more "what ifs" but in the end i wasn't ready to risk trust issues with a child too young to reason with. I thought i would wait just little longer. After hearing me discuss things with family and friends as well as talking about her allergy for several months, I saw that Kate was ready for the Food Challenge. Or at least with the concept. She was actually asking me when we could got to the dr office and try it out. So I made an appointment.

Brad showed kate the Wheres Waldo book which we found out Kate is a WHIZ at. She did great until they wanted to do a skin test before we got started. I hadn't prepared kate for this and she didn't like the whole poking her hard on the back ... where she couldn't see. ( i think the fact hat she couldn't see it bothered her the most.) they had an EGG, FLU, NEG control, POS control.  The Flu and the NEG control looked the same - no reaction just tiny little dot from the poke. The positive had a red splotch and a welt. Honestly there were two welts because by the fourth poke Kate was not thrilled and jerked, which brought on an accidental fifth poke. oops. The Egg poke was splotchy but had no welt. I agreed with the dr that this was good but it was still red and did not look like the NEG control. I think I would have been fine but the Dr kept having to come back and look again and again, feeling for a welt. In the end he said he wanted to say it was negative because there was no welt and he expected it to be 2x the size of the POS control, like in other kids. He also called Kate a "tricky case."

So we move forward. First, put a tiny piece of egg in the mouth and spit it out. Kate gags horribly. Wait 15 minutes. Next take a similar tiny piece and chew and spit. Kate gags so bad the Dr himself jumps up and grabs the trash can. I of course am aware of Kate's overly sensitive gag reflex and is trying to get her to put it back in her mouth. Dr. wont have it though, he is so shaken up by her "intense response" that he say we can't go forward. Kate is now refusing to eat the eggs aways, saying she doesn't like them. In my head small voice is saying, "it doesn't even matter if you likethem, only that they don't kill you."

Dr goes into a long dialog about how kids don't like things and later they find out that the reason they don't like them is their allergy ...and how they couldn't articulate it as a child...blah,blah, blah. I am tuning him out because I myself have used that argument but I know my child. Kate can gag on air. every time the Dr. leaves the room we try convincing Kate to to try it one more time...every time the Dr re-enters he is shaking his head and mumbling about her "extreme reaction."

Bottom line, Food challenge is inconclusive. We have to come back another time with breakfast tacos and egg Mc Muffins, something we think Kate will eat. this is what I was told not to do but I just politely nod my head. The flu shot on the other hand was a ok so we closeup this "inconclusive" visit by stick a needle in the poor child. I can be pretty good about closing off my emotions and doing the best for Kate but it was harder this time. She was begging the nurse to not give her the shot. She was so darn articulate. "Please Dr, don't give me a shot. Please Dr Please Dr i don't like it. Please don't." she told the nurse. It was heartbreaking to wrap my arms around her body and my legs around her legs to hold her still.

thankfully she recovered quickly from the trauma and proudly pulled down her leggings in front of EVERYONE at school to show them her circular band aid on her thigh.

I didn't recover so quickly. After bracing myself and prepping Kate and thinking through all the possibles... I was disappointed and frustrated. Here this little girl had been poked, scratched, given itchy allergens, gagged repeatedly, and then held down for a shot - and i was the one grumpy.

One the way to the car Kate was skipping one rocks and holding her dads hand. She looks up and says, "why are you grumpy mom?" I responded, "Inconclusive."

skip school, go to the zoo

 

San Antonio ZOO 2009

we skipped the first day of preschool to go to the zoo.

we had an awesome time.

the highlight of th day was a hippo's exploding poop.

obviously super funny to our preschool kiddos

check out the flickr page (which i really must utilize more) to see all the photos.

you can also click on the flickr badge in the upper right hand side of this page.

somedays I just can't get enough of her!

of lately

life has been full of art lately. I am loving Kate's ladybug watercolor.

we have also been working on letters and the sounds they are associated with - earlier this week we were reading Dr. Seuss and I pointed to letters and asked what they say - Suddenly she strung the sounds together and said "Hey that spells MOO!"

I was thrilled. she usually pretends to read by sounding the first letter or two and then guessing with the help of the clues in the illustrations. Hm-mm, I wonder who she takes after? ME! I am the worlds best guesser/memorizer and the world's worst speller/typist.

I hated sounding things out and often memorized the words - which is fine until you spell it wrong one day and commit it to memory. then you are doomed to spend the rest of your life wondering if it is AGIAN or AGAIN.

When ever Kate guesses I tell her, "HA, you are guessing! I will always be able to tell when you are guessing, because I am better at it than you!"

I love the fact that she likes to paint and read. just wish I had the same stamina for it - or time. That awful rub between family and work has been raw for the last few weeks. I think we are managing well but I am also counting the days until preschool begins. She will return to preschool this year for five days a week. I know it doesn't solve things - there is always a sacrifice whether you send them to school or stay at home. There will always be more work than time, but I am hoping that the five hours a day that kate spends interacting with other personalities with and I spend focusing my work will relieve some strain.

Of late our days are filled with this push and pull. I set up times for Kate to play by herself or have an activity while I work for a short amount of time but Kate ALWAYS wants company, to share, to show, to BE with. I feel sad because I want to BE with her too but I also want to meet my deadlines and not have to stay up late or be stressed. 

AT the very same time Kate jumps at the chance to do something where I 'leave her there". She always asks, "Are you going to leave me? please."

We want to be together for the sake of not being alone but good grief we are tired of each other. Such is the life of a mom with an only child who started her own business.

What worse is when Brad is home and offers to go somewhere with Kate so I can have some time to for myself...work or whatever. I get so excited and then 20 seconds after the door closes i am sad because I have no idea what to do and I am lonely that nothing gets done. Ok, maybe the ice cream gets finished off - but that's it.

preschool doesn't fix it it but it addresses some of it. It also create more to do list items. lunches and school clothes. drop off, pick up. tuition, fundraisers, school supplies....etc.

Despite all of that - I welcome the change. I love change. I am ready for the new season - ready for FALL. for holidays and birthdays and pumpkins!

do i really have to clarify?

We have told kate for years not to drink the bathwater... years.

I am drying my hair in the bathroom while she takes a bath and I hear her gagging.

I whirl around, "are you ok? what happened?"

*cough*  " yes, i'm alright. i was drinking water from the bathtub."

"kate, that is gross! I told you not to drink from the tub, it is dirty water."

"but mommy, i put clean water in my bathtub." she holds up a plastic tub while pointing the the running faucet.

....seriously, child. do i have to TELL you not to drink from ANY bathtub. big or small. she admitted it tasted bad but I am still preparing myself for the next object decideds to use as a cup.

crime scene or nap time?

  

keeping a kid occupied while you desperately race to finish a project is quite a task. kate thankfully, after an hour of fake crying for me to play with her, settled down next to my desk with a pair of scissors and pretty paper. supervised cutting = practicing fine motor skills. sounds like a good educational activity. although supervised is a term loosely used. yes, it is true she was so close i could hear her breathing and feel her hair tickling my leg but if she had decided to cut off her finger... i would have no clue.

I only mention this because when I suddenly realized that the breathing rhythm had slowed considerably and there was no snip, snip, tear noises from beneath my chair i froze for a moment and thought the worst.

true she might have screamed if she was actually injured, but you never know with this child.

Instead i turned to find her asleep. asleep, sprawled out on the hard floor. with scissors in her hands.

Brad arrived home about that time and found me snapping photos of his child lying very still on the floor with scissors in her hands. I would have loved to find out what really went through his mind in those few seconds. at first he smiled thinking we were playing and posing but his smile faded to amazement when i whispered that she fell asleep like this.

moral of the story: want your child to sleep?  be boring.

girls just wanna have fun.

too cute photo by my friend of our kids. kate love when friend comes over and drive the Jeep because she gets to stand up on the back...or the front.

my futures so bright.

I'm loving this photo of kate my BFF took. fashionista in the making.

nothing but cats

 

kate and I trotted down to Art in the Park just intime to get in line for the facepainting. After 15 minutes invested in a line the word spread from mom to mom that the clown at this table

ONLY did C-A-T-S.

I made the "OH, crap face." I had spent all morning trying to convince Kate to get something... anything but a C-A-T. Now here we were and there was nothing but cats everywhere.

Kate was thrilled.

 

Chapter Books

Kate is rather interested in stories. she likes books but she loves when you tell her stories. I always thought it was funny that she liked to pull my adult books off the shelf and play read usually telling her own stories. It only recently occurred to me that she might actually be about to listen books read to her with out pictures... like chapter books. I guess i thought it was still alittle early for chapter books but Kate has proven me wrong.

We are reading Charolettes Web by EB White and it is going wonderfully. There are little pen drawings every few pages but lots of words. I think the success it mostly because it is about an animal. An animal that lives on a farm. Kate has been constantly telling me how she is going to be a girl farmer and wear pick farmer clothes. She wants to take care of ponies, pigs, and sheep.

if you are asking me where the heck did this child come from, I am right there asking the same question. Brad and I are in no way farm/country folks. I barely put up with my dog and would never be considered an animal lover. Kate is very much her own little person.

We are on chapter 5 in the book and we talk about the book through out the day. I'm very thrilled baout this. It is kind of self centered but it is more fun for me when we are not reading the same books over and over. We still read our board books but only at nap time.

Thank you, Jesus!

How to get blood drawn from a Three Year Old.

First, tell child about the visit two days ahead of time at dinner.  It is best if you are eating Kabobs and the family can simulate the needle with the giant skewers.

After reassuring child all night long that the appointment is not for a few days, bring it up again.

This time show child how to find pulse by placing two fingers on their neck.

Next, try to stifle laughter when child says “what is that mommy” (that’s your blood honey) “Momma, it wants out. My blood is knocking.”

Repeat step two by assuring child ALL night that the dr. appointment is still a little ways off.

Call in reinforcements. Even if it means bribing your aunt who just drove into town to visit you mom. Ask her for help because she is a NICU nurse and can handle screaming kids without cussing.

Next arrive a little early and choose a seat in the clinic where you can peek through the gap in the curtain and watch a few people get their blood drawn.

Be sure to ‘shush’ your child firmly when she comments about the weight of one of the patients.

Warn Nurse when your name is called that she will need extra help.

Sit firmly in patient chair with child on lap and try to politely coax your child to hold out her arm and not be scared. DONOT expect this to work, this is only for show.  It convinces the patients in the waiting room that you are a loving parent.

When child starts becoming upset go into Iron Clad mode. Bring child close to you with their back against your chest. Next wrap legs around their legs. This may take a moment since child will most likely be kicking at this point.  Then take your left arm (if child is getting blood from right arm) and wrap it around child’s left arm and chest. Next use head to press against child’s head to prevent shaking and head butting. Also, providing a calming counter pressure for child – who will be quite upset at this point.  Use right hand to bring child right shoulder close to your body and hold it against your chest to minimize whole arm movement while needle is in arm.

One Nurse will hold arm and other nurse will insert infant needle and draw the blood. Aunt nurse should be stationed directly in front of you to watch for any weakness in your grip and prepared to steady you if needed. Main focus is to distract child and encourage with constant talking. Smart Aunt Nurses will tell the child look at the blood going in the tube. Enjoy the amazement when your child relaxes to watch the deep red blood fill the tubing.

DONOT relax your hold.

Nurses (all three) will be incessantly talking at this point. As mom in Iron Clad mode, DONOT try to be the cheerleader while holding child. Keep your firm hold until the needle is out and band aid on.

Once released child will jump down, alligator tears splashing everywhere and run directly for their GiGi (grandmother) in the waiting room to be consoled.  Try not to be jealous.

Take a moment before standing to allow your muscles and body release the tension. You will most likely be more sore than child. 

Head to McDonalds for the celebration, you  did it!

killer bee or bee killer

so kate and I just spent 30 minutes trying to get a giant bee to fly out the door - it headed for the open door and i told kate to hurry and close the door so it wouldn't come back in...she was faster than the bee.

it got squished in the door frame.

baking cookies

 

 

bright kitty.

this is 'bright kitty". she is kate's favorite. she is clean in the photo. no, really, i promise.

paisley also likes this kitty. thats why her eyes are scuffed and she no longer has a nose.

kate has always called her "bright kitty" and only recently did i learn that kate uses 'bright' in reference to this specific color and not as an adjective.  she is not orange or yellow, she is bright.

this past week kate asked me what the cats name was and i told her it was a Tabby Cat. Now every time someone asks her what her kitty's name is she says, "Mom, what kind of cat is she?"

I answer, Tabby Cat, and she turns back to the inquirer and tells them,"Her name is Tabby and she is my bright kitty."

It makes me giggle because when she says it like that it sounds as if this kitty is more intelligent than her other kitties.

so all things considered, this is Tabby the yellowish-orange shiney intelligent  kitty.

HEY COW!

 I taught Kate an incredibly important game: HEY COW!

I learned it on the way from Colorado to Austin the first spring break after we moved away. we were bringing a car full of friends to visit during spring break and Keri introduced me to this wonderful game. It is very simple really. When you see a field of cows you roll down the window and take turn yelling HEY COW! Then you count how many cows look in your directions.

Since that trip we have played it at the zoo and the rodeo. We learned that in those instances it is sometimes better to just use the animals native noise since most animals down know their own names.

Kat seemed to be the perfect age to really get the game and so we proceeded to yell at the cattle.

this guy is the one who looked.

 

Note: when playing with adults on a road-trip...it is way more humorous to wait until some one is asleep and your on a highway. Half the fun is waking people up with a cold blast of air and loud yell!

peanuts.

We (Brad, Kate and I) were driving around the other day and decided to get some icecream. While Brad was driving I noticed there was something printed on the pocket of his cargo shorts. I reached over and pulled at the pocket a little so I could read it. It said something about "ART & SCIENCE" blahblah blah...I was about to ask brad what brand the shorts were when he said "stop touching my penis!" 

yeah, reread it. i was shocked too. brad usually doesn't say things like this - that my job.

My mouth dropped open and then I giggled because you could tell by the huge grin on his face he was trying to shock me and be funny about me messing with his pants. (the pocket was no where near the "man parts")

Suddenly Kate says, "Your peanuts? I'm not touching your peanuts."

Brad and I are trying to contain our laughter which is coming out in sputters and spurts. Not really sure where to go from there we keep looking at each other with HUGE eyes and open mouths - silently laughing until it hurts.

The whole time Kate is going on and on about peanuts.

"Where are your peanuts? Is mommy touching your peanuts? I can't see peanuts."

After we calm down a little and pull into the drive-thru I tell Brad I want "the Peanut Buster thing he always gets."  Kate on cue begins to ask me about whether I like to 'eat peanuts' and do I like 'chocolate on my peanuts'.

Brad finally had to end the conversation by telling Kate should doesn't need to have peanuts until she is all grown up and to eat her icecream.

Now when some one mentions peanuts she tells them "Dad says I can't have peanuts until I am 30."

rodeo petting zoo.

yes, more rodeo photos. i don't take animals photos often so you must endure them all!

 

besides, it's deer and llamas. gauranteed to make your day better.

 

Kate's love for horses continues. do you think it will stick? should i learn equine photography.

 

My favorite photo of the day. who do you think the sign is protecting? kate or the Longhorns.

 

rodeo animals.

 

  

The mama sheep - click to see larger image.

   

mama sheep and her baby.

   

baby goat and llama at the petting area - yep, i said llama. kate was thrilled.

 

 

kate at the rodeo.

I guess they are learning to raise their hands at preschool - Kate sat there with her hand raised for a long time before the cow noticed her.

who are those kids with kate, you ask. those are kids on school field trip to the rodeo who left a spot open just big enough for Kate to slide into. she assimalated her self right into this little class. I look up and found the teachers whispering and counting the students - and then re-counting. oops. they must be confused on how they gained and extra child. I had to get their attention and point mine out.

 

this bossy kate telling her uncle where she wnats him to carry her...hmm. forget aspiring to be a singer or a lawyer - how about dictator.

poor man's backyard pool

 

 

seriously !?!

was it not enough to touch the water with your hands as you washed your paint brushes?

was it not satifying enough to plunge your WHOLE arm in the cold water?

just not enough tactile simulation.

You had to get your ENTIRE body inside the water bucket an hour before your cousin's birthday dinner.

seriously!?!

 

 

 

   

La La the Llama.

we just got home from Barnes and Noble.

I got a book for buisness stuff.

Kate brought home a llama.

yep, a Llama she named LaLa.

it's strange but way better than a cat.

delay tactics.

the time change has really rattled out house. our schedules were all off and it was difficult to go to sleep and even more diffiult to wake up.

Poor Kate was so wake when she went to bed that she just couldn't help talking to us from her room - her mind was going a million miles an hour.

One night, about 30 minutes after she had gone to bed, I hear her hollar, "Mom, do you have curly hair?"

"No, babe', I have straight hair." I answered from the couch.

She replied, "Can you come here so I can see it?"

Brad and I died laughing. It was quite a good tactic but I didn't fall for it.

Kate Art: a dang cute frog

Pasta Sauce, made by K8 the GR8

Brad was making pasta the other day and said, "Hey Carrie, You wanna come watch Kate make her first pasta sauce? "

As I wandered into the kitchen I find Kate giggling and and shirt-less. I must give Dad huge kudos for thinking to take off the shirt before the mess began.

Kate looks up and says, "You wanna take a picture of me. Mama?!"

This was all too funny for a little girl who rarely looks into my lens and refuses to comply with any formal photo taking. I had to oblige.

 

 

Kate Art: Self- Portrait

  I love Kate's drawings. I am sure to most people kid's art all looks generally the same but I see a unique style.

This drawing shows Kate's curly hair. She has become quite aware that there are all different types of hair and her's is curly.

She is also hula dancing, which she told me when she pointed out her arms (the two longer sticks and the left side) and her legs (the two longer sticks on the bottom).

Kate has taken to drawing while I check my email. I set up a little card table next to my desk and she has her office supplies.

sticky notes, scissors, glue stick, markers, file folder etc.

Sometimes I ask her if she would like to go to the store with me and she replies "Not now, mama. I have to do my homework."

I wonder if she will choose homework over shopping 10 years from now.

the beginnings of a blogger

this morning I check my email and found a wonderful surprise! a promotional email from a company i had my first "website" about Kate. i was so excited because we accidentally canceled this website before i ordered the keepsake CD. i have been so sad ever since. whenever I think about all the things i wrote and posted about being pregnant with Kate - i just get sick to think it just vanished.

back then i did think they would have backed up the info and just thought it was lost forever. this email had a promotion and said you could renew membership and your site would look just like you left it - it's a miracle.

Ok, not a miracle. Maybe a really good gimmick that totally worked.

Unfortunately, it only has post from a few months. I am check into why right now. The part is going through the guidebook and reading all the wonderful things everyone wrote to Kate. Officially it was Kate's website. She had an email and a website as soon as we decided her name. I wrote the posts as if from her perspective at first. this was so much fun since she was in my tummy at the beginning.

If you want to walk down memory lane with me click here :

http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=28110

Enjoy browsing - i don't know how long I will have the website - I will not be adding to the posts.

aisle (noun) divided, seperated from the middle part.

Kate wore her first flip flops this weekend. They are thick foam bottoms with bright pink, green and yellow diagonal stripes.They part that stretches across the top of her foot is pink and sparkly and were the strap attaches to the base of the sandal is a large letter P. I am sure the P stands for something like Pretty or Princess but we were over our pink quota of the day and could not handle any more cutie-girlie  notions - so we told Kate it stood for Pony. She bought it.

She did considerably well the first part of the afternoon. Then everything fell apart quickly. Smack dab in the middle of the sliding glass doors at Walgreen's Kate came to a halt and screamed. I gave me usual UGH and drug her little body out of the doorway. We were a few feet from the car and i tried to coax her to "just go to the car!" so i could put down my stuff.

She wailed louder.

To her credit she was trying to use words but she sounded like Dori speaking whale on Finding Nemo. I said " Kate I don't understand you... what's in the wrong aisle?"  We proceeded like this for a few minutes. Me trying to drag her to the car. Kate wailing and making her body a dead weight.

"Kate, we are not in the wrong aisle. We are not in the store." "what was on what aisle?" I don't understand." "Just get in car - the car is in a parking spot not an aisle."

Finally after getting her in the car seat and buckling her up  and adjust her sandal which had the strap between the wrong toes. Suddenly, She stops wailing and smiles through her huge tears. In between sniffles she says "Thank you for putting it in the right aisle mommy."

Aisle. As in the space between her toes. Her toe aisle. Her flip-flop was in the wrong toe aisle.

I busted out laughing which made Kate laugh too. I think I will call the space between my toes aisle for the rest of my life.

help, wonder pets! save the little girl.

 

 

this must be a sign that I am working to much. Kate found tape in my desk drawer and snuck it into my room where she was enjoying some early morning cartoons. Wonder Pets to be exact.

This is where she decided she would create a spiders web with tape. Obviously she can't spin her own webs so this was her best McGuyver solution. Then she proceeds to yell "HELP, Mommy! I need saving! I am stuck." I find her grinning at me from her web. I turned on my heels and went straight for my camera bag. Kate must have sensed a lecture coming on because when I returned she had the I've been naughty look. After snapping a picture and laughing a bit, I put on my best MingMing voice and said "we're coming to save you little girl. this is serious."

I cut her out of her web and we ate celery. The wonder pets always have a celery snack after an adventure. (ok, i did not eat the celery. i hate celery. kate on the other hand loves it. so i fake it really well.)

 

the pink eye peek-a-boo

 

yep, the dreaded pink eye. as iftwo weeks of cold-flu-ish congestion wasn't good enough! 

kate and I have been passing the sickness back and forth for a few weeks now but this week she thought it would be fun to mix things up. A little  diarrhea one night, fever the next, ear pain and lets not for get the vomiting. Like the skilled child that she is she did not have any two symptoms at once which makes treating difficult. It also drags out the days of sickness so that mom is irritable beyond belief due to the lack of sleep. Kate was unable to go tot school of course which means we were in separable for weeks yet not really ableto interact with anyone else for fear of spreading the miserable-ness.

then we get pink eye.  pink eye and an ear infection.

the poor girl woke up and her eye was crusted shut. she had never had pink eye before so she was utterly confused. I woke up to find her running around the room screaming " I can't see! I can't see!"

I hate to admit that I laughed hysterically but I did. Great parenting,huh?

Brad was the hero and settled her back in bed with a warm rag which she loved. I being the slacker exhausted at my wits-end mother giggled and grabbed my camera.

thadeaus. sp?

today, on the way home from church, kate told her daddy that she wants her first car to be pink. his interested pique, he asked her follow-up questions including " what will your car's name be?"

thadeaus.

no clue where that one came from.

i'm just....

when i ever i exclaim "Kate, WHAT are you doing?"  in horror of whatever she is doing at that moment, she answers "I'm just..., mommy." It is said in a ho-hum sort of way that would make you think that she is explaining something to a simple-minded person. that simple-mind person is her mother.

Actually, this is her response to anything I say to her.

for instance:

Kate, stop pouring water out of the bathtub!

            I'm just emptying my cup, mommy.

Kate, leave Paisley alone.

            I'm just trying to make her eat dirt, mommy.

Kate, come out from behind the couch.

            I'm just pooping in my pants, mommy.

Obviously, her explanation is supposed to assure me that whatever she is doing is just fine. well, i missed the memo the memo and it is not fine.

Christmas Day: the birth of a Roller Derby Girl

 

     

     

 

my very own dancing queen

tonight we went with Brad's family to the Christmas Eve service at their church. It was quite the event. We walk in and Kate in clamoring to be held and burying her head in shyness to ward off the relatives that would like to parade her in her Christmas dress.  Kate is convinced it is her princess dress which is quite accurate.It is pretty and has tulle and sequins and bright red patten leather shoes to go with it. It was a gift from her Grandma and Crazy Great Aunt. (this, for once, is not my description. She wants to be the Crazy Great Aunt! and I love her all the more for that.)

I must admit that I was initially baffled by why we needed a "Christmas dress" to begin with. I thought it was too expensive and too frilly. But - I also learned long ago that sometimes you just go with it.

This morning we put on our princess dress and cream tights (which we NEVER wear), and Kate let me brush her hair to soften the curls. Lastly we donned our red patten leather shoes, which happen to have diamond rhinestones and a rhinestone studded heart shaped buckle. Oh, Yes.

Brad came in and found me watching Kate twirl in her princess dress. "They look like Ronald McDonald shoes" He said with a Grinch-y grin. It is true that the shoes were a little big but Kate was beautiful. Just like a little girl out of some fancy Christmas book. All day long I just keep looking at her and thinking about how big she is now - a real KID!

So here we are entering the church and I am practicing my "she's shy" line when the music starts. Kate's Head pops up and she wiggles to get down. Set her on her feet and she is off running - to the STAGE. She wants to sing and dance with the band.

Now would be a good time to mention that this church is a Baptist church. A pretty modern and contemporary but still baptist church. They play great up beat music and I see a few clapping hands - but I have never seen any dancing.

I tried to explain that she couldn't dance in the big room but she wanted to know why, she dances at her church in her preschool class.

Well, baby. our church meets in a movie theater. it is different in many ways.

Why mom? I want to dance.

After a few trips from our seats (which happened to be row 3, ugh) to the foyer I managed to convince Kate that swaying was OK just no ballerina spinning. This allowed me to sit int he isle seat and where I could reach Kate who was swaying in the isle. I noticed that one of the women on stage was signing and pointed it out to Kate. She was so excited and began to sign with her. It was amazingly cute! She was really just copying some of the general movements but to Kate she was Signing the song earnestly.

I didn't think she was really catching the signs until she said Mom, look many tents.And she signed tent over and over, side by side. This is what the interpreter was using for the phrase "city of Israel"

Once again Kate Amazed me at how much she really picks up even when she has trouble focusing. The rest of the time was spent moving from lap to lap and swaying in the isles. There was one trip to the bathroom where I was to busy fixing her hair to realize we were walking into the MENS room. Kate says What that, Mom?and I looked up to see a urinal. We quickly ran across the hall to the WOMENS room and played ballerina on the "ballet bar"...you know, the handrail for the handicap.

I think my favorite part of the evening was watching her sit in her Uncle Diddy's lap. She was sitting relatively still which was a miracle. They played a short video montage and Kate signing along with the music. Then a picture of a baby all wrapped up in a cloth came on and Kate's eyes grew with amazement and the camera gradually zoomed in to the wiggling mass of cloth and revealed the baby. It's a baby, she whispered, is it Jesus?

At the end of the service I let Kate play on the stage steps where she preformed for anyone who would listen. She even enlisted a few kids to come join her. She lined the up on the top step and led them in a quirky rendition of the ABC's.

This Christmas eve I am ditching the "visions of lollipops". I will be dreaming of good traditions, Christmas dresses, and my wonderful little girl who makes life more vibrant with her dancing. 

kate holds baby Judah for the first time

when i grow up...again.

kate is enjoying her camera and poor paisley is her muse. She says she wants to take pictures like me. (smile)

We are totally in the "when i grow up..." phase. today the fire alarm went off at the store and we were checking out when the Fire Dept. showed up. Kate hollared "HELLO Fireman, Can I ride your truck?"

They chuckled and went back to their important conversation and left me to explain that the Fire Department doesn't give free rides to little kids - they put out fires. Kate frowned and asked where Uncle Mark was, he let her ride his firetruck...

Uhhhh, well Uncle Mark is not working today. (real creative.)

When I grow up I will be a Fire-Girl and drive a Firetruck! Kate stated, arms crossed in front of her.

I was first impressed by her own wording "Fire-Girl". Then thought it is interesting that she has been using the phrase "when i grow up..." alot lately. Makes a mom start to daydream about what she will do when she grows up...

For now I will just tell her "When you grow up, you will BE Kate. And Kate will get to DO many many things... like have a horse, or work on a firetruck, or take pictures..."

 

 

Kate's Camera - Test Run

     

    

For Kate's Birthday Brad i got her one gift. a tech kid camera. she is always asking to use mine and loves taking photos and videos with everyone camera. even as a little baby she wanted to see herself on the little camera screen. so we induged her and got her one. This will protect my camera and provide tons of entertainment for us all. I love the camera because it is thick and has great grip, big buttons and TWO eye holes. Sort of like binoculars. Of course I taught Kate how to look through with one eye to use mine and now she refuses to look with both eyes.

this was her test run with the camera... obviously it is not the best quality indoors but it has tons of space and does video and games. She is having a ball. I am considering having a certain day of the week dedicated to posting her photos...we will see how well I follow through.

Introducing Kate from the Happy Monster Band!

I startt hinking about halloween costumes months in advance ... along with birthday party's and christmas. I have gone through a million ideas this year. Since Kate's birthday is so close to Halloween I always envision a costume or theme party. This means I need to decide on a theme and plan the party to know what Kate will wear to trick-or-treat.

First started with plans for a Peter Pan Party thus making Kate Tinkerbell. That seemed very cliche' this year witht he fairy movie coming and every other girl dressing up as Tinkerbell. So I shelfed the ideasf or another year. After much debating and scheduling issue we decided to skipp the "party" aspect and just have a family cake and ice cream for a birthday celebration.

So now what to do for a costume....hmm. I stopped at a garage sale(something I rarely do) and kate spotted a little Dorothy costume from the Wizard of OZ. She loved it and I loved that it was 25 cents. All I had to do waa mke red sparkle shoes. Easy Squeezy.

I thought Halloween was covered. But Kate loved her costume and played with it everyday. It was no longer special. Plus she had no idea who Dorothy was and the movie is quite scary for three year olds.

A week before Halloween and I am back at square one. ugh.

Since we have been painting Kate's fingers with "oogly eyes" and reading silly monster books... I thought maybe just maybe I could make her a monster.

Maybe.

I ran to a few places looking for "hairy" fabric and settled on two little hairy pillows and some coordinating fuzzy fabric. Even o'clock on Wednesday (after an entire day of birthday events) and begin the creation. I hand-sewed because I didn't want to wake anyone up with the sewing machine. 

As soon as Kate tried it on she grabbed her new guitar (thanks Uncle Justin & Aunt Rach) and began to rock out! I said who are you?  fully expecting her to say an oogly monster.

"I am a happy moster band!" she squealed.

I died laughing. Click here to see a clip of Disney's Happy Monster Band. She amazes me everyday!

 

   

 

      

"jack-o-lantern - ooooh, spooky" - kate

yesterday afternoon, kate announced that we needed a Jack-o-lantern. After I recovered from the slight suprise that she knew the word 'jack-o-lantern' much less that she wanted one, I asked her where we should get one.  

She replied, " At a pumpkin patch like that one with the cross."

Suprised once again that she knew that pumpkins are used to make jack-o-lanterns, that she did not ask for a pumpkin but a jack-o-lantern, and that she had paid attention when driving to school and knew the church down the street had a pumpkin patch selling pumpkins.

   

She obviously had been formulating all of this in her mind so I thought I would ask...

"What is a jack-o-lantern, kate?"

"Jack-o-lantern is a pumpkin. You cut it and make a face. A spooky face and spooky eyes. we need steps and pumpkins sit on steps and kids say 'Boo'. You get treats right here in your hand like this ( holds hands together cupping them to hold invisable candy) and you say thank you. Then eat it all up. yumyumyum (cookie monster style)"

"Where did you hear about Jack-o-lanterns, Kate?'

"Charlie & Lola."

Thank you Disney for educating Kate in the Fine art of trick or treating.

**I have sat down and watched this episode of Charlie and Lola and LOVED it! Cartoons with British accents Rock!**

   

"There's snake in my boots" - woody

Kate like horses. I wouldn't say love but definately Like, Likes horse. She loves to play with her my little pnies and she names the horse in the field we pass everyday. So I thought it might be fun to go and ride a horse for her birthday.

  We skipped the whole party thing and planned to go to Arrowhead Ranch right after school. We did a one-on -one with the horse. Buddy was supposed to be our horse but he was off wandering around so we had Scout. Later Buddy showed up and snuck in the gate to eat all of the treats we had for Scout. Amazing that an animal that big can *sneak*!

 

Kate loved it! She definately had her moments off shy-ness. One minutes she is so excited she cannot contain her self and the next she is crouching behind me, peering through my legs.

Shyness gets annoying when you are trying to gauge her reaction to something...it is so drastic and you never know when it will hit her. The part that really bothers me is that she thinks that it is safe to hide behind me. I am obviously wide enough in her mind that she has plenty of time to get away before the attacker gets around me. Or maybe it's because she figures I am so mean and scary that no one would dare to get past me and chase her. Kind of like owning her own troll.

Kate was acting shy when we started to comb and groom the horse. She did not want anything to do with touching or brushing it. I thought, Oh great. If she won't touch it she is going to scream when I suggest we ride it!

I was completely wrong. A few minute late Kate was asking, Can I ride now?  She jumped right up and went around and around and around. Content as could be on her "HIGH HORSE".

She also had no problem feeding the horse the green cubes of alfalfa. She let the giant horse lick her and slober on her. I thought maybe we should try the grooming again. Nope, she would not brush the horse.

In the end we went home with a huge horse shaped balloon, pink stuffed horse, and a pink cowboy hat. Kate did care for any of those things. Instead she talked the whole way home about ABE the donkey who rolled around in the dirt and brayed at the car. She told me that she loved to chase chickens and she would like to have one someday. One that did not lay eggs of course.

There is nothing predictable about my child - and I love it!

   

   

sweet gum tree

 

 

we took a walk yesterday in the brisk afternoon and played under a neighbor's tree.

 

No, we did not move to Vermont and yes, I said 'brisk'. Texas has finally had a bought of fall like weather. I am loving the cool crisp days. They are the one of two things I miss about Denver. This neighbor has an awesome tree with beautiful leaves that change color. It makes me think of Vermont and Maple syrup and snowy mornings.

she already needs her own line.

 

oogly eye fingernails!

 

I have never seen a water horse but you can meet my water dog.

Paisley jumped in the tub full of bubbles with Kate this week. They spent the rest of the bath time fighting for the best spott o drink the running water...