My Dearest Girl

I've mentioned before that my girl doesn't really say "Mama." Every once in a while she will, but she doesn't seem to associate it with me. She doesn't really call me much of anything. She knock on the computer room door and shout for "Daddee!" and she'll greet the dog at the door with "Oh, hi, Tiny!"

Saturday afternoon, the girl and I were getting in some serious snuggle time with Daddy gone. She was sitting on my lap, watching Bugs Bunny, and I was playing with her hair, admiring her eyelashes, and talking to her. "Where's Mama? Where's Katie's mama?" I asked. All of a sudden, she gives me this look, like "You silly ninny! What is wrong with you?" before she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big sloppy kiss. Then, she turned her attention back to Bugs.

In the next heart melting instant, she lay back against my chest, took a deep breath, and let out a big, contented sigh, saying "Mama." It was all I needed.

I Really Love My...

... bamboo needles. For knitting, obviously. They have a perfect amount of give so my hands don't get sore.

... Method Tub and Tile Cleaner. It's the only thing that pulls up those durned hard water marks. And it smells nice. Makes me feel all clean and stuff.

... Olay Regenerist Serum. Fer reals. It made turning 30 go a whole lot smoother.

... Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation. Thank you, Allison. My world will never be the same. Hopefully, it'll be a lot less shiny.

... Adam Baldwin. He's not really mine, though. I just like to look. Jared's ok with it.

... daughter. Duh. But seriously, she is so much fun, and I love hanging out with her.

... newish knitting bag, that also doubles as a diaper bag, school bad, lunch bag and purse. I have the one with the red and the flowers. And it was less than $20.

... Target. Seriously, it's the happiest place on Earth. Costco is running a close second, though. I'm a fan of any store that feeds you while you shop.

Just some stuff that's making my life a little easier, prettier, happier.

We Have the Sick

Ugh. What a start of a school year. I haven't taken two sick days in a row since the baby was born (and I so don't count that as being sick) but we are just gross over here. And in the midst of a swine flu scare, I have felt like a walking, putrid soup of germs. Nice, huh?

Katie was watching a Caillou episode where Caillou is sick, and everytime he coughed, she coughed. I felt bad, later, for accusing her of faking, as she lay in her bed, coughing and crying.

One of my students, yesterday, asked, "Mrs. Whit, are you gonna be gone tomorrow? 'Cause you look like crap." And I did. So I am home. After a quick trip to Kania Clinic, it has been determined that I had a virus that aggravated my asthma, and I've been having an asthma attack for the past two days. I'm now on a nice cocktail of decongestants, steroids, and cough medicine, and feel like an actual, bipedal human being again. Ready to chase an actual, bipedal, snot-nosed toddler who has more energy than humanly necessary.

And we sent Jared away from the germ swamp to visit his buddy in Chicago. Here's hoping he outruns it!

Miss Chatty

I remember when I worried that Katie wasn't very verbal. She had been saying words like "uh-oh" and "dog" and then one day she seemed to lose them. It was silly of me to worry. She's smart and happy and healthy. And knowing what I know about the theory of Multiple Intelligences, it's obvious that Katie has Bodily-Kinesthetic smarts through the roof. (She's loving gymnastics, by the way!) And when I stopped to count, she really did have quite a few words, including signs, and was usually able to communicate her needs and wants clearly and effectively.

But lately she has just started chatting up a storm. Lots and lots of babbling, and everyday a new word or phrase comes out of her mouth. She knows eye, nose, mouth, tongue, belly, feet, legs, arms, bottom. Cat, dog, and horse, although they all say "Woof!" Tiny, Mama, Daddee (although everyone knows she loves Daddee most!). She has been telling Tiny to "Shush!" and "Shhh!" for a long time now. "Oh, wow!" "Yay!" "Go!" which she used a lot at the football game the other night, and is turning into quite the backseat driver. Signs for more, up, plane, ball, please, thank you, all done. She surprised us with "Diaper" the other day, and made up a sign she uses when she says "Nuu" for Nuk.

But it's the phrases that astound me. Today she was being nosy, watching the neighbor girl get in her car. She started waving and saying "Bye bye!" And I said "Bye bye, Susan!" and Katie followed me with "Bye bye, Busa!" She put my flip flops on my bare feet, saying "Here oo go!" She cuddled her stuffed doggie, crooning "Aww, goo' boy!" I know these are phrases she's copying from me, but she's so amazing to me! I have a feeling things aren't going to be quiet again around here for a long time!

Two speeds

I joke that Katie has two speeds: full-tilt and off. She plays hard and sleeps hard. When she was new, she would never let me peek at her when she was sleeping. She would smell me coming and pop her little eyelids open.

Now that she's older, sleeping harder, I can sneak in and check on her. She got a big girl bed in June, and she loves it. She usually stays put. I love sneaking in and looking at her. She's so beautiful, and so peaceful when she's sleeping.

Soaking Up the Last of Summer

What a wonderful summer!



Hanging out at the park with Aiden. They like to sit on the shady side of the bathrooms. It's really cool there, instead of steamy like the rest of the park.



Reading with Daddy on a lazy afternoon.



Playing with Nana.



Now it's almost time to pack up the pool. I'm going to really miss this fabulous summer.

The end of the summer...

Summer is winding down. It's been a really delicious summer. Katie is amazing.



We got some family pictures taken today by an old friend. She took us out to a lovely apple orchard where it was quiet and cool, and the air smelled sticky sweet. My baby girl came home with toes smelling like fresh cut grass. Now that's summer.