A toddler's honesty

You've got to love the things that come out of kids' mouths. Now that Kate's a pretty good talker, her opinions are really coming to light. Just a few minutes ago, she was playing with my ponytail. She swished it around a bit and, in all seriousness, said "momma wag tail." I can see I'm just at the beginning of many toddler ego-blows to come! What else? Well, not much, because the house is just too quiet and empty now that Bob and Starla have left. Kate asked for them all day yesterday, and kept thinking they would be showing up any time. When she got up this morning, she asked "GaGa sleeping? Gumpa sleeping?" It was so hard to explain that they had to go back to their house. I'm sure that she's wondering why they would ever want to do that when they could be sitting on the floor playing Legos with her for the rest of their days!! We'll get another grandparent fix in about a week when we go to Bend---here's hoping this week flies by!

GaGa Star & Gumpa Bob-a

We can't wait for this afternoon because Ryan's parents are coming to visit!! For a whole week!! Kate woke up excited this morning, telling us that GaGa Star and Gumpa Bob-a were coming soon and that she wants them to "sit." Hmmmm??? Your guess is as good as mine about that one. Probably they'll do a bit more with her than sit! Right now, she's trying on the dress-up shoes that GaGa Connie sent her from Hong Kong. They're miles too long but pretty narrow. Chinese girls must have a bit more delicate feet than Kate! :)

Being a parent....

...teaches you many profound lessons about unconditional love and all such great things, but it also teaches you many smaller lessons. Like not judging people who feed their toddlers in grocery stores. Before having Kate, I admit that I'd see kids munching away on something that had been opened for them and I'd think, "Seriously? Your kid can't wait until you've left the store?" Now, I sing a completely different tune. When you've got a squirming toddler, singing an incessant chorus of "Cracker please! Cracker stuck!" you learn to choose your battles. I won't buy her everything she points at, but I certainly will let her have a cracker if it buys me five more minutes!! What else? Well, last night in the bath Kate said something I found humorous, but it may be too much information for some. So if you shy away from talk of "private parts" stop reading here. Otherwise.....Kate was sitting the bath, examining herself very quizzically. Obviously, she's taken notice before but not in an actual information-seeking sort of way. She kept looking down and then looking at me, then she looked at me with a confused expression and said, "Tush? Butt?" as if she was trying to figure this strange thing out. Then, she pointed to her actual tush and then looked back at me in wonderment and said "TWO butts?" as if this was about the most amazing discovery ever. I told her, no, and told her what she was really looking at. Then I told her that's just what girls have. She said, "man?" and I again told her, "just ladies." Well, after all that explaining, she just looked at me as if she got it and said, "lady two butt." Hmmm....maybe I need to work on my explaining skills before she gets any older......

First "big girl" haircut!

Kate had her first real haircut today. She's had about 5 trims around the front, but this was the first time the back was cut, too. It's a little sad to see those long curls go, but it was getting so shaggy that I knew it was time. She had more than an inch taken off the back! Now she has a chic toddler bob. I can't say that she loves the experience, but she didn't cry. All day yesterday and this morning, I kept telling her that we were going to get her haircut, that she would sit on mommy's lap, that Kim would cut her hair and that Kim was really nice. So, by the time we got there, Kate was like a little robot, repeating "sit mommy's lap" and "Kim nice." I don't know if it helped prepare her, but we made it through without tears, so that's a victory to me!

SUNSHINE!!!

Oh, how I love, LOVE this sunshine. Seriously. I cannot get enough. Isn't life just so much nicer when the sun is out? I would completely be one of those people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder is I lived in Alaska in the winter (Port Angeles is bad enough!!) But, anyway, we have truly been enjoying this weather. It's supposed to start raining next week, so we're not taking a moment for granted. This afternoon will be the third day in a row that we've been to the park, and Hickory has benefited from lots of walks. These past few days at the park I have really seen that Kate has absolutely no sense of self-preservation. None. There is one slide that is really high and twisty, and has about 20 stairs to climb to the top. But was she scared? No. Did she want my help? NO. In fact, she was absolutely livid that I tried to go down it with her. She said, "No, momma, no!!!" So, she went down on her own, in her own way (on her stomach, feet first) about 100 times. The other slide (in the video) isn't very high, but it's fast. Or, at least, it is when she goes down head first, on her tummy. She slid off the end once and hit the rocks with, pretty much, her face. She wasn't really visibly hurt, but the shock made her cry. I thought she'd be scared after that, but when I picked her up she said, through tears, "more!" I'm guessing our first trip to Disneyland will be a blast!

Reasons Kate makes me laugh today....

Kate cracks me up in new ways each day; don't you love the things that come out of toddler's mouths?? Here are the reasons I'm laughing today:
1. She loves to call the cat (who sleeps on the couch at least 8 hours per day) "lazy cat." She also likes to tell me to sit on the couch and then laughs while she says "lazy momma."
2. If you ask her what any animal says, she makes a growling lion-like noise. This is true for all animals except turkeys, to which she'll say "gobba, gobba."
3. Her favorite new animal is the kangaroo which, in Kate-speak, is a kangaMOO.
We're about to head to the park since it's one of the nicest days we've had yet this year. SO thankful for all this sunshine. And, the absolute coolest part of the day, was that I just found out Ryan's cousin, Cindy, is pregnant and due in September!!! We very well may have babies on the same day! We've both been suffering nausea in silence, but now we have eachother to share food-aversion stories. :) Her daughter, Caitlin, is just a few months younger than Kate, so all our kids will be able to grow up with family members their own age. How neat is that?!

Our big (growing?) news!

Drumroll please....we're having another baby!! Kate's going to be a big sister! I'm almost 10 weeks along and due in September. My second doctor's appointment was today, and I heard the baby's heartbeat loud and clear. My own heartbeat was quite audible as well when the midwife was listening away and then paused and said "I think there's a possiblity there might be TWO in there." I think my heart may have actually stopped beating for a moment. I had to wait about a half hour to have a real ultrasound to see, and I've never been so fidgity and anxious in all my life! In the end, there was only one little bean to be found, so I guess it was just a bonus that I got an extra ultrasound and got my first glimpse at our new addition. He/she looked like a little jelly bean with tiny buds for arms and legs. The doctor said the baby was "swimming" around, and I kind of like knowing it's in there bopping around, happily, I hope. So, we're all very excited, although I'll be even more thrilled when the ever-present nausea passes. Whomever named it "morning sickness" was a moron! I'd feel lucky if it was only in the morning. Nonetheless, I do realize nausea is a sign of a vital baby, so I'm happy. We think Kate's happy, too. She looks for the baby in my (and her) tummy, loves to read her book about being a big sister and today told me "baby suck toes" as she demonstrated this fine art. I think that's about all we can ask from an 18-month-old. We have told her that her life is going to change!!! Our whole world is going to change, in fact, and we couldn't be more excited!