Amen!

Today at dinner, I was praying - "Thank you God for blessing us" and Kate shouted "AMEN!"  So sweet!

Doesn't she look cool in Scott Dill's hat???

HAPPY :)

Kate makes me smile :)  When we put Kate to bed, I rock her and give her milk, and Brett prays for her, blesses her, and gives her a kiss before he says goodnight.  One of the things he always blesses her with is joy, and he tells her how happy she makes us.  Well recently, every night when he says "you make us so happy," Kate stops drinking her milk, gets a big grin on her face and says, "Happy!"  I really think she understands what he is telling her.  She is such a delight :)    

Winnie the Pooh

Wow, did we have a great Halloween!  Check out the pics below :)  

You'll see in the video, she was "Pooh!" and Pooh likes to eat "Honey!"

So Hunny Pot in tow, off she went!

The last video may be the best - she got a chocolate eyeball from one of our neighbors and she thought it was the funniest thing ever!

Take me to the fun!

I'm "Pooh" and I like to eat "Honey"

Brett and Pooh rolling around

Here's Brett and Pooh having a serious conversation.

Off she goes!
Grandpa can't resist a tickle
"Kikki", "Dew", and "Pooh"
Kate couldn't exactly identify what this "candy" stuff was, but she thought she was onto something good.  Nikki seemed like a great person to confirm with...

What a cutie!
Follow me, Guys!
Grandpa, Ilsa the Puppy, and Winnie

The Pooh Bear's Family

This is just Kate cracking us all up :)

No Shrimp for the Little One

Poor little Kate Little.  Tonight I gave her a bite of my shrimp and she broke out in hives :(  We called Liz & Jeff (our friends who play doctors in real life) and they said give her benadryl and watch her.  She appears to be fine.  We called our pediatrician and they want to see her tomorrow, but they thought she'd be fine too.  They said it's possible to grow out of a childhood food allergy, so we're praying that by her teen years she'll be enjoying shellfish with the rest of us.  But for now, no shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, oysters or scallops for Kate.  

Look how cute she is, even with hives 

I like cheese :)

Kate said her first sentence a few weeks ago.  We were at the Peters house for dinner.  Rachel knows that cheese is Kate's favorite food, but after pulling it out of the fridge, Rachel looked at me and hesitated.  I knew she was wondering how much cheese Kate had already eaten that day.  Kate was observing our entire interaction, and shouted confidently and clearly to Rachel, "I LIKE CHEESE!!"  Yes, let there be know doubt, Kate likes cheese :)

Here are a few pics of Kate and Cana from Norris :)

Here's Kate dancing and Cana imitating a monkey :)

Choo-Choo

Kate has been saying so much lately.  She has been so fun to be around.  I love her so much.

One of her very favorite things to talk about is the car and going on trips.  Not far behind is her "Choo-Choo."  Here are a few fun pics of when she first started riding it all by herself :)

Hug Fest

Cana Peters recently came over to play with Kate.  The best way I can describe it - Hug Fest '09.  These two couldn't be any cuter if they tried.  What fun!

She is Love

Have you heard the song "She is Love" by Parachute?  It is wonderful; delightful.

Tonight it was raining hard.  The thunder woke Kate up.  I went into her room and comforted her by singing her this song.  It was such sweetness.  I LOVE hugging her so tightly and telling her she is safe.  She IS love.  After about 5 minutes, she felt confident and safe, ready to go back to bed.  This is a MIRACLE.  For those who don't know, Kate had been having some serious sleeping issues.  Our best guess is, she would get scared in the night.  We prayed for her to not be afraid, our friends prayed, and God answered us with beautiful nights of rest for Kate.  God is so good.  It was so hard to see our sweet baby afraid.  I'm so thankful that she can rest calmly and sweetly.  God is Love :)

You can listen to the song on youTube (ironically - it's from the album "Losing Sleep" - not us!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghhivSh1hSc&feature=related

SAW-BEE

Kate is getting over a little cold, and she wasn't in the best mood today.  She didn't sleep much, and was just a bit out of sorts.  I was getting a little frustrated with her yelling, so I went in the other room for a break.  Kate and Brett were in the bedroom plotting up something very cute.  Kate walked out to me and Brett said, "Kate has something to tell you."  She gave me a big hug and said "SAW-BEE" (for sorry.)  I almost started crying but I didn't want to confuse her ;)  It was the sweetest thing ever.  How can you be upset with this cutie?    

What's new at 15 months...

We are so lucky to have such a great family.  We had a fantastic weekend visiting...pics to come soon!  (I'm overwhelmed by all the pics, uploading, etc.  Anyone have a good strategy?  Tonia does it every quarter, which is predictable.  Maybe I could set a date to shoot for every month?  I don't know - help needed...)

A few other updates with Kate - she is SO much fun these days.  I can't believe how much she understands.  And, she has a great desire to be understood - when she isn't, she gets frustrated.  Brett wisely told me that I can't get frustrated that she is frustrated, because I am 31 and she is 1 :)  But it's hard sometimes.  Alli's given me some ideas on how to help her...I'm open for suggestions if anyone's got any!

At 15 months, she weighs 24 lbs and is 31" - 75th percentile for both.  She's very healthy and super cute :)  

Some of Kate's latest words (she's learning new ones every day, I can't keep up!  Although, I'm still not sure anyone else would understand many of them....)

• Names - She's got Daddy and Mommy down.  She says "TairTair" for Tara, "Bady" for Uncle Brady, "Neek-e" for Aunt Nikki, "Papa" for Papa (obviously :), and "Doo" for Drew (aka Andrew.)
• Other faves - Her hot word right now is "Car."  Today she said "TairTair Car" when Tara pulled up - pretty good to put the two together!  Her other current favorite word is "Tutu" - she has a red one from Emily & Brady.  She can say "Pig", "Moo", "Shoe", "Pay" which means play,  "Ted-e" for Teddy, and "Cook-e" for cookie (thanks, Papa :).

Big highlight of the day - Brett, Kate and I had a dance party tonight and Kate busted out some very cute dance moves :)  Adorable!

Last and certainly least - have you tried "Pluots"?  They are a cross between a plum and an apricot.  I can't say I'm terribly fond of either of those, but pluots are absolutely delicious!  Pick one up today (at Biggs if you live in Cinci.)  The "dinosaur egg" variety are the best!

Joy and Delight

I heard some wonderful parenting advice yesterday that hit me hard.  I want to share it (and document it so I don't forget it.)  The advice was to ENJOY AND DELIGHT IN YOUR CHILDREN.  And when you do, they become a JOY AND DELIGHT to you.  There is a verse in John 1:14 that talks about a child being "a joy and a delight" to her parents.  The couple that shared the advice, who are great parents of a 14 and 10 year old, said that the way your children become a joy and delight to you is that you enjoy and delight in them.  They commented that often children become our projects; we work very hard at raising them right, reading books and learning all we can, etc.  But when we enjoy them, they become a joy to us.

My experience with this is so true.  I LOVE playing with Kate, and I have to make sure I am having fun too.  A recent example - I was getting bored in the morning just sitting around the house playing with toys.  So, we started taking walks.  Then, I tried to convince Kate to walk continuously, and I was getting annoyed that she wanted to stop every minute to look at stuff.  But then I started going with her flow a bit more.  I crouch down with her and explore.  There is lots of fun new stuff to see - stuff I've never seen before, like new varieties of plants.  My point is, there is an intersection point between her fun and mine, and although it takes some work to find it, it's worth it, because at the end, there is joy.

A few other examples - she LOVES swimming, and boy is that a delight to me!  She sticks her face in the water and absolutely cracks up laughing!  We got a raft for $1 that is a horse; I put it around my waist, she straddles the horse's head, and we gallop around the pool.  Hilarious.  But today, she only wanted to swim for 20 minutes.  I would have stayed much longer, but she didn't want to; so we went home.  Not perfect given the amount of time it takes to get there, get dressed, wash off the chlorine, etc.; but still worth it because we both had fun.  

At Coney Island (the very cheesy but super fun place we swim most days), there is a sign on the wall that says, "You don't stop playing because you grow old.  You grow old because you stop playing."   I love to play; it's the best.  If you've forgotten how, call me and I'll help you remember what you enjoy.  One small thing I do - I buy toys that I think are fun.  If I think they're boring, I'm not going to want to play with them, and then Kate and I don't get to enjoy them together.  Finding intersection points - very important.

The other main part of the lesson for me is to not get bogged down in figuring out exactly what Kate needs.  There are lots of things that need to happen, and I can't focus too much time on those and forget about enjoying her.  For example, I hate thinking about what she should eat in a day.  It's a stress and a chore to me for many reasons (including I hate thinking about food and I have a ridiculously high bar for what healthy is for her - not only should she eat 5 fruits and veggies a day, they should represent the different colors of the rainbow to give her varying nutrients, then there should be a daily variety, etc.)  Well that doesn't ever happen, either because I don't have that many foods or if I do, she doesn't want to eat them.  So who cares!  If she's not in the mood for blueberries, the rainbow is incomplete, let's move on with our lives.  She doesn't fall asleep when she "should" - again, life will go on (even if it means she wakes up in the middle of the night, it will be okay.)  

These things rob my joy, and I want to get rid of the burden of performance that tells me these are the things that make me a good mom.  It's a lie.  If she poops 3 times a day because all she eats is raisins, cheese, yogurt and milk and she skips her afternoon nap and then wakes up in the middle of the night, it's inconsequential to my love for her.  Enjoying and Delighting in Kate is what makes me a good mom.  And that's when I see my friendship with her grow.

"Liquid Satan" requires self-discipline

Today, Kate reached for something she wasn't supposed to touch.  She knew she wasn't supposed to touch it, and as a result, she used her left hand to hit her right hand and tell it, "No, don't touch."  Then, she pulled the right hand back to her chest and the left hand came back and comforted it, "It's okay."  [Note - she didn't actually say these words, but it was clear that's what her actions were saying.]

The back story is, starting at about 5 months old, we would discipline Kate by hitting her hand and telling her no.  You may say that's too early, but she knew what she was doing.  And we believe physical consequences are an important part of the natural world (e.g. I don't put my hand on the stove because it will hurt.  Pain is very helpful tool...ask the few people in the world who don't experience physical pain - it's a problem.)  Whether you personally agree with us or not, we felt this was right for Kate.

It's amazing to me how naturally obedient Kate is.  I love that she is displaying self-discipline (literally, in this case.)  I pray that she maintains this skill throughout her life.

I could actually use a little more self-discipline myself.  Today someone told me they were reading a book that built a case for why Diet Soda is "Liquid Satan."  Yikes.  It referenced the amazing and ridiculous way it got approved by the FDA (via pay-offs, shady ignoring of poisoned rats, etc.)  So later, I reach in the fridge to grab for one and God says, "Really, you hear that it's the equivalent of drinking Satan and an hour later you can't refrain?"  Caveat is, I'm not saying God is universally against Diet Coke (He may be, but I don't know that for sure and that's not what I'm saying here.)  But what I do think is, God was challenging me to pick Him over my will and my desire in that moment.  

So, my right hand slapped my left hand and said "No, Don't touch."  I comforted myself by drinking a coffee instead :)

Kate has a lot to say

Kate's had a lot to say lately.  It's funny to think about what words she's learning first - not necessarily the ones I'd expect, but that's what's fun.  Here's some of what she's saying - 

"Pooh!  Pooh!  Pooh!" then she laughs.  - We think she means Winnie the Pooh Bear since that's the way her room is decorated, but it could also mean that she's just gone to the bathroom.  We kind of wish we would have come up with different words for those two things...

"Wow!",  "Whoa!" and "Cool!" - All expressions she's imitating, with lots of enthusiasm.  Brett says the first, Jeanne says the second, and I say the last one. 

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" then she nods and smiles excitedly.  When she wants something, this is what she says.  Also a newer one, if I have something she wants she says "Me, Me" to convince me to give it to her.

"Ball", "Baby", "Book" - her favorite toys, which all happen to start with an easy letter.  Also "Balo" which means balloon. 

Brett says he's heard her say "Yellow" and Hyland and Scott Dill said she said "Purple" - I guess those are her favorite colors...Christine Wilson has told me that color theory would suggest those colors go best together, so maybe Kate's artistic.  (Reference to color theory = primary color + the secondary directly across from it - Red & Green, Blue & Orange, Yellow & Purple.)

"Go, Go, Go!" is a big favorite.  She loves to go outside; she gets her shoes and walks to the door to encourage you to take her out there.

"Did it!" is also a huge fave.  When she does something new or good, Brett and I say "You did it" and clap for her.  Now she encourages herself via self-affirmative clapping and the "Did it!" cry.

Overall, I feel like she's learning so much right now.  She seems to be putting a lot of language and communication principles together.  She learned where her feet, nose, head, and mouth are.  At the grocery store, she plugged her nose - something must have smelled stinky to her.  I love this sweet baby!

Pink

Aunt Emily & Kate - Two cuties in pink...adorable!

What fun!

Someone recently said that I'm a kid trapped in an adult's body.  I think that's probably right.  I can't believe how much fun is out there!  We took Kate to the zoo recently and it was fantastic!  You could feed the giraffe right up close!  Kate was not a huge fan of it though, and I realized she's right, giraffe's have gross tongues.  She like the elephants and the bears a bunch.  Can't wait to go back again soon!  A few pics here, and a video of pics.

On the move

A few weeks ago, Brett and I were doing all we could to persuade Kate to walk.  She's been physically capable of it for a while, but she was being wisely cautious.  We'd probe her, "Come on, baby, you can do it!"  We'd tempt her, "Look at this exciting remote - come over and get it."  But nothing did the trick.  

One day, we were at the park and I had to go to the bathroom so badly I decided to use the park bathroom.  We went into the stall and I explained to Kate "Whatever you do, DON"T MOVE.  Just stand right here.  Don't take a step."  As I squat and pee, trying not to touch anything, Kate starts walking across this gross little park bathroom!  I couldn't take a picture or video b/c my shorts were at my ankles.  Kate's first unprompted steps...in a park bathroom.  Nice.

This video was a few weeks ago now, and it's already fun to look at how far she has come!  She is dashing around the house!  So sweet.

Lucky Girl

A few pics from Father's Day

What a lucky girl Kate is...she has the most amazing daddy :) You'd be hard pressed to find a man more suited for fatherhood. Brett's love for Kate is immense. Watching him with her a beautiful thing.

I love this baby!

Kate is so much fun!  Here we are at the park - is she the best or what!!  I love this baby!

Do you know about this???

Pandora.com

Oh my gosh

It is the best!!!  

Free radio, customized to your music tastes.  It is GENIUS!  It makes iTunes Genius look like an idiot.

It's called the Music Genome Project.  You type in your favorite artist or song, and it plays lots of songs you will love.  It says things like "based on your favorite artist, we think you'll enjoy songs like this one, with similar basic rock song structures, a subtle use of vocal harmony, acoustic rhythm piano, use of a string ensemble, and major key tonality."  WHAT - yes, I'd love that.  Thank you Pandora - you are amazing.

Check it out.

Instrument

This is random, but I was thinking how it's cool that each of us has an instrument we were born knowing how to play...our voice.  Of course, some can play better than others, but we all have it.  I recently started singing Kate a song each night before I lay her down.  And most nights, I make up a new one.  Sometimes, they are pretty nice (other times, they are well intended and loving but a bit pitiful.)  I was reflecting that I'd love to play my guitar to some of the songs I've come up with, but I'm not that skilled yet.  It's nice though that any of us can just make up a melody, lyrics, and sing it.  A nice gift, God :)

A side note - I can't get over how much Kate LOVES to dance!  I need to get a video of it, but today I swear she was head banging to the live version of Coldplay's Viva La Vida (which is a great song.)  She was in her car seat strapped down, so she had nothing else to shake but her head and her feet :)  So cute!

Coldplay = Awesome show!

Unbelievable talent + Outstanding performers = Best Show Ever*

Brett and I went to the Coldplay concert last night and I would have to say it was the best show I've ever seen in an outdoor, large scale venue.  That's saying a lot since I used to work at Blossom Music Center (the Cleveland Riverbend equivalent) and have seen tons of shows.  (The only other qualifier is that nothing beats an intimate venue.)  Nikki, who also worked at Blossom, said the same thing of their past shows (last night she generously watched Kate - Yahoo!)  So, Coldplay....

These guys know what they're doing - particularly the lead guy.  Brett observed that you know a group is high quality when the crowd has people aged 7-70 years old.  And they didn't just sing their incredible songs - they sang from a side stage and a lawn stage to energize the whole crowd.  They created new lyrics on the fly about Cincinnati - this guy was genuine.  They gave away a 9 song, live CD for free to everyone at the show~they didn't have to do that, and I would have bought a few more songs, like "The Hardest Part", an amazing song I hadn't heard yet. So, a lyric from that song is where I'll end, Coldplay "you left the sweetest taste in my mouth." 

So - WHAT'S THE BEST SHOW YOU'VE EVER BEEN TO?

Jesus Loves Me

For Easter my Grandma got Kate a bunny that plays "Jesus loves me." Kate loved it. She loves music, and when the bunny sings Kate dances. G. Nana (as she likes to be referred :) said "I've never seen anyone dance to church music before!" You see something new everyday, even when you are 87 :)

Mother's Day Weekend

I love this baby :) A few pics from my first mother's day weekend. What a blessing to be a mama - just look at this sweet baby!

Kate's Birthday Party

Here are a few shots from Kate's first birthday party. So many family and friends were there. It was such a great day. Kate is so blessed and so loved!

I promise she's mine...

Kate is clearly her own person. She is an individual, not just "half me and half Brett." She is unique and precious, created by God. One apparently unique trait - she doesn't want to try cake! Nikki offered her angel food cake a few weeks ago and she was not interested. We thought it was a fluke. On her birthday we tried to give her a cupcake, but NO! She was not having it. This video is perfect... It's hard to believe given those wonderful thighs. Give me the carrot please!!

Kate is One Year Old!

Wow. I can't believe it's been a whole year!

We had Kate's one year check-up today. She is 30 1/2" - 90th percentile for height! They said it's still too early to say that she will be tall; we need to wait until about 2 years before the growth chart stabilizes. But she's not going to be short! And she weighs 22 1/2 lbs - 75th percentile. Everything checked out well - she's very healthy!

More pics to come from her birthday, but a few thoughts on who Kate is:

Joyful - so full of joy! others are joyful around her

Loving - loves to be hugged and give hugs; a snuggler

Great sense of humor and silly laugh

Adventurous - curious, and loves to explore

Smart - a good problem solver

Loves to dance - can't help but move to the beat

Kind - cares for others (and her baby dolls :)

We love her so!

Discipline

I’m at a conference for work.  It’s a business conference where the focus in “Front End Innovation.”  The keynote speaker this morning was Jim Collins who’s written several books including “Good to Great.”  He is a great thinker & “business scientist” – he loves asking questions and studying data.  I found his talk very interesting, and there were several personal implications I walked away with which I thought I’d share.

DISCIPLINE was the most interesting principle.  He wrote a new book called “Why the mighty fall.”  It’s very relevant right now – he talks about tumultuous, difficult times and why some succeed and some fail.  What he found was, the key differentiator was discipline, people who are disciplined in good times are revealed as great in times of trouble.  Discipline enables you to be prepared for what you can’t predict. 

I feel like this is my new season.  I came out of a season of Rest, and I feel like the new season I’m being called into is Discipline.  I was reading a book called “Celebration of Discipline” which I’ve never finished.  My life lacks discipline.  Interestingly, Jim Collins found that often company’s goals are over-reaching, swinging big for home runs, instead of consistent, base hit after base hit.  He went as far as to say that mediocrity is driven by chronic inconsistency.

So, Discipline.  I don’t get excited about this.  It doesn’t sound fun.  But then, he brought it home for me when he connected Discipline & Freedom.  I’m VERY interested in freedom, so my ears perked up.  Collins said that the big win is marrying DISCIPLINE WITH CREATIVITY.  He believes that when you create a disciplined framework, freedom and creativity are enabled.

I need to think through ways to bring consistency and discipline into my life to 1) enable creativity, which leads to freedom and 2) to prepare me for what I can’t predict. 

Anybody interested in sharing some disciplines in their life?

Collins shared one he recommended – many people have “To Do” lists, but he thought the power was in a “Stop Doing” list.  Interesting, huh.

Wow - this amazes me!

Clearly, babies undertand more than I give them credit for...

Most of the calls I get are from Brett, and whenever he calls, I say to Kate "It's Daddy!" A few weeks ago she started putting her toy cell phone up to her ear and saying "It's Da-da!" It amazes me how much a 10 month old brain can process!

I caught her doing it one morning, so I got it on video.

What do you know about love?

Today I heard two songs about love.  See if you can guess which one I liked better...I'll give you a clue - one paints an absurd, unattainable, unrealistic picture of love.  The other one is real.  Here are the lyrics-

Natasha Bedingfield, "Soulmate"

"Who doesn't long for someone to hold?  

Who knows how to love you without being told.  

Somebody please tell me why I'm on my own.  

If there's a soulmate for everyone."

Alli Rogers, "Closer to the moon"

"My grandpa says commitment is the key to love.  

50 years of sometimes twilight, sometimes dawn.

He's says there were the years he wasn't sure about

But the love they chose was worth the pressing on."

Okay, in case you couldn't guess, I like the second song.  Unfortunately, I'd bet none of you have heard of it.  (I heard Alli Rogers at a concert - she was the opener.)  The first song, however, is all over the airwaves.  

The key theme for me is that LOVE IS A CHOICE.  This picture "you know what I want and need so I don't have to say it" is crap.  It's over-romanticized and sets up poor expectations.   It keeps us from actually CHOOSING love, which is what we have to do.  Choosing love looks like forgiveness, joy, pain, suffering, celebrating, etc. etc.  I guess it looks like choosing to keep going through the ups and downs, the good and bad.  I want to be making the CHOICE everyday, when it feels good and when it doesn't.

Decadence

Lately I've been doing some things that I felt in my head were "decadent."  Then, I felt like God said to me "Why don't you look it up and see what it means?"  So, I did; hold onto your cupcake...Here's what decadent means -

1.  characterized by decadence, esp. culturally or morally: a decadent life of excessive money and no sense of responsibility.  

2.  unrestrained gratification; self-indulgent.

Wow.  So then I looked up decadence - 

1.	the act or process of falling into an inferior condition or state; deterioration; decay: Some historians hold that the fall of Rome can be attributed to internal decadence.

2.	moral degeneration or decay; turpitude.

3.	unrestrained or excessive self-indulgence.

Interesting that the fall of Rome was attributed to decadence.  America better watch out...or, wait, are we too late??

Playing for change

This is sweet...watch to the end to see the Mamelodi shout out.

http://www.playingforchange.com/episodes/2/Stand_by_Me

"Super" hero?

Cincinnati has a "super" hero??  funny

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30445254

What a great Easter

We are so blessed to have such a great family. The video is one minute long, but for those who can't see videos, I thought I'd post a few pics...

A fun walk -

As an early birthday present, Kate received this red wagon from my grandma, the "rodeo flyer." It was from when Nikki and I were kids.

The egg hunt was a great success...

Kate found 2 eggs! (She had a tiny bit of help from me & Dora :

What snugglers!

Kate and Grandma love to read

Two people who love fun!

What characters we have here!

So sweet :)

Here's the one minute video..

-

Our brains are fascinating...

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Cutie pie

Look at this cutie pie with her Easter eggs :)

Thirst for life

You saw in the last video that Kate isn't a huge fan of spaghetti right now. But no one could question her love of water - look how excited she is in this video!

Adventurous

I love that Kate is so adventurous. I think that is a wonderful quality. One of the ways she shows her willingness to try new things is with food. To date, there isn't a single food we've given her that she hasn't tried. She does has preferences of course (cheese is her favorite food - she agrees with Auntie Em that everything is better with cheese.) You'll see in this video that her least favorite food so far is spaghetti...we'll see if she grows out of that.

Easter Fun

We had the best Easter.  We spent time with all of our family and friends.  I'll upload the pics soon, but I'm behind in my blogging...I will catch up, but I'm not sure when.  In the mean time, for those who want to see some of our Easter fun, copy the link below into your browser (Steven did a fantastic slide show.)

http://www.stevemanuel.net/Steven_Manuel/Photos./Pages/Easter_2009.html

What fun!

Here are my 2 favorite people, playing with a balloon. So precious!



Kate thought it was so funny!

The best toy ever!

When the weather got warmer, we took Kate outside to play. She had more fun with this stick than any toy we've given her to date!

What's new with Kate?

What's new with Kate? Lots! Here are a few new things -

She has 2 teeth

She has curly hair, just like her daddy

She is VERY expressive!She loved Valentine's Day

She knows how to crawl (at first she could only go in reverse, but now, look out world!)