Cute Phrases

I have been noticing Kate saying all kinds of funny things lately, and I don't want to forget them, so I thought I would share...
Kate has a hard time saying words that start with "sp" so she just uses an "f" to start it instead. For example, "sprinkler" is "frinkler." One day, Blake was trying to climb up the legs of a barstool in the kitchen and I heard Kate scold him and say, "Bubba, don't climb that." And when he did not quit, she said, "Do you need a fankin?" I wish she hadn't learned the spanking threat from me, but it is used quite a bit around here!
When we go out to eat, she gets to drink a "frite" and drinks every last sip! Some moms are funny about kids and soft drinks, but I could care less with a caffeine free sprite! Kids need a little treat every now and then too! And, is there that much difference in sugar content between apple juice and sprite?
She started Mother's Day Out this week (hallelujah!) and loved it. Yesterday afternoon, when I picked her up, I told her that Blake and I missed her and that he wanted to hear what she did all day. She simply said, "Dude, I went to school." I just could not stop laughing! I couldn't figure out where she got "dude" until Blake was whiny later in the afternoon and Brandon said, "Dude, you need to chill out." She picks up on everything!
She was screaming her brains out the other day because she wasn't getting her way, and I was ignoring her (which has actually been the best way to get her to stop, because she is not getting the attention she desires) and my mom called. She heard Kate screaming, but we talked anyway. When I got off the phone, I said, "Kate, that was GiGi and she was very sad that you were acting like that." And she immediately stopped crying and said, "I'm sorry GiGi, I'm sorry Mommy." Later on, Blake whimpered in the car because he was so sleepy and Kate said, "No no bub, that makes GiGi very sad." I guess I have found another way to stop temper tantrums.
Anyway, she never quits talking! When I picked her up from her first day of school, her teacher told me that she is definitely the "class talker." I don't know how much she will enjoy that as the year goes on! I am sure there are things I am forgetting, but these are a few funny ones.
As for Blake, there is no talking! It is kind of freaking Brandon out because they are supposed to know a few words by the time they are one, but Dr. Peters told me from the beginning that the second ones take a while to talk, especially with a very verbal older sibling... so we will just let him take his time! Sometimes I wish Kate couldn't talk quite so much anyway!

Riding Horses

Our friend Montana had her 3rd birthday party last weekend at Oak Mountain Stables and Petting Farm. We had so much fun! Kate had a blast riding the horses- and Blake was a ladies' man and enjoyed being passed around. I didn't know how Kate would handle riding a horse, but she did it all by herself and even cried when it was time for her to get off. We just got back in the end of the line to ride again and again. Here are some pictures of our fun day! Katie loves Bubba, and you can tell he loves her too!

Want some pretty grass?

Petting the goat flipped her out! That same goat tried to eat the leg of my shorts.

Look at the dirt on Kate's face! Kate and Campbell are best friends and these pictures capture their sweet personalities.

The big girl riding all by herself.

Allergic

Apparently, Kate is allergic to fire ant bites. Brandon went to get her from Sunday school this morning and they said she was in the office. I had gone to get Blake and when I saw him walking towards me empty-handed, it kind of freaked me out. They will page you if your child is bad or sick, but I had not been paged. She was sitting in the lap of the nursery director eating a sucker smiling, so I figured that whatever had happened was ok now. Then, the director asked me if Kate always reacts this way to ant bites, and I realized that these may be her first ones. (Mosquitos are a different ball game, she is covered in them!) Her foot was fat, red, hot, and tight! Her sandal wouldn't fit over it, so she was carried to the car. We went to Walgreens on our way to lunch to get some Benadryl, and then met my family. Kate was a ZOMBIE the whole meal! My whole family could not believe that she was that quiet and zoned out. She passed out in the car on the way home, and then slept for 3 hours once we got home. When she woke up from her nap, she played for a little bit, but then collapsed on the couch and covered up. Brandon was reading her some books and snuggling with her and said she was hot, and she had a fever of almost 103! She is now dosed up with more Benadryl and Motrin, and she is off to bed! Poor thing!

On a more fun note, Blake is all over the place! He has taken a few steps at a time and then sits down once or twice, but he is climbing all over the couch, the kids' chair, and trying to get onto the coffee table! He is busting out teeth everywhere too- he is showing you his top 2 (and tip of 3) teeth here. I can't believe he is already this big!

Playtime

Turner came over today and he was a little less excited than Blake to play. Blake was a little too in his face!

A sweet "hug" from Blake and a gentle "high five" from Turner, and somehow Kate slept through it all.

The stare down. It is funny to watch kids this age stare at each other and make noises like they are actually trying to communicate.

New Projects and Bossy Kate

These are some new projects I have been doing lately. The little dress is so cute on! It has little side vents that button and it just makes it hang so cute on Kate. The john-john was fun to make, but I am not used to so many details! The smocking part was fun, but the actual construction of the outfit was tedious! It turned out very nice though, and it is fully lined, so I feel like it will hold up nicely. The pattern can be unsmocked and reversible, which is my next venture! The john-john took so long that I don't think I am going to sell them on my sewing blog because I barely have time to make one for my own child! But, I will probably end up selling that style of dress once I make one or two more and get comfortable with the pattern. I really do love smocking and sewing but my love of sleep has suffered lately to get these finished. :)

Kate loves "talking down" to Blake. She is constantly saying, "No No, Bub!" and "Don't bite!" when he is just putting toys in his mouth. She just doesn't realize that is what babies do! We laugh that she has started calling him "Bub" because it sounds like a northerner- my dad still has a touch of a Michigan accent and we like to say that is where she got it. She has gotten a little mean recently, I hate to say. She has this evil little giggle and I know she is torturing him. Yesterday she was pinching his cheeks so hard they turned bright red, and she pulls his ears (like they need to stick out more) so hard. I get more upset than he does. For some reason, he puts up with it. He may whimper a little bit, but he just looks at her wondering what she is doing. I had to explain that if she loves him like she says she does, then she cannot want to hurt him. Then she gets tender-hearted and hugs him and tells him she is sorry. She got so sad that she cried today, but I had to explain that he loves her and forgives her even if he can't tell her. It has made me tear up more than once to see her realize that she is hurting someone (I know it sounds cheesy, but I can't help it- I used to say the random tears were pregnant/nursing hormones, now what can I blame it on?) She really is sensitive, but I am hoping she will learn soon to not hurt him in the first place. The picture of him by the jumperoo kind of reminded me of Brandon's brother, Christopher. Some of Brandon's family has said that Blake looks like Christopher since birth, so I thought I would show this little glimpse that we saw. More and more people have been saying that Blake looks like Brandon lately- it is funny because we look at him and only see Blake!

How can Kate hurt this sweet face? :)

They Will Hate This Later...

"I will help you in."- Kate
"No thanks, I can do this myself."- Blake
I couldn't resist the bottom pictures. They couldn't wait for the water to fill up. Blake was dying to get in. He watched Kate hike her leg up and he thought he could do the same. They won't love these pictures later, but they made me laugh.


















Before the splashing began. They had a blast in the tub tonight. Brandon is on call tonight and it is sad when I use bathtime as an activity just to pass time until bedtime. I let them play until they were little prunes!

After the splash fest... all smiles (for Kate). Blake does love playing but sometimes he looks at me like- can you stop her from splashing me now?

Best Buddies

These kids crack me up! They are really enjoying each other these days. Kate gets a big kick out of playing with/torturing Blake, and he gets a kick out of all the attention. She loves dressing up- notice the nice dress over some pink play pants- and putting her dress up stuff on Blake too. If I hear her giggling and him whining, I know that she has put something on his head, and today it was her mesh laundry bag. She also wants to go with me to get him from naptimes, and I let her get in his crib to play and she pretended to put him "night night." He is doing his whiny face saying, "get her out of here." I really think this is getting more fun everyday. But, they are wearing me out. That Kate is something else. She just decided that she didn't want to sleep in her big girl bed last night and cried, screamed, and threw herself against her door until after midnight. She said she wanted to sleep in Mommy's bed- which she has NEVER done in her life- so I was not giving in. Until Brandon reminded me that the morning was coming sooner than we would like and we needed sleep, however we could get it. So she slept with us for the first time, and then today she got a night light so she would have no reason to be afraid, and she is quiet so far... fingers crossed. Anyway, sometimes I couldn't smile more because of them, and sometimes I want to sell them on Craigslist.