Ok, this video is just for flat-out bragging purposes

Here she is, counting to five on her own. Please give us a moment to puff our chests full of parental pride!

Gymnastics

This past Thursday, Cate finished up her last week of gymnastics. We finally remembered to take the camera, so here are some highlights and videos. You can probably tell that one of her favorite things to do is just run and jump and dive all over the place. But she does work on some skills in between the wild moments!

Above, working on balance on the high beam. Below, walking on the low beam.

Running around.

More running around. There's lots of running. I think the end of class is one of the few times we ever see her yawn!

Video of her running around like a crazy woman.

Practicing on the low balance beam.

The bars- Cate's favorite!

Chrissy and Counting

As I promised, here's a video of Cate saying "Chrissy," for her Aunt Chrissy, of course!!

While we're at it, here she is counting to five. Ok, so there was a little prompting, but she does know "2." Anytime she sees two of something, she yells, "TWO!!" Although, just the past few nights, during bath time, she's started putting the shampoo and body wash bottles on the edgeof the tub and counting them to three. It's not always perfect, but she is getting good at it!

We're also making some headway with colors. She's great with yellow. Everything that is yellow gets called yellow. But the other night, she brought us her yellow block and said yellow, so we started asking her to bring us other colors of blocks, and she brought us every color we asked for! I guess she really is learning them.

Oh, and are you wondering why she turned around at the end of each video? It's b/c I promised her if she said what I wanted her to say, I would let her look at the pictures and videos on the camera!! :)

This one's for Aunt Diane...

We recently pulled some of Cate's Christmas books to the front of the shelf, and this Mickey Mouse Christmas book (a present from Aunt Diane and Uncle Jim last year), has quickly become a favorite. I think b/c she's really into mice right now! Tonight, I asked her what the book was about and who gave her the book. Here's what she had to say about that.....

I promise we will continue to work on names of other family members! Cate pretty much has Chrissy down. That will be our next one! Promise!! XO

Mommy & Daddy's first overnighter

On November 24th, Rick and I celebrated our 8th anniversary, and we decided with Cate nearly two years old and Mom and Dad nearby, we were ready to attempt a night away, just the two of us. That's right, in almost the two years since Cate arrived, we have not spent a single night away from her! It was time. So we made reservations for just one night at the Hartstone Inn (www.hartstoneinn.com) in Camden- probably my very favorite harbor town, about an hour north of Bath. We were actually in their "Hideaway House," pictured above (we were the room where the porch and flag are), as opposed to the main inn, which was just a block away. Hartstone came at the recommendation of two of my very good girlfriends from school, who have both stayed there with their hubbies and loved it.
The Hartstone is known for their gourmet food and cooking classes, as the (husband) owner is a trained chef, so dinners at the inn are crazy expensive and full of foods we've never even heard of (like, what the heck is "duck confit?") I'm still not sure what part of the duck that is, or what they've done to the duck, so Rick and I, with our simple tastes, walked down the street (in the light snow!) into the village to one of our favorites- Cappy's Chowder House (www.cappyschowder.com), where, for a mere $30 including tip, we had a fabulous and familiar dinner. :) However, we can't complain about our breakfast at the inn- we had these pears with a blueberry sauce and something else creamy-ish, plus cumin-spiced bacon, and a french toast with a granola crunch covering with sliced bananas and whipped cream, and a peach-berry juice. All very delicious!!!

It was also Christmas by the Sea weekend in Camden, so there was lots going on, and with it snowing on Saturday night, and all the Christmas lights glowing, and the star on top of Mt. Battie shining down over the village and harbor, it just felt like a quintessential New England Christmas. It was really a perfect weekend, and we really appreciated a little time to ourselves!!

As for our little Cate? Apparently she never even asked about us. Oh, and she slept in until 8:30 Sunday morning. Hmmm. I'm not sure if I should be thankful or jealous. :)
The above "tree" of lobster traps and buoys was not in Camden but in Rockland, just south of Camden. Couldn't help but stop and snap a picture of this!

First snow and our Christmas tree

Saturday night while Rick and I were away, we got our first, real, shovel-able snow. While we were traveling home from Camden, Mom, Dad, and Cate went outside to clean up. This year, I think Cate's really going to enjoy the snow. Since Sunday, every time we go outside, Cate pinches a little snow with her bare fingers and says, "Cold."

Cate making snowballs.

When we got home Sunday, we all went out to Hummer's Tree Farm in north Bath and cut down our tree.
As of tonight (Tuesday), it's in the house, it has lights and beads, but it's still not decorated. If we have a snow day tomorrow, that will be the project!

Home improvements

Well, we've officially taken our house off the market for the winter, with hopes of starting fresh in the spring. However, we have recently made a few changes that we now wish we would have made about 6 years ago. Our old kitchen countertop was a lovely white with gold fleck. This past week, we put in this black/brown/green stone-looking countertop that really gives an old kitchen a little "pow!" We're really happy with it!

Our attic room (aka- the in-law suite), also was in desperate need of an update. Some of the paneling needed to be retacked, the carpet needed to be stretched, the trim needed some work, and it all needed a good painting- it's been a flat white since we moved in, and it was kind of scuffed up then! So we had the carpet stretched and retacked, we cleaned it, we fixed the paneling and trim, we painted (the walls are a light blue/gray, and the chimney and closet doors are a shade darker blue/gray), and we put up new curtains and rods. It really looks so much better, and Mom and Dad are pleased that we've fixed it up just in time for them to move back in! :)

General Silliness

Cate got ahold of her Nana's reading glasses while they were up visiting, and she seemed to get a real kick out of wearing them.

Ahh, yes, she continues to "smile" for the camera.

Gramma and Papou got her this knit sweater and hat at a Christmas fair in Phippsburg. Papou thoroughly enjoyed asking Cate, "What's on your sweater?" to which she would emphatically reply, "Boat!"

All of that constant activity can eventually wear a girl out!! A rare moment of calmness caught on film.....

Waiting for the arrival of Nana and Papa

Rick's parents came up for Thanksgiving (though we're doing our meal tomorrow since Rick is working today), and I guess the anticipation was too much for Cate to handle. I was up in the attic putting the finishing touches on our paint (we did an attic room makeover- I'll have to take pics of that soon), and I could hear Cate running around downstairs. At one point, I realized that I wasn't hearing her (or Rick), so I went downstairs for a peek and found both of them asleep in the chair. Cate rarely sits still long enough to fall asleep on our laps, so when she does, we cherish the moment!

This morning, we had on the Macy's day parade, and Cate took quite an interest in the Sesame Street float. She plopped right down on the floor to watch.
A goodnight hug tonight for Papa. What a lucky little girl to spend Thanksgiving with all four of her grandparents!!

A hike on Hermit Island in Phippsburg

Last Sunday, Rick was working, so Cate and I went down to Mom and Dad's place, and then we all went a little further down the road to Hermit Island, near Small Point beach in Phippsburg. Hermit Island hosts a very large campground that's very busy all summer, but this time of year, it's open for hiking and walking and biking and horseback riding, etc. I put Cate in the carrier, and off we went. Obviously, from the above picture, Cate was affected by either the abundance of fresh salt air or the rhythmic swaying of the backpack. She was a good little trooper!


The below sign we saw on one of the bathhouses as walked one of the campground roads. #1 under the "do not" list made us laugh, b/c it was a strong reminder that we're definitely not in Ohio anymore. Don't wash WHAT!?!?! :)




We found some hidden little sand beaches on our walk around the island. Never did see another soul back in the woods or on these beaches, though there were a few footprints and TONS of deer tracks. I think we even spooked a few deer in the woods, which I think spooked Mom a bit too! :)

Head Beach in the background.

Pigtails

When I picked Cate up at daycare last week, they were outside playing on the playground. So then we went inside, and one of the ladies said, "Take off her hat and check out what we did!" I pulled off the hat and, voila! Pigtails!! I was shocked! I didn't know she had enough hair to do that, and she really looked like a little girl. I'm still not sure how they managed to get them in, b/c Lord knows she pitched a fit when I had to take them out, but they were so cute. Sorry I couldn't get any really good straight on pictures.

Yep. She's smiling for the camera. :)

Just playing with the laptop

Last night Cate and I were playing with my laptop since she loves it and since I discovered that Mac Photo Booth also does videos. It took a bit to get her past the fact that she was seeing herself in live time on the screen, and you may notice a few times she says her own name. I think she was just responding to her own moving, talking image. So here are a couple of videos we made.

And isn't this sweet?

Cate starts gymnastics

I wish I had pictures to share, but I'm afraid that will have to be for another time. I did, though, have to share about Cate's first night at gymnastics. A few weeks ago, I came home from work and Rick said he and Cate had gone to the Y that day and signed up for preschool (ages 2-5) gymnastics. Of course, I, the rule follower, immediately said, "But she's not two yet! We're going to get kicked out!" To which Rick said, "I think we'll be fine. Look at what she does already."

So off we went last night for one hour of gymnastics. Luckily, we quickly paired up with another mom and dad who had a little boy who wasn't turning two until December, so we figured we were ok. There was another two year old, but he seemed much more advanced than Cate or Nat (her new little friend), so I don't know if he was 2.5 or closer to 3, but the three of them (and us parents) were all put in a group together.

Over the course of the hour, we rotated through several stations- first, cartwheels. HA! Seriously. The leaders seemed a bit off last night, but the usual teacher was out sick, so there were some teenage helpers, who obviously weren't up on their 2 year old developmental studies. Listening to this 14 year old try to explain to Cate and Nat, who were paying no attention, how to do a cartwheel was a riot. The other mom and I finally politely explained to her that they had no idea what she was asking of them and said, "Can we just let them jump off the mat?", which they did, and which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Then it was on to the bars, which were loaded up with mats below so that they could stand on the mats, reach up, and grab the bar. The teacher at that station then held on to them and helped them swing on the bar, then push themselves up on the bar. Cate loved this part, and each time she pushed up on the bar (then above even our heads), she got a big smile and would say, "Hi!"

Third station was the rope climb. Once again- HAHA!! The young guy at that station also took the "way over their heads" approach to explaining the rope climb, to which we had to say, "Yeah, they're not going to get that." So he then climbed the rope to let them watch him, and Cate stared in awe (ok, and so did I) as he climbed hand over hand (not even using his feet or legs!) up to the ceiling and back down. I then said to Cate, "Ok, now do you want to try?" And she took off running over to the rope and dove onto the mat. He held her feet, and I held her middle, and she sort of "climbed" up the rope a little. She seemed amused by all of it. As we left that station, the guy apologized and said, "I usually work with older kids. Guess I need to read up on 2 year olds!"

The final station was somersaults. They had a wedge mat, and this was definitely one the 2 year olds could do. Cate is already good at putting her head on the ground and her bum in the air, so the tuck and roll part came easily.

Overall, I think Cate had a great time. I was afraid she might hang on my leg the whole time, but she quickly took to running all around. The spongy floor seemed to invite rolling, flailing, bouncing, jumping, and the like. There were lots of smiles and laughter, even if she couldn't do a cartwheel or climb the rope.

Perhaps another week we can get some pictures!

Halloween 2009

So with only a little fighting, we managed to get Cate into her "Harriet" Potter costume last night. Amazingly, she left everything on- hat, glasses, scarf, for the whole trip around the neighborhood. She seemed a little unsure at first, but then when she discovered that at each door people put a bowl of candy in her face, she really started to dig Trick or Treat!

Cate, Gramma, and Rick heading up the street. We left Papou on the porch to hand out candy.

Upon coming back home, Papou helped Cate open up her pack of mini Oreos. Those were a big hit.

And Dad, in his typical jokester style, decided to be Harry Papou.

Are you sick of Cate dancing yet?

We never get sick of Cate dancing, so here's more of it! Rick put on Taylor Swift (Cate's current fave) after a near total meltdown caused by not being able to have a "ball" (see next post for explanation). Music is almost always a great distraction for her when she gets a little out of control.

Dancing to Taylor Swift (Part 1)

Dancing to Taylor Swift (Part 2)

A cupboard raid for Tootsie Pops

So I had a bag of Tootsie Pops for Halloween, and Rick and a friend broke into the bag early. Rick made the mistake of letting Cate have a lick, and we know that Cate has quite a sweet tooth. Well, when I got home from school and went to get a snack out of the cupboard, Cate immediately started whining, "Ball, ball, ball," and I finally figured out that she wanted a lollipop (ball on a stick, right?). Well, I wasn't about to give her a lollipop, and luckily, Rick had hidden them at that point, but they had originally been in the snack cupboard. So I watched as Cate proceeded to empty out the entire cabinet in search of the "ball." No success, but I give her credit for really getting in there for a good look.

Cate and Daddy's before bed snuggle

The other night, Rick went and crawled into bed about the same time I was putting Cate to bed (Cate wasn't up late- Rick was just going to bed early, after working the night before!). So when Cate came out of the bathroom after her bath, I told her to go down to our room and say goodnight to Daddy. She promptly climbed (with help) up into our bed and made herself comfortable.

Cate and Daddy working on their silly picture smiles.

Finally I got Cate out from under the covers and told her to say goodnight to Zoe.

A hug for Zoe (who was photographed mid-yawn; kind of creepy!)

And, of course, a hug and kiss for Daddy.