More of Cate sleeping!

I just got this picture from Cate's daycare today. She NEVER naps at daycare, but today she slept for a whole hour!!!!! Look at this cuteness. I'm overwhelmed!

Cate & Puppy

Cate has this blue and white puppy that was a gift from her great-grandma Sprague, and she sleeps with it every night (along with the Taggies blanket from Aunt Kathy & Uncle Larry- look closely; it's underneath her). I took this picture of her a couple of nights ago, because she's just so cute. When I go in to check on her before going to bed, she's always curled up with an arm around Puppy. I had to go get the camera, because my heart just skips when I look at her. So adorable. And on a side note-- look at that hair coming in!

Usually Puppy stays in bed when Cate gets up, but sometimes, especially if she's still tired, Puppy comes downstairs to hang out with her for a while.

In other news, we're already under a winter storm watch for Wednesday, with early snowfall estimates of another 8-12 inches. Considering how it looks out front right now, I'm not sure where all that snow will go! Stay tuned...

Welcome to Our Home!

So, we got some snow today here in Maine. I think we got about a foot, but it was a really light, powdery snow, so it was blowing around a bit. Rick is at work today, so I knew it would be a big snowfall. For whatever reason, the big snows ALWAYS come on Rick's workdays. I can't tell you how many snow days I've spent home alone, or how many times I've snow-blowed the driveway myself (well, not since Cate was born!) :)

We did have a good day, and I took both Cate and Zoe out in the snow, with Cate in the sled. Ok, so I tried hooking Zoe up to the sled to make her pull it. It was pretty funny. I wish I had a picture, but I didn't dare let go of Zoe to snap a shot, or Cate would have been rolling down the road. Anyways, the below picture is the "before" shot of the above picture. Usually, since we live on a quiet street, it's not bad being this close to the street. This is really the only time it's bad- as you can probably tell. I did just come in from outside. I love to be the first to tromp around in un-shoveled snow, and I figured I'd shovel off the deck, steps, front walk, and driveway entry (whew, that was a tough one). That should at least make it a little easier for Rick to snow blow in the morning when he gets home.

This is the end of our driveway after I tried to shovel it out. Do you see the fence and the parking sign??? This pile is close to five feet high.

The picnic table.

Cate and Zoe warming up inside after sledding. Notice Cate's new slippers!!! :)

Cate's First Birthday!

So Cate turned ONE on January 16. I can't say we had party tents and pony rides. In fact, the most memorable part of the day will probably be the temperature (we woke up to -12 degrees). For a moment I felt a little guilty that we didn't plan a big shin-dig for her, but it did seem kind of silly since she'll never remember it. We'll save the big party for when she can really enjoy it! Plus truthfully, we couldn't figure out what to do or who to invite- neighbors, work friends, only friends with other small children- and we didn't want all these people to feel obligated to come bearing gifts. We just couldn't decide. So in the end, we decided to have a nice evening celebrating with our good friends John and Julie. We had them over for dinner, cake, and ice cream, and a good time was had by all.

The Cake

Cate actually ended up with two birthday cakes. When I went to the grocery to pick out a cake, they had a sign that said "Baby's 1st Birthday Cake, Free!" So I inquired, and they offer a small, single layer cake for free. But I wasn't sure if that would be enough (read: I wasn't sure if there would be enough for leftovers), so I got another cake too. So we had one chocolate and one gold.



At first, Cate seemed to really like the cake part of her birthday, and she liked the candle. Daddy had to help with the blowing out part though.

This was the freebie cake and the one Cate ended up trying (and grabbing).

The Reaction to the Cake

Cate quickly grabbed on to the edge of the cake and pulled it to her, getting a big handful of icing. She smushed it around in her hands, and then realizing it was sticking, she burst into tears. Tears over icing!!! At this point, I paused briefly to question if she really was my daughter. Anyways, we got it wiped off of her, and she did settle down enough to enjoy the cake part, but she still just wasn't too sure about that icing.

Presents!!!

John and Julie got Cate several very nice gifts- an outfit, new nesting blocks, and a music box with spinning giraffes (or "spotted deer" as the box says!). Cate really enjoys the blocks. They are Eric Carle blocks (Very Hungry Caterpillar guy), and each block has an animal on it and a number, and all the animals have something touchy-feely on them. Right now we're enjoying stacking them up and knocking them over.



Cate's big present from Mommy and Daddy is going to be new carseat(s), but obviously we wanted to have something for her to open, so she got these fun terry cloth tub toys. I then totally forgot to take them upstairs with us at bath time, so we'll have to try them out tonight.

Also, the outfit Cate is wearing is from Gr. Grandma Sprague. It fits her well with room to grow! Thanks, Grandma!

1 Year & 1 Day - The Morning After

Last night after John and Julie left and Cate had gone to bed, our neighbor Steve called and said he had a birthday present for Cate. He brought it over for her and visited with us for a bit. Cate discovered her new present immediately this morning, and got right to work checking it out. It's this blow up, weeble-wobble penguin with balls in its belly, and it plays music and giggles when it rocks. Cate likes it, and we're glad the music and giggling isn't obnoxious. :) Thanks, Steve!

This picture is from the other night when Cate got her new pair of Robeez from Gr. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Larry. They are red with monkeys on them- super cute- though it looks like Cate sometimes forgets where shoes are supposed to go.

This was also from the other night. Cate tried spaghetti WITH sauce for the first time. Though it did end up in her hair, she got quite a bit in her belly too. I guess her Italian side is showing.

Cate tries out her sled

Cate got this sweet old-school sled from Gr. Aunt Tish, Gr. Uncle Tom, Gr. Aunt Chris, and Gr. Uncle Charlie for Chistmas. It's really neat, and since we got about 6 inches of powder last night and this morning, we decided to go outside and take it for a spin before the street got all plowed up.

It was only about 15 degrees, so we didn't stay outside too long - just a few trips up and down the street.

Here are Cate and Daddy in front of our house.

Cate really seemed to enjoy herself, and we were impressed how well this little sled moved through the snow. We're going to have fun with this this winter. Now if we can only figure out a way to rig up a harness for Zoe.....

Sign Language?!

For Christmas, Cate got the Baby Signing Time video (Vol. 1), since we wanted to teach her some signs. After trying to watch the video a few times, I was afraid it may have all been a waste, since Cate is not really interested in sitting still to watch a video (M- I'm envisioning something similar to Sophie in Circle Time- haha). I guess we don't have to worry about Cate becoming a TV-watching couch potato anytime too soon.

Well, the other night at dinner, we were enjoying some of Rick's homemade mac 'n cheese, and we (shockingly) got Cate to sign more. More mac 'n cheese. Ahhh, a girl after my own heart!! See for yourself!!

Now having watched this, do you think it looks like we're training a dog?? That was my first thought upon reviewing the video. Oh, well, it seems to be working. :)

Birthday present!

Last night Cate got a birthday present in the mail from Aunt Laurie and Uncle Zach. She seemed to want to open it, so we figured, what the heck. She doesn't know it's not really her birthday (yet!).



They sent her a doll that came with two outfits. The best part, however, was probably the pacifier that was attached to the one outfit. Cate enjoyed pulling the pacifier out of the baby's mouth and then I had to put it back in. This went on for quite a long time.

This morning she got her baby back out and carried her around for a while. Oh, the other part of their gift was the card- one of those types that plays music when you open it. Apparently that was Uncle Zach's idea, since he knows how much Cate likes to boogie. And that's exactly what she did!! Thanks, Aunt Laurie and Uncle Zach!!

Stepping into the New Year!

First, I just wanted to post a few pictures of Cate wearing an early birthday present from Gr. Aunt Diane and Gr. Uncle Jim. Isn't the vest fabulous? Anyways, Aunt D., just wanted you to see her in it! Thanks! It fits her perfectly.

So back when Cate started crawling, I remember writing that it was as though she woke up that morning and said, "Hmmm, I think I'll crawl today." Well, we've had a similar event occur, but this time it is walking. Now she's been standing on her own for weeks, and she's taken a couple of shaky steps here and there but no true walking. Then yesterday, she just started walking. That's it. Off she went, like it was no big deal. I don't know if she thought, "Gosh, it's the last day of 2008. What else do I want to add to my year's list of accomplishments? Oh, right. Walking. Ok then, here we go."

So here's some video of Cate walking....