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.

Halloween preview

I found this shiny robe-like material on the Walmart clearance rack for $1.50 a yard, and I got myself a yard. Tonight I managed to sew a simple little robe for Cate and paired it with a white collared shirt (thanks, Aunt Chris). Add the scarf, borrowed from a student and the witch's hat (thanks, Nana), and I think she just might pass for a Griffindor student. Figured I better get a picture of the outfit now, b/c who knows how things are going to go Saturday night or if she'll even let us put this on her. We'll see!

Oh my gosh, is that Harriet Potter?

Rick's mom brought Cate up a little witch outfit for Halloween, and Cate really likes the hat. Now we're leaning toward dressing her up as a Hogwart's student for Halloween. The other night I found these Harry Potter glasses that Aunt Tish had given me a few years back after she was at a Harry Potter party. Cate put them on and gave us a big cheesy smile (this is what she does now when you ask her to smile).

Yesterday in class I was talking with some of my students about Halloween and mentioned we were going to go for a Potter theme for Cate. This morning, one of my students came into my room with an official Harry Potter Griffindor scarf that she is loaning us for Halloween! Now all we need is a black cloak for her to wear with her scarf.

The Nuk is a nice touch, don't you think? :)

Cate giving the smile while eating her Cheerios.

Rick has been having Daddy/Daughter days with one of his coworkers and one of our neighbors. Our neighbor James (above) was home on this day with their 8 mo. old, Nola, and Rick's coworker, Nick, has 10 mo. old, Olivia. On this particular day, the boys were hanging out at our house, eating Burger King and letting the girls play. James is showing great daddy technique to manage a burger while balancing a bottle. Ahh, the skills we parents acquire!!

Cate with all her grandparents

Last week, Rick's parents were up for a visit (and then his aunts were up just for two nights). We took his parents down to Five Islands- Mom, Cate, and I drove down while Rick took Dad and his parents by boat. We had a nice lunch on the dock on the final weekend it's open, and we got some rare pictures of the whole family together. Cate is angry in some of these pictures b/c we made her take her pacifier out of her mouth! :)

Enjoying the scenery!

More dancing

Perhaps you have seen the video that is circulating of a little baby "dancing" to Beyonce's single ladies song. It seems to have become an internet success, and I first saw it in an Anderson Cooper news clip.

Now, I don't mean to be a big party pooper here, but Cate has been dancing to this song since before this other baby was even born. Had I known there was such a demand for Beyonce-dancing babies, I would have put my own vids on You Tube. Anyways, I had to post a little recording of Cate dancing to the song, and I'll let you decide who is better!

New sweater and shoes

Two days ago Cate got a package in the mail from her Great Aunts Chris and Tish. They sent her a super adorable sweater set and a pair of pink and white polka dot ballet flats. The sweater has a dog on it, and the first thing Cate did was grab the sweater and kiss the dog! She also wore the shoes all over the house, which was extra funny since she's never worn that kind of slip on shoe before. I think she really liked them!

You'll have to excuse the red pants- awful combination with her new sweater and shoes, but she had to try everything on immediately, of course!

I spy a Moof

Every kid living in Maine knows what a moose is, and Cate is no exception. She has gotten good at spotting moose in her books, and she has several stuffed moose. The best part? She calls them "moof." I don't know why, but I think it's hysterical. I caught her saying it in the video below....

A Day with Cate

Great- Grandma Sprague- you'd be so proud! Above is Cate completely enthralled with an episode of Lawrence Welk. Rick stopped on this channel, and Cate sat mesmerized by the music. When a guest singer came out on stage, she went to the TV and started touching it.

Cate continues to love her babies- thanks to Gramma for helping develop that love. Heaven knows I wasn't much help when it came to playing with dolls! I think Cate is going to be a girly-girl. Notice that Dolly is wearing one of Cate's diapers. It's also not unusal to find dolls in Cate's high chair and wearing her bibs. :)

A moment of wild craziness (and we have a lot of these!)

Jumping up on the couch.

Being serious and trying not to smile.

Cate eats oatmeal most mornings for breaksfast. It's one of her favorites. This morning she had strawberries and cream, and she's gotten very good at feeding herself.
In addition to feeding herself, Cate now has a little potty chair that she's been using. I wouldn't say we're really trying to potty train, but toward the end of the summer, Cate started showing a lot of interest in us going the bathroom. In fact, I'd say sometimes she showed a little TOO much interest in us going to the bathroom (we'll just leave it at that!). So we decided to get her a potty chair to see what she'd do with it. Well, she loves to sit on her potty, and sometimes she takes a book with her. She has even peed on her potty- though now we have to work on her not jumping right up immediately and trying to reach in for it! But tonight after her bath she said, "Pee pee," and then sat on her potty. She tried to "push," then she jumped up and looked in- nothing. So she sat back down, and continued to repeat this process several more times. No post-bath pee pee tonight, but she seems to have a lot of fun trying!

And before you say, "Wow, she's so advanced," let me share one more story to bring it back down. The other evening I was starting to make dinner, and Zoe came out into the kitchen to get a drink out of her bowl. Cate stood there and watched her closely- she's fascinated with Zoe eating and drinking- and then Zoe left. Next thing I knew, I looked over and Cate was on her hands and knees, tongue out, about to lap water out of Zoe's bowl!!! Ugh!!! So, maybe we still have some things to work on! :)

Rick golfing

Last week Rick and several guys he works with went to Sunday River in western Maine to play golf. Sunday River may be better known for its major ski area, which is visible from the golf course. Anyways, they got some deal on green's fees early in the summer, and they finally went and played.

Rick getting ready to tee off.

What a view!! And the mountains were starting to get some color- more than we have down here at the coast.