Ever wonder what 22 in. of snow on a picnic table looks like?

Cate's Second Birthday

Hard to believe today was Cate's second birthday. We had a lunch party with several of our neighbors, friends, plus Mom, Dad, and Sheila. Two of Cate's good little friends, Nola and Olivia were there, and the three of them managed to completely trash the house in a couple short hours. But it was really nice, and I think Cate had a good time.

Below, Cate "feeds" Olivia some pretend lunch. So much fun for Cate having real live "baby dolls" who open their mouths. Olivia- not so impressed that there wasn't any actual food on the end of that spoon.

Cate with her new doll from neighbor Steve.

Rick and I got her a tricycle, and she spent today trying to ride it around the house. It was a balmy 45 degrees, and we really should have taken it outside, but after the party she went right down for a nap, and we never did make it outside before dark. Maybe we'll try it out tomorrow.



Couldn't help but dig up this picture from her 1st birthday. Compare that to the picture below it. Think she's grown up a bit? Amazing what a difference a year makes.

Trying to blow out the candle.

Mail arrived as the party was ending, and it including her gift box from Nana and Papa Davis. They included this princess tiara with bracelets, which paired with her princess skirt and wand made for quite a look.

With the Tiara on backwards, she loaded up her trike basket with her new Ugly Doll from Nola. I think all she needed was a leather Harley jacket and she'd be ready to ride.

Overall, a great day. Tonight during bath, Cate and I discussed her goals for this year. We agreed, by her third birthday.... big girl underwear. :) But it is amazing how much she "accomplished" in only a year- from unsteady walking to running, jumping, and gymnastics, from no hair to a respectable amount (though still mullet-ish), from virtually no words to a vocabulary growing by the day, from not sleeping through the night to ... oh wait, well, ok, so some things still aren't quite perfect. But we're getting there! Can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Our wintry weekend

It started snowing on New Year's Eve, and it snowed for three days. By yesterday morning, we had about 6 inches on the ground, and then the Nor'easter that went through last night dropped about another 10. So we woke up this morning to a truly winter wonderland- and a big mess. :) But I love it!! Above was Cate outside yesterday playing in the snow (before the additional foot of snow). We also pulled her in the sled up and down the street, joined at times by her little neighbor friend, Nola, who was in her sled.

So what does a two year old do on snowy days?? How about chillin' in Mom and Dad's bed watching Animal Planet....
Or reading books to Zoe.....
Or playing dress up in her fairy princess costume.....
Or playing more in the snow!!!

This was the snow we woke up to this morning. Rick used the snowblower and Dad helped with the shovel. It was also so windy last night, so there were drifts everywhere. Zoe can almost walk straight off the porch and into a giant pile of snow. She has to bound through the backyard now to chase squirrels. Good thing she's a big dog, or she'd be lost!!

Christmas in PA

Two days after Christmas, we headed down to Pennsylvania for Christmas with Rick's family. Sunday we arrived at his parent's house in Dauphin where we opened presents and had a big meal with everyone. Nana's favorite gift to Cate was her fairy princess skirt and wand. Cate didn't leave it on very long that day, but she spent part of today spinning around in it!

Below is Great-Nana Davis with her two fave great-grandchildren- Cate and Barrett. This was also our first time meeting Barrett, who was born in August to Chrissy (Rick's sister) and her hubby Nate.

We spent a couple of nights in Phoenixville with Chrissy, Nate, and Barrett (or Baby Bear, as Cate called him). Cate loved Barrett, as he was pretty much just like a doll baby, but he moved and ate and made noise. Below, she's giving him a hug.

Daddy and Cate. Notice Cate's not quite as excited to hold still for a picture.

We also went to Aunt Tish and Uncle Tom's house in West Chester for lunch and presents and more fun. They had lots of neat Christmas things that Cate thoroughly enjoyed checking out while I tried to make sure she didn't break any of them. :) But we had a great visit, and hopefully we can get back to visit again soon- and maybe pet those horses next door. :)

Below, Tish and Tom with Barrett.

Aunt Chris feeding Barrett, and Cate "helping."

Cate got to hold the Baby Bear, which was all fun and games until he tried to take her Nuk (aka pacifier). After that, she tried to drop him like 3rd period French.

Hanging out with Aunt Chrissy, and Cate trying to get her to hand over that baby bottle so Cate could help feed Barrett.
Barrett- the perfect baby. Rick and I left feeling a little jealous and angry that Barrett is so good. Literally, they just set him down or hold him or put him on his play mat or wherever, and he just hangs out. Occasionally he lets out a little cry that lasts for about a nanosecond, and then it's over. So unfair. It reminded us once again how we were cheated out of the nice baby experience. Oh well. I've convinced myself that Cate's outrageously fussy babyhood was just a sign of her genius that will some day make her famous and make us rich. hahaha!! :)

But really, Barrett is a doll, and we can't wait to get back and see him again!!

Christmas Day 2009

Christmas morning Cate woke up a little less rashy and in a pretty good mood. Rick picked up Sheila on his way home from work, and she joined all of us for Christmas morning. Above, Cate is checking out her very own digital camera that will, hopefully, be indestructible AND just as cool as Mommy and Daddy's.

Fish from the Christmas stocking. Delicious at 8am! :)

Cate sitting in her new sled (which we will probably be able to try out after our major snow storm we're expecting tomorrow), wearing her new slippers, and holding her vacuum (which is from a housekeeping set from Gramma and Papou. Now, if only her love of cleaning continues through her teenage years....

The crazed look below can only be brought on by one thing. Can you guess?? Dancing, of course! Great-grandma Sprague included a Christmas card with her gift to Cate, and it was one of those music-playing cards. We may be the first to find out how many times those cards work before they die.

And below is Cate dancing to the card. Sorry, we never get sick of watching her dance. Seriously, it never gets old. Well, to us anyways!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve just wasn't the same this year. Rick was working and Cate was sick- she broke out in a crazy, itchy rash all over. No fever, though she had had a really runny nose for the few days prior and we had taken her in to the dr. b/c she kept saying "Ear hurt." She didn't have an ear infection, but her throat was red. Strep test was negative. So the pediatrician figured it was just a viral thing (rash included) and would need to run its course. Anyways, we (Cate and I) didn't go to church, though Mom and Dad went to a later service. I had to settle for reading the Christmas story out of the book of Luke before bed. But it just wasn't the same!

Before Cate went to get ready for bed, Mom found some Christmas songs and videos on You Tube for Cate to listen to. As you might expect, the "peppy" Christmas songs (and the Chipmunk's Christmas) got the highest ratings. Below, she's watching with Mom.

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