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.