Don't Let Her Fool You

Just because Kate wears cute little pigtails and girly pink sneakers, it doesn't mean she can't be a tough little athletic girl. Just ask her playgroup buddies. Today, a bunch of the parents brought some bouncy balls for the kids to chase after, roll, and throw. There were plenty of balls of all sizes; but, of course, all of the kids fought over just a few. Katie was right in the midst of the melee, using her crawling speed and box-out abilities to win out on some of the balls. Did I mention that she was the only girl in the room? Yeah, yeah, we'll have to teach her to share later, but Mom was proud of her girl power today.

Here she is battling with Sam for the coveted beach ball. I think that Sam won this battle. He fared better than another little boy that Katie left crying in her wake.

One Small Step for Katie...

So, Katie finally took one little stumbling step on her own!! We were at playgroup yesterday when she was using me (Traci) to stand and cruise against. She really, really wanted to transfer from me to the heating register against the windows, but I wasn't paying any attention to her pleas for help. (Oops, was gabbing with another mom...) Finally, she just flung herself from one spot to another, with a little step in between. My friend and I just looked at each other and said, "Did you just see that?!?!" She has yet to replicate it, but it's a first! In this picture she is walking with the aid of her beloved walking toy. Thanks Uncle Bill, Aunt Maggie, Ben & Tom...she loves it so much that I have to hide it in the guest bathroom so that she isn't constantly banging into everything in the house.

Papal Express

Pope Benedict was in D.C. today. It was the first leg of his inaugural visit to the U.S. in his capacity as the Holy Father. Mike was lucky enough to work security for the "parade" route -- if that's what you call the Popemobile speeding down the road at 30 mph! This shot somehow miraculously came out, but by the time Mike looked up from the camera...the entire procession was gone. If only Mass was that quick!

Growing Up Fast

Kate and Traci met up with good friends Max (21 months) and Asa. It's been awhile since everybody got together, so it was fun to see the changes. Little Max is such an adventurous boy - climbing all over the playground equipment, running everywhere, throwing rocks into mud, etc. Katie tried to keep up by crawling, cruising, and (almost) walking. The kids had a lot of fun playing with each other. Alas, the playdate had to end when Katie almost fell asleep on the swings. It's just hard to keep up with mighty Max....

Katherine the First

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but we were off on a road trip to Raleigh, NC. Traci, Mike, and Kate visited some old friends, Katherine and Eric. Traci and this Katherine (not to be mistaken for a certain 15-month-old) were absolutely best friends growing up, before Katherine moved away from Brockway in 8th grade. We spent the weekend enjoying their fine hospitality and home-cooked meals and seeing the sights of Raleigh. But, the highlight of the weekend had to be the uncovering of an old 1989 VHS videocassette of Katherine's Brockway going-away party. Holy mullets and high hair, batman!!

On an unrelated note, a big congratulations goes out to the Notre Dame ice hockey team which lost in the national championship game this past weekend. Traci cannot believe how FAR this team has come since she managed years ago. That win over Michigan was SWEEEEET. Go Irish!

Swinging: Before & After

Before: Ahhhh, ain't life grand? The wind is blowing in my face, the birds are singing, I have no cares in the world. I even have my PUH (cup), so I can drink as I please. Seriously, can life get any better?

After: AHHHHHH - why Mommy why? You are not my friend anymore. I DON'T want to stop! Life stinks worse than my last diaper!! Why can't I swing forever? Why do I always have to go wherever Mommy and Daddy want me to go? You're not the boss of me!!!!

A Bit of a Mess

We've recently begun to allow Katie to feed herself with utensils and bowls. As you can see, she's getting the hang of things...but the result is a tad bit messy. (For some reason, Traci really gets grossed out by the sight of spilled food, so this is a tough teaching experience for her.) With her yogurt this morning, Kate rotated between actually using her spoon and just dipping her entire hand in the bowl. We think she definitely preferred the latter. We don't know when we'll be brave enough to move on to cereal with milk!

Once Upon a Time...

in a kingdom far, far away from her beloved grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many other buddies, lived a pretty little princess with a crown full of.....sausages???? These colorful whatchamacallits came in a tub of connecting toys that we recently bought for Kate. Her cousins figured out how to fashion her a crown of these weird shapes, and now she LOVES to crawl around everywhere with her beloved crown. Geesh - 15 months old and she already knows she rules the roost.

Jet Setter

What a great day! Since his real birthday was just another workday, Traci and Katie decided to surprise Mike and take him out to Gravely Point Park for the afternoon. The park is just north of Reagan National Airport and allowed Mike to endulge his fascination with airplanes for a couple of hours and relive the days of his childhood on Sundays at the Grand Rapids airport viewing area.

McDonalds?
Nope. Traci packed a picnic lunch which we spread on a blanket right under the flight path of DCA's north runway. Although her mom even got nervous at times, Katie seemed delighted by the sounds and loved pointing and shouting at the "bair-pay"s...
Between takeoffs, Katie enjoyed pointing out all the "balls" being thrown, kicked, and carried around the park. Mom, dad, and daughter all kicked Katie's little soccer ball around at one time or another.



Takeoff #26..."I'm tired of this fascination of yours, daddy! Let's go home and take a nap."

A two hour nap, an evening stroll, and a pasta dinner at "Generous George's" topped off a fantastic belated birthday.

Thanks girls...

Dinosaurs, Ball & K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're finally back!! As promised, we have included some great pictures from the cousin visit of last weekend. Just click on the photo album to the right for more. As for what the title of this blog entry means...Julian made up a song about everybody's favorite things of the weekend - dinosaurs (Nicholas), a brand-new planet ball (Julian), and a puzzle piece in the shape of the letter K (Katie, for her to chew on).