Weekend Getaway!

This past weekend we went to Daytona to visit my parents and my grandma. Katie's request everyday leading up to our visit was to go to the beach. In this picture you will see my daughter enjoying 3 of her favorite things; the beach, her Pop Pop, and the birds. I loved this picture as soon as I saw it. There is just something special about it. Since I was mostly behind the camera I didn't get many pictures of myself with Katie, but here's the best one. Don't let the picture fool you it was freezing and so sunny my eyes were tearing the whole time. Although, no matter how much my eyes burned and my skin froze it was worth every second to see my little girl run around at the beach having so much fun.

This was Katie's usual route....straight to the water. It was in the low 70's and so windy, but nothing would keep her out of the water. Every chance she got she would run to the waves. We managed to keep her mostly dry, but I don't know how. My parents are so excited to spend time with Katie. They had as much fun as she did at the beach. That is also fun for me. I love seeing them play with her.

Up on Pop Pop's shoulders Katie was perched and she looked like an angel to me. The sky was a bright blue backdrop and the sun rays were shining so perfectly. My little girl looked so beautiful.

My Grandma was in the hospital for a couple days and was able to go home just before we arrived. It was nice to spend time with her. I love that she gets to see my precious little Katie in action. I know she loves seeing Katie's pictures, but spending time with Katie really seems to brighten her up. I wish we could do it more often, but I am thankful for the time we have. Katie really knows her Nana now and that relationship is priceless.

We had such a nice time visiting with Grammy and PopPop. We went to dinner and Katie did so great. I know she is 2 and there are tough moments, but she really is a good girl. I talked to a lady tonight who has a 6 year old and she was recalling the 2's and all she could say was how terrible it was. I know that when my little pumpkin is older I will never say that she was terrible at 2. That feels good inside. She amazes me everyday and even when I feel I am getting frustrated I still feel soooooo lucky to have her as my daughter.

Diaper Duty

Well, well, well......what do we have here? I think she needs a sibbling! She loves her babies and has enjoyed dressing and undressing them for months now. About a month ago she started the imaginary play stage with her babies. Recently, I found the baby bottles that have milk or juice in them and when you tip them the liquid disappears. Her only complaint is with the babies because they won't open their mouth! The diaper thing started a while back, but I was the one putting the diapers on and she took them off. Now she wants to put them on. Today she went and got a diaper from her closet and proceeded to put it on. I caught her on film just in time. She was so proud of her accomplishment. She has been a very busy little girl this week. She has enjoyed learning letter sounds, numbers, and sight words. I love that she is my little sponge. I guess its my elementary background, but I just love teaching her new things. I have been on the edge of my seat waiting until she would be ready for all this. There is a lot more fun to come each year and I don't want to rush it, but it is so fulfilling and exciting. We just started a little chart in her room. I put a few tasks on it that we do almost everyday; make bed, put jammies away, brush teeth, .....etc. I let her put a sticker next to the task each time she does it. Now some of this is for me to keep me accountable. It helps our morning routine flow...even on busy mornings! In addition to all the fun learning, my baby grew! Not too long ago..like a week or two Eliud and I measured her. I wanted to mark it on the wall and she was as tall as the chair rail. Since I couldn't mark that I just measured her and she was almost 34 inches. Then the other day she was leaning against the wall and she was taller than the chair rail! So, of course momma went and got the measuring tape out. She was almost 35 inches. It is hard to believe that she is almost 3 feet tall. Although, I believe it, she can reach just about anything on the counters now. She can also pull herself up on the potty without my help. It is amazing how fast they grow and change. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be her mom.

My parents, aka Grammy and Pop Pop, came into town for a little visit and we went to Chuck E. Cheese. Katie has been there before with Abuela, but this was a new experience for me. My child completely forgot her name once she walked in the door. She ran around and didn't look back. She put in the tokens, ripped off the tickets, played the games, and did not stop moving for about 2 hours. There were 4 adults to 1 kiddo and we were all exhausted. Now of course we played just as hard as she did, but still.....it was a challenge to keep up with little miss catch me if you can Katie!

Today we showed Grammy and Pop Pop our amazingly artistic side. We drew on the chalkboard. Katie was getting some practice making some alphabet letters. She got pretty good at the letter k and x. Grammy also showed how to make a smiley face!

The artsy fun did not end with the chalk. We decided to let her finger paint. Now this was my idea and since Katie had never done it before she has no idea what was involved. My little princess has a problem with being dirty or messy. I have not created this (at least I don't think I have). So, the finger painting did not go as planned....she had fun, but quickly whinned about the paint on her hands. At this point I decided to dig out the paint brushes I had from my classroom. After that a lot more paint ended up getting on the page. It is a rare case indeed when the mommy encourages finger painting and the 2 year old declines because its too messy! Our next finger painting session will be with pudding. I read this great idea of using vanilla pudding as the base. You just add food coloring to it and put small amounts of each color on their high chair. Maybe the mess will be okay since she can lick her fingers clean!!!!! I will be sure to post the pictures!

My budding new artist!

Katie Likes It!!!!

Over the past few weeks my little picky eater has discovered a few new foods to love. Here she is enjoying her jello. She's had jello before, but not like this.....whipped cream...........mmmm! She loved it and kept asking for more after taking a few bites. I think she may even enjoy just eating a bowl of whipped cream.....okay so who wouldn't? Whipped cream up your nose is the best!

Another new love is cereal. Last week I gave Katie a little bowl filled with Cocoa Pebbles and I put milk on it for the first time. At first she looked at it and wasn't quite sure, but after one bite she said, "more.......pleeease mommy?" So, of course she had another little bowl.......and then another! She did really good about not making a huge mess. I was completely prepared for the mess which is why I introduced the new breakfast choice. This is now her favorite morning option. She rubs her sleepy little eyes in the morning and looks at me with her cute little head cocked to one side and says, "Mommy....Katie have cereal for breakfast?...." We were all set until I introduced Fruity Pebbles....

Katie likes it!!!!

Uncle Edgar and Aunt Rochel (who love their cereal) will be so proud!