18 Months

I cannot believe just how incredibly blessed we are ... what a wonderful place to be in life! Our incredible little Katelyn is a big 1 1/2 year old TODDLER, and I am almost 16 weeks pregnant with our 2nd little one. I cannot imagine being any happier with how our little family is growing - God is SO Good!

Our special day began in the typical way ... Katie woke up with a smile on her face and the sounds of happy chatter from her crib waking me. She is still nursing 2 times a day so 1st thing when she wakes this is pretty much the expectation; however 2 scrambled eggs and toast follow shortly thereafter for Katie's real breakfast. She often goes to her high chair and attempts to climb it or grabs her bib to let me know she's starving and ready to eat! She can say eggs, wa-wa (water) and food but usually she just grabs her fish (another word she can say) bib to inform me she's ready.

After breakfast, playtime begins ... sometimes she says "Dora" and walks over to the TV. I'm not a huge fan of starting our day like this, but I have to admit sometimes I give in. She absolutely LOVES Dora ... really, everything Dora interests her - not just the videos (Dora yogurt, Dora fruit snacks, Dora gift wrap, Dora t-shirts ... all of these things have caused us to have to stop shopping and take a moment to be admired during the past 6 months). So, most days our playtime begins with a conversation that goes like this: Katie "Dora, yes" Me "Dora, No" Katie "yes, yes Dora" Me "later, no Dora now" sometimes this results in frustration but often something else catches her eye and she's off and running (literally running) to the next activity of the day.

Katie LOVES letters about as much as she loves Dora! She will sit and "read" books to herself for at least 45 minutes at a time, and I don't think she will ever walk away if I am reading to her. She also received a LeapFrog phonics toy from her Aunt Cathy and Uncle John for Christmas, and it could not have come at a better time! She has spent hours and hours entertaining herself with that toy ... both the correct way by changing out the letters and pressing the button to hear their sounds and taking each of the magnetic letters (I keep in a basket near the refrigerator) and tossing them over her shoulder for the sole purpose of scattering them across my kitchen floor. Any large sign (in particular Starbucks) will catch her attention when we are out about town and she will begin to sound out the letters she sees. This often amazes those paying enough attention to notice what she is actually doing!

*Side note, today she astounded an entire class of 6th grade students by doing this in one of my former coworker's classrooms while we were visiting.

Katie also enjoys digging around in the only kitchen cabinet I will allow her to play in ... the Rubbermaid / Gladware storage container one. Yes, if you eat leftovers at my house most likely the container has not been washed since the last time it was played with ... my feelings, Katie germs are not really infectious. At the moment she is actually standing with one foot inside one of these containers ... have to admit, I don't really see it as dirty under these circumstances either. Okay, well she plays with a ton of other real toys too. She has a rocking horse that she rides several times a day for short periods, a doll house whose furniture is never in the actual rooms even though I often arrange it all nicely after she goes to bed, a toy called Sillytown that can distract her from almost any Dora video obsessed moment, and a Tupperware shape sorter with 10 shapes she can fit completely without help. Katie also enjoys her train table in the basement playroom and likes to play with Duplo Legos but mostly only if I will play with her.

For lunch she usually eats something I can make quickly. Often this includes some type of leftover pasta from one of those pre-played-with storage containers. Sometimes, like today, it's just a hot pretzel from the Target snack shop with a banana and goldfish crackers. It is only in the last month that Katie has become legitimately interested in real food. What a rough road that has been, and I take full responsibility being so worried about the horrible gagging noises she would make and focusing on nursing as a wonderful form of weight loss for myself ... really, I just didn't encourage eating real food for a long time. Once I discovered I was pregnant I knew that needed to change! Katie is healthy and fortunately her nutrition hasn't suffered from my lack of encouragement in this area.

Katie is a big girl weighing 30 pounds and standing at 37 inches tall! She wears 24 month clothes (although I think we're really close to needing some 2T stuff) and size 8 gym shoes. Basically she looks like a healthy 2.5 - 3 year old. My OB doctor (who did not deliver Katelyn) made some statement about her being 2 and 1/2 this week. So, even to the trained eye she is a pretty grown up looking kid. Although, even with a vocabulary above normal (30-50 words) you would be able to tell immediately with conversation just how young she really is. Her gibberish is adorable but she expects everyone to truly understand what she is saying. Most sentences are a long string of gibberish with real understandable words thrown in between. With my Mommy powers I can usually piece it together, but sometimes even I am totally lost!

Katie can recognise numbers 1-9 and repeat them; however for some reason she hates poor #7 and will intentionally skip from six to eight. Her favorite number is 2 and this works out well since that age is only six short months away. What I still cannot believe is that just days before my baby Katelyn turns 2 she will become a Big Sister! For now I am savoring my Katie and Mommy alone days and enjoying my sweet almost-big girl. I KNOW she will be a great big sister, but there is a part of me that is already mourning our special alone time that I know will be gone all too quickly. I overheard Joe talking to Katie about the "baby party" they are going to have. When I asked him about it he told me about all his plans to play with Katie and spend special alone time with her when the baby comes and I will need to play with the baby. It really gave me so much peace to see how much my husband loves our little girl and to know he is already anticipating this change and Katie's needs!

Our afternoons usually consist of a 1-3 hour nap for Katelyn while I try to catch up on housework or work-out in the newly finished basement family room. When she wakes, if I leave her long enough to wake slowly, all is wonderful and she gets up again with a smile ready to play. If I prematurely arouse her from slumber, we move directly into Dora videos and within 5 minutes she is back to her happy self. I attempt to create something that resembles a suitable dinner and Katie entertains herself or gets into things she shouldn't ... depending on the day. Really, she's a very obedient child and works hard to follow directions and listen to her parents. We are so incredibly blessed to have Katelyn in our lives!

Some portion of dinner usually gets eaten correctly with a fork and she's awesome with a sippy cup. She prefers to use her hands and loves pizza (another word she can say) just like her Mommy and Daddy! She just picks up square cut pieces of pizza like the rest of us and takes bites. This meal, although a favorite, is always followed by a bath. In fact, any red sauce meal usually qualifies for bath night. This is a treat for Katie since she still loves being in water! Rarely does she stand up in the tub anymore ... she has learned that standing results in 1 warning and then immediate removal from the bath. She can squat/duck walk from one end of the tub to the other to retrieve toys - it's adorable! She loves blowing bubbles in the water (which she learned how to do in December), unfortunately she still likes to drink the bathwater and repeatedly I discourage this. Splashing and kicking are allowed; often there is a reasonable amount of clean-up needed following bath time.

Katie can brush her own teeth and really enjoys it ... getting quite upset if the toothbrush is replaced in its holder before she's ready to be done. She chooses her own pajamas and lays down on top of the blanket sleeper by herself to get dressed. Because she loves letters, most nights we watch Wheel of Fortune as a family (we record it at 6:30 and watch it sometime around 7pm). Kisses and hugs, several stories, prayer and by 8:15pm Katie is tucked in bed without a sound of opposition.

These days I am feeling well (after getting though that 1st trimester) and Katie simply amazes me! I am incredibly thankful for the ways God has blessed our family, and cannot believe we are finally in this place in life. Life is so good! I love Katie more than I ever imagined possible and I know tomorrow I will love her even more. Happy 18 month birthday sweet girl!