"Oh HOOOOLY NIGHT!"

We kicked off Christmas by getting a tree last Friday and then celebrated our choice by having hamburgers at The Old Timer. It was packed and they had just finished decorating so it seemed like a nice place for a post-tree-picking dinner. The piano player was playing Christmas songs and Katie stood on the seat of our booth and belted out the tunes. She didn't know many of the words but sang "Oh Holy Night" like an old pro. We decorated the tree on Saturday. Katie was not that interested at first. She did her States puzzle as we started with the lights. She wanted every ornament up REAL HIGH once she decided to help. On Sunday, we went to the Rotary Club's pancake breakfast with Grampa. Katie spent her time between bites of pancakes scoping out the room to make sure Santa was in her sights and preferably far away from her. We went to the Elks in the afternoon for their annual party. This is about as close as we got to Santa. Santa sent his best helper, Uncle Kevin, in one of his warm, red suits to help distribute gifts. I don't think Katie realized the Santa's best helper was related to us. It didn't matter. She was still not going near him. When I told her that Santa was going to give her a gift she kept waving her hands around and saying "YOU go get it!" I told her that she didn't have to sit on his lap but if she wanted the gift, she needed to go and thank Santa. When they called her name, we went up together and she said "thank you Santa" in a soft voice. As we were walking away, Katie swung her head around and yelled "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" to Santa. Now she keeps telling everyone that Santa is a good guy who gave her a snowman present.

Gobble.Gobble

I took a break from blogging over the Thanksgiving holiday but I'm getting back on track. We spent Thanksgiving this year with the Perusses down at the Cape. Chad ran in the Chatham Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning with our friends from the Conti/Herold clan. After that, we headed to their house in Harwich to hang out before the T-giving festivities began. After a fabulous and filling Thanksgiving dinner, the Silvermans came for dessert and Katie was able to play with someone her own age- cousin Ella. Here are the two of them doing a puzzle together... ...and a little wilder when they did there best imitations of turkeys. Gobble, gobble! We are now in winter and Christmas mode. Katie is really enjoying all the lights and decorations this year. We also had our first real snowfall. Katie could not get out to play fast enough. Here she is bringing Chad his boots so they could make a snowman. Our neighbor Lily came over to enjoy the snow. It's a toss up between who likes to the snow the most: the kids or the dog!

I Like Your Hair

Katie said some funny things last week. I think her personality is coming through since she's becoming more verbal. Here are some favorites...

"I like your hair like that. You look beautiful." "Mom, you're my best helper." --A phrase I usually use when I'm trying to cajoling her into doing something. "I checkin' my email." --While writing on a post-it note with a pen. "What a minute, I have an idea. Peanut butter for lunch!" "Want to see my naked? " --This kid will do anything to run around naked. "I like it. It's really fun there." --When I asked how daycare was last Friday. "Where did Massachusetts go?" --When we drove to visit friends in Providence and I mentioned we were in Rhode Island after driving over the border.

Happy Halloween 2009

Katie was a cow this Halloween. She was inspired by a cow at Davis' Farmland called Pinky Dinky Doo. My cousin Paula made an adorable cow costume for her now-college-age daughter that she loaned us. She looked so cute and seem to really enjoy Halloween this year. Abby's costume was a loan from my friend Diane who bought it for her golden retriever Maggie. As always, Abby was a trouper. She wore the costume for 2 hours and helped Chad greet our trick or treaters. She was a huge hit and even had her photo taken by one little boy. One of the funnier moments of the night was when Katie was being asked a couple questions about being a cow and was asked "Where does milk come from?" She said "From the 'fidgerator!"

The town had a Jack O' Lantern Festival which was being held before I picked up the cow costume. Thankfully it was a warm night so Katie went as a chef!

G.G.Crab

We are pleased to welcome G.G. Crab to our household. He was a birthday gift to Katie from my Aunt Janice and Uncle Kevin. He's named after Uncle Kevin who is known to a few people as G.G. (Grumpy Grampa). G.G. Crab is an active, little guy. We periodically let him out to stretch his crab legs. Katie was a little fearful at first but now enjoys seeing G.G. run away. It's hard to keep him on the table but if we put him on the floor the poor thing gets covered in dog hair. If you are wondering why his shell is so colorful, it's because it's painted like Spongebob Squarepants. G.G. lives on the kitchen counter so we don't forget to take care of him. Some mornings, it's every man (or crab) for himself!

GOOD MORNING!

Katie finally realized that she can open the door to her room and turn on the lights from her crib. This is her greeting me after her nap. Last weekend, she opened the door at 6:15am and yelled "Hey Mom! What you doin'?" I said "I'm sleeping." Katie responded "Where?" I said "In my bed." She said "I done sleeping. Come get me!" It's harder to ignore because the echoing voice into the hallway makes it so much louder than before. Fortunately, the novelty wore off a few days later. Walking to her bedroom you can see light, dark, light, dark, light, dark, light, dark.... We got her on that one by shutting off the lamp instead of using the light switch. She gets up early enough when it's dark in her room! Say cheese!

M & Ms

Katie will probably hate me for this picture later on but she looks so proud that I had to snap this photo. Potty training has now come to our house and is no longer a daycare-only phenomena. For motivation, we give Katie two M&M. As soon as Katie hits that seat, she says "I NEED my M&Ms!" She's doing great but we may need to move to stickers.