Outdoor Fun

Katelyn is now 21 months old and absolutely loves the outdoors. Almost every weekday we take her down to the creek near her day care to see the water flowing. She has gotten very good at climbing up and down the hill with minimal assistance. She has finally figured out how to lean forward when going up the hill rather than try to stand straight up from the level of the ground. She also loves tossing rocks into the water and watching them splash.



Each afternoon when we get home we spend a bit of time walking around outside looking at trees and the creek nearby. She is also practicing her climbing skills over and under obstacles. She also has been practicing using keys to unlock the mailbox and the front door.




There is a community pool down the road from us and they have a wading pool there that is only 3 feet deep at its deepest point. She is so thrilled to be able to walk around in it on her own. She still does not like going under the water, but she is getting better at kicking her feet while we hold her and loves to splash us. Last time we were there she spent a lot of time mastering the ladder and by the end of the afternoon could climb out of the pool basically on her own. Needless to say, she slept really well that night. :)


Another of Katelyn's favorite outings is to go to the duck pond. There is a play gound there as well as the pond and she has a blast every time we go. She likes the slide, when we go with her, and the swing, as long as it doesn't go too fast. Sometimes we go with friends and she chases after them while playing in the playground or near the pond. She eats almost as much as she feeds to the ducks and geese, but she has a blast doing it.

20 Months and Counting

Katelyn has been very busy over the last couple of months. She has grown so much that she primarily is in 2T and some 3T outfits now. She is talking a lot more and uses sign language to suppliment what she is trying to say. "More" is very popular, as is "Bye Bye", which means she wants to go outside and play. She can string two words together in simple sentences and seems to be expanding her vocabulary on a daily basis. A couple new activities she has mastered in the last couple of weeks are putting on her shoes all by herself and getting her shirts and bibs over her head on her own. She spends a lot of time focussed on one activity until she masters it then goes on to another to master. It is quite amazing to watch.


Reading is her favorite passtime. Every day we read at least 10 books, and that's not counting the ones she looks at on her own. Some of her favorites are "Zoophabet 1, 2, 3", "Dear Zoo" and "Mouse Paint". She has started to even say some of the words in the stories and makes some of the animal sounds when we point to them. Rawr-ing like a lion is a big one for her. She loves to get into contests with us to see who can rawr the loudest. She did that at our office one day with the CEO of the company. It was very cute. Moo-ing is another big one. She moos at the cows we see as we drive home each night, too. Sometimes she decides they are not really cows and starts Baa-ing at them instead. When we try to correct her, she says "No no, Mama/Dada. Baaa."

Katelyn had a lot of fun on Easter. She found some eggs and was able to get them open on her own. There were a few with jelly beans, which were an instant hit, and a few with raisins, which she has always loved. We took her out to the duck pond that day and hid a couple eggs in the grass there. She was more interested in chasing the ducks than finding eggs, though.

18 Month Update

Katelyn has reached 18 months and is constantly on the move. She now weighs in at 24 pounds, 5 ounces and is 2' 9.5" tall. She is getting much more independent, wanting to get into her carseat on her own and climb stairs without help. She has started to use a few more spoken words and is picking up on more and more signs each day. It is amazing to see how well she can communicate what she wants through simple motions and a few choice words.

She eats fruit like it is going out of style and is so much better with utensils than she was even a month ago. She is willing to try almost anything we feed her, although there are limits to what she will eat. Deli meats are acceptable but larger chunks of meat are not. Peas are a hit, but not so much green beans.

She did help us make cookies last weekend. She liked helping us stir but was very upset by the fact that we would not let her eat all the sugar on her own. She did get a treat when helping Mom open the brown sugar box. As soon as the package was open, in went her hand and when it came back out it was covered. She got it into her mouth so fast; there was no way to stop her. ;) It was a lot of fun. When she eats the cookies, she does not gobble them down, as we expected her to. She takes her time and makes them last. It is very cute to see.

Super Bowl Sunday

Pepere sent Katelyn a cute cheerleader outfit to wear on Super Bowl Sunday. The New England Patriots made it to the game with an undefeated record and he wanted her to wear it in support of their big day.

While it is a little big on her, she did look incredibly cute in it. She enjoyed playing in it all day and especially liked the fact that she could show off her belly button. That has been a big thing for her the last couple weeks. She especially likes lifting our shirts to see that we have them too. She then tickles us mercilessly and takes great pleasure in seeing us squirm.

Although we did not watch the entire game, we kept checking in throughout the afternoon to see how the Pats were doing. Katelyn did have the traditional bag of (veggie) chips to snack on while watching Finding Nemo. Unfortuanately, the Patriots were deafeated in the end 17 to 14. We will save the outfit for her to wear again next year, just in case.

First Haircut

Katelyn got her fist haircut on Sunday, January 20th. She had fun playing ont he castle prior to getting her turn in the chair. The slide was great for climbing.

She sat on Jeremy's lap for the actual cutting. She was very calm and sat very nicely for the lady at the Panda Room. She got to play with a 'Woody' doll and a toy car. After she was done, she got a barrette and we went out to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a fun and memorable day for all.