Kisses and Sophie Naps

Katie has now reached that age where she gets so embarrassed over silly things! Her newest embarrassment is already her parents! For the last week or so, if I try to sing any of her songs from her shows  (which she used to beg me to do!) she now groans "moooommmmyy!" and covers her eyes. Today, I heard her say it to Bill as well. At first she was so used to doing it with me, she said "Mommm-" and then shook her head and said "Daddy!!" I had no idea that children get so embarrassed over their parents singing so young! I thought we at least had a few years yet!

Katie is enjoying her last days as an only child as she knows it. She seems to understand that something is changing, because she's definitely more cuddly and wants my attention more. She also still loves to point out my belly and hug it and say "baby!" I've been telling her how baby is going to come out soon, and who knows - maybe she sort of gets it, at least enough to want lots of mommy attention.

As a follow up to the last post, Katie continues to say new words every day. Today she walked up to me, hugged me, then said "Kiss, kiss!" She usually asks for kisses by just grabbing my face and forcing it to happen, but tonight she was able to tell me what she was after so I could cuddle her up and give her kisses. I adore how affectionate she is! She's a bundle of hugs and kisses and cuddly time.

In addition to cuddly time with me, she LOVES to fall asleep with Sophie. She's been taking naps every day again, but they're always with Sophie - and if Sophie refuses (which is rare, as Sophie loves cuddles and sleeping!), she uses "fake Sophie" - her stuffed animal Berner dog.. Some adorable pictures of her this week at naptime:

Katie's Talking!

Katie has hit a magical, wondrous stage. Every single day is fun right now because I know that there's always going to be something new. Two or three weeks ago, she hit that amazing stage that comes after turning two. All of a sudden, over night, she figured everything out. She can now suddenly pronounce words perfectly. She can form big sentences instead of her normal one or two words. Literally, every single day, she says multiple new things that she never said before. I love hearing these words and phrases come out of her little toddler mouth.

Today, her new words were "french fries!" and "Potty time". Three days ago on November 19th, she ran up to me, threw her arms around my neck and said "Mommy, I love you" so perfectly and with so much enthusiasm. Last week she learned how to say names like "Molly" and "Donald." She now sends her daddy off to work each day with "Bye Daddy, love you!" before closing the door. I wish I could keep a running count of what new words she says each day that take me by surprise and make me sweep her off her feet and cuddle her into giggles, but there's just so many.

One of my favorite things she does now is say "Juice, where are you?? Juuuiiiice?". She looks around the room, repeating it over and over with her little hands up in the air and with so much emphasis. When she finally finds it, she'll either say "Ah! I found you!" or "Juice! There you are!"

We're definitely in that stage where we have to watch what we say. Not that we really do much swearing or anything, but she loves to repeat anything we say. If I ask her "do you want french fries?" she'll contort her little mouth to say the new words "French fries? Yes!"

I always thought I'd love the baby stage best, but I see as they grow, the wonderment in their eyes just magnifies. Watching her learn even bigger things than what her hands are is so exciting. Having her both be as independant as she can be at this stage and yet still want to stop everything she's doing to run over and exclaim "Mommy!" and give me a big hug out of the blue is just heart bursting.

Not only in words has she expanded in skill, but in abilities as well. Which just so happens to be great timing, seeing that I'll need her big girl help in a few weeks when her baby brother is born. Having her be able to communicate so well and be able to do things herself is already such a big help.

I so love my every day with this little girl. She has so drastically changed my life and has so greatly enriched it. Her and I have already been through so much together as I figure out my way through motherhood. She's been a great teacher, an amazing cuddle buddy, and such a fun companion these last two and a half years. I can't wait to see how much she continues to grow and learn and flourish!