A Phase Soon to be Left Behind

The other day I put Katie down for her nap and when I went in her room to put something away found her in a PILE of blankets. Her favorite one was cuddled up to her face and both feet were sticking out. She does this a lot... sleeping on a mound of toys and blankets. About two days later Katie figured out how to climb out of her crib. I had put her in there for her nap (which she didn't want this time) and took the monitor with me. She cried for a little while then I heard some rustling around followed by a thump (which I thought was one of her many toys). Then Katie said "Uh oh." followed by "I know Mommy, I know." Then I heard the door open. She climbed out again the next day hitting her head and hasn't done it since. But, I know she will try again soon so... this cute crib picture will be one of the last and Katie will be graduating to a big bed soon.

Shoes, shoes, shoes (I don't understand it)

Like I said before, Katie loves shoes. It really is a part of her I don't understand!

Did I say she was exactly like me?

Just days after writing about how Katie reminds me so much of myself I was doing something on the computer while she was playing. She was playing pretty quietly so I turned around to see what she was up to and there she was sitting on the floor with her "diaper bag". She had already pulled out most of her diapers and a few other harmless things. As I turned around she was holding the bottle of POWDER (sound familiar) and shaking it over her legs. Luckily it was not open and there was no mess. Remembering my recent comments about her being like mom, I had to take a picture of her with the powder before I made her clean it up and told her "powder is not for playing with!"

photo contest

I entered this picture in a photo contest @ PICTURE.COM (I think last month, maybe the month before). I'm pretty excited because today I got a letter in the mail saying it is going to be published in a book due to be published in the winter of next year. Even better news is that if I am the winning picture for the month I will win $1,000 and if I win for the year I win $10,000. I'm not going to count on it but it sure would be nice! Even if I don't win it is going to be in the book. Now everybody will know how beautiful my nieces are!

My daughter is EXACTLY like me...sometimes.

Sometimes I watch Katie play and think "wow, she is exactly like me." This thought is a little scary since it is her extreme independance and her strong will that are most noticable. She also throws some of the best tantrums I have ever seen from someone her size - including scratching(herself), biting (herself) and pulling hair (her own). Her tantrums almost always stem from anger at not getting her way (sound familiar?) instead of frustration with not being able to do something. She loves coloring and likes to have her blanket with her a lot of the time. She can't put her arm and leg through hers since there are no holes but she will carry it on her head or under her chin if she needs her hands. At night she asks to go to bed on her own and when I put her down she just gives me a kiss and a "night-night" and lays down. But then sometimes she is not like me at all.....
She wakes up in the morning (in a good mood) and the first thing she wants to do is put her shoes on. It doesn't matter if we are going anywhere or not, she wants to wear her shoes. "Shoes? shoes?" If I do put them on she is by the door "Bye-bye?" If I say no then here comes the tantrum. Once she understands that her stubbornness came from me and she won't win she does a lot of her playing on her own but stops often for kisses and cuddles. A lot of her playing involves shoes (nobody in this house can ever find our shoes where we left them- I found mine in a box under a buch of other stuff the other day). She is also extremely friendly. She wants to talk to and be picked up by just about anybody. She tries open the door and walk into other people's houses if they do not answer it themselves. But really its the shoes that make me wonder "who's kid is this anyway?"

The Soon-To-Be Little Brother

On August 18th we went for our official ultrasound. The ultrasound tech asked us if we wanted to know if we were having a boy or a girl. We've been anxious to know!! As soon as she started the ultrasound she said "well he isn't shy at all, you're going to have a boy". We are both very excited. This does mean I have more preparing to do though (since he can't just wear his big sister's old clothes). I figured this was also a good day to record how big I've been getting. I came home and took some pictures of my progress at the half way point....

This is me at 20 weeks! I'm a lot bigger than I was at 20 weeks with Katie. That is a little scary considering how big I ended up with her! Well at this point I'm feeling better and Katie is getting used to the changes. I know she knows a baby when she sees one and she pats my belly and says "BAY- Bee". I have a feeling though that the conection is not really there (it has to be a little confusing). Hopefully it will go smoothly when she has to get used to there actually being another baby in the house!