catherine turns 2=)

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!!! i'm taking a break from catching you up on the last 2 months to tell you about a very important day...yesterday you turned 2! we had a great day, didn't we!? you gave us both a birthday treat and slept in till 8am=) then we woke up and you opened a few presents from our friends in virginia and gigi and granddaddy...and we played and played and then took you to the doctor for your 2 year check-up. you looked great! you were not a fan of the shot, but we distracted you quickly with your new dora rings and stickers and hairbands and all kinds of fun things. you've caught back up with yourself and are hovering around the 25th percentile for weight (24.75 lbs) and are at the 65th percentile for height (34 inches). we are very proud!!! your eating is getting every so slightly faster and faster. by the time you start your little preschool in september you might be able to eat like a big girl at lunch and not have the teachers feed you through your tube! wouldn't that be great? for lunch we went out to eat with mommys' new co-workers after your appointment, and then back home for your nap. when you woke up we played some more and when daddy got home we went to target and you got to pick out one toy (i had a few others hidden in my closet but i wanted to save those for your birthday party). we were thinking this would be an easy activity-you go see a toy you like and tell us you want that one....but nope. you'd look at each thing or hold it for a few minutes, then when we'd ask you if you wanted to take it home you would say no and put it back. so finally after about 30 minutes of this, i picked up a baby doll stroller (i was pretty sure it would be the winner if i drew your attention to it-i just had to make a quick phone call to gigi making sure nobody else had gotten that for you) and asked if you wanted to push pearl around in this stroller. you finally said yes and that you did in fact want to take that home. you rode on daddy's shoulders to the check-out counter clutching for dear life your new stroller. then we walked around in the parking lot pushing your bear because you just couldn't wait to get home to pearl. then we ate dinner with daddy at barberito's and met lance and rachel for ice cream. we came and took baths and you pushed pearl and elmo up and down the hallway in your stroller for about an hour straight. endless fun, that stroller=) then we read books and sang songs and said prayers thanking Jesus for my sweet girl full of life and joy and who radiates Jesus to so many...and off to sleep you went.

you're doing lots of fun new things. i had been wondering how we would teach you to suck through a straw, and suddenly one day a few weeks ago you started doing it yourself. thank you-i had come up with no solutions=) you LOVE to swim!!! all the time you say "shimmeen" (swimming) and ask us to put your floaties on (you say "fo-ee" and pat your upper arms) and for us to take you to the pool. did i tell you what you say about your dreams already? i think i did. but i'm doing it again, just in case. when you wake up i'll ask if you had sweet dreams and what you dreamed about, and usually the answer is some combination of fishies, elmo, pearl (your baby doll), and swimming. sometime gigi is in there too. and you've said "hold" for a while now whenever you want us to give you something, and a couple days ago you started saying "hold it" and annunciating your "t" very clearly at the end. i think it's so funny. you also tee-tee'd in the potty for gigi the other day. you woke up from your nap dry so she put you on the potty, and after a few minutes you heard yourself tinkling and you looked up at her and got the biggest grin on your face! you were very proud of yourself! we're still not aggressively working on potty-training--for several reasons i don't think you're quite ready for the actual transition to no diapers, and we're not really stressed about it. it'll come.

you say no all the time. all the time. even when you mean yes, you say no. we'll ask you something and almost always your initial response is no. sometimes you'll say yes right after you say no, but it's always no first. and i think saying no is the official job of a 2 year old, so congratulations. you're ahead of the game=) (don't get me wrong, you are still my precious sweet angel and every day we can't believe what a good little girl you are...you have proved that you can say no all the time and still be incredibly easy to get along with=))

so one of my favorite things, still, is to remember the day you were born. all the little detailed events. but instead of writing them out, i'll just refer you to where i did that last year. and here is the morning I was in labor but didn't know yet, here is daddy's account of the day you were born, and here is mine. =) i'm laughing at myself right now that i just did that, but i can't help it. i love love love remembering bringing you into the world=) you are my sweet treasure, and i'm outrageously lucky to be your mama. thank you Jesus=)

we're off to eat sweet potatoes. with butter and brown sugar. it's a good day=)

i love you baby-

mommy=)

here's a video of you on your birthday. you're not doing or saying anything too extraordinary, but it's just you. doing stuff. so i like it=)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

drawing with your new dora pen and pad. i picked out your dress, and you picked out a nice lime green tu-tu to wear on top=)

a little birthday reading with bob and larry.

opening your birthday card from sara and daryl.


realizing IT HAS ELMO ON IT!!!!!

you spent a LOT of time with this card.

showing mommy.

and reading it again=)

seeing what time it is with your new dora watch=)

pushing bear around in your new stroller!!!!

you're playing in the target parking lot. barefoot. we are horrible parents.

you were pretty pumped about pushing elmo in your stroller until you got distracted by your own reflection in that car door=)

at the ice cream shop with the birthday girl!

that's my girl. don't let anything slow you down when it comes to eating ice cream.

you were kind enough to share some of daddy's ice cream with daddy=) (it was coffee ice cream. i thought it was disgusting. but you loved it and were wired for about 2 hours after this. doe coffee ice cream have caffeine in it???)

lance and rachel joined us to celebrate!

back at home-after bath time-working on your stroller=)

checking out your new robe!

sweet girl cheesing while putting on your dora bracelets!