It's winter time!

Well, almost, but I thought it was time Kate started wearing this adorable snowman outfit from my mom. She gets compliments on it wherever we go. I especially love the tulle!


Giving me her cheesy smile.


I love this girl, more than anything in the world. Look at her sweet face. :)


Um, where did my baby go??? This looks like a little girl!




Giving me her "funny face"

And just to show how much she's grown, here is a picture of her last Thanksgiving. I cannot believe how much she has grown! It is so bittersweet; I absolutely love this toddler stage; I love playing with her, having her "talk" to me, etc. but I miss my little tiny baby!

Such a fashionista

Here's some pictures of Kate in the coat my mom gave her for her birthday. I can't believe she's finally old enough to wear it! She looks like a little Rita Hayworth or Marilyn Monroe or something.











And since I keep this blog also as a journal, I just wanted to take a minute to jot down all of the words Kate says now. I swear, in the last week and a half, her vocabulary has just exploded! Here are the words she says on a regular basis:

• Mama
• Daddy
• Kitty
• Nana (both for her grandma and a banana, so context is important!)
  
• Baby
• Doggie
• Egg (she always has eggs and fruit with Greek yogurt for breakfast)
• Gone
• Done
• Mad
• Nine
• Ni (for knife; and just to be clear, we do not let her handle knives; she just picked it up from a library book called "Spot's First Words" and it shows a table set with a fork, knife and spoon)
• Uh-oh
• Hi
• Bye
• Dipe (for diaper)
• No
• Rawr (for bear, since that is what bears say)
• Ball
• Wa-wa (for water)
• Eye
• Ear
• Dolly
• Body
• Hot
• Pretty (sounds like "pwetty")
  
• Please (sounds more like "pwee")
• Bad (this is usually directed at Maxine, after Maxine swats at her. Luckily Maxine is declawed!)
  
• No-no, which is "pumpkin". I know, that seems convoluted, but we always read a book called "This is NOT a pumpkin," and it showed a pumpkin on each page and said, "It's round, it's orange, it has a stem, but this is NOT a pumpkin. No, no, no; pumpkins don't smile, or frown; jack-o-lanterns do. This is not a pumpkin; it's a jack-o-lantern!" So I always emphasized the "no, no, no!" when reading that, and now whenever she sees a pumpkin, she wags her little finger and yells out, "no, no, no!"
  

I'm sure there is more but that is all I can think of right now. She can also recognize the letters A, B, K, M, R and S (and she can say all of them except K), and the numbers one through 10. Oh, and she knows that M A M A spells Mama, so whenever she sees a book with that word, she yells out "Mama!"

Music Class

Kate absolutely loves our music class at the Children's Museum. It's every Thursday at 10 am, and she has so much fun dancing, playing the instruments (bells, egg shakers, rhythm sticks, etc.) and seeing the other kids. She especially loves it that Adelaide is there, and she has taken quite a motherly interest in the "baby" as she calls anyone under the age of five. If Adelaide ever tries to book it for the door, Kate looks at me with a worried frown, points at Adelaide, and cries out, "Baby!" It's like she wants to be sure that Adelaide doesn't get away :)

We always have a lot of fun afterward, too, since I let her play in the museum for about half an hour. She has so much fun exploring the water area (definitely her favorite part), going down the slide, playing in the huts with the drums, etc. Afterward, we usually go to lunch somewhere. This week, we went to Frida's, which probably my favorite restaurant in Madison. Kate is such an amazing eater; she wolfs down Mexican rice and enchiladas better than some adults do! She may not be the best sleeper, but at least we hit the "good eater" jackpot!

Here are some shots of her before we left for music class. Doesn't she look like such a little schoolgirl?

Dan's 30th Birthday

I know, I know; I've been terrible about keeping my blog updated! It's not intentional, I promise! It's just that we've basically had company back-to-back (and I'm not complaining--I love visitors!) so blogging has kind of fallen by the wayside.

So let's back up to the weekend of October 8. Nancy came out that Friday, the 7th, and she and I had a fun time taking Kate downtown to eat at Frida's. It was such a beautiful fall day, we actually ate outside (who says Wisconsin is always cold?) She loved seeing Kate and was so impressed that her not-quite-20-month-old niece could pick out the letters A, K and S! That night, we went to a fish fry at the Esquire Club; it was fun to take Nancy to some of our favorite places.

Then Saturday (Dan's birthday) was a gorgeous day, so we headed up to the Dells and took a wagon ride tour in the Lost Canyon. It was so beautiful to see all the fall foliage! That night, Nancy watched Kate so Dan & I could go out for his birthday. We tried a new Italian restaurant downtown called Francesca's Al Lago. It was quite good!

Sunday we went to the Arboretum to take advantage of the continued beautiful weather, and that night, we had the Hines over for a fall dinner (including pumpkin ginger soup--yum!) since they wanted to see Nancy before her short trip was up.

Monday we met Dan for lunch at Sprecher's, where we were again able to eat outside (Kate & I went there for his birthday last year, too, and also ate outside... hmmm, must be something about that weekend that always brings good weather!) Then Nancy, Kate & I went to the zoo for awhile before Kate's nap. Nancy flew out that night; we were so glad she was able to visit, even if it was just for a short while. We certainly got a lot done during her time here!


On the Lost Canyon tour




Such a pretty baby girl


Listening intently to the tour guide




At the Arboretum on Sunday




Love those fall colors!






Loving her Aunt Nancy


Kate and some 30-year-old guy




Gazing out the window of the trolley (there was a free trolley tour at the Arboretum)




You can tell it's almost naptime; she looks so sleepy!


At the park a few days before Nancy's visit

Such an independent little walker now!

Some pics from Nana's visit

My mom came out in October to watch Kate while I had to go to the PARCEL Forum in Chicago. She came on Thursday, October 20th and didn't have to leave until Saturday, the 29th, so we enjoyed her visit a lot.

On Sunday, the 23rd, we had a 65th anniversary celebration for my grandparents, and then my mom, Kate & I went down to Chicago. We spent the night at my aunt Chris's and ate deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's (always lots of fun!) and then on Monday morning, Chris took me to the forum. She had taken that day off so she could hang out with my mom and Kate, and they took her to a pumpkin patch, which they said she enjoyed a lot.

Monday night, my mom and Kate came to the hotel, and then they left Tuesday late in the morning. I wasn't coming back until Wednesday night, but Kate had a lot of activities on Wednesday that I didn't want her to miss, such as Toddler Tales at the Sun Prairie Library (we go to Toddler Tales every Wednesday morning), so that is why they headed back on Tuesday. After Toddler Tales, there was a Halloween party at the Madison Children's Museum. My mom said Kate was a little fussy and didn't want to participate in the parade, but clearly she enjoyed playing in this plane!


Tinkerbell... minus her wings


We had a little Halloween celebration on Saturday the 22nd, so that's why Kate is in her costume. I don't know why she's so serious--or why I'm so blurry.


At the Mouse House Cheese House on Tuesday after they drove back from Chicago. Kate looks like, "Holy hell, that is a big mouse."


At the pumpkin patch in Long Grove.

That's some crazy hair!

I can't believe how grown up Kate looks in these pictures; she's truly becoming a toddler, not just a baby!

More fall photos

We have been having some gorgeous weather here; the last week of September and the first 11 days of October have been amazing! So, naturally, we have been doing lots of stuff outside; the zoo (multiple times), the park, walks, etc. I love fall in Wisconsin; so beautiful!


After Damn Yankees with Tracy, Kate, my mom and Grandma


Sitting on some huge tortoise outside the herpetarium at the zoo








Love the orange tree behind the giraffes!


Trying to see the otters


Outside the lion exhibit at the zoo




Trying to push her stroller


Peering at the plants








Such a good climber on the zoo's playground


A beautiful view from the playground