Friday, February 15, 2013

January Tidings - 2013

Finally!  We are out of January and into February!  What a LOOOOOONG month January was!

We struggled with health the whole of the month, with first Kaetlyn being sick and then Grace and then back to Kaet.  It seems we like to share our germs...and we like to share them with Mommy who got to ride the sick train with us as well.  Despite the germs and coughs, snot and fevers, we made it through with lots of fun things in between...and Mommy and Daddy got to actually have some REAL Mommy/Daddy time together for the first time in years!

We started the month of January with lots of coughs and sniffles and then Kaet got really really sick within a matter of 24 hours.  We left the house for school, Mommy dropped off Gracie, and then Kaet was whisked away to the ER for IV fluids.  The flu is NO FUN.  NO FUN.  As a two-year old, experiencing getting IV fluids can be likened to giving a cat a full bottle of pills...the poor ER staff didn't like it any more than Kaety did!  
Just after getting her IV...

Sleeping with IV running...poor kiddo

Finally back home, Mommy and Daddy kept trying to get Kaety to drink, drink, drink to keep her fluid level up.  Kaety wasn't interested, so creativity kicked in and Kaety got to drink water with a straw from a fancy glass!  OOOOOH she loved it.  OOOOOH Gracie was jealous!
OOH!  What's this?  A big girl glass? A straw?!  Don't mind if I do!

SUCCESS! !! :)

As the week went on, revelations were made about Kaety's preference in fluid ingestion:  Chicken Noodle Soup it is!
Look at me eating with a spoon!!!

Maybe not the cleanest meal, but have you ever seen a more satisfied face?!

Finally, out the other side, we've been trading germs, but seem to be heading in an upward trend!

We had our friend, Ava, come over to play as we started to get better.  Her Mommy and Daddy took her big sister, Madison, to a movie, so we got to have Ava time.  We had the best time playing and hanging out!
Kaety and Ava playing piano

What's up BFF?  Have a snack with me!?

Art time!


We showed her our new favorite show... "Blues Clues" ... which we like to watch side-by-side in our Aunt Rachel chairs.  We ask for it by name, both signing the "jazzhands" of "Blues Clues" to get Mommy or Daddy to put it on the TV.
"You find another paw print...that's the first clue...you put it in your notebook 'cuz they're Blues Clues!  Blues Clues!"

Then, joy of joys, GRANDMA WARD ARRIVED!  Grandma came and spent two glorious weeks with us to help care for us during our ailments and offer some much-needed babysitting services so Mommy and Daddy could go out on the town (and away from town!)  Grandma did lots of reading to us and playing with us.  We love her so much.  She even garnered a new nickname...Gracie has taken to calling her "Bilbo"...so that's her new Gramma name! :)
Bilbo reading to Gracie

Mischievous Kaet...


While Grandma watched us (with lots of support from Aunt Rachel O), Mommy and Daddy PLAYED!  They went out on the town here in Seattle for Mommy's office holiday party...
Out on the town, all gussied up!

Guess where we were...?

Mom's & Dad's just wanna have fun....dressing up!?!?

And then they did the unthinkable...they LEFT TOWN FOR 4 WHOLE DAYS AND WENT TO HAWAII WITHOUT US!  Did they have fun?  You look at the pictures and tell us...



Yeah...that's what I thought...they had fun without us!!!

Finally, Football.  OH, how we love football in our house.  Mommy, a Redskins fan first and a Seattle Seahawks fan second, got us all kinds of good garb for the playoff games.  Sadly, neither team won their way into the Superbowl, but boy did we look good and show lots of support those two weekends...
Hawks vs. Skins...let's go!

We sure are happy about it!

I mean, REALLY happy!

What a difference a weekend makes...

Our "box seats" for the show!

So, what else has gone on this month?  LOTS!  We love to play and we have gotten very involved in lots of antics in school.  Also, the vocabulary train has RACKED and STACKED this month for both of us...just look at how we've grown!

Kaetlyn
At school, I got to play in "fake snow" and show off my "GI Joe" dress-up and even got my baby doll to participate in it!  I'm starting to really love to play dress up and explore lots of new things!  















GI Kaet

Hee hee

Baby gettin' in on the dress up!

ART PROJECT!

This month, I've ROCKED the language center of my brain.  Ms. Colleen and Ms. Erin are totally over the moon with my progress.  New things I've started saying this month include:
"I did it!"
More (lots and lots of this!)
Thank you/ No Thank you  (lots and lots of these too!)
Juice
Milk
Chicken / Doodle Doo (for rooster)
Bus You (Bless You)
Duck
Swing
Gamma (Grandma)
Cheese
Waffle
Bath
Nite Nite
Potty
Eat
Eye
iPad (!!!)
Off
Out
On
Water
All Gone

And the big one...

Mama -- you have NO IDEA how cool this was for my Mommy.  She walked into my room after being gone for 4 days and I sat up in bed and said, "Hi Mama" like I had been saying it EVERY DAY of my life.  She cried.  She's a sap :)

Grace
I've also gotten into dress-up at school.  I got to play dress up as if I was a vet and I took care of a moose!
















I also showed off my skills with hats and dress up clothes in the room with all my friends.  My class is ALL girls right now, so there is a LOT of dress up, baby dolls, and purse carrying going on!
Farmer Grace

Telling secrets in class!

I love to read.  LOVE. TO. READ.  Mrs. Linda can't believe how often I'm sitting with a book!

I also love Icies...I have to have one in my hand at ALL times.  I've even pilfered them from school...Mommy and Daddy have returned them, but I LOVE ICIES!  (Daddy says Brother Brian was like this with boo boo's - but he needed band aids.  I just want an Icy...at ALL TIMES!)
You can't see it, but there is an icy behind my hand.  I LOVE THEM!
Also, I love my new teacher, Ms. Junalyn.  She's my snuggle-up-against pal...she rocks!
Me and Miss Junalyn
Language for me has been nutso this month too.  Mommy and Daddy can't believe what a parrot I've become.  New words this month for me:

Mine
"I got you...baby"  (SO FUNNY!)
"I got you Mama"  (even funnier!)
"I your baby Mama"  (awwww)
Thank You / No Thank You (alllll the time!)
Pig
Juice
Puzzle
Cow
Bless You
Sissy
Kaety
Swing
Slide
"Oh Please!" (when I really really want something!)
Waffle
Bath
Nite nite
Away (throwing my own diaper away)
Back (I love to have my back scratched when my diaper is getting changed!)
Potty
Sleeping
Two

And, of course, the best one...
"Bilbo" for Grandma. Bilbo is NEVER going to live this name down!

The biggest thing this month that Mommy and Daddy see is how much we (Kaety and Gracie) love each other.  In the mornings, we go looking for each other in each others' rooms.  We MUST hug each other and know where the other one is.  We play REALLY well together (most of the time) and we look out for each other.  If one is crying, the other pats her back and says, "awwww".  We are pretty much a hoot.  Bring on February...as long as we're together, we can tackle it! :)
Who doesn't love a fancy fuzzy vest?!!?