Working the Camera

Our friend Maria (who has taken family pics for us several times before--like here, here, here, and here) came over a couple weekends ago to take photos of Kate. We've usually done spring and fall, but we missed this spring and I wanted to have another shoot focusing just on Kate before she has to share the spotlight with her sister. Plus, she just hit the 2 1/2-year mark, so I should share a little of what she's up to!

Besides seriously working the camera, that is.

At 2 1/2, Kate is a sweet, smart, strong-willed little girl (who can be very bossy at times--good luck, little sister!)

She knows her letters, colors, shapes, and numbers up to 14. She stands by the car and spells out M-E-R-C-U-R-Y, and recognizes the word "Butler," when she or Daddy are wearing their Bulldog gear. The other night, she said her first prayer, "Dear God, thank you for food... church... my room."

She can "read" (i.e. has memorized) the Eric Carle book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and will sing various songs spontaneously, including "The Alphabet Song," "Clean Up, Clean Up," "Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," and "Happy Birthday."

We finally found a vegetable she'll eat--carrot sticks. Finally! V-8 Fusion and Prego Veggie Smart are still good solutions, though. Favorite foods right now include hot dogs, bagels with cream cheese, yogurt, pasta, and marshmallows.

Potty training is going pretty well. We didn't do the boot-camp-style of intensive training, so it's been a long process, but at this point, she can go a whole day without an accident (doesn't always do it, but can!) Sometimes that even includes naps, when we forget to switch to a pull-up, which she still wears at night. I draw hearts on her hands with markers when she stays dry for a period of time, and (yes, we resort to bribery) I'll sometimes give her ice cream for going #2 on the potty, since that was an issue briefly.

She struggled some in the classroom she was in for the last two months at her new day care. While she will ask us--or even other teachers--to go potty when she needs to, somehow that teacher intimidated her and she wouldn't ask to go. Given how harsh the teacher was about it even when talking to Matt and I, I suspect she scolded Kate for accidents and made her afraid to ask. (Talk about a mad mama bear!) She's now in a new classroom, and while she had one accident the first day, she's stayed dry for the entire day yesterday and today.

 So, my little baby is becoming a little girl, and soon will be a big sister!

I sure do love my girl.