Kings

The other day Daniel and David were arguing about who was the king around the house.  David was insisting that he was the only king, and Daniel was insisting that he and David were both kings. 

Toward the end of the argument, Daniel said, "Daddy, I am the king of Catherine (pointing at Catherine) and you are the king of ......(looking at me and beginning to point)......(pause).....Nobody!"

That boy knows Daddy certainly isn't the king of Mommy.  :)

Catherine's First Birthday

Catherine turned one on January 9th.  The day of her actual birthday was pretty low-key.  We opened a few presents at the house.  She got two pairs of pajamas from Grandpa & Grandma; a See 'n' Say toy from Uncle Josh, Aunt Pam, & Bryson; a new dress, sweater, and jeans from Uncle Brian, Aunt Heather, and Henry; and two new shirts from Mommy & Daddy.

We celebrated her birthday with a small party on January 19th.  Abuelo & Abuela, Uncle Luis, Uncle Brian & Aunt Cristi, the Calvo family, and Ms. Marcy & Mr. Josh were all in attendance.  We had a chocolate birthday cake with vanilla frosting and polka dots.  She didn't even get scared or cry when we sang "happy  birthday!"  She got even more presents at the party - My Very Own Fairy Tale book from Abuelo & Abuela; a Barbie and a toy cell phone from Uncle Luis; clothes, a stuffed animal Llama Llama, and Llama Llama Red Pajama book from Aunt Cristi & Uncle Brian; a GloWorm and lots of new hair bows from the Calvo's; and a bow hanger from Ms. Marcy.  She liked her cake a lot and seemed to have fun with her new presents.  Unfortunately, she had a low-grade fever during the party (after effects of her 1-year shots), so she didn't feel great. 

At one, Catherine is walking everywhere, saying a few words (Mama, Dada, bye-bye, yeah), and happy as can be.  She loves to eat, though lately, she's been trying to show us that she doesn't like certain foods as much as others.  She likes to play little games like bopping Daddy on the nose and saying "bop!"  At her one-year check-up she weighed 18 lbs., 5 oz (9th %ile) and measured 29" (45th %ile).  I think she's skinny because she walks so much!

Catherine and I on her actual birthday

Catherine on her birthday

Family picture

1st Birthday Cake

1st Birthday Cake - can you tell she had a fever?!

Opening presents

All the kids at the party - this is the only shot we got of all of them together.  :)



Think Outside the Box

Catherine hasn't met a container that she doesn't want to get in. 

Book Worm

Catherine has never really liked books.  She's incredibly different than Daniel in that respect. Daniel enjoyed books, even really long books, from the time that he was probably 4 or 5 months old.  Catherine has never (and I really do mean never) sat down and listened to an entire book with me without trying to get up, eat the book, tear the book, etc.  Her attention span isn't exactly long.  Hello, David's daughter. 

But the day after she turned one, I had some books sitting on the floor.  She picked up a touch and feel one about puppies, brought it to me, sat in my lap, and let me read the whole thing!  Again, and again, and again, and again!  She even barked like a puppy after I did and bounced up and down excitedly when I'd say, "Come and play with the puppies!" 

Since then she's been bringing me books fairly often.  Her favorites are the puppy one and Llama llama nighty night.  :)

Christmas

 

Daniel on the new bike

"the boys" playing in the dirt

Catherine and me on Christmas Eve

 

David, Catherine, and me on Christmas Eve - not her best shot, but isn't the outfit adorable?

 

Bryson and Daniel on Christmas Eve - don't they look handsome?!


I realize that it's January, but at least I'm not doing Christmas in July!

We celebrated Christmas at my parents' house this year.  It was a lot of fun because both my brother and sister and their families were able to make it.  There were 8 adults, 4 kids, and 2 dogs, and it was occasionally chaotic! 

For Daniel, the highlight of the trip was definitely Bryson.  They had a lot of fun together, and they actually shared better than they have in the past.  They played a lot outside, especially with their diggers in the dirt.  On the day we all had to leave, Daniel cried and cried because he thought he was going to get to go home with Uncle Josh, Aunt Pam, and Bryson. 

Catherine is obviously too little to have a highlight, but my highlights for her were seeing her in her sweet little Christmas outfit (thanks, Wendy!), seeing her finally come to Grandma and Grandpa's for the first time, and watching her interact with her cousin, Henry. 

Santa Claus spoiled the kids rotten, and Daniel wound up with a new bicycle and Catherine with a drum.  I know - what was S.C. thinking with the drum?!  We did have a little worry when the kids came out on Christmas morning, and Daniel exclaimed, "I knew Santa would get me a train set!!!" when he saw the train table that Santa had brought Bryson......but it worked out just fine when Daniel realized it wasn't his, and the boys had fun playing with the train set all weekend. 

Grandma and Grandpa also spoiled all of us rotten with a ridiculous amount of food.  We found out that both our kids can put away some lobster.

The low point of the trip was definitely the drive itself.  Ick.  Thank heavens we bought this mini-van before the trip!  Daniel is a trooper while traveling, but Catherine can be a little terror.  We made it home though.  We're planning to go nowhere ever again.