2.5

I turned 2.5 last week and as you can see my sense of style is really coming along! I got another new pair of sunglasses- they don't last long around me-- and like the others these can be worn right side up or "uppaside down."

We had a good weekend. Mom's friend Gretchen was visiting from Alaska (a former co-worker at the Red Cross) so she and her friends had lots of plans. We had dinner at our house on Saturday evening and I helped get things cleaned up. I even washed my kitchen so it was ready for company.

We got a new minivan this week and I love it- especially the magic door! We're busy getting ready for baby (6 weeks to go)-- and her name is "Purple" now, if you ask me.
We went over to a friend's house last night for a quick play date after dinner and a tramautic thing happened to me. I got six splinters in my hand. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of Clifford the Big Red Dog bandaids and ice to make that feel better.

Daddy's Day

First, let me give a shout out to all the fathers out there, especially my own! For Daddy's day we took him out to dinner Saturday night (left) to the restaurant of his choosing and thanks to the newly discovered wonder of chocolate milk, I was very well behaved. Sunday morning, Mom and I made Daddy breakfast (bluebirdie pancakes) and served him on the patio.

Now backing up a little, overall we had a pretty good week, with the exception of a glitch with selling our old house, but that may be resolved this week and hopefully the deal will go through. Aside from that, Dad went to South Bend Thursday through Saturday for his hockey reunion. Mom and I kept busy while he was gone.

I have a new favorite hobby in sidewalk chalk. It is also Mommy's favorite activity since she can sit in a chair on the patio and have both me and Lily happy and busy. It isn't neat, but it is fun! I got a new table for outside, complete with umbrella, which is very cool and we got it just in time since it was hot again this weekend. We played some soccer with Dad and you can see Lily and I were dragging from the heat!

I also started swimming lessons on Saturday morning. It was fun and I am getting really good. I blow bubbles and kick and love to jump in. The only thing I didn't like was the rescue dummy that I could see laying in the corner behind the big water slide. It was a life-sized man and I kept asking Mommy about him "Man sleeping?" And I didn't quite get her explanations that he was like a big doll.

Some other stories from this week . . . I have a new expression. If I make a not-so-polite noise, I now exclaim: "I Beeped!" (this is new from exclaiming "Katie's bum loud") Mom and Dad think it's hilarious, but don't know where it came from. I remain interested in trying to ride Lily like a horse. Lily is not so interested in this game, but is nice about it and just tries to get up and leave . . . I also told Mommy that I had a little black shirt and she had a white shirt-- a big white shirt, but it was big because of my baby sister . . . If you ask me what time it is I will tell you two minutes. It is the only time-related answer I know since Daddy will send me in from grilling territory to tell Mommy "Two minutes."

On the Fence

For those of you waiting to see my professional photos from last week, here is one that we scanned. I look like an agreeable 2.5 year old in this photo, don't I?

Well before I talk all about myself, let me fill you in on a few pieces of news. First, we sold our old house. Yeah! Daddy is thrilled that he will only have to maintain one lawn now! And in new house news, we finally got our fence installed. Lily and I were excited to explore the far reaches of our yard and Mom and Dad like having us both contained! Of course it rained most of the weekend, so we didn't get to play outside much, but when we did, I got to wear my boots.

Mom and Dad had their big black-tie affair on Saturday night and they looked very dressy when they left. Their photo was taken there, so we'll post it on the blog when we receive it. They had fun and I kindly slept in until 7:40 so they could catch up on a little extra sleep.
Despite the rain, we had a few excursions over the weekend. I spent Saturday morning with Dad going to some of our favorite places: Daddy's work (there is candy there); the grocery store (there are samples there, like apple slices, donuts, cheese and bread); and the library, which I pronounce "Lie-birdie." Also, FYI, strawberries are "strawbirdies" and blueberries are "bluebirdies."

On Sunday we tried to go to the park, but everything was too wet, except the balance beam (which is really just walking around the perimeter) and one swing was dry-ish but Daddy made me push him on the swing, instead of the other way around.

We ordered the bedding for my big girl room this week and Mom is planning for how Daddy will paint it. Perhaps this is how he will celebrate Father's Day?!?!?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

For weeks now Mommy and I have been singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at bedtime, but we didn't know I would get to sing it publicly! We went to a baseball game today and we saw my old babysitter and she invited me up on the dugout to sing it during the seventh inning stretch. Under the pressure I didn't sing much, but I did clap loudly when we were done. I liked being at the baseball game, but my wiggles got the best of me and I kept Daddy on his toes!

We had my 2.5 year-old pictures taken this weekend. I was very wiggly there too and only smiled when I was being devilish and saying "no!" We will be sending photos out soon and Mom will put some up her for all to see.

Perhaps the highlight of the weekend (said sarcastically) was our trip to find a formal dress for Mommy. She and Daddy are going to a fancy party next weekend for Daddy's work and let me tell you it is quite a challenge to find a formal maternity dress on short notice. We finally found one at a wedding shop, but not before I wreaked havoc on the store and all the ladies shopping there.

Poppy came down to visit this week and he and Daddy went to the Memorial golf tournament. They had fun, despite the heat. I was sad to see Poppy go home and put his placemat back on the table after he left and Mommy had put it away. And I kept asking where Grandma was. They told me she had to work (only five more days until retirement now, so none of us feel to badly about that!) , but I didn't really get it.

Otherwise, I have been busy being busy. I have been wearing my dog boots a lot and I think they look terrific with shorts. We are in the process of starting to get my big girl room ready, but Mom is torn between two bedding sets and I like them both--and have picked both when given the option. We think Daddy likes one better because it would probably mean that the room would stay white (no painting for him!) so he is not bringing an unbiased opinion to the decision.