Frozen in Place (for once)

Hi everyone. It's me, Katie. We had another gorgeous weekend here and I spent a lot of time outside.

I have started giving good hugs, which everyone likes. I also like to lean my head against Daddy's shoulder, and then Mom and Dad say "Awww . . ." and I keep doing it for laughs!

Yesterday I put on my new spring sandals and I was so funny because I thought I could not walk in them. I stood in the hall and acted like my feet were glued to the floor (2nd picture). Later in the day Mom and I went to play outside and I didn't like the grass touching my feet either. Mom realized this was to her advantage because I stayed put on the blanket and we just played and played for two hours (none of the usual chasing!)

Last night we went out for Mexican food and I got to order my own dinner (rice and a quesadilla). I even ate a few tortilla chips and a tiny bit of salsa. I was funny because I saw the bus boy cleaning the next table and I kept waving at him and then I grabbed a napkin and started imitating him by wiping our table!

This will be a busy week for us. Daddy is traveling for a few days and then we go to Indy next weekend for a wedding. Look out Aunt Jen and Uncle Billy! (they are babysitting me for a whole day and night!)

Spring is Here

We've been busy enjoying the nice weather this week. I've been outside a lot. One night after school I played ball in the yard and visited with the neighbors. The three-year-old across the street came and played ball with me for a little bit. My first neighborhood friend!

Mom & I went to the park yesterday and Mom quickly realized the park is a three-person excursion because you can't be at the top of the slide and the bottom of the slide at the same time!

Today we broke out the shorts and took a family walk. I got tired and decided I didn't like my stroller anymore so Mom got a great workout carrying me the whole way home.

I can now reach the door handles and my new game is emptying the pantry. Yesterday I unloaded as much as I could and kept bringing it into the family room. The funniest part was how I kept looking at the pile of stuff (Goldfish crackers, protein bar, sprinkles) as if I was trying to figure out what I was missing for the "recipe." Looks like Mom will have to reorganize the pantry shelves because this new game will only be fun until I break a jar of pickles!

I am understanding more and more words. I walk around the house looking for "Dada" and say "Dada?" as I go from room to room. Today Daddy was mowing the lawn and I stood at the front window banging on it and yelling "DADA!!!" So I think that "Dad" is the first word I really understand. And "dog" seems to be next. We saw a dog on our walk this morning and I got very excited and said "Dah! Dah!" (which I actually say differently from Dada). Perhaps an "M" word will be next?

The Easter Egg Hunt Continues

Hi everyone. We enjoyed our first full week back to normal with all of us home. I went to the doctor for my 15 month check-up on Wednesday. I weigh around 24 lbs (give or take a pound since I wiggled the whole time) and am 31 inches tall. This is around 65-75 percentile, but my head remains at 95 percentile!

Yesterday we went shopping in Cincinnati and had lunch at PF Chang's. You can see my Chinese heritage came out when we were eating there!

I am still obsessed with my Easter eggs. Several times this week I have gone to the door with my Easter basket-- I am sure there must be more eggs out there in the yard. Today we went out in the sunshine (but only high 50's in temp) and played Easter egg hunt again. Then later we walked over to the park across the street to play. I liked the slides the best, but played on the swings and climbed around, too.

I have been saying "uh-oh" a lot the last few days and seem to be understanding more and more. Today I was ready for a snack so I just marched up to my high chair and tried to climb in. Mom & Dad say I just keep getting funnier!

Happy Easter

Hi everyone! I really enjoyed my second Easter. Lily struggles with the holiday a little since it means that a bunny infiltrated our property, but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway!

We went to church this morning. I had a hard time sitting still and I "sang" very loudly at times (sometimes with the choir and at other times a solo!) Daddy spent a lot of time in the back hallway with me.

As soon as I got my Easter basket I loved the colored eggs and immediately started gathering them up. Then we went outside for an Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun. And I knew to collect them in my basket. It wasn't very warm out or we might have hunted for eggs all afternoon! After that I hauled my basket all over the house. I also carried a very heavy bag of chocolate eggs around with me (even though they weren't for me!)

We went to a friend's house for dinner and had a great time. I ate pork loin and waved asparagus around and stained my tights with strawberries. I loved it!

Finally, I collapsed in my crib after reading one of my new Easter books.

Happy Easter, everyone.

From Sunday

Since Mommy had to go to Vegas for work on Sunday she wasn't able to help turn on the computer so that I could type my message. Daddy was going to do it, but he had a technical difficulty.

Here are a couple of photos from Mom's birthday weekend.

I got to play with my American relatives and reaquainted myself with Daddy. He brought me a funny Elmo doll from NY that he had programmed to say my name!

I will write more on Sunday after the Easter Bunny arrives!

Little Neat Freak

We've survived week one with Daddy gone-- he'll be home late Friday night and we are very much looking forward to it!

I've been a little under the weather since Friday (bad diaper rash and diarhea-- not a good combination), but I am back to myself as of this evening. We had a quiet weekend at home just playing and changing lots of diapers!

I did something kind of funny today. Since I wasn't as active as usual Mom gave me some catalogs to look at and I started having a terrific time ripping up the pages. After a few minutes I carefully collected all of the shreds, broke out of the play area by climbing through the basket (pictured) walked into the kitchen and stood waiting at the trash can and then looked up at Mom to open it. Mom thought it was funny because I've never used the trash can before and I just seemed to know where it should go.

I am looking forward to seeing Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Jen & Uncle Billy next weekend!

The Canadians Were Here

I had a great weekend and loved seeing Grampy, Grammie Pammy and Aunt Suz, but only wish the visit was longer! Gramps, we got your message, but I was in the tub when you called.

Today, we helped Daddy pack for his two-week training in New York and then we went outside to enjoy the warm sunny day. We went to the park across the street and did a little swinging and a little sliding in the little kid section of the playground. Then after that we were sad because we had to take Daddy to the airport. We miss him already, but Mom promised she would do silly Daddy stuff for me every night.

Before dinner I colored a beautiful picture using every crayon in the box (except black and brown). It is my best masterpiece to date. I will scan it and email it another day this week. I also attempted to begin a masterpiece on the red chair in the living room. Oops . . .

P.S. Jamma, thank you for the Clifford book and puppet and the card. I love the puppet (I wouldn't put it down before bed, so I ended up sleeping with him), but I can't say the same for Lily! She barked back at him yesterday.

Back from the Windy City

Hi everyone. We're all back home-- even Lily is back from camp. We had a fun time in Chicago at Mom's friend Tina's Big Fat Greek Wedding-- and it was very Greek. Most of the ceremony was in Greek and there was a lot of Greek dancing at the reception. I was great traveling there and adapted to the hotel room just fine. I made Mommy very happy by sleeping in until 10 am (our time) on Saturday morning-- I think she and her friends went to have a few "juicy cups" at the hotel bar just after we arrived, so she was grateful for a little extra sleep. I loved meeting all of the girls and picked up lots of gossip about everyone from ND. Before we left Chicago I got to visit with Uncle Dave at his hotel before his game. It's been a long time since I have seen him! We also had a great visit with Aunt Jen and Uncle Billy on our way through Indianapolis.

Mom and Dad were so busy keeping me contained at the hotel, wedding etc. that they didn't get any pictures of me-- Mom's friends have lots of pictures of me, though so maybe they will send some later this week!

I did get my school pictures back on Friday. As my teacher had predicted, they didn't turn out so well. I didn't like going to the other room for the pictures and I cried before they took them, so here is a picture of me in the role of "saddest little girl in America." I also scanned in my class picture. You'll see that the cool girls knew to where denim and pink. My best friend Ashli is the third from the left. On Friday when Mom and Dad picked me up early from school to leave for Chicago my group was sitting down having snack (Cheerios on Fridays). They witnessed how I kept my eight Cheerios in front of me and started eating Ashli's. It's a good trick if you can get away with it! Perhaps this is why we are best friends?

I am looking forward to my visit from Grampy and Grammy Pammy and Aunt Suzie this weekend!

More From Yesterday

Sorry for my brief message yesterday. Our computer was having a spyware problem and all these windows kept popping up while I typed. It took forever just to send that brief message, but we wanted to at least get the photos out. (I am very knowledgeable about computers for my age-- don't you think?)

Well, I am 14 months old today. This means I am getting more clever every day and Mom & Dad are really having to work to outsmart me now. I like to climb into the basket of blankets to hoist myself up on top of one of the Rubbermaid tubs that we use to contain me in the living room/play area. And I don't just like to get out-- I like to stand on top of it! (I think we got this on video, which we'll send soon).

We went out to dinner for Dad's birthday last night and I was very well behaved. It was an Italian restaurant with an open kitchen and I just watched and watched what was going on in there-- especially the big flames on the grill. We will do cake and presents tomorrow on Dad's official birthday.

We leave Friday evening for Chicago for Mom's friend's wedding. This will be my longest drive to date, the first time I stay in a hotel and the first time I meet some of Mom's ND friends.

Quick Photos

We're having a little computer problem, so here are a few quick photos. I will write more later.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi everyone. Mom and I have little colds, so we had a quiet weekend. I slept lots. I got two new teeth this week bringing the grand total to ten. Grandpa Dolak says it's time for steak!

We just got back from a Valentine's dinner. Mom & Dad didn't know how I'd be since I wasn't feeling great, but I did a great job. I kept dancing to the music and I tried lots of different food. I also looked at the menu like I was going to order a drink!

I mailed Valentine's cards, which may not have made it to Canada yet, so here are some Valentine's pictures from last weekend when I was carrying my Valentines around.

Chocolate pudding and football

Happy Super Bowl! Since my sleep schedule doesn't allow for much Super Bowl partying, we had family pizza night and pudding! Mom thought I would like to practice using a spoon if I had something yummy to eat like chocolate pudding. I did use the spoon . . . but I also ate it by the fistful and licked the bowl.

You can see I was dressed for football today. Since we are rooting for Charlie Weis, we thought ND gear was appropriate.

I was a busy girl this weekend-- playing with everything in sight. I am now sitting still longer and will look at a book by myself or fill one of my little boxes with toys (and empty it, and fill it, and empty it . . .) It was warm this weekend so we all went for a walk today. I laughed and laughed when Mommy and I raced Daddy and Lily up the hill on the next street. Let's just say my team didn't win . . . (but in Mom's defense Lily helps pull and I was just dead weight!)

I am getting another tooth (#9) on the top- it might be a molar, or it might just be one of those middle guys. Just the tip is out right now.

Dad's Weekend

Hi everyone. It's me Katie -- daughter of a Hockey Hall of Famer. We all had a nice weekend celebrating Dad's honor. I also had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Dolak (and we know the rest of you would have loved to have been here, too!)

There was a reception for Dad and the other inductees at 5 pm last night. I ate chicken fingers and did my best to pay attention. Daddy got to speak, although only a few years out from playing, his remarks were briefer (and more accurate) than those that began their careers in the early 70's! He did a great job (and made Mom cry). At 7 pm they made a presentation on-ice. Dad said he felt very young in this company! He is the youngest member of the group of 24. His photo will hang on the wall at the rink.


After the presentation we got to watch the game from a suite, so I was able to run around a bit. We saw lots of people -- some of our neighbors came, 25 people from Dad's work and several of Mom's friends, too-- and of course all the old hockey friends and fans. I managed to make it until 9:15 (2 hours past my bed time), but once the zamboni broke down, I had had enough and came home with Mom, Grandma and Grandpa.

This morning we all went to the annual communion breakfast that the local Notre Dame alumni group does. My ND priest (who baptized me) comes every year, so it was nice to see him. I was very good during mass (and even sang a few times "Da dadadda!") and breakfast, but during the regular part of the program I got a little fidgety and only wanted to bang spoons on the table. Fortunately the other two couples at our table were understanding about that!

Aside from all this about Daddy and our activities, here's what's new with me: I am getting a new tooth- a molar, so that doesn't feel great, but I have hardly complained. I made my first crayon drawing at school this week (three red lines). It hangs prominently on the fridge. Also my teachers told Grandma and Grandpa that I have the most personality of all the kids in my class. They also were impressed because one day when my friend Ashli's mom came to get her, I saw her mom and she didn't so I tapped Ashli on the shoulder and pointed. That's all from here.

Quiet Week

We had a quiet weekend because we were expecting a big snow storm-- luckily we didn't end up getting very much, though. It sounds like most of you weren't so lucky!

I had a good week at school. I am napping better-- about two hours most days, which helps me have a little more patience in the evening. I am eating well, too. One day this week I had thirds on ravioli! I love all the playing and games. We did "ring around the rosie" at school this week and Mom and Dad have noticed me turning in circles by myself when I play at home.

I am looking forward to Dad's big weekend next week and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Dolak.

Big Kid School

Hi everyone. My first week of Toddler School was a lot of fun. My teachers say that I am doing great. I am a little shy in the morning, so Mom stays with me for a few extra minutes while I get settled in. The first picture is of my first day. Once the teacher gave me a bucket to put stuff in and take it out, I was happy as a clam. The second picture is of me about to walk in the door to my class (this was taken on day two- I wasn't in the mood for photos day one).

I am drinking all of my milk out of a cup, which is very convenient for Mom & Dad and I love it. Picture number 3 is of us on the way to the farmer/craft market downtown. I ate a lot of bread samples while we were there and when we left, this jacket was absolutely covered with crumbs. We had a family dinner date last night and I ate some hamburger and french fries like a big kid.

Today we just played and played. I had every toy I own out at some point! Mom let me play on her exercise step and I decided to stand on it and when I did I put my arms up as if I were an Olympic gymnast (and no, I did not cry, Grampy). Mom said "ta-da" and now I keep putting my arms up and saying "da!" "da!"

Shaquille O'Ling

Hi guys. Katie here. I had a very tiring week getting ready to move up to the one-year-old class at school. I spent this week visiting their class a bunch and I start full time tomorow. I will be eating my lunch and snacks at a tiny table and chair (instead of in the high chair) and there are lots of new toys to play with.

We went to Gymboree class yesterday morning and Dad encouraged me to play basketball and I loved hanging on the rim. (I think I was supposed to be doing something in this week's rocking theme, but this was way more fun).

We had a fun day today- waffles for breakfast, lots of playing, a trip to the mall and more playing. I like handing things to people and having them hand them back to me. I even try to hand my toys to Lily, but she doesn't get it (speaking of Lily, look at her tongue in the third photo!) This week I am obsessed with my board books. I like to carry them around and turn the pages. Even as I am falling asleep I still like to have a book in my hand.

Happy New Year's

Happy New Year's everyone. Hope you all have had a nice weekend. Mom had Thursday and Friday off, so we've had lots of play time (and boy is she tired)! I am on the move pretty much all of the time these days, so if I am not eating or sleeping Mom and Dad are busy chasing me around the house.

I started drinking whole milk in a cup this week and made the change without any complaint. Really, Lily is the only one with reason to complain because I do enjoy throwing my cup off the highchair tray, which is where Lily likes to lie in wait for any meat that might come her way. Let's just say she has taken a cup to the noggin a few times . . .

I am enjoying my new learning table and dance when the music plays. (we will send video of this soon).