A Few of My Favorite Things

One of the many benefits of staying home is that I get to witness Catherine's personality and language grow each day. She is doing and saying so many funny things lately, I have to share a few. She is talking so much now. She counts to three, she knows some of her colors, she can rock animal names and sounds, and has mastered "pease" (please); but, my favorite phrase right now is, "oh no!" 

She is very aware of how things should be. Everything has a place. So, when something is out of place, in even the tiniest way, she puts her tiny hands up to her mouth, gasps, and very seriously says, "oh no." She is genuinely concerned when a crayon breaks, her block tower falls, or she drops her corn cob on the floor.  She has the same reaction to something funny or exciting - those sweet little hands to her mouth.

She waves and says, "hi" to everyone and everything. She greets us each morning with a big "hi;" she says "hi" to Banks, to cars on the road, to ducks at the park, to cashiers at Walmart. Lately, she has been saying "hi" to people on tv. She waves her hand vigorously and repeatedly says, "hi" to any commercial featuring only one person, babies in particular. My mom thinks it's because she's confusing it with FaceTime. I just think it's adorable.

She loves animals more than anything. Any and all animals. She giggled and squealed with excitement as she was surrounded by ducks at the park yesterday; and while we waited to pick up Banks from the vet, she hugged every dog in the waiting room. That's another thing - she doesn't hug. She snuggles up against you and says, "awwww." She leans in and says, "muah" for kisses.

Banks is still her best friend.

She thinks the response to all smells is "pew" because of a silly game we play where we smell her feet and say that. Tonight, she brought me every single stuffed animal feet first so I could smell their feet and say it. 

She loves music- both to make it and dance to it. She plays her drum or shakes her Kindermusik egg shaker all day long. We keep a hand bell in the car for entertainment. We have family dance parties while Husband gets ready for work in the mornings. Some of her favorites are Lionel Richie, The Avett Brothers, and Lady Gaga. Like her parents, her taste is all over the place. 

She is a morning person. Besides her chipper, "hi," she also jumps on the bed and hops up and down on Husband until he wakes up. The other day, I got out of the shower to find she had covered his entire side with stickers while he slept. Also, she loves stickers.

She loves all things mobile - cars, trains, planes. We can hear a train from our house and she says, "choo choo" whenever she hears it. She says, "beep beep" and "vroom" when she sees cars. She loves school buses and can tell you it is a bus and that they are yellow.

She would rather play with a ball than anything else, but blocks are a close second.

She's very aware of boundaries and she tests them daily. She climbs up the stairs before I can catch her; she climbs onto her table to sit; she loves her bath, but avoids bedtime. As much as she tests me, I worry less each day because I know her abilities. 

She's long and lean and runs and jumps and climbs with ease, looking less and less like a baby each day. She's all toddler and growing all too fast while Husband and I hang back to admire our handiwork. Not to brag, but I'm pretty impressed with us so far.