Nope, not in labor yet. I feel like it’s getting closer, I think sometime this week – but I have been known to be wrong before!

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Kate seems to be feeling better now. She gave Den and I the stuffed up, runny nose that she had. I just can’t breathe through my nostrils, whereas Den has a sore throat and has a worse head. Once we got sick we realized that if this is how she’s been feeling no wonder she’s been so crabby and whiny lately! But yesterday we didn’t really get out much except for a quick errand and a jaunt in the back yard (cut short by bugs!), and yet she happily occupied herself with books and music and drawing. She was much more silly-goose Kate and very little tantrum Kate. We read stories and bounced on balls together. We practiced using her new baseball bat and t-ball set. She gave me many of her adorable little grins. It was a good day, and I think she’s feeling better overall.

She is all about playing outside now, which I’m sure shocks no one who has or has had a toddler. She loves her swing and asks us to help her into it often. She loves digging in the dirt with her little shovels. She has a toddler slide that right now is used to drop balls down – apparently observing cause and effect is more interesting than sliding down herself. She also likes going for walks in the yard and down our quiet street, pointing out and picking up leaves and sticks along the way. This works perfectly for me because I in no way care to be power-walking right now. Though she does tend to try marching into peoples’ yards. I keep thinking I want to take her to the nature trails in the local park, but the weather has not been conducive at all to outdoor activities so we’ve only been going out briefly and sticking close to the house in case it does rain. She really loves “bee-bass” – baseball. She got a t-ball set for her birthday that she is pretty darned happy with, but any bat and ball will do in a pinch. She’s not very coordinated at it yet and tends to try to do it one-handed, but she definitely enjoys hitting the ball in any way possible.

Yesterday I found my exercise/birth ball in our storage shed but it was grossly dirty so Kate helped me wash it with soapy water. And then while I was turning off the hose she pushed it down the hill in our yard. And pushed it back up. She reminded me of Sisyphus. When I got it dried off and inside I threw a sheet over it and used it at my computer desk. Kate saw this and came running over asking to sit on the ball. I directed her to go get her large ball, which she did, and then she held my hands as we both sat on our balls and bounced. Den got a picture but it’s on the camera which is not within arms reach… so I’ll post it later. (Maybe. If I remember.)

She can jump now! “Jump! Jump!” she’ll say as she hops around the living room, getting both feet off the ground. She likes the stability of holding on to something (furniture or my hands), and she will jump off of objects like cushions or books. She’s trying to jump off furniture, but only if holding my hands (thank goodness)… and she squats and does a slide off/jump instead of a crazy jump. I am very glad she is a cautious kid! I’d like to get her a small trampoline, but most are so expensive.

Clothes are a major love of hers. Every day I find her clothes in a large pile in her bedroom, or strewn about the room. If given the chance she will grab an armful and carry them into the living room. She takes off her socks frequently and is working on getting other clothing items off. I feel like my house is constantly this big laundry explosion. Often I can’t even tell which or clean or dirty, since she’ll dump out her laundry basket too. She wears clothes on her head, she struggles to get on a second pair of pants (but can’t get them all the way on yet). She puts my socks on her hands like mitts. While I do think a lot of that is adorable and I don’t want to totally take away her fun, I’m also getting very tired of putting things back in her drawers. I’d like them to stay somewhat organized and it’s just a giant mess right now. I’m looking for some way to keep her out of her drawers, there are a few different types of locks out there.

We have discovered on Netflix a show/documentary for kids about animals called Animal Atlas. We now have frequent requests for “amimaas?” (animals). I like the show because it is geared for kids, giving lots of little facts about different wild animals, and Kate loves to just shout out the name of each animal. Animals in general are just big with her right now, she loves books with animal pictures. I really want to take her to the zoo if the sun comes out. She will totally love it this year!

Letters and numbers are still a big deal with her. She now knows what sound each letter makes thanks to her LeapTop and letters magnets. She can identify all her letters, and she’ll say some of them in order but she hasn’t yet got the whole alphabet together yet. She loves us singing the alphabet song though. For numbers she quickly and easily gets to 11 or 12, but then the teens she either skips them all or gets a couple and then she shouts “Tenty! Yaayyyy!” I love how excited and proud she gets when working with her letters and numbers. She points out letters and numbers all the time on signs and menus and anything else she sees.

Singing is very appealing to her right now too. I mentioned singing her a lullaby before bed now and so as soon as we go into the bedroom she’s asking for “Singa?” She’s quiet for the song and then asks for “Singa?” again. The song I sing to her is Morningtown Ride, and sometimes I’ll hum some Brahm’s Lullaby. For books she now knows which ones are nursery rhymes or songs and she brings them to me insistently, pointing at the page and tapping until I comply. Snuggle Puppy is a favorite right now because I always sing the song part (in my own made-up song – I have no idea what the actual song is, if there is one). She skips the pages with talking and goes straight to the song part.

As far as speech goes she repeats everything we say and catches on to new words very quickly. She’s not always super clear with her words, though, and she’ll pull out some signs in an effort to get me to understand her – which helps a lot. A lot of times I can deduce what she’s trying to say based on context, but there are times she’ll just randomly come up to me and repeat the same word over and over and I just don’t know what it is! I’ve figured out that what sounds like “sega” is actually “cracker.” Not close at all. Confuses the hell out of us. (And usually sparks a very dramatic whine and stomp because no, no more crackers!) She is not stringing words together yet. Everything she says are one-word orders! “Mama! Mama! Eat? Eat? Eat? Highcha?” Well, she phrases most words as questions, with her voice rising at the end, but even disguised as a question it is still clearly a command.

The tantrums are not nearly as bad now as they were a few days ago, but she’s added certain flair to her stomping. She throws up her hands, whines and fake-sobs, then throws her arms and head forward and down as she stomps on the ground (once or multiple times). It’s a very familiar ritual we see repeated around here – and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of it. She’s definitely figured out that she doesn’t like being told no and she’s going to try to convince us otherwise. Sadly the tantrum does not work very well on us as it either makes us laugh (and not give her what she wants) or irritated (and not give her what she wants). We definitely have to stick to our response though – there are times when I’ve though, “Well, I could have given her one more,” but now I can’t reward her behavior. Most of the time she shrugs it off pretty easily and moves on to something else as soon as she sees it didn’t work, but there are times when she’s overtired or not feeling well that she just melts down sobbing over something ridiculous. On those occasions I try to hug her and rock her and get her calmed down – but I still won’t give her what she was demanding. Poor kiddo just gets so overwhelmed with frustration sometimes. I know that must suck.

Mostly we think she is just a brilliant, adorable, funny little girl. She seems so at-ease with the world around her, so vibrant and curious yet cautious and contemplative. She loves to give hugs and kisses to us. She is just so joyful. And we are so very lucky to have her in our lives.