Her Father’s Daughter

In order to appreciate this post you need a little bit of background. First – Caitlin loves to wash her hands. When she comes to a play kitchen, the first thing she does is wash her hands in the sink. Saturday morning I put a step stool up to the sink in her bathroom and she discovered that she can wash her hands by herself! She spent at least an hour this weekend washing hands, playing in the soap, and brushing her teeth. Hey – it is good clean fun!

Saturday night at bath time I told the Irishman I’d picked up a surprise for Caitlin while I was at Target that morning. I pulled out the bottle of shaving cream and he scoffed. I believe his words were, “You call that a surprise?”

Now, the other thing you need to keep in mind is that the Irishman LOVES Christmas.

You might remember this blog header from last year:

Well, each morning as he and Caitlin walk down the stairs, the Irishman points out a picture of Mommy, Daddy, and Santa framed on the wall. It is the same every morning….”There’s Mommy. There’s Daddy. And what does Santa say?”

It has gotten to the point that anytime Caitlin sees a Santa picture, toy, or even a Santa hat (which happens somehow more than it should in this house…) she goes, “Ho, Ho, Ho!”

This leads us to…

...and yes, she was saying, “Ho, Ho, Ho!” the whole time!

(Alternatively titled, “How he REALLY sees himself”)

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Needless to say, they have a new favorite bath time game….and at the rate they are using it up, shaving cream will be a regular on my weekly shopping list!

Happy Memorial Day

What a difference a year makes…

(give or take a day)

P.S. Ruthie – the new shoes were addeed to the outfit with you in mind!

Kangaroos…in Florida

After the Splash Pad and the Park we decided to use one of the Groupons we’ve picked up recently. This one was for a BBQ place we’d wanted to try. Outside the restaurant was something we hadn’t expected to see…

Still not sure WHY there were are kangaroos in a shopping center in South Florida, but that's okay!

Playground Fun

Saturday after the Splash Pad we walked over to the playground to explore. There was lots to see and do.

She LOVED the tunnel.

Daddy wasn’t so sure about this slide. I agreed NOT to post the photo of him going down the slide…let’s just say it made me giggle.

Lots to do….

Lots of fun!

Using Her Words

Caitlin’s vocabulary is growing everyday. I thought it was time to review some of her newest words…

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If you spend any time at our house at all, you will hear Caitlin shouting for Mama. She repeats, “Mama! Mama! Mama!” over and over again.

Meet “Mama.”

It didn’t start this way…I USED to be “Mama,” but not any more. Now, she says “Mama” while holding out a cell phone or ipod asking to watch Elmo….or finds one of the half dozen Elmos around the house and joyously shouts his name.

She and I are not even out of the car each afternoon she starts to ask for, “Dada.”

She has become SUCH a Daddy’s girl! I don't have a name these days, but Daddy sure does!

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Most of her words make sense….

BALL

‘Nana

Some aren’t quite as clear…

“More” has come to mean a bowl of crackers. (Preferably goldfish)

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She has the word, “Up”

She will sit in the toddler chair and lift her feet up shouting, “Up!”

Sometimes you can make out a, “Down!”

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Then there are her songs…

Her current list of favorites are, “The Wheels on the Bus",” The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain,” and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

When she wants to listen to her CD she makes the opening hand motions for “The Wheels on the Bus.” We’ve taught her how to turn on the CD player and that is the first song. Our old CD player broke and there was about a week where she would motion, push the button, and then get very upset with the fact that there was no music. Thankfully I had a back up CD Player in my classroom!

They must do “Ring Around the Rosie” at school…because she often grabs your hands and says, “ASHES, ASHES.” In her mind it means you fall down, but it makes me laugh when she says it out of context…like at Sunday Mass last week.

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This is her new favorite YouTube Video. We have watched more of “Elmo’s Song” than should be legally permitted so the Irishman has been looking to expand the Sesame Street song collection.

She sings along, dances, and waves her arms above her head as she listens to this one…it is SO darn cute!

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She’s growing up so fast!

Splash Pad Fun

After Caitlin’s nap on Saturday we decided to try a nearby county park we’d read about that has a splash pad. When we got there she was VERY cautious. We were a bit worried that the trip would be over before it began, but she warmed up to the idea.

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And in completely unrelated news…the Irishman asked me to wish everyone Happy Istanbul Day. He’s a dork…but I love him anyway!

Messy

Just a quick picture this morning. I have a lot of school work to catch up on, so I picked a quick photo from this weekend. Caitlin usually doesn’t like chocolate, but she loved the chocolate cookie Daddy gave her. That on top of mac and cheese for lunch made for a messy toddler!



What a start to the week! Moses kidney function has improved, but his appetite has not returned, so we are waiting to see if he starts to eat or if further expensive testing  is needed. Caitlin got into a little fight at school yesterday…there was biting and scratching involved and we got a call from the school nurse. Not sure I have words for that…

My third grade team is putting on a play and auction Thursday to raise money for Haitian Earthquake Relief. A wonderful cause, but there is SO much to do! My yearly evaluation is today and I’m pretty sure my home computer ate a report I really should have for that. My grades have to be closed out on Friday…when we are also tie-dying shirts with 50-plus 9 year-olds.

Can you say stress?

Meet Some of Caitlin’s Friends

Now that she is a little older, Caitlin sleeps with several of her favorite friends in the crib with her at night. It all started when we were fight jet lag after our trip to Ireland. Caitlin was waking up early and after a week, we decided it was time to let her cry it out. One of the books I read said to be sure that you had lots of items for a toddler to throw out if they got frustrated…so we added several of her favorite friends.

Now the first thing she does in the morning is hand them to us one at a time. We say good morning to each of the seven stuffed animals in her crib and move them over to the daybed to join Caitlin as she drinks her cup of milk.

When we put all her favorite friends (plus a few extra) in the ball pit, she had to make sure that each one got some special attention.

First there is Little Elmo.

He is actually a triplet. There is also a Little Elmo downstairs in the play area and one packed away….just in case!

Next up is Minnie.

Hugs!

I didn’t forget you Kermit!

Hi Mr. Shamrock!

Good afternoon medium-sized Elmo!

So, Mr. Bear – what do you think of the ball pit?

I know, isn’t it great?

And of course there is her newest friend…

my camera!

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Update on Moses:

The Irishman and I are fearing the worst when it comes to Moses. He has been on medication and fluids for the last week, but he just isn’t eating. We tried everything we could think of…boiled chicken, tuna, special food.  He goes back to the vet for a blood test today. We are both a bit scared to hear the results. He has been really loving and doesn’t seem to be in pain, but he just won’t eat more than a bite or two a day. We are preparing ourselves for bad news.

Daddy’s New Favorite Photo

Having a Ball

Santa brought Caitlin an inflatable ball pit for Christmas last year. After a couple of weeks of fun back in January, it was packed away for later. Last weekend we pulled it back out. She was THRILLED! I have at least a dozen outtakes on the camera because she was bouncing around like a mad woman.

We do not have room to store many more balls for the ball pit, so we decided to fill some of the extra space with Caitlin’s furry friends.

Such excitement!

We’ve kept it up all week. She plays with it first thing in the morning, after dinner, and before bed.

“This is great, but let’s sing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ at the same time!”

She bounced around for almost two hours the first day…

but she slept well that night!

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Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Random Thoughts on a Thursday

Okay so it has been a while since I’ve done a completely random post, but this one should be…

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I had a follow up ultrasound with the high-risk OB Monday. They found a cyst on the baby’s brain during my regular testing so we had a follow up. (That sounds scary, but it was the same thing they found with Caitlin and we’ve decided it is something they only know about now because technology has improved) Thankfully though the cyst has gone away.

What they did find was that this little boy is looking big. He is estimated at 3 and a half pounds and in the 85-90th percentile already. (I’m 28 weeks) Not too surprising considering my family history of big babies and Caitlin was a big baby.

When the doctor sat down and started with, “I don’t want you to worry…” we knew it was coming. We again were told not to Google this information. (This is the third time in two pregnancies we’ve been advised to avoid Google.) My amniotic fluid level is slightly high. As in normal range ends at 25 and they measured 26. I passed my gestational diabetes test, so they can rule that out as a cause. The high risk OB seemed to think it is most likely just because the baby is big, but they are going to monitor it anyway.

I have an appointment with my regular OB today and I am looking forward to hearing her thoughts on it. She is the most calming person – I trust her completely! Honestly I am not too worried about it. I did break down and Google it and cautiously read some of the implications and the stories of false alarms. I also know that if the doctor was really worried about it she would want to see me back sooner than three weeks.

On the plus side? It means an extra ultrasound. I’m hoping this baby decides to show us his face this time…so far he is far more proud of showing off his little boy parts!

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I’m going to Babies R Us on my way home from the doctor today. The person who decided to build that store across from the hospital & doctors’ offices was really quite smart! Morgan is going to pick up Caitlin so I have time to wander the store by myself…and I am SO looking forward to it! I have my Baby Bargains book packed in my school bag and I am ready to shop!

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We stopped at Whole Foods on Mother’s Day to pick up something for my grandmother. Other than having the best fresh herbs at reasonable prices,

we decided they also have the best shopping carts

EVER.

Such fun!

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In the not so much fun category, our cat Moses is sick. He’s lost 5 pounds…which is a really big deal when you start out at 15 pounds.

He is a GOOD cat. He belonged to my Grandma Jo before she died and we even took him to visit her in the hospice wing of the hospital. Moses being sick brings up all kinds of feelings about missing her and the jewlery that was stolen…and pregnancy hormones don’t help.

He’s had a few tests run and it seems to be his kidneys. He has a slight infection, but it looks like it may be genetic. We have a special food and some medicine for him and we take him back for fluids this weekend and more blood tests Monday.

He doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable at all – in fact he has been more active than usual now that he is not so overweight. Unfortunately though he is sick and too thin.  We hope it all goes okay.

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And to end on a more positive note….Our other favorite thing right now? Magnum Ice Cream Bars. Morgan used to get these in Ireland and they now sell them on this side of the pond. YUM!

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Happy Thursday!