Family Resemblance

Kate is starting to look like B more and more each day.

Kate Movie Wednesday

This is a series of two films we like to call, "Gimme the stuff."

Chillin' in the Vallis

What I think I like the least about our Kate schedule is that we rarely get time together as a family. B works most weekends, so Kate and I get a lot of one-on-one time. Lately though, I feel like I have been getting the hang of this mommy thing and I've been scheduling our social calendar full with activities.

On Sunday, we had a date with Uncle Craig and Aunt Bridget in Corvallis. It was absolutely puking rain so we just hung out at their place and played with the kiddo. She adores them!

Her first cooking lesson with Aunt Bridget. Kate, the food goes in the pot, not you.

Sitting like a big girl with Uncle Craig.

Oh, geeze, what else are they going to put me in?

Daddy and Daughter

What I think I like best about our Kate schedule is that we each get our own time with the little honey. While I know that Kate is her happiest self when we are both around, the time that we spend with her one-on-one is so important.

Want to know who she likes the best? Her daddy, of-course. He can make her giggle like no one's business and when he walks in the door from work, want to know what her face looks like? Glee. Absolute glee.

Saturday Shout-out

Rockin' my pink JD t-shirt in honor of my Opa.

I love you Opa!

xoxo Kate

P.S. Opa, right after this photo, I pooped on this shirt. Sorry.

Kate goes for a swim

We took Kate to the rec center last weekend for her first swim. She LOVES the bathtub so we figured she would love the pool--a HUGE bathtub! I think she was a wee bit skeptical about her first dip, but we totally understand. It is a big world out there and it's definitely hard to be so small.

Kate Movie Monday

Another Monday. Another work week. Another Kate movie!

This one is titled, "Kate throws the toys". Let the fun begin!

Yowza

Your white knuckle experience for today. Yikes.

Rice cereal...yummy.

Yeah, yeah, I realize that this blog is definitely turning into Kate's personal photo album, but when she does things like this, how can you not post it?

Kate rang in the New Year with a new food: solids! Here is her first experience with rice cereal. Yum.

An epidemic

Through my job at REI, I've become a little bit more aware of a certain epidemic spreading across our great nation: nature deficit disorder. Sounds a bit overdramatic for something that doesn't seem that important, but as I've come to learn, this is serious business and something we should all take note of.

Nature deficit disorder refers the increasing amount of time that our children spend indoors and the decline in their participation in nature-based outdoor activities. If you read about the numbers here, you'll find that it's shocking. Exposure to nature and the outdoors not only positively supports a child's quality of life, but it leads to a smarter, more imaginative, cooperative child.

Both B and I had the great fortune to grow up with unlimited access to the outdoors--in our neighborhoods, at the farm, on vacation. So, naturally, we want the same for Kate. To that end, I have been taking her for walks in Tryon Creek State Park, a natural area about a mile from our house. She listens to birds, looks at trees, babbles at the trail as we stroll along. We're hoping we can raise a child who will ask us if she can go play outside. No, we want her to ask us when she gets to play outside again.

To read more about the benefits of time spent out with Mother Nature, visit this blog: The New Nature Movement.

And then there were presents.

Kate is one sharp little cookie--she knew exactly what to do when presented with something in wrapping paper on Christmas morning. She put her game face on and dug right in.

Baby on the loose!

Kate figured out how to roll from her back to her tummy this past week. And then she figured out how to roll from her back to her tummy to her back to her tummy, etc. Look out folks, nothing is safe now.

Yesterday, I set her down on the floor, left the room for about 10 seconds, came back and saw this:

She was completely content with her predicament. Oh, and she wants to wish everyone a Happy New Year!