Kate: 22 months

Don't think that because there's a bunch of new baby stuff going on around our house that Kate is being forgotten about. She makes sure that she is right in the middle of the action. It has been a busy few months for Miss Kate and she continues to grow and learn. She surprises us daily with new words that we don't remember teaching her (the latest is heart), funny behaviors, and, unfortunately for us, some pretty good tantrums. She is almost two you know and has to share Mommy and Daddy's time so I guess she can throw a tantrum here and there.

Kate is all talk and play lately. As long as strangers aren't around she is a motor mouth and says my name at least a hundred times a day. Apparently, she has to be sure that I know that she is talking to me before she says what she wants to say. Our typical conversations go like this.

Kate: Mommy
Mommy: Yes, Kate.
Kate: Baby
Mommy: Yes, Kate that's the baby.
Kate: Mommy
Mommy: Yes, Kate.
Kate: Night-night
Mommy: Yes, the baby is sleeping.

I've tried not responding to her every time, but if I don't acknowledge her she repeats my name over and over until I acknowledge her.

Unless Kate is taking a nap or watching Elmo, she is non-stop motion. It is challenging to try to keep up with her when I have a newborn to watch as well. We have had a lot of help from family members so that has been a lifesaver.

Before the baby came we tried to take Kate on some fun outings because we knew she wouldn't be getting out a whole lot after the baby came. Our first trip was to Sea World which Kate is really starting to enjoy. She loves the Sesame Street area and the sea lions.

Her favorite thing to do is run on the bouncy floor in the Sesame Street area. She could stay there for hours. She runs around, carries around their blocks, and throws herself down on the ground laughing the whole time.

Another trip we made right before the baby came was to a little petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano called Zoomars with Papa and Gigi. They have a ton of barnyard animals, but the highlight for Kate had to be the huge pen filled with bunnies and guinea pigs.

You can buy treats for them for $2.00 (best deal ever!!!) and feed all the animals. Papa put a guinea pig on her lap. She wasn't quite sure about him... maybe it was because of his scary big teeth and gaping mouth.

Since Lily was born, we have done our best to keep Kate occupied with trips to the local parks with grandparents and some extra days at daycare. Last weekend our neighbors had a party for their son and Kate got to meet her favorite person in the world. Of course she wouldn't go near him. It's probably because in real life he is GIGANTIC as opposed to how he looks on tv.

We also made our yearly trek to the SD Fair. Kate seemed to really have a great time this year. She tried some gross, but utterly delicious, fair food and checked out the animals in the petting zoo.

She really loved the goats, but was confused as to why this one had four horns.

I bought her some food but the animals were a little aggressive and she didn't want to feed them.

The cow was a whole other story. She didn't want to have anything to do with him.

After the animals, we tried out a few rides. Kate wouldn't ride on the horses on the carousel but did ok on the seat sitting on my lap.

I tried her out all by herself on the baby swings. She didn't cry, but didn't seem to be overly happy either.

Kate seems to be getting used to having a baby around and we are getting more of these faces lately. She is really sweet with the baby but doesn't seem to be as amused with us. I don't know if she is mad at us for paying attention to someone other than her or if this is just a normal stage for an almost 2 year old. I'm guessing it's a little bit of both.

We are going to have a lot of visitors over the next month or so and we are very excited to see some family and friends that we haven't seen for a few months including grandparents from Alabama, great-grandma from Chico, and one of my best friends from Atlanta. At the end of all the company we will be celebrating Kate's second birthday. I can't believe she is almost 2.

We are really excited for an exciting summer with a bigger family and a big sister who is really becoming a fun little girl.