My Sweet "Baby"

I can't believe how quickly my little girl is growing up. She is so bright and curious. She is full of life. Katie's personality has continued to just bloom over the last month or so. She is making connections so quickly and is more vocal about things she likes and doesn't like.

We moved her into her new big girl bed on Sunday night, August 28th, and she has been sleeping there every night since. The first night, she cried when we laid her in it, but she feel fast asleep when daddy laid next to her. She stayed put all night. The next day, when it was time for nap time, she asked for her milk. She held my hand to walk back to our bedroom, but I told her she was going to lay in her big girl bed. She went right over to her bed, laid down under the covers and went to sleep. The second night she woke up scared and fell asleep after I sat with her for a few minutes, but otherwise, she has done a GREAT JOB.

On Wednesday, she ran over to Nomi and pointed at her (fake) purple flower tattoo and exclaimed "PURPLE!" Jonathan had been teaching her about purple diving gems and purple water toys the night before in the hot tub.

Grandma spoiled her with a new fall/winter wardrobe on Thursday and all she wanted to do was try on every pair of shoes. She would go into the living room and show her daddy before running back into the kitchen and taking out the next pair to try on. Since then, she has been digging through the bag of clothes for her jeans and dragging them around with her saying "jeans!"

She had a sleepover this weekend with my mom and dad. I have been working all weekend and Paul had a birthday party to go to last night. Before Paul took her over on Saturday morning, they were cuddling and she didn't want to get up, but didn't want to fall asleep. He told her she was going to go to Grandma's house, and she jumped up on the bed and got all excited. When he dropped her off, she told him goodbye and didn't even cry! Katie hardly minds being at Grandma's, in fact, I think it's her favorite place, but she always gets upset when Paul leaves her anywhere.

This morning mom said she asked to go for a swim in the "pool!" (Papa and Jon call the hot tub Katie's pool). She was playing with the puppies on the floor and trying to do the "grrr" game with the baby puppy boy. When she came to eat lunch with me, her whole face lit up and she ran down the hall to give me a hug. She has such sparkle in her eyes. She loves to laugh and to be the center of attention. She got a Hello Kitty doll today, and she immediately clutched onto it giving it big squeezes and kisses. Grandpa bought her some Elmo DVD's today, and she was holding them at the store and chanting "MOMO! MOMO" and giggling.

I miss my baby girl all the time when I am not with her. I love to get pictures and updates when I have to be at work and it just warms my heart to see how well she is doing. I can't believe how tiny and small she was 20 months ago and could not have imagined how in love with Katie we would all be today. Being Katie's mother is my proudest achievement, and I hope that she always knows how special she is to me, to all of us. As she is growing up so quickly, I cherish being able to capture these memories so that one day in the distant future when she is all grown up, I can remember my Katie Bug as a young little girl, full of love and energy.