It always makes me smile to hear myself in Kate. One of “my things” that she’s picked up on is replying “of course” to questions in lieu of “yes.” For example, I’ll ask, “Kate, can you help me carry these things upstairs?” to which she’ll cheerfully reply, “Of course!” It’s really quite cute – and also slightly surprising – to hear an almost-3-year-old sounding so grown up!
Another example occurred on a day when Grandma Pam was at our house taking care of her for the day. She informed Kate that it was almost nap time and Kate responded, “Okay, I just need to get organized first.”
She may look like her Daddy, but she sounds like her Mama!
Another cute thing she said this month was in response to finding out G’s sister was going to have a baby. G told her, “Aunt Lesley has a baby in her belly!”
“Why?” Kate inquired. “Was she hungry? Did she eat the baby?”
It is so much fun to see her imagination at work! She’s always had a fascination with her feet and grabbing things with them (she has long, skinny toes – another trait she got from me!) and lately she’s been calling her feet her “creatures.” As we finish up bath time I’ll ask her to put her bath toys away and she says, “My creatures will do it!” and then proceeds to use only her feet and toes to pick up each toy and put them in her bath bin. When she’s finished she asks, “Mom, can you say ‘thank you, helpers’ to my creatures?”
Kate also shares my trait of liking things to be done a certain way or placed in a certain order. We keep a little jar of M&Ms in the house and pour a handful into the lid for her to choose from when she gets a treat. She likes to pick her treat’s color, but before doing so she has to make sure all the little candies are turned so that their “M&M” stamp is facing up. If we poured an entire bag of M&Ms out for her I honestly think she’d resist eating one until they were all “M&M” side up!
Kate has been sooooo snuggly and cuddly, and is much more wiling to give kisses now than she ever has been. Her favorite color is very clearly purple at this point, and she’s getting really good at helping me in the kitchen. We made stuffed pasta shells for dinner one night and she did most of it by herself! I boiled the pasta and measured out the ingredients, she put them in and stirred, and then I held the pasta shells open for her while she stuffed them with the filling. She also mixed up the sauce, spread it over the shells and topped it with cheese. It took us nearly an hour to prep something that typically takes me 20 minutes solo, but I was so proud of her patience and interest to try!
Thirty-five months also marked Kate’s third Christmas – yes, I’m that far behind in publishing Kate’s monthly posts! – but I couldn’t hit “publish” without reminiscing on how much fun we had over the holiday season!
This holiday season marked the first time Kate and I made Christmas cookies and she was such a wonderful helper! She loved taking a turn at rolling out the dough, using the cookie cutters once the dough was ready, and adding sprinkles after I added the frosting. We had such a wonderful time and she was so thrilled with our final Christmas cookie results that I can’t wait until we do it again next year!
This was also the first year that Kate sat on Santa’s lap! Santa came to her daycare after their Christmas pageant and Kate actually sought him out to say hello!
One of Kate’s favorite Christmas gifts this year was the Seattle ornament she got from her Aunt Lesley and Uncle Ben, which was especially perfect considering our recent family trip to Seattle!
And here she is taking charge of the room and “decorating” our Christmas tree with Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy, Aunt Lesley and Uncle Ben:
In our world December isn’t all about Santa and ornaments, it’s also about getting ready for Kate’s birthday! As we got closer to Kate turning 3 years old she was getting more and more excited about having balloons at her birthday party. In this video of her playing at the mall you can hear her exclaim around the 30 second mark, “My birthday party is here!” once she spots some balloons!
Additional Kate 35 Months Posts:
I Celebrate My Daughter’s Life
Kate’s 2012 Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree video was adorable. When your father in law hugged Lesley & said “I love you” I teared up. There’s lots of love in your family. It shows!
What a lovely comment – thank you so much, Del! We are very blessed to have each other! <3
Random comment but I love that you are a working mom and blogger. I have a hard time working and keeping up with all my projects and a blog. Great job and I love the design of your blog. Well the whole thing in general really!
Thank you so much, Mandy! It’s a balance for sure, but I love it all so I try my hardest to make it work! Good luck to you with your projects and your blog!
Hi, Just found your blog. I too find it absolutely amazing when my children say things beyond their years. They definitely pick things up from mom and dad. Enjoyed the post, keep up the good work!
Isn’t it so much fun? I just love this age and wondering what will come out of her mouth next!
Love the picture of Kate! Happy girl!
Thank you so much, Carla!