Sunday Afternoon Fun

Today was one of those days where we didn't have a single place to be except church this morning, so we've thoroughly enjoyed not having a thing to do but have fun and relax! We hit the "Mexcinan" restaurant (Towns' fave) after church and then came home and let her get straight in her pool. Since we don't have a sprawling grassy yard (the front yard is ivy, the back yard is an English garden type space with a fountain....all great when you don't have children....not so fun when you do), the baby pool gets put in the driveway. Towns couldn't care less because it's all the same fun to her. But today while we were out in the driveway in the pool, this is what was staring at me from the across-the-street neighbor's house with a "for sale" sign in the window...



How great would it be to have that little red car just for fun?!

Can anyone guess who's swimsuit Towns is wearing here? I'll give you a hint...she's 8 months old with big blue eyes!



This being 3 years old business is really taxing on a mother's patience. She insisted that she wear Cate's swimsuit after me telling her over and over that it was too small. Finally I decided to let her see for herself that she couldn't wear an 18 month size bathing suit...joke's on me this time because it fit her perfectly!





Cate skipped the pool and opted to play inside. Bethany gave this little singing chair to Towns for her 1st birthday, and Cate's getting to enjoy it too. She thinks she's hot stuff perched up so high! The only problem is getting out of it without doing a face plant. We're working on that!









I snapped a few pictures of Towns before church this morning...







She thought riding her bicycle in her pretty white dress was a good idea...I, however, did not!



So now she's going inside to ask her Daddy if he'll let her ride her bicycle before church...isn't it amazing how they learn that so quickly?! It obviously was a failed attempt, but she wasn't giving up until she at least tried to win him over to her side!

Twins

This morning Cate was playing on the floor while we were all getting dressed for the day. She got a little fussy so I walked over to see about her and this is where I found her. Halfway under the bed...



The reason I got such a kick out of it and had to make a mad dash for my camera before she moved is because of this (it's Towns in the exact same place two years ago)....




Towns and Cate are so different, but then again they'll do things that remind me so much of each other. Sometimes it's easy to forget that they're really 2 years apart because the things they do could make them twins!

Sweet

A Big Month

Cate's just turned 8 months old and she's gotten a lot of "firsts" under her belt this month! She's become an expert crawler, gotten two bottom teeth, wants to take off and walk, discovered that a phone is suppose to be put to her ear (J says that that's a girl for you), and has learned to say "dada" and know who she's suppose to be looking for when she's saying it. It's the cutest thing ever! And of course her daddy eats it up! She's very into books and will go for a book over any toy that's in front of her. Her other favorite thing is a shadow. It keeps her attention like nothing I've ever seen! She's finally almost 17 pounds....YEA!! That's HUGE for her! But she hides her weight well because she still so small that she hasn't made it out of 3-6 month size clothes yet! One day she'll appreciate that. She's at such a fun stage and it thrills my soul that she still loves to be loved on. Everything makes her laugh which is undoubtedly my most favorite sound. She's got more energy than I've ever seen a baby have...I call her my wild woman!

In this picture, she's deep into the "Wheels on the Bus" book...



Here she's trying to figure out the shadows the wooden blinds make on the kitchen floor when the sun shines in in the morning....





Happy 8 Month Birthday, Cate-Cate!!

Watch This

Those two words are what I hear ALL day long. My child has turned into a monkey overnight. I don't know where it's come from, but all she does all day long is flip and climb and be the biggest dare devil you ever did see. She climbs up door frames, bed posts, chairs, stools, and anything else she can find. She hangs onto door knobs and tries to climb up the door. And before she does any of her tricks she says about twenty times..."watch this". So inevitably, that's what I hear from sun up 'til sun down. If I don't look right that second she'll follow it with "hey Mommy, hey Mommy, HEY MOMMY...WATCH...THISSSSS"! She can turn a mean front flip, and has her own version of a cartwheel that somehow she does without breaking her neck or injuring her spinal cord. Don't ask me how. And jumping...well, she'll jump off of anything and everything no matter how high it is. The other day Jonathan took her to play...he wouldn't tell me where he was taking her, only that he needed my camera or else I'd never believe it. (See photos below...that's her climbing up the 30 foot cliff.) I think the minute she turned three all fear in her body left her. She's become the most independent little thing, and most times thinks she doesn't need me to help her with anything. Not something I'm prepared for, but I'm glad she has that instinct in her for when she really needs it. She wants to open every door on her own, wants to dress herself, feed herself, brush her teeth, etc. all by herself. And if you try to give her any kind of help she'll quickly let you know she's very capable of handling it on her own. She's even gotten so gutsy as to ride her bike while standing up on her pedals...if she's feeling really adventurous she'll stick a leg out so that she's only got one foot keeping her on the bike. She really is the funniest thing I've ever known. What I love is that Cate seems like she's got an even wilder personality which will make for some mucho fun times!

Should I Be Worried....

that this is a sign of what's to come? This is what happened this morning when I turned by back for two seconds.....



In other news, Cate's come to love everything Towns has. This is her checking out Towns' kitchen and helping herself to a plastic waffle...

Towns is THREE!!

And has been for over 2 weeks now! Can you tell I've got a lot of catching up to do? Better late than never, I suppose. This seems to be the story of my life these days! Towns' 3rd birthday was 2 weeks ago and I chose a few pictures from the big day to share. It was a great day filled with one fun thing after another! I had grand plans for an elaborate post, but I'll let the pictures suffice for now!

**For some strange reason the slide show isn't working for me, but you can click on "view all images" to see the pics...I think!!

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