The Lott Family: Updates on Kate

Well, here I am again playing catch-up! I wanted to post about Kate's latest milestones over the last few months, mostly so I won't forget them! Our baby is definitely not a baby anymore!

She can say almost anything you ask her to say and is getting better and better at putting 2-word phrases together. Some of our recent favorites are: "Good girl," which she says after she's listened to you or when she wants to be done with something she doesn't love (like washing her hair), and "Bad girl," which I found her saying to Cayman after I told her to get in her house one afternoon. We've also heard her copying Kevin saying "Shoot" and me saying "Darn" when we were frustrated - we're definitely to the stage of having to watch every little thing you say! She has trouble with the "Gr" sound - around Christmas she simply called Kevin's Dad "B" instead of "Gramps." That's become "Bamps" now and she's changed the "Nay-nay" she used to call Cayman into "Nay-Nah."

She is recognizing people more and more. When everyone sent out their Christmas cards, we got a few from our friends with children that Kate knows. I hung them all on the fridge and one day Kate kept going over to the fridge saying "Baby" and "Di." It took me a minute to realize she was talking about the pictures of "Baylor" and "Eden." After I showed her the rest of the pictures, she became obsessed with the card from the Snuffins. She walked around with it pointing at "De-Drew" (Andrew) for 2 days!

On not such a bright note, we've spent the last 2 1/2 months being sick with one thing or another. It started around Halloween with Hand, Foot, and Mouth/Roseola (and a trip to the ER), which turned into a bad cold and then Croup, followed by 2 ear infections, another cold, bronchitis, and another ear infection....I THINK we are finally on the mend (knock on wood)!! :) In the middle of all this, her doctor became concerned that she was barely gaining weight (only 1 oz/6 weeks or so), so we've been fighting to get her to eat ANYTHING that'll put some weight on her. We're not too worried, though, considering that Kevin and I were both lanky little kids.

She has decided recently that she loves singing and dancing. She will sing "do-do-do" or "la-la-la" to most music that comes on. I think it started around Christmas with trying to sing "Jingle Bells." She sat with my Mom, brother, Kevin, and I for over 30 minutes singing along with a book she has that plays music. One of the tunes is slow and she'd sway from side to side, but on the faster song she'd bounce up and down. I wish I'd caught it on video! She's added some really great moves to her dancing repertoire - marching, tap dancing, bouncing, butt-shaking, and swaying. :) She is loving her Elmo Sing-Along video. She knows when her 2 favorite songs come on and she'll go stand in front of the TV ready to do the motions: marching to "The Ants Go Marching" and clapping to "If You're Happy and You Know It."

She is also loving to draw and pretend cook. She is sleeping in her big girl bed now (as of Thanksgiving) and has yet to try to get out of it at night (knock on wood again)! :) She likes to help brush her teeth, feed Cayman (she carries the food to her bowl and dumps it in), and is learning to use a fork and spoon by herself. We are also working on numbers and colors. She'll repeat all the numbers with you (up to ten) and repeat all the basic colors and I'm pretty sure she knows the color yellow, but I wouldn't put any money on it yet. :) She's started going to sleep with her "Bear" (a little pink bear Uncle Dut gave her when she was born) and her "Night-night" (1 of 2 pink blankets - 1 from our friends the Wardens and 1 from Gracie). She wakes up every morning trying to find Bear in her bed, then asking for a "Biapy" (diaper), and her "Froggies" (frog bedroom shoes). She is definitely a girl who knows what she wants! :) She is also loving dress-up, especially bracelets. One of my favorite things is her new-found interest in her Bible. She'll point up to her bookshelf and say "Bible," then she'll sit and flip the pages saying "Jesus" each time. I know she has no clue what it really means, but it shows me that she catches on at least in part to the importance of God in our lives, and we continue to pray that she'll choose to follow the Lord on her own.

Kate is just such a smart and SILLY little girl and we are completely blessed to be her parents! I'm sure once I end this post I'll come up with a dozen other milestones or funny things, but for now I'll leave you with a few favorite pictures of the last few months. Oh...and somebody please tell me how your kids can grow up this fast?!?!

Loving her PB&J (Can't figure out how to get rid of the underline....)

Off to her first sleep over. Lorren and Cole took care of Kate while Kevin and I went to the Bayleaf Toy Chest to get Kate some amazing Christmas presents!