Way too long!!

You know when blogger says I have not posted for over 3 months that I am not keeping up with my blogging duties! It would take me forever to catch up with everything, so to summarize...

We did a family costume of  Dora and her friends for Halloween. Yes, Cate's hair looks dark because I sprayed it with brown hairspray! The kids did trick-or-treat at school, then we went to Miss Judy's neighborhood and even an outdoor "haunted house."

We  finished up football season with a game at UNC over Thanksgiving then Army-Navy in Philly. The latter was cold with snow and freezing rain, so the kids and I stayed inside (much to Max's chagrin!)

Christmas was naturally a highlight, especially for Cate. I think they made out pretty well! We also went to a Christmas Eve service at our church's up and coming satellite location.

Last weekend we went to Nats Fest - the pre-Spring Training baseball event for all us super Nationals fans. Erick was busy getting signatures for Max's jersey (including successfully "stalking" one player) while Cate practiced running, hitting, throwing, and stalking a gecko. We also waited in line for an hour for a balloon sword (yes, it did pop quite quickly!)

Max is over 16 months old now! At about 15 1/2 months he weighed in at 24 lbs 7 oz, and 29 1/2 inches (Cate was about 20 1/2 lbs and 29 1/4 inches at the same age!).  As Dr. Ciampi said, his head is, well, really big! Just 3 weeks ago, I was saying how Max was only saying mama, dada plus a little bit of more and milk.  Since then he has taken off with down, up book, baby, bana (banana), yea, and no, plus his first two-word phrase "all done".  For a week and a half he has been saying Cate, which she loves!! He also can point to his nose, mouth, and ear (thanks to Erick!). He is in to everything, including couch cushions...

Cate continues to enjoy school, despite way-too-young bouts of "she said this or that" and worrying about what clothes she is wearing.  She got her fall report card with all 3 out of 3s, except in using scissors correctly and writing her name. She has been practicing cutting ever since! She excels at recognizing and making patterns and apparently teaches her friends (thanks Team Umizoomi!).  In October, she and I also did our first race together - a 5K (maybe next year she'll run, instead of riding in the stroller!!)

We are looking forward to some warm weather and baseball season is only 2 months away!!

A busy fall!

So much has happened in the past couple months! We have been keeping the kids super busy.  First, we went to the Baltimore Comic-Con. It was full of characters (sometimes hard to tell what was a costume and what was considered a person's "normal" attire :) ) Cate did get to meet a mermaid and a giant mouse!

We went to our last baseball game of the year - we could hardly keep the kids in place and didn't sit in our seats at all. Max loved dancing to the music and clapping when everyone else did. Despite missing the playoffs, we still love our Nats and are already looking forward to the home opener in April!!

Finally, it's football season again! We have already gone to two home Navy games, and one at UNC. I can't say much for the Heels this year, but we always have lots of fun going. At the Navy game, Cate played football and soccer with the boys (and Max tried to keep up with the big kids, too!!)

Just this weekend, we went to the pumpkin patch. It was a dreary day, but we had a break in rain and Cate didn't get too muddy picking out pumpkins! Afterwards, we went to the Variety Store Erick frequented as a kid (I admit, they had some good stuff).

Of course, I can't forget the kids' birthdays!! We celebrated Max turning one with a party at school and cupcakes at the football tailgate. He is walking all over the place and getting into everything. He loves stairs - he still needs to hold our hand to go up and down, of course, but if there are stairs, he wants to be on them. He tends to become DISTRAUGHT if one of us goes in the basement and doesn't invite him!! He also loves to climb on anything. He can even climb up and down the step ladder! Just last night he climbed up the kdis bookshelf, looked back and smiled like "look at me!!"  He also waves goodbye, points a lot, and for some reason loves to put lids on stuff.

Cate had ice cream and presents on her birthday at home, a party at school the next day, and then a party at the Little Gym on the weekend. She has a group of girls that she considers her best friends (and most recently says no boys -- Erick is ok with that!). She has been adjusting to a lot of her friends going into a different class very well. She is also in a different class each week at the gym...now she goes in without mommy (yay for me!!). It is a sports class where they do 4 weeks blocks learning different skills (so far, soccer and golf). She is also doing a weekly soccer class through the daycare. She is starting to learn to argue her point a little too well. We finally got her to use a cup at dinner one night (instead of the sippy cup). The next night I tried to give her a cup again and she said "No - cup, sippy cup, cup, sippy cup. It's a pattern". I mean, who can argue with that! This weekend when we said she would have to watch her show on the Kindle because we were watching football she commented that we had been watching football and we needed to share!

The kids both had their doctor's appointments on the same day. Max weighed in at 22 lbs 15 oz (50%), 28 1/2" (10%), and his head is over 97% (may explain all the bruises from falling on it all the time!). Cate was 31 1/2 lbs, 36 3/4" which is pretty close to the 50% for both!

End of Summer

I can't believe summer is already over!! We have stayed busy, busy, busy and the kids have had a great time (sometimes too much fun - note picture below for anyone worried these two don't have enough toys!!). Max really started consistently walking at about 10 1/2 months - now there is no stopping him. He barrels through anything in his way - chairs, tables, people, nothing holds him back! He's not too big to let me carry him though!!

Cate finished up in the "Twos" classroom and will move into the "Younger Threes" class room. Most of her friends are actually in the "Older Threes" class, but so far she handled the transition days just fine. I just have to be better about setting up playdates now that she won't be with them everyday! This fall she also starts a more sports oriented class at the Little Gym that will introduce her to different sports like soccer, golf, basketball, etc. Erick also wants to find a good swim class for her this winter.

We had our first pool party in 4 years and it was a blast (and exhausting!). Lots of friends and coworkers came, and even some of Cate's friends from school. Sadly, we were so busy we didn't take any pictures!! Both kids - but especially Cate - have spent a lot of time in the pool this summer.

We only made a couple of baseball games as a whole family, but we also went to the Nationals Family Day at one of the museums and got to meet two players. In addition, Erick has gotten two of the twelve names he needs on Max's authentic jersey.

Cate and I went to a family day at a local emergency room. They had a bouncy house, ambulance, fire truck, and all the kids got a little teddy bear to get "xrayed". We missed out on face painting so I had to bribe Cate with ice cream! She is quite the little girl now, everyday she seems to grow up a little more! She is really learning her manners (when she wants to) - saying "Yes" instead of "Yeah" (better than me!), and "Please" and "Thank You". She also picks up everything. For example, the other day I spelled something out instead of saying the word and she said "Mommy and Daddy, you don't talk about me!" Too smart for OUR own good!!

Besides the obvious first of Max walking, we had some other firsts. Cate wen ton her first boat ride. Friends of ours brought their boat down with their three kids and Erick and Cate went out on the river. She had a great time. Not quite as exciting, but Max got his first haircut (a mohawk, naturally!). Cate also went along for her second haircut.

 Up next...birthday parties, football, and spending more time with family and friends!!