After a bumpy start to the weekend, Kate & I had a wonderful time shopping on Saturday. We saw the new train that goes all around the Promenade (without tracks!) and she loved it - I promised we would bring daddy back and ride together soon. She was quite the little angel and as we walked around, I realized just how much she has grown up. It was also, probably the first time I had actually taken her out of the house with a pony tail and it stayed. It was awesome. Then again, as soon as we got back to the car, she decided she wanted to shop a little more, and, well, let's just say the pony tail was no more. :) But it was so adorable while it lasted. That little girl has my heart in her hands.
Kate was so proud to be able to get a new book with some money that her great-grandma Ruby had given her a few weeks earlier. Instead of one, being my child and all, she decided on a 6 pack of Dora books. I never imagined a 2 and a half year old would love Dora. Not nearly as much as her older cousin did ("Dora's my BEST friend!), but she does love her. She is now quoting Dora saying "Swiper NO swiping!" at all the appropriate times (as well as a few extra times here and there for good measure). I don't say it enough, but the past 6 months have been a time of enormous growth for her and it's absolutely incredible. Her vocabulary, her likes and dislikes, her understanding a conversation, repeating all kinds of things (some not intended for repeating!), etc. I'm sure all you parents out there understand exactly what I mean, but it's still beautiful to see it happen to your own child as well.
Back to the real reason for this post - Mother's Day. Sunday morning turned out greater than I expected. We decided to not go to church since there were a million things I "needed" to do around the house - including packing up all of Kate's winter clothes (maybe a tad early, thanks WEATHER!), and of course, all the clothes she has indeed outgrown again!! John completely surprised me with a new TINY camcorder to capture all the cute things that Kate has been doing recently. (I'll try to post video soon!). I know I had mentioned it about a million times in passing, but I never thought he would do something like that out of the blue. It's tiny, and touchscreen (so no 200 buttons to figure out!) and you don't need a tape or even a memory stick (although the memory stick might come in handy some too!) - which is awesome.. As you can tell, I'm very excited about.. :)
After we got ready, we went to John's parents house for a wonderful lunch for Mother's Day - as well as to celebrate his dad's birthday (it was Friday). Kate fell asleep on the way home & mommy got to finish her book. Yea! :) All in all, it was a great weekend. One I'd like to repeat as often as possible (okay, maybe without the gifts..).
On another note, Kate has been somewhat sick recently - she had a bad rash a few weeks back and now her hands are peeling, and after 3 different doctor appointments and LOTS of tests (including bloodwork), they have ruled out Strep (or any other related conditions). Now we are just slathering on the cream they prescribed in hopes that it will all clear up soon. So please, keep her in your prayers. She's acting completely normal - no temp, not feeling too bad, etc, but I just pray that whatever it was, is gone and hope we will not have to revisit it on down the road.
I'll post new pictures/videos soon!
