A New Home for our Family

Thanks, everyone, for reading Katie Lu and the Other Two! As much as I love that blog name, it just doesn't fit our growing family anymore.

So please continue to keep up with our family at our new online home, The Itty Biddi Blog!

Catching Up on Cuteness

Hi folks! Here are my favorite photos of Katie and Friends that haven't already been posted here in 2009.

January 2009

Note Katie eating a whole burrito for the first time (and actually doing a decent job finishing it), enjoying a pile of stuffed animals on the couch (when my parents are babysitting, she even reads to the animals), and modeling the poodle dress that I just couldn't resist buying for her.

January - February 2009: Cindy's Baby
Our close friends Cindy and Mike had daughter Adah on Feb. 13, 2009. Here Cindy is at her shower in January; on a walk with me on Feb. 11 (they moved into our neighborhood a few months ago -- perfect timing for future walks with our newborns!); and with us, Mike and Adah on Feb. 23 when we brought over a meal.

February 2009
Katie models her winter wear (including a coat she obviously put on herself), "reads" the church bulletin, and tunnels through a big box.

February - March 2009: Playgroup

We are in a weekly playgroup with several of my best friends and their children. The children now obviously love each other as much as the mommies do!

March 13, 2009
My friend Sherry and her son Isaac came to visit from California. Even though she'd never met Isaac before, Katie loved playing with the "baby". Let's hope it's a trend that sticks!

March 2009

Sorry, Katie -- there's no room on Mommy's lap anymore. Hopefully there will be very soon!

Katie's 2009 Snow Adventures

My apologies that I've been busy resting (if that's possible) and getting ready for the birth of our son, and thus have been neglecting Katie's blog. Now that our due date is here and we're just playing the waiting game, I'll try to catch up a little!

We had two big snows this year, which were so much fun. John didn't get a snow day either time, but thankfully the second time around, he already had taken a day off and could play with us in the snow.

Big Snow #1, Day 1

We spent the morning cruising and stumbling across our front yard and the yards of other neighbors. It wasn't until that afternoon's eye doctor appointment that I realized that somewhere along the way, Katie had lost one of the brand-new lenses out of her glasses. Whoops! Don't think we're going to find that one.




Big Snow #1, Day 2

The next day the yard was pretty icy, so we stayed in the flat backyard and ran around with Bella. You'll notice Katie's not wearing glasses -- they were off being repaired.

Big Snow #2

This time Daddy got to play with us! It's much more fun when Daddy's here -- he had much more energy and strength than Preggie Mommy to bounce Katie around, pick her up when she fell (she learned quickly how to say "help!"), and lift up to the top of the slide.

Here are a few short video clips. Think Katie's "happy?"

Change of "plans"

Many of you know that I was scheduled for a C-section on my due date this coming Friday. I've decided to cancel the C-section and instead see if this baby will come on its own sometime in the next week. It was a tough decision, esp. since a scheduled C-section would mean (1) I had a definite end date in sight, (2) I could schedule childcare for Katie ahead of time, and (3) the baby would come out "the easy way" (meaning I could wimp out and not have to go through labor and pushing).

However, I've decided that I need to trust the Lord to take care of the logistics and the timing and the pain, and choose what I deem to be the healthier option for me and for our son, even if I feel like I'm less "in control" this way. (Not that I really was ever in control, but the illusion was still there.) So I'm praying that I'll go into labor on my own over the next few days (and I'm definitely interested if any of you have advice on home remedies to induce labor). If our son is still not here by next Thursday, 3/26, they'll admit me to the hospital, break my water and see if I go into labor that way. A C-section would then be a last resort rather than a first one.

I'm standing on this verse: "'Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." -- Proverbs 19:21

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! I'll keep you posted.

Katie Put Her Pee-Pee in the Potty!!

Big milestone today: Katie put her pee-pee in the potty for the first time!

I'm not really sure it was on purpose (I was making her sit on the potty for awhile with a book since she'd been carrying the potty around the first floor), but she did it nonetheless.

Interestingly, she didn't seem particularly impressed by her accomplishment, even with John and I cheering for her afterwards and even though Mommy called both grandmas on speakerphone to brag.

We have 5 days till my due date, so with the impending upheaval, I expect this will be our last potty accomplishment for several months. :-)

Katie Learns Her ABCs

Thanks to Sesame Street, her parents, and a few great singing toys, Katie's new obsession these days is learning her ABCs. Here's a video of us singing them together last weekend:

And here's what Katie's version of the ABCs sounds like without any help from me and with a few horse "neighs" thrown in:

I Love You This Much

A year ago, Katie received a book from our dear friend "Aunt Bev" for her baptism. It's called "I Love You This Much" and Katie has always enjoyed my voice inflections as I read the stanza that repeats between the verses:

I love you best

I love you most

I love you high

I love you low

I love you deep

I love you wide

I love you this much!

It was such a delight last week when she started trying to "read along" with me for the first time! See below.

Katie's First Haircut

I decided last week after some subtle hints from nice relatives and friends (and some outright mocking from some not-so-nice brothers) that it was time for Katie's first haircut. While she has had a natural mullet for most of her life, with bangs too short to need a cut, we were past that stage:



So, off to Cartoon Cuts we went! Katie brought along her stuffed collie (thank you, Aunt Laura!) for moral support, but it was still a little scary for her. She started whining and squirming as soon as I put her in the chair:

But the reason I had chosen Cartoon Cuts for her first haircut is because I had heard that they had ELMO VIDEOS she could watch. Sure enough, once the blue "FBI Warning" came on the screen (how bad is it that she recognizes Sesame Street's FBI Warning?), she immediately stopped whining and started smiling. "Whas dat?"

Ten minutes later, Katie's hair was much shorter and all one length. I think it's pretty cute. Plus they gave us a "First Haircut" certificate and a lock of Katie's baby hair, without me even asking.

Peanut Butter and Snoozing Sandwich

Today at lunchtime I put Katie in her highchair with a peanut butter sandwich and dashed into the other room to do a quick favor for someone online. Suddenly the kitchen became suspiciously quiet, so I tiptoed in to see what was going on. My suspicions were quickly confirmed:

Tiny Talk Saturday

Well I've given up trying to post Katie's funny sayings on Tuesdays like my friend Mary does. Instead, you'll get my stories while my preggie memory is still fresh, and when I have time to type them up! :-)

Today Katie and I were cleaning out the room that will become her "Big Girl Room" (actually I was cleaning; she was pulling things out of the closet). One of the things she pulled out of the closet was the top half of my gift wrap organizer (which is basically a big container that holds all your gift wrap rolls; the top pops open to allow you to store scissors, tape, etc). Here's what the top looks like:

While I cleaned, I noticed the distinctive smell of a dirty diaper, and I mentioned it to Katie. She started banging on the organizer top like a drum and saying "Pie! Pie!" I figured her actions were unrelated to our conversation, until she sat on the open organizer top and continued to say "Pie! Pie!" And suddenly I knew what she was telling me. She thought she was sitting on a potty! LOL!

I give all the credit to Katie's new DVD "Elmo's Potty Time" (thank you for the Christmas present, Stephen and Lindsey!). Katie's been watching it off and on for a month now, and now proudly talks about "pee pee", "poo poo" and "doo". It's a hysterical DVD to watch as an adult as well (at least the first time). There are songs about how everyone has accidents sometimes (my family uses that song to joke about our bouts with the stomach flu), and about how everyone uses the potty. There's also a segment where kids and Muppets discuss which words they use for pee pee and poo poo, which is where Katie is getting her new vocabulary.

Needless to say, I'm seizing this opportunity. I ordered the Baby Bjorn potty seat from Amazon tonight. Who knows, maybe we can start a bit of potty training before our son arrives -- he's due in 8 weeks.

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Another fun talking story:

One of Katie's favorite books these days is Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? I had never heard of this book before my friend Beth gave it to us for my baby shower, but Katie adores it because it features the sounds that all kinds of things make -- and Katie has always chosen to refer to things (esp. animals) by the noises they make rather than by their actual names.

One of the sounds Mr. Brown makes is "Dibble dibble dibble dopp" to sound like the rain. Although I've pointed out rain to Katie before, there's been no recognition that she understood what it was. So last night we were reading Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham before bed, and Sam I Am asks, "Could you eat it [Green Eggs and Ham] in the rain?" Suddenly Katie started bouncing in my lap and saying, "Dobba dobba dobba".

She had been a bit distracted during our whole reading time, so I thought she was just goofing off. But then it hit me: She's making rain noises! And I said, "Katie, that's right! It's the rain!" And you should have seen the proud expression on her face when she realized that I understood her. She literally started leaping into the air from my lap and laughing. It was adorable.

And today when we got into the shower together (which we do almost every day now -- it allows me to use her naptimes for my own naps instead of for my showers), she again started her noise: "Dobba dobba dobba". What a smart girl -- she connected the water falling in the shower to the rain that falls. She is constantly astounding me with the connections she's making. I'm sure I don't notice or understand 95% of them, but it sure is a delight when I do.

Wrapping Up 2008

Lest you think that I was finally caught up on blogging, think again. Here are a few more photos from 2008 that needed to make the blog but haven't yet.

November 2: Three former high school friends and their babies gather for a baptism.

November 9: Beach time with Mommy and Daddy.

November 9: Playing with the rocking horse that JayPa (Daddy's daddy) used as a child.

November 13: Playgroup! Here's our attempt at getting Katie and her two best friends Kai and Daniel to cooperate for the camera.

November 16: Using the remote control as a cell phone.

November 16: Enjoying a wonderful evening with Mommy and Daddy's mentor couple and dear friends, the Farahs.

November 17: Playing with "BFF" (best friend forever) Daniel.

November 21: Reuniting with Mommy's college friend Dawn and her daughter Madeleine.

November 29: Trying to get a family picture to go in our Christmas letter. Not only did we need a tired Katie to cooperate, we needed Bella to as well. And Mommy had to pretend that her foot wasn't broken and that her back hadn't gone out on her that week. The last photo is the one we finally chose.

December 1: While Mommy is in her CBS leaders meeting every Monday morning, Katie and a few other young ones are watched by a woman named Angela. We've been trying to delay her nap later and later, but this particular morning Katie simply could not wait another minute. Here's how I found them:

November 21 and Dec 1: A few cute photos of Katie.

December 4: We were visiting my good friend Amy and her daughters and were unexpectedly invited to stay for dinner. But we didn't have Katie's bib or highchair. So a shirtless Katie practiced using a spoon while standing on a big person's chair.December 17: Katie and I brought dinner to our friend Claire, who had recently delivered twins. While Baby Colin slept peacefully in his swing, Mommy got to cuddle with Baby Carleigh for about an hour. Thankfully Katie didn't mind.... too much.

December 26: Mommy and Grandpa went to see the Nutcracker, featuring two beautiful cousins. Heather (left) is the daughter of my dad's boss, and Anna (right) is my mother's helper and one of Katie's favorite people.