Pumpkin Pickin' - 2011

Mommy is almost as tired as Katie this afternoon and is considering a nap of her own....so I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking for me on this post. We headed to Chesterfield Berry Farm today for Pumpkin Pickin', Hay Rides, Corn Kernel Pits.....and lots of other fun and games. Our fun-loving little girl had a blast!

We were one of the first 3 families to arrive at the Berry Farm and basically had the place to ourselves. Katie immediately took off running across the field to go play!

First stop was the Moon Bounce........ALWAYS a favorite!!

Next up was the Hay Ride out to the Pumpkin Patch......

Katie's telling her daddy which pumpkin she things is the "perfect pumpkin."

Showing Papa how to drive the tractor.

Playing in the corn kernel pit.

Last stop was the Barrel Train ride.....and it might have been her favorite. She had a tantrum when we had to leave....fortunately it was short lived.

And one video....

The State Fair

What a busy weekend! Yesterday we went to Charlottesville, and this afternoon (post nap) we headed to the Virginia State Fair. Matt had to work, but Katie and I had quite the trip. I didn't get too many pictures because it is very difficult to manage a stroller, a diaper bag, a 2-year old, and a camera when you are by yourself. I left our nice camera behind and just used my cell phone....when I could.

Our first stop was the livestock area. Katie got to see horses, cows, and sheep. Oh - and when we arrived there was a sheep riding (similar to bull riding) contest for little boys (like 7/8 year olds). It was soooo cute, and pretty funny to watch. After the livestock area - we headed to buy some tickets and ride some rides. I can't tell you everything we rode......but 2 specific rides were Katie's favorite. One was the Merry-go-round and the second was a Katie sized bulldozer ride. She cried hers eyes out when she had to get off that bulldozer - so we rode it 3 more times! :-)

After our rides, we headed to the crafts area - and then to get some yummy and totally unhealthy fair food. We settled on corn dogs, french fries, and funnel cakes.

Our last stop on the way our was the livestock area again. Katie is a little afraid of large horses - but she kept asking to go back and see them. I wish we could have stayed longer and taken in more sites, riden more rides, and eaten more bad food - but it was getting rather cold and late so we headed home. For all you Richmond folks reading this blog.....get your little ones out to the fair! They will LOVE it! Also - kids 2 and under get entrance and rides for free (at least that was the deal today)!

Hoo-ville

Its the first day of October and it feels like fall....and football weather. Since Matt had planned to go to the UVA game anyways - Katie and I decided to join him for part of the day in Charlottesville. Uncle Jake plays for the UVA band, so we went up to watch him in his pre-game rehearsal and eat some lunch. Katie loved the music and running all over the grounds.

We are all so proud of Uncle Jake and all he has accomplished....and goodness knows the family (not necessarily me) is happy to have another WAHOO in the crew! :-)

Blue Shaving Cream

Katie is fascinated with shaving. She watches her daddy shave, and likes to touch his smooth face when he's all finished. One night before bath, she managed to get into the bathroom cabinet where the shaving cream is stored. Instead of having a fight over taking the shaving cream away, I thought we'd have some fun. By the end of the bath, we were both laughing histerically.....so much fun this little girl.

Another night - we decided to mix blue finger paint in with the shaving cream. The water was so blue and cloudy we ended up draining it out and starting over. :-)

Odd Schedules

Dinner time at the Barnes house is usually just Katie and me. Matt works evenings at the hospital, so he has The Bug in the morning and I get her in the afternoon and evening. I've been trying to get into work at 7-7:30 each day so I can get out by between 3 and 4. Our odd schedules mean that Matt and I don't see much of one another during the week - but we try to maximize our Katie time as much as possible.

So, with it just being me and Katie at night - dinnertime conversations are interesting. I always try to ask Katie about her day at school. Usually I get an answer, but its very generic unless something special has happened. Normally she tells me she played with her teachers and her friends. This week is community safety week at school. As part of the community safety program, the school brings in members of the local police force and the local fire department. Katie was SOOO excited this week to see the fire fighters and get onto the fire truck. I asked her what color the fire truck was - and she told me it was yellow. I was a bit suspicious on that (I thought they were red). Turns out she was right - all Henrico County fire trucks are yellow.

Irene, Woolwine, and School

Time to play catchup from a multi-week blogging absense.....this post will be a LONG one!

The last weekend in August, Richmond got hit hard by hurricane Irene. We were out of power for 6 days. Fortunately, there was no damage to our house just some to our neighborhood. We spent 3 days at home, 1/2 day with Rob and Katherine, and 2 days with Popa and Abu. There is only so much camping out at home.....with no A/C that one family can take. The video below is from our time at Rob & Kat's house.....the girls play so well together. I think its so sweet how Claire "mothers" Katie. :-)

Then, I left Thursday afternoon around 5 PM for Woolwine. Katie and I spent the Labor Day weekend visiting Nana, Papa, and Gigi. Katie had so much fun in Woolwine. She helped Papa dig potatoes and wash them. She played with Maddie the neighbor's dog....and generally spent as much time outdoors as possible.

In other updates - Katie has moved up to the next classroom at school. She is the youngest child in the class right now (ages are between 2 and 3). I think she likes her new class, but she definitely misses her old teacher Ms. Liz. I got my first indoctrination into "school projects" in early September. Katie's class is doing an "All about me" theme for the month. Each child is supposed to do a poster showing pictures of their family members, their favorite foods (pizza, spaghetti, and goldfish), drinks (milk and apple juice), books (Maisy Books), and activities (playing outside & coloring). Nana came up with the idea of doing a Family Tree....and letting Katie finger paint the green leaves portion of the tree. Katie loved it and, of course, got green paint on virtually EVERYTHING. Finished product is below.

2 Year Milestones / Statistics

August 12th we had Katie's 2 year well baby check-up. Below are her statistics and some major milestones at her 2 year mark.

• 23 1/2 pounds (15th percentile)


• 33 3/4 inches long (70th percentile)


• Speech - I know I should have a word count, but its almost impossible to count her words at this point. Nana estimates its 500+ words....I don't even have a guess. Katie forms sentences of 4-5 words like "Watch Handy Manny please mama."


• Pronouns - Uses and misuses. For example, when Katie wants to be carried upstairs she says "Carry you upstairs."


• 3rd Person - Katie refers to herself in the 3rd person ALOT right now. For example, "Katie do it on own." My favorite is when she calls herself Katie Bug (because I call her that all the time). She says "Cover up Katie Bug" when she goes down for her nap.


• Sleep habits: Nightime sleep is pretty consistent with bedtime around 8 PM and wakup around 7 AM. Naps are still a struggle at school, but she usually sleeps around 2 hours at home.


• Colors: Katie can identify 8-10 colors (yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, pink, red, brown, black, and white). She often mixes up red and pink - but otherwise is pretty good. The video below shows her naming some of her colors at bathtime.


• Shapes: Katie is still working on her shapes. She can identify a circle, star, heart, crescent (which she calls a moon), and triangle. The other shapes like squares and rectangles are hard....they both have 4 sides and I can't figure out a way to distinguish them for her. I need to ask Nana for some suggestions on that one.


• Singing - my little one LOVES to sing. Her favorites right now are "Old McDonald had a Farm" (she calls it the E-I-E-I-O song), "Its raining its pouring", and the ABC Song. Oh and Twinkle Twinkle - which she calls "How I wonder"


• Jumping - I must have spent 2 full months working on this....but she finally got it by around 23/24 months. Katie loves practicing her jumping skills in her crib while singing "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed."


• Potty Training - We had made some headway in this department right before Katie turned 2, but there has been a bit of regression over the last week or two. She told her teacher at school today that she only goes to the potty for mama.


• Stairs: Katie is still a little tentative on the steps. I've seen her walk down the steps by herself, but she rarely does it without holding my hand or holding the rail. I voiced my concern over this with our pediatrician. She didn't seem concerned and stated that Katie's vision is probably the cause. She says that depth perception is tricky for young kids with glasses.