My little Katie Ru

Okay, remember this post when Miss Kate Emerson was really being a "terrrible two?"  Well, I  must say we have totally turned the corner.  She is now my delightful little buddy.  I need to write some little things down so I don't forget...

~I am almost afraid to type it (and jinx myself) but she is back to napping every day. I simply never gave up and continued to put her down daily~even when she refused to nap (for about 6 weeks when we first moved in our home).  She finally figured that I was not giving up so she is back to napping and we are ALL so much happier around here. And she doesn't fall asleep in her highchair at dinner anymore.

~She is OBSESSED with band-aids and must have one at all times. They are her fashion accessory of choice these days. Hello Kitty, Diego and Dora are Kate's preferred designers;)

Modeling the Spring plaster line by Hello Kitty.  Available at CVS and Target!

She really likes the band-aids on her fingers for some reason.

~She asks every day to wear "a beautiful dress, please."  She goes into her closet and wants to wear a nice dress everyday.  When it is really cold, we battle to get her into pants.

~Kate also now only wants to wear nightgowns.  A certain friend told me about a cute Christmas nightgown that I bought for Kate and ever since then, she only wants nightgowns.  She is not bratty about it.  She just prefers them.  She is very girly.

~As soon as she wakes up she asks for her yogurt drink.  It is her morning coffee and yesterday morning, she drank it before she even opened her eyes.

She is not blinking here, she seriously drank the whole thing with her eyes closed!

And she kept her nightgown on until noon!

~She says "excuse me please" and "thank you" without prompting.  I am so glad to see her polite manners.

~It took some serious rehab (and some tantrums and withdrawal) but we have finally gotten Kate off the "snack crack."  She was such a snacker and I always found her climbing the pantry walls looking for her next fix.  It wasn't pretty (at all~see below) but over the Christmas break, we broke her of this bad habit. I could not have done it without Dave's help.  He is my rock.

I know it is heart wrenching to see. This was outside the pantry door one day.  

It was all over a few cheddar bunnies (and no one got hurt).

~Kate LOVES her letters.  She not only says the ABC's but she has been able to identify most letters since she turned 2.  Now, she will tell me what sounds many of them make. She'll say K says kkk Mama. I did not teach her this stuff.  She just comes out with it. She asks me to do the ABC's with her on the computer.  I am not a big fan of kids on computers but Kate loves this site and it really is amazing.  I am going to video her on it so you can see...

~Kate can count to ten in English, Spanish and Japanese.  She can do much further in English. Again, I did not teach her this. She picked up the Spanish up from her best friends, Dora and Diego. And the Japanese is something she learned at Judo with her brothers.  She is a little sponge.

~Kate is a talker.  She is very, very verbal and will talk my ear off.  All my kids are talkers actually. Hmm... I wonder where that comes from?

~Kate Emerson is crazy about her Daddy. Actually, we all are but they do have a unique bond.

~She loves to put on her tutus and dance around with her crown, butterfly wings and princess wand. I love to see that.  It makes my heart smile.

~Now for the cutest story...one day a few months ago we were at the park and I helped Kate off of a structure.  She looked deep into my eyes and said, "Thank you for rescuing me, Mama."  I was blown away.  I was not sure exactly what she was thanking me for but of course, my mind wondered.  Will heard me telling Dave about the exchange and said "Mom, she got that from Diego.  He is an animal rescuer."  And here I thought she was thanking us for adopting her! Silly Mom!

Oh there is so much more I could write.  I am REALLY enjoying my little girly girl right now. But I will save some for another post:) And look at the post below to find some delicious eye candy and kitchen design tips from a real design blogger.