Cutest Alabama Cheerleader!

I Love to Swing with Daddy

Such A Mess!

A few updates/stories from the daddy of the world's cutest toddler:

Katelyn will at least attempt to say just about any word she hears now. She said "bumblebee" pretty clearly the other day. Lately she's been stringing a few words together to make sentences, such as "Where did [whatever or whoever] go?". The cute "Mo" has become "Elmo", and "nana" has become "banana".

Katelyn was in her crib saying "Hi Mommy!" instead of going to sleep. Tammy went in and rocked her and told her she didn't want to hear another peep out of her. Katelyn's response: "Peep!"

Katelyn keeps getting in trouble for telling Angel to hush when she barks. We're still not sure if she even knows what it means, but she's heard that so many times as the response to the dog barking that she keeps saying it. I'm pretty sure I heard her say "hush" to Tammy while Tammy was being loud when Katelyn was trying to go to sleep, but I may have made that up.

Katelyn said or did something she wasn't supposed to, and Tammy explained to her "That's not funny". Katelyn's response: "Funny!"

Pretty much any time I'm not in the room with her, she'll say "Daddy work".

She is still obsessed with the moon, and has been for a while. She'll flip through books just to find the pictures that have the moon in them, and there's a children's song/video on Youtube called Catch the Moon that she makes us watch repeatedly. Oh well, it's beats Barney. She always wants to find the moon in the sky when she is outside at night. Or during the day. Even when it's cloudy.

When she's in the mood, she will give good hugs and an occasional kiss (which is sometimes more of a lick), but if she is not in the mood, she does NOT like for you to hug her.

She loves saying "Uh-oh" repeatedly, even when she's done something on purpose.

She loves to go through her alphabet magnets or the bath tub ones and say a word that starts with each letter of the alphabet. She can't quite get them all, but she does really well. She also does this during her alphabet videos.

She knows which book she wants you to read her at bedtime, and if you choose the wrong one, bad things ensue. It's safest to just let her pick it out and hand it to you.

She always requests a napkin during her meal, which she uses to wipe her tray, wipe her hands, and wipe her mouth. Last night, I spilled some water on her shirt at bedtime, and she asked for a napkin. I gave her a paper towel, which she then rubbed on her shirt, and then at her mommy's request wadded up and dropped into the trash can.

Any time she sees a phone, she wants to call Gammy or Pop.

I already have her hooked on football. It comes out more like "ootball". Tonight I was watching a reply when she got home...she seemed all excited at what was on TV. Then she was playing with the remote and accidentally changed the channel, and seemed genuinely upset that there wasn't any more "ootball" on the screen.

Lake Tansi 2009

In July we took a family trip to my parent's timeshare in Lake Tansi. Katelyn was only 6 months old last year and now a year later there are so many differences. I remember last year we bathed her in the sink and we carried her around in her infant carrier. This year as soon as we got to the place she immediately started exploring and going into the bedroom and shutting the door. It was challenging to unload our stuff with her underfoot, but so fun to see her explore. Big differences!

We all traveled to Lake Tansi on Sunday after my cousin's wedding and then we went to brunch at at restaurant literally across the parking lot from the timeshare. That afternoon we walked down to the lake and I got some great pictures of the beautiful lily pads in bloom.

Lake Tansi is one of my favorite places because of all the great birding opportunities. American Black Ducks on the lake, Canadian Geese and Red-Headed Woodpeckers are everywhere.

We went to Cumberland State Park on Monday. It is great place for picnics and hiking. We fed the geese and ducks and I got to see my Belted Kingfishers again and a Green Heron. I know no one else cares about this, but this is big passion of mine, especially photographing them. There is a beautiful bridge at the state park that we got pictures of. We found a good picnic spot next to the water and the geese and ducks from earlier found us and came waddling up. Katelyn really enjoyed playing on the playground at the park. Monday night we ate at my favorite rib place, the Beef & Barrel. Yum Yum!

On Tuesday we went to the "beach." It is really the lake with some kind of material that resembles sand. It was fun to lay out and watch Katelyn wade in the water with her Pop & Gammy. She was so excited that she could walk in the water. She has figured out that she can leave her tent now so next year should be interesting.

Lake Tansi has a lot to offer for recreation. Ricky and I hit the tennis balls around and you can paddle boat and play miniature golf. Every time we passed the swings Katelyn wanted to go on them.

We had a great trip with my parents and are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Click on the picture below to see the gallery.