Big Girl at the Playground

We have a really great playground right out our back gate but up until now, Cate has only enjoyed the swings.  At first she LOVED the swings, but lately, she's seemed a bit bored.  She's not walking yet, so it's hard for her to do much else there, but today we decided to put long pants and shoes and socks on her (it wasn't very hot this morning) and just let her crawl around and explore.  

She loved going up and down the starts and went down a couple of the smaller slides with some help.  There's something about her wearing little pink tennis shoes that makes her look like such a big girl to me!

Cate and Pop

Cate is very lucky because today, like many days, she got to see her Grammy, Pop and Auntie Jenn.  Although we complain about a lot of things about our house, one of the best things about it is that Grammy works right down the street and can just  stop over for lunch and our house is now on Pop's way home from his new job so he often stops by to break up a long afternoon.  This afternoon was especially long because Cate refused to take a nap and then was quite cranky.  She loves to sit in her backyard, on her blanket and look around.  Then, while I was making her dinner, Pop brought out her new Elmo and some Cheerios to share.  Cate likes nothing better than to have a little snack while she plays.  She's also a very generous girl and like to put her food in her mouth and then offer it to someone else.  Oh well.  The last picture demonstrates how tired she was.  She is usually much to "busy" to cuddle or  give hugs, but Pop got one from her today!

A Trip to the Zoo

Since the weather has been so nice and comfortable lately, we decided that it was a good time to take Cate to the Zoo.  She's kind of young for it, but it's nice to walk around and this zoo is free (except for the ransom that you have to pay to get your car out of the lot).  For the most part, Cate was more interested in people watching than looking at the animals.  She liked the monkeys and the giraffes the best I think because they were moving.  It was hard for her to see the lions, who were just perched on rocks to sunbathe.  Be sure to check out her cool yellow sunglasses that Grandma sent her!

Swimming?

Cate seems to have developed an aversion to water.  This now includes the bathtub which is a problem but it also means that she hasn't been in her new swimming pool from Grammy and Pop and we haven't been to the nice pool right behind our house.  

So this weekend we decided to do some pool training.  I didn't bother to get the swim diapers out or one of her cute bathing suit/coverups either because it's a lot of work and I didn't really think she'd get in anyway.  Cate's Grammy sat with her on a blanket (b/c she also hates grass) and tried to get Cate to put her hands and feet in the pool.  She was interested in splashing some but she also periodically let out a yell if she got too wet and she did not really like having her feet in the water.  Most of the time she played with some measuring spoons that Pop brought out and got Grammy completely soaked. It's supposed to be nice all week, so I guess we'll keep working on it...

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a very low key Fourth of July this year.  After Cate's birthday party last weekend, we were just in the mood to hang out and relax.  Cate was quite overdressed for hanging out and relaxing, but I had to get this adorable dress from the Celluccis on her for the occasion.  I think she'll wear it again when we go out for my birthday.  It has a really cute red white and blue hat to go with it, but the weather was so uncooperative yesterday that there was no need for a hat.  It rained just about all day and when we went home to make s'mores in the fire pit and watch the fireworks, we couldn't even get a fire going because everything was so wet.  Don't worry though, we still made the s'mores over the gas flame on the stove.  Not festive at all, but very effective!