Dress-Up

Kaitlyn is getting into that fun age where she likes to play dress-up and practice her mothering skills. She routinely brings me various bows, headbands, shoes, etc. throughout the day to put on for her. On one particularly cold morning last week, Jeff went outside dressed in all of his winter gear. When he came back, she insisted on dressing up like Daddy, including coat, scarf and hat. Sometimes you forget how short toddlers are until you see them wearing an adult piece of clothing!

She also has started being a "mom" to her baby doll that she got for Christmas. She feeds the baby, gives her a bottle, and wraps her up in a blanket. She'll even pulls her own changing pad off the dresser so that she can lay her doll down on it while she's changing its diaper. I know she's just imitating what she's seen me do, but it's still sweet to see her care for her baby doll and other stuffed animals. Let's hope that she can extend that empathy and compassion to her little brother in a few weeks!

And one other random picture that I liked...Kaitlyn reading a physics book! This was one of my old teacher textbooks. She's actually been flipping though its pages for a few months, but I just never got around to taking a picture of it. Don't worry, she's not some little Einstein or child prodigy...she just likes to look at the pictures inside. (And it has some interesting ones, I must admit).

7 weeks and counting until the arrival of Baby Boy Krinks! And there's a lot to do between now and then!

Christmas 2008

Here are some pictures and stories from our whirlwind holiday season. We celebrated Christmas three times, once with my mom in Fayetteville, once at our house, and then once more with Jeff's family in New Jersey.

Kaitlyn reading with Gran and Papa Bell

We had an early, low-key celebration with my mom. She made a scrumptious dinner (as always) and we opened presents. Being the only grandchild, Kaitlyn got lots of presents and tons of attention. Guess she'll have to learn to share the limelight next Christmas!

Since we were flying to NJ on Christmas morning, we decided to pretend that Christmas Day was really on the 24th. (I figure this may be the last year that we can get away with manipulating the dates for the Christmas!!) We left out milk and cookies the night before, and Santa made a special trip from the North Pole to drop off presents. When Kaitlyn got up that morning, the first thing she went to was the empty plate. Never mind all those tempting wrapped presents that mysteriously appeared overnight. She was just amazed by the fact that Santa actually ate the cookies and drank the milk :)

One of her gifts was a baby doll and stroller (so she can practice being "gentle" with babies!). She was delighted to push the baby all around the house. She pretty much kept herself occupied for the rest of the day with her new toys.

I'm sure Kaitlyn doesn't really appreciate this gift yet, but I bought an unfinished toddler table and chairs, stained them and painted the alphabet design on the tabletop. It took an insane amount of hours to finish the project, but I had a lot of fun with the design process and I'm happy with the outcome. Now she finally has a place for art projects and other playtime fun.

Kaitlyn being silly with Daddy

On Christmas morning, we flew to New Jersey to be with Jeff's family. Kaitlyn has always loved airplanes, so she had lots of fun watching the planes land and take off from the terminal. She did very well on the plane rides (both there and back) and Jeff and I were very thankful that she was on her best behavior! She especially loved sitting in Jeff's lap and looking out the window. I was armed with a bag of food and activities to keep her occupied, so she was pretty content during the flights. While she was very cooperative, I still don't want to fly again with a toddler anytime soon! We were exhausted afterward!!

Mimi and Papa Greg's house was pretty packed for the holidays. 12 adults and 2 toddlers! But Kaitlyn had plenty of people to pay her lots of attention. She actually seemed a little sad that there was no one fun to play with when we got back home. We were especially happy that Jeff's grandparents (Gigi and Bobby) were able to join us. It's so fun seeing Kaitlyn with her great-grandparents.

Kaitlyn getting a kiss from Gigi

Gigi playing with Kaitlyn and Noah. (Notice the plush airplane in her hands. It's a Christmas present from Mimi and Kaitlyn was pretty excited to have her very own plane)

With 14 people, it seemed like someone was always in the kitchen preparing food. Kaitlyn and Noah were eager to get in on the action. I like the picture below because everyone is laughing and having a good time together--definitely what the holidays are all about.

Debbie (family friend), Gayle (Jeff's aunt) and Mimi preparing dinner with Kaitlyn and Noah.

And of course, it's always fun to see Kaitlyn and Noah together. They interact more and more the older they get and I can't wait to see them grow up together. Kaitlyn thinks Noah is pretty cool.

Kaitlyn and Noah holding hands

Apparently, something is more interesting than the TV!

Jeff and I managed to squeeze in some time to visit dear friends in Philadelphia. Yvette hosted a Christmas party at her house, and we finally got to meet her fabulous new husband, Elhadj.

Andrew and Jennifer, Yvette and Elhadj, me and Jeff

These last two pictures were taken by Jess. What Krinks family gathering would be complete without a family picture? By some miracle, both kids are actually looking at the camera and smiling!

This last picture cracks me up. Can you tell we read the newspaper every morning in our house? Kaitlyn certainly knows what to do with one. She looks like she's 1, going on 30. I'm sure she would find Noah's book much more entertaining!

I posted a lot more photos on Picasa for those who are interested (mainly family members). Click on the "Photos" link at the top of the page and then on the "Christmas 2008" album.