The Phoenician Blur

For all you NON-Suns fans out there, I'm comparing Katherine's newfound speed to Leandro Barbosa (he is called the Brazilian Blur)... She is so fast, most of my pictures of Thanksgiving turned out lame. This is BEST one of the whole weekend.
She gave my grandmother the sweetest love and hug in this moment. It would have been a very cool sappy generational shot, but instead we got the little love pat.My uncle Bennett's family got lost on the way up, adding an extra 2 1/2 hours to their drive, and it put my cousin, Spencer, into a starvation coma. Katherine walked over and nudged and patted him to see if he was okay. It was darling, but alas, the picture is random...

Here we have documented that she is velcro-ed to me. You can almost see my bulging muscles from carrying her all the time! My father managed to take a family picture of us and, at some point, I'm sure he will email it... I hope.

As everyone has told me, life has changed drastically since she started walking. I need to be on her constantly. Kate fell down a flight of uncarpeted stairs when everyone thought she was near the fireplace (Ten steps! I'm so grateful that their little bodies are made of cartilige. She only had marks on her face and neck...) Since we have gotten home, she hit her chin on the filing cabinet, her forehead on the tub, had a faceplant into the gravel... She wants to see what everything is, from what's in the garbage to every file in the office. I am going nuts. Every time I tell her to stop, she goes for it again. I am ready to child-proof this house with outlet covers, a child-gate, cabiet locks... I was SOO confident before that I could train her to listen me, but now I'm doubtful... She just looks at me and laughs. She fights me when I try to change her diaper. She arches her back and goes completely-stiff-dead-weight when doesn't want to be picked up... She has figured out how fun it is to run away from me during sacrament meeting and I caught going up the stairs on the stand... How do all babies know how to do these things??

I need help. I get so worn out by the end of the day. I'm try to keep a sense of humor. I try to respond with gentle firmness when I feel like yelling. Today, I held her firmly my lap to pin her down until I calmed down when I felt like giving her a spanking and I could see her sweetness again. She is so eager to laugh and have fun and play. All these frustrations are just moments that I need to get through. I'm sure you can relate.

In the same token, she has learned to give hugs & kisses. She loves to play hide-and-seek (behind you back, of course). She loves to dance. She rocks out to the radio song on her Lightning McQueen car. We dance to the Christmas carols on the radio - she especially loves Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas. We have so much fun.

So I guess you say that I'm your typical new mom going through typical transitions. I am a whiner, I know. I wouldn't trade being with her everyday for the world. Thank you, Geoff, for working so hard that I can be home!
Love you!