This is her Halloween costume - compliments of Grandma! Katherine chose the fuzzy pink sparkly crocs herself...Since she took a 3 hour nap following church, Katherine was finally her relaxed, playful, intelligent self. Tonight we read books, danced, played her toy piano and watched one of her little movies. She instructed me how to draw Cinderella (though I'm still pretty pathetic). Her coloring is getting good as she tries to stay within the lines. She taught me songs she made up about her birthday. She taught me the words to an Alice in Wonderland song. This girl is quick and learning so fast. We laughed a lot tonight... and I needed it.
This recent development of independent thinking has been accompanied by a fierce sense of entitlement. Constant demands. Endless whining. Tantrums. Hitting (mostly her mom). Hysterics... followed by many time outs and a locked bedroom door. I start her time out once she is done with her come apart. Bath time is the worst and I'm taking my friend Mandy's advice to just let her go to bed dirty and let her shower in the morning because it's been so bad. It has never been more important for us to keep a straight face and keep a "Don't Mess With Me" voice. She gets away with a lot and I'm not ashamed to say that we're still figuring out what motivates this girl to behave... I mean, in sacrament meeting today even people around us were trying to bribe her to behave! On top of that, I think she's also going through a growth spurt which should mean that she's sleeping more, but she's not (she's even waking up earlier) so I think she's just really cranky. This has been one of the hardest weeks for parenting. As Genet said, she's not old enough to reason with to really understand why she can't do certain things I attempt to explain, but when it comes down to it, she just needs to learn how to obey because Mom said so... End of discussion.
We made it to Prescott last week for a much needed break even if it was only 24 hrs. We had perfect weather and we made good use of it!
I bought her some new clothes in the next size up since she doesn't have anything for the cold weather. In her current pant size they are an inch above the ankle and the next size up she is she is swimming in them! What's a girl to do?
I overheard a conversation Katherine had with her friend the other day. Her friend asked her mom if she could go to Taco Bell. Katherine immediately got inflamed and said, "No! I want to talk to Belle!" An argument ensued... and I laughed so hard.
Some of Geoff's coworkers came up for a barbecue. They are really great guys. They dote on Katherine so it makes me happy. It will be fun when they are married and have kids of their own.We also went to Autumn Fest at Anthem park this week. Katherine spent most of the time jumping on the blow up bouncy houses & slides. My video of it won't post. She went up to every dog, tried to convince the ducks to come to her, and convinced me to go down the big two-story slides with her several times.
Some things I am ready for her to be able to do by herself... Other times I'm still grateful that she's little. I'm in no hurry for her to grow up. It's all happening too quickly.
