Happy Third Birthday, Kateri!

We had a little celebration at the end of February for this dear munchkin's birthday.

We sat down a few weeks prior to the party to look at some ideas on pinterest. Kateri emphatically chose all things pink and princess, and so that was our theme. It was also very VERY simple and was easy and quick to put together, thankfully!

This year, for the first time, I asked Kateri a few questions, a little birthday interview! We didn't finish all the questions but maybe next year :) My rule was not to prompt her at all, and to try to write down exactly what she said (no editing!).

Q: Who is your favorite person in the whole World?
A: Danny . . .  CHARLOTTE!

Q: What is your favorite Color?
A: YELLOW!!!

This cake was so easy and fast to make! 

Q: What is your favorite movie to watch?
A: Dusty!! (Planes)

Q: What is your favorite outfit?
A: Dresses

Q: What is your favorite food?
A: Fruit! Me have fruit! Downstairs!!

Q: What song do you love?
A: ABCD's

Q: Who is your best friend?
A: Nanny and Mac! . . . MADDIE!!!!

Q: What do you like to do best with your friends?
A: Ring around the Rosary (she then proceeded to sing it and act it out)

Even a *real* knight in shining armor came to the party!

Q: What is your favorite animal?
A: a horsey

A very blessed little princess (in a very back lit picture!)

Q: Who made you?
A: God

Kateri is a dear little soul with a very stubborn streak and a large sweet tooth (no idea where she got that from!). I have so enjoyed seeing her curiosity growing as she learns more the world around her. She is currently very intrigued by the idea of baby birds hatching from eggs. She has asked multiple times to watch videos of chicks hatching. Hopefully one of these days we can incubate a few chicken eggs so she can actually witness it in person~ Christine generously offered to give us some! Unfortunately, we will have to wait a few weeks at least, otherwise the chicks will be due the same time as the baby, which is just a little too much.

Kateri is a good big sister, and takes her job as chief police and rule enforcer quite seriously. She is the first one to let me know if Sebastian is doing anything he shouldn't, but she is quite convinced the same rules do not apply to her. She is very excited that she will soon have a new little sister. The other day, as we were naming intentions to pray for during the rosary, Kateri listed off all of her friends and family by name ("All mine friends . . . Maddie, Charlotte, Claire, Zelie, Mariam . . .", and then said, "For mine children". When I asked her what she meant, she explained that her first child was the little girl who was coming in a few months, her sister! She has also informed me multiple times that we will go on hikes, and "I will carry the baby and mama will carry the food!". So I am expecting some serious help once this new one arrives!! ;)

Kateri loves reading books, her current favorite is a collection of farm stories. We have read them so many times that the hard cover has been taped and retaped, and the pages torn and taped as well (Sebastian being the main culprit).

She has essentially given up napping, and only takes a nap once or twice a week, which came as a great shock and a "how can this possibly BE?" to me. She still goes to bed late (usually 8:30 to 9) and wakes up fairly early (around 6:30 or 6:45), so she clearly has the Grenier superpower of just not needing much sleep (sad sad thing! too bad I don't share this gift at all).

Kateri loves nothing more then to make people laugh, and her favorite method of doing this is what she calls the "Mihi face", she finds it singularly hilarious which is what makes all of us laugh!

I am excited to see what this new year will bring, and hope that Kateri's threes will be full of many blessings and fun times! I am so thankful for the amazing gift of this little one in my life! May God watch over her and guide her all the days of her life!

Kids lately

Recently, Kateri has greatly enjoyed singing her ABC's. However, her version is rather abridged, though musically it still flows!

"A B C D E F G -- Q R S -- Y and Z, Now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me!" 

She has also discovered a way to say the Rosary very efficiently. Sometimes she will solemnly tell me she is going to pray, and she runs over, picks out a Rosary, kneels down, and says:

"Hail Mary, God. Amen. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." On repeat. 

She has also coined her own counting system which uses fewer symbols then ours does:

"1 2 3 6 7 8 9 10" 

The beautiful snow from our back door a couple weeks ago

Mom gave Kateri a very darling, soft, white-as-snow hand made kitten for Christmas. Kateri told me with a very very serious face that she had named the kitten "Dirt".  It still takes me a moment to remember what she is talking about when I hear, "MAMA! I found DIRT under the COUCH!!" 

On the other hand, she named Sebastian's hard plastic brontosaurus "Buttons". 

Kateri knows her own mind, and is very particular about what she wants to wear and how her hair should be fixed. 95% of the time, she wants "Anna-Elsa hair" which is two braids. Once in a great while, she wants puppy ears (pig-tails looped up) or pig tails. But should you want to try something different, chances are it will be immediately pulled out with great disdain!

Kateri mixes up the letters in squirrel, and when she pronounces it, it sounds more like "circle". With great excitement, she will tell me, "MAMA! There is a CIRCLE in the tree!!"

Her current favorite book is a golden book compilation of farm stories from Mihi. She loves hearing the stories one after the other, and I have noticed that if I pause mid sentence and ask her to supply the next word, she knows it! 

Sebastian, while he doesn't speak in sentences, is able to communicate effectively. He has a very distinctive affirmative grunt that he uses instead of saying, "yes". 

However, he does pay close attention to what is being said around him! The other day, we were getting ready to leave to watch the Super Bowl and I told Pat, "We better go get Kateri's jeans so that she can wear her Bronco's jersey." We went on getting ready, and a minute or two later, I looked up and Sebastian ran into the room holding a pair of Kateri's jeans and went immediately to Kateri to deliver the pants! 

Later, I said, "I need to get my shoes on! Then we can go." and bent down to pick up a few books off of the floor before going to slip on some shoes, I looked up and Sebastian ran up to me handing me one of my boots, and then went to grab the other one! It amazes me how thoughtful and eager to help this little guy is. 

They are both very dear and thoughtful, and very busy and constantly getting into trouble! Yesterday, I found Kateri sitting on the floor carefully painting her nails with white-out she quietly purloined from the junk drawer. Not long after that, Sebastian pushed the entire fruit basket, full of apples, avacados, and tomatoes onto the floor with a magnificent crash. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the process! Other then the ripe avacados, that is!

Kateri successfully potty trained while we were stuck at home with the winter snow storm, thanks be to God. She hasn't had any accidents since day two (knock on wood!). Sebastian has greatly benefited from this, as Kateri proudly enjoys a piece of candy after each successful potty trip, and Sebastian gets to share in the joy and have one as well. However, trying to keep Sebastian out of the tub, away from the faucet, out of the drawers, not touching the plunger, all while encouraging Kateri and helping her wash her hands, makes for some hilarious and ridiculous trips to the bathroom! So far, we have only had one entire roll of toilet paper submerged in the toilet, and I have only had to change Sebastian once after he soaked his clothes by turning on the bathtub faucet! I think that counts as a win :) 

Jonas has arrived!

Thankfully, Pat arrived home on Friday just as the first flakes were falling.

On Saturday, Kateri and Sebastian were thrilled to see how much snow had fallen! Kateri was especially excited to go out in the snow.

Kateri went out to help Papa-bear with the shoveling as the snow fell.

Kateri loved every bit of the snowstorm.

From eating the snow, to getting rides in the sled!

Sebastian, on the other hand, absolutely HATED wearing his gloves, his snowsuit, his hat, his boots and was having a tearful meltdown before we even made it outside.

Once we finally got outside, he hated the falling snow and the wind in his face, he had no interest in the sled or walking around the driveway, or playing in the snow. He ONLY stopped crying while in my arms! Not what I was expecting at all!!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





 Post shoveling:

Sebastian helped test the icing for the cinnamon rolls.

And here is the accumulation on the deck as of Saturday:

Very cold and very deep!

Perfect for baking and games!!



Siblings and friends

(and enemies, but we will just focus on the friendly side of things ;) )

Sharing a favorite activity

I heard them laughing while I was baking something in the kitchen, and looked downstairs to see them engaged thus:

You just never know what will strike their fancy!

Kateri then carried both baskets up so that they could each have one.

This definitely captures their goofy friendship!

Firm in the belief that they are completely hidden from sight.

 

They have been playing together more and more, and it has been interesting and encouraging to see the shift from the need of my constant attention, to more independent play with each other.

Pre-Jonas and Snow-Dreaming

We have had some strong winter dreaming these days! Kateri has taken to wearing her snowsuit at all times, regardless of the weather outside!

 

The other day, she was very thrilled to study and organize the seaside treasure box from Mormor, and of course she just had to wear the snowsuit while doing so!

 

 

One of the most thrilling discoveries was that there was still sand in the sand dollar.

 

 

Sebastian also wanted to take part, but he tends to lend a destructive hand in these sorts of endeavors, and so he was banished to the other end of the table with his own activities!

 

 

After organizing everything, just so, Kateri took all the little treasures out, and put only rocks in the box. She told me the rocks are her favorite to organize!

 

(Thank you again, Mormor, she has spent hours in the past few weeks playing with this!)

 

 

 

How times have changed in one short year! I just came across these pictures from about a year ago, and had to include them:

 

So excited to be out in the snow!

Sebastian, too young to even sit up! how much has changed!

But still happy as ever!



And now: The kids were both beyond thrilled with the meager one inch of snow we got earlier this week.



"Are YOU ready?? I'm ready!!"

Was it necessary for Kateri to wear her full body snow suit in this light dusting? Absolutely, no other options could even be considered in her eyes.

And she insisted that Sebastian wear his.

Sebastian enjoyed exploring the yard, and Kateri stayed the entire time on the deck, enjoying snow which tastes just like "CANDY!".

At table

I was especially looking forward to the big snowstorm because if they were this excited for a paltry dusting, how would the react to FEET of snow?

Battlefield Hike

Right after Christmas, we went on a beautiful hike at the Battlefield. We usually only ever go during the winter in order to avoid the rampant deer tick population, but with all this mild weather we have been having, I was a bit concerned that we may run in to a few!

It was so warm, that even very light long sleeve shirts felt hot! Kateri has been able to do a lot more hiking of late, and she really enjoys her newfound freedom.

Not in the stroller

However, being only two, her legs do occasionally need a break, and so she has devised a way to enjoy the benefits of the stroller without necessitating the straps or the troublesome climbing in/climbing out routine.

She jumps on the front for a quick ride, and then quickly hops off once she is ready to run again. Perfect for her and perfect for parents pushing the stroller!

Sebastian, on the other hand, looks longingly at the freedom his sister is enjoying, but he has to wait until the very end of the hike. Once we get to the boardwalk, he is free to run!

And they're off! 

Quickly distracted by the interesting sites directly off the boardwalk.

What does Kateri see? It must be something really worth looking at!

We of course had to stop every few feet to look at some fascinating leaf or twig, a squirrel scampering up a tree, or a bird flitting through the trees.

It is easy for me to feel frustrated at the meandering and unpredictable paths of a 1.5 year old, and the temptation to scoop him up and continue onwards is always there.

Then again, how can you say no to that face?

Soon Kateri and Pat were far ahead of us, and Sebastian was so thrilled to be able to go at his own pace and look in wonder at all of nature around him. Many people passed us, but soon I noticed an elderly couple who were hiking behind us, and were going at his pace (perhaps just slightly faster), stopping to point out interesting sights, enjoying the warm weather, and taking the time to really drink in the beauty around them. It really struck me how both Sebastian and the couple, of all the many people there, were so happy and content to just drink in all the little aspects of the marsh and woods that so often I ignore! Although we are often called to be efficient, to move quickly and accomplish a lot, it is so necessary (especially for me!) to take a page from these little ones and wise ones, and slow down to appreciate all that God has blessed us with.

He found a walking stick, which soon broke in half

But that didn't mean it lost its purpose! Its purpose just changed.

So thankful for the beautiful nature around us, the warm weather we have been blessed with (though some snow would be nice!) and the lessons of little munchkins!