Aunt Pat and Uncle Art graciously hosted the family tonight to celebrate Grandpa Orr’s birthday. Both Grandma and Grandpa Ramsay were in town to meet Grant – the newest member of the extended family – and to spend some quality time with family.
We really enjoyed catching up with everyone and watching the babies and toddlers interact with one another. Both Kevin and Will were active, playing with all the wonderful toys in the backyard, from the sandbox to the basketball hoop to the swings. Katherine spent much of the evening watching the two toddlers (especially from the high chair) and socializing with the adults.
Grant, who is a month old, snoozed, ate and generally hung out with Trina, Aunt Pat and Grandma. He is a very adorable baby, with a wonderful disposition. Mandy managed to sneak some food when folks weren’t watching, although she didn’t get any carrot cake…this time. ๐
Highlights for Katherine:
- Steve and I took turns pulling Katherine along in a plastic wagon. The faster we went, the more she would clutch on to the side of the wagon and kick her legs. We could tell that she really enjoyed this because she would start panting (this is her new “thing”) sort of “ha ha ha ha” and give us a big smile.
- Katherine enjoyed the kiddy swing. Dad pushed her several times and then would grab and release her feet. Katherine thought this was extremely funny and would laugh at dad every time.
- Katherine got to play on the teeter-totter with Will and Kevin. Will was initially a bit concerned that Katherine shouldn’t be on the teeter-totter (perhaps being too young), but Aunt Pat convinced Will to get on the other side and play with Katherine. Afterwards, he and Kevin both huddled around Pat and Katherine saying “Hello, baby Katherine” and peering into her face. It was a very cute moment. Katherine then crawled over to the basketball hoop, which she managed to face-plant into (mild crying) the pole, but she recovered fairly quickly.
- The adults all took pictures of Grandpa Orr with the children. Kevin and Will both held plastic balls. Katherine eyed Will’s red plastic ball and grabbed Will’s shirt to try and get to it. Once Will lowered the ball, both children grasped the ball and stared at each other for several moments. I think we managed to capture this on film …er …RAM.
- Grandpa’s birthday cake had a rainbow with the birthday inscription. This is perhaps a testament to how much we’ve read the “What makes a rainbow” ribbon book, but Steve and I listed off to Katherine all the animals that make a rainbow- Red/Ladybug, Orange/Fox, Yellow/Baby Chick, Green/Grasshopper, Blue/Bluebird, and Purple/Butterfly. Yep, we’ve read this book wayyyy tooo many times!
Many folks in the family were sporting new cars. Jason and Amy just bought a mini-van and Art and Pat a SUV. Both are great for kids. It seems like our children now drive so many of our decisions. It was great seeing everyone. Between us we shot 244 pictures the best of which appear to the right.
Other New Developments This Week…
Katherine’s teething continues in earnest. Patty told us that Katherine has a new tooth about to emerge on the bottom right gum and another up top. I stuck my finger in Katherine’s mouth last night, but didn’t have much luck finding them. The problem is that Katherine would chomp down, and those teeth really hurt!
We’ve got a new game in the morning where Steve and I take turns showering while the other plays with Katherine in the bathroom. She’s now learned that if she crawls to the shower and stands up (with palms on the glass) she can sometimes see the person in the shower. She also crawls to the drawer and pulls it out and pushes it in. yes – we’ve got to put in the drawer locks.
We took Katherine shopping last weekend (or maybe the week before?). Anyway, we hit the Nordstrom Anniversary sale, where we got a couple autumn outfits and some much needed 12 month jammies. She should be all set for the next several months or two more major growth spurts. We also stopped by a toy store, and picked up a toy that Steve and I had been looking at for a while. It’s kind of like a bead maze where the beads move on these wires (this toy’s been around for a while, so you’ve likely seen this thing). Katherine’s still a bit young to grok it entirely, but she does like to spin the beads around and move them up and down a bit. Nevertheless, it’s a great toy for the rest of the family. It’s also a nice change of pace from the other two standing toys that she plays with which are battery operated. (Speaking of which, we think the Leap Frog table is possessed. It will randomly start playing music at weird times of the day, even if we haven’t touched it in hours.)
