Valentine's Day

Definitely a little late on this one, but we have so much going on these days, I'm having a hard time keeping everything straight!  A few updates for us: Kathryn's tubes are scheduled for this coming Monday, she had yet another ear infection and our pediatrician said it was time and in two weeks I'm having LASIK done to correct my vision and finally be rid of contacts and glasses!!

Here are a few Valentine's pictures.  Dean took Quinn to the Daddy Daughter Date night at our local ChicFilA.  She was so thrilled when she realized she could pick out her own outfit & accessories.  Here they are before they left

this is is after the night out, she couldn't decide what her favorite part of the night was: face painting, playing on the slide with the big kids, or that Daddy let her drink a large chocolate milkshake with her dinner!!

On Valentine's Day, she was surprised with the heart necklace that she had been asking for
(Daddy picked it out for her)

and here is our little valentine with her heart balloon-- which is still around and still a favorite!

Dance Class

We just recently had Parent Watch Day for Quinn's dance class.  This is so exciting for me, because week after week, Kathryn and I sit in the lobby and try to watch Quinn on a small tv screen with the rest of the parents, but we can never really see what is going on! Once a year they let the parents in to see how the kids are doing before the recital.  So Kathryn stayed home with Miss Melissa and Dean and I went to watch Quinn.  Afterwards Dean had to teach his class but Quinn and I had a special date night and had dinner at one of her favorites, The Fickle Pickle ;)

Quinn seems to like dance class so far this year.  She has a lot of friends dancing with her now that she has been with since the "baby" class.  As you will see, Miss Pam is very laid back, this is the last class before the dance school gets "serious", so she likes to have as much fun with them as possible.  Quinn and most of her classmates will probably repeat this class again next year with a focus on tap (this year they do both, but the focus is on ballet).  The rules of the studio are a leotard, tights, and a bun at all times, but Miss Pam is very lenient with the younger girls and she understands that a princess needs her tutu!! 

Miss Pam has two teen helpers because this class is so large-- they are super-sweet and very patient with our little dancers.  She also welcomes older siblings to participate in the class if they are a part of the dance school-- this is actually a big help, gives the girls lots of dancers to look up to.

this is how they start every class before stretching

they all seemed to get a little sidetracked with the hoola hoops (they are supposed to be learning to dance in their place;)

starting to get sleepy (dance class is right before dinner time)

these girls LOVE their tap shoes, luckily for us, they are only allowed to wear their dance shoes in class!

Yeah!! Great job my dancing girl!! Now, just a few more months until the recital, and I can't wait!!! The parents haven't seen their costumes, but I've heard rumors of hot pink and lots of sparkles!

1.5

I'm guessing it never stops, but I just can't get over how fast Kathryn has grown.  It amazes me that she & Quinn actually "play" together now, as opposed to Quinn just pushing or pulling her around.  She is doing great in school and her teachers are constantly telling me how wonderful she is and how impressed they are with her adjustments to different activities.  One of her teachers told me "she is so sweet, but she definitely holds her own with the big kids out on the playground".  Guess her big sis has been giving her lessons ;)

She is doing great with her communicating-- some of her latest include:
Ninn (Quinn)
Daddy's (she is quick to let me know if I am drinking out of Dean's cup or touching his computer)
Mommy's
Glasses
Love u (so cute and most of the time she only says this for Dean)
Via (Olivia)
Alminds (loves almond slivers)
raisins

and she will even give us a short sentence every once in a while.  the other morning Dean was coming down the steps and she said "Daddy, sshhh baby   (she puts her baby doll to bed before we go downstairs in the am and loves telling everyone to shhhhh because the baby is sleeping)

She is still a Momma's girl, so we are working on detaching ourselves while we are at home, but that is our biggest challenge these days.  Overall, she is such a happy sweet girl and very easygoing.

Kathryn hasn't had an ear infection since the last batch and when we met with Dr Smith earlier this week, he said if she can make it to April, we might be able to skip the tubes.  He also has predicted her to have her Mommy and Papa's feet-- he said she'll be flat footed and predicted some pain and issues by the time she is a teenager.  Hoping he is wrong on that one...

She loves climbing and diving and I think she would do a headstand or summersault if I didn't have a panic attack every time she tried to stand on her head.  Since she only goes to school on Thursdays, I've signed her up for a tumbling class on Tuesday mornings this Spring while Quinn is in school... should be interesting!!

Here are her 18 month stats Height: 30" and weight 21.8* (*note this was 1 day after recovering from a stomach bug;) both have her at the 10th percentile.  head is 45.2cm

and here are some pictures of our little love bug, on possibly the worst day of her life (she had to get extra shots at the dr. office because mommy missed her 15 month checkup).  Can you tell how cranky she was?!  Love you sweet girl!!