About Our Katie » November 2007 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

< > November 2007

Fri, Nov 30, 2007 4:30 PM
I guess we can count Katie as one of the people who doesn't quite "get" how I could actually generate revenue wearing sweats and sitting in our house:

The other night at bedtime, she and I were rocking in our well-worn green gingham chair. Appropos of nothing, she says, "I need more money." (There had been just one dollar in her purse for quite some time. I have no clue why she thinks she needs more money, but that's not the point of the story, anyway.)

"Well," I said, "what do you have to do to get money?" She looked at me quizzically for a moment, so I asked, "What does Daddy do to get more money?"

"Work," she said, not missing a beat. Then she asked, "Where Daddy work?"

"Unisys," I answered.

"Loo-da-did," she said, reflecting. Then, "Where djew work, Mommy? A' hoooooooooome?"

"Yes, I work at home."

Then--with a "you-gotta-be-kiddin'-me" look--she said, "Djew make money... a' lure 'PUTER... a' hoooooooome?!"

"Yes, I do," I replied. But judging by her expression, I wouldn't bet that she believed me.

Comments:
Katie H.: Dontcha just love doing work in your pjs? I've been doing the same thing 1 day a week. Casey is too young to question me yet, so I'll continue to be utterly embarassed when the UPS man shows up at 3 in the afternoon and I'm not yet dressed. :)

Add a comment:

Name: Email:
Comment:

Notify me of scrapbook updates
Wed, Nov 28, 2007 9:30 AM
Before Katie was born, I used to worry a bit that because Steve and I tend to be a little, ah, Type A that our child might be very passive. I figured that if we were always on top of things, she wouldn't have to be and therefore wouldn't learn to be, and that possibility concerned me.

Of course, as is often the case, it turns out that I was worrying about the wrong thing. If anything, I should've been worrying about having a kid so much like us that we're all trying to be in charge all the time. Also, as Steve has said of Katie, "This one's gonna have an ulcer before she's five."

She constantly (obsessively?!) plans out next steps and gives each of us direction about our role in those activities. For instance, the day before Thanksgiving, Steve and I both picked her up from school. As she had requested, I went in to get her and Daddy waited in the car. Once we were all in the car, we told her we were going to run an errand and then go to dinner at Applebee's. Only a minute passed before Katie was strategizing aloud about where she'd sit (next to Mommy), whether or not she would use a booster seat (negative), and what she would order (macaroni and cheese).

At Applebee's, everything went according to her plan, but before she'd even taken a bite of her meal, she was talking about bath and bedtime--whether or not she needed to wash her hair (she lobbied hard against shampoo) and how much she wanted to come "downgairs" after her bath.

Similarly, anytime it rains, she eagerly assumes the role of Umbrella Manager. She insists that she and I each have one, and if Steve has already left for the day, she asks me 10 times if Daddy has his umbrella in the car.

She also has decided--unilaterally--that we need to go back to Florida, and she has ALREADY begun laying out toiletry items in preparation. While I was at my yoga (or "logo," as Katie calls it) class last night, Katie reminded her dad that she already has "da orange jampoo" in Florida. He asked me about it when I got home, and eventually we both remembered that she DOES have a small bottle of the old-school, amber-colored Johnson's Baby Shampoo down there. Sigh.

Before too much longer, maybe we can have Katie plan and cook our meals, do our taxes, and make all our travel reservations. If you asked her, she'd tell you she already could!

Comments:
Marbara: When she can write, she will be able to write all these things down in list form and then she won't have to keep thinking (and talking) about them. Maybe a PDA is in her near future? Planning is good but I have realized that there is usually a Wal-Mart nearby if I have forgotten anything...

Stacey: I really think I need a Katie Fanelli to organize my life for me. Could you please lend her to me for awhile?

Sarah: A woman after my own heart!

Add a comment:

Name: Email:
Comment:

Notify me of scrapbook updates
Tue, Nov 20, 2007 8:30 AM
While picking up supplies for our pumpkin-painting party in October, I spotted a really cool High School Musical dress-up kit at Party City. I decided it would be a nice Christmas present for Katie. I managed to get it in the cart, through the check-out, and into the car without her noticing. But then I made the mistake of "hiding" it in the Party City bag in a corner of our dining room. Within a few days, she walked into the kitchen with it, asking what it was and could she have it? I quickly took it away and "hid" it again when she wasn't looking. This time, I put it on the tip-top of our pantry, and I turned it on its side so it would blend with the cereal boxes.

Fast-forward to last night at the dinner table. Out of nowhere, Katie informs us that she wants to sleep in our bed when Ho-Ho comes. And before we could respond, she turned around and pointed to the pantry doors. "And I want dat High Goo Mudic when Ho-Ho comes, too, okaaaaaaaaaaaay?"

* * *

I'm not sure how it evolved into a daily ritual, but on weekdays Steve leaves his half-empty coffee cup on the kitchen table. It's his calling card for Katie, and she delights in clearing his mess. This morning she was especially animated when she saw it. As she moved the cup to the counter, she sighed and said to me, "Daddy dilly. He a gyoot man."

Comments:
Susan: I need to accept that I have to be more clever with concealing things. She isn't a baby OR a toddler anymore!

Sarah: She's a smart one. Soon you won't be able to put anything past her!

Add a comment:

Name: Email:
Comment:

Notify me of scrapbook updates
Mon, Nov 19, 2007 10:30 AM
Thanks to one of her sitters, Katie recently joined the legion of Hannah Montana fans. So when I placed my last Amazon.com order, I included the original "Hannah Montana" CD. It arrived in the mail, and Katie and I listened to it in my car (over and over). A couple of days later, she went into recommendation mode: "Dis weally cool," Katie said to Danielle, showing her the CD case. "Lure gonna like it!"

She did something similar to Steve over the weekend. He was watching his own program on TV, and Katie wanted to watch one of her movies. Waving her DVD case and giving one of her trademark nods, she said, "But, Daddy, djew LUB dis moobie!"

* * *

Yesterday we went to the grocery to buy everything for Thanksgiving. In the check-out line, Katie made her case for a new Barbie coloring book with a tray of watercolors. I was about to say no when Steve approved it.

When we got home, I told him HE could sit with her and help her use the paints. While I did a test run of a new recipe, she painted away, using a little disposable cup of water to clean her brush. Steve sat with her, offering compliments as he sipped his coffee, also in a little disposable cup.

It wasn't long before he sprang up from his chair and rushed to the sink to rinse out his mouth--after grabbing the wrong cup and drinking the dirty paint water. Naturally, he wasn't too amused, but it WAS funny to Katie and me!

Comments:

Add a comment:

Name: Email:
Comment:

Notify me of scrapbook updates
Thu, Nov 15, 2007 4:30 PM
A few recent "Katie moments":

* I took Katie to Kentucky last weekend, just the two of us. I figured that flying sans Steve would result in a more laid-back travel experience. But his protege filled his shoes more than adequately. You see, while Paw-Paw and I meandered toward the baggage carousel at the Louisville airport, Katie sprinted to the far side of the room, practically threw herself on the duffle bag containing her clothes, and then screamed, "DAT'S OURS! DAT'S OURS!" Her little face turned red and her eyes bulged as she strained to lift it. Before Paw-Paw and I could get there, an amused-looking man graciously removed it from the belt for her.

* At home, Katie had packed her own suitcase for the trip (no exaggeration: she even zipped the darn thing herself). So, not surprisingly, she wanted to pack it again for the trip home. Gran tried to help, but Katie was so neurotic about how to do it and what goes where that Gran finally walked away. "OK, Little Steve," she said. "Lighten up!"

* A couple of weekends ago, Katie joined Steve and me in bed early one morning. As usual, she brought a stack of books with her, including Jack Kent's _The Twelve Days of Christmas_. She "read"/sang it in her own inimitable way:

(To the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas")
On da birst day of Halloween
My true lub gabe to me...

(To the tune of "Five Green and Speckled Frogs")
One jumped into da pool
Where it was nice and cool...

* At the end of gym class on Tuesday night, the teachers and kids did some free-form dancing to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll." Katie was HILARIOUS dancing around and happily twirling in her skirt. On the way home, I said, "Let's find some more rockin' music on the radio." But as I offered up each song, she'd say, "Dat not wockin'!" She wasn't happy until I found Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" (even though that is definitely NOT "wockin'").

Comments:
maury: Susan,
please change my address

Add a comment:

Name: Email:
Comment:

Notify me of scrapbook updates