Katt-a-blog: The life and times of the Katt kids

I can't believe we are well into August already. Annie is going to be 10 months soon, and Jacob will be in Pre-K and Gwyn will be going a couple of days a week starting September 1st. Time flies when you are having fun, and we sure do have alot around here! For starters, I took all 3 kids to the Dr for Annie's 9 month appointment and Jacob's 4 yr appointment. Annie is 18 lbs 6 oz and 28 3/4 in long (75% in height and 50% for weight). By comparison, Jacob was 20 lbs 14 oz / 30" in and Gwyn was 20 lbs 5 oz / 29" (we call Annie our little runt). Annie got 1 shot and then her finger pricked and squeezed to check for anemia. Jacob got a hearing test and a vision test (which he passed just fine), and 4 shots! He actually did really well, but Gwyn, however, did not. She was crying, saying "My baby doesn't like that!" "My Jacob doesn't want shots!" She was so upset that the nurse brought back a sucker just for her to calm her down, and that even though Jacob was crying after his shots, the nurse had him give Gwyn a kiss to show her that he was okay. It was a miserable 2 hour long experience in which I'm already planning to be deathly sick on Gwyn's 4 yr old appointment, so that Brian can get that experience!

We've been keeping up with swimming at least 5 times / week. Our pool gets alot of use, I'm surprised at how much Gwyn can have just playing on the steps since she isn't swimming, and Jacob is all over the place. Jacob loves to swim with Brian, he holds onto his back and they dive in the deep end to go get toys from the bottom. Gwyn loves to play and swim with people, and Annie likes to just hang out in her little floatie and she loves to stand on the top step and splash.

Annie has started talking, non-stop babbling of da-da-da-da-do-do-do. She is SO funny, I find myself laughing out loud everyday. She is into EVERYTHING, from the dishwasher, to the magazine rack, to the DVD stack, to the bookcases, to the cabinets...she basically has a spot she goes right after no matter what room you are in. She is now walking more than she is crawling and can make it across the room with no problem. It is a little weird to see this little 9 month old baby with her little chunky legs walking. She also loves to dance. She loves this little bear that sings Jingle Bell Rock that my parents gave to Gwyn at Christmas (and yes, we play with it every single day, Jacob at one point went and put it in the oven of the play kitchen because even he was sick of Gwyn playing it non-stop). Anyway, when Annie hears it she starts bouncing up and down, while standing, and then walks over and tries to eat its nose!

We had a birthday party to go to at Chuck E Cheese last Friday, Jacob and Gwyn have so much fun playing the games, but Gwyn had a total freak out along with Annie when Chuck E Cheese came by, so the party was super fun for me, ha! Gwyn has now said that when she is 5 she is going to give Chuck E Cheese a high five and a hug (to which she later recanted that statement when I told Brian to ask her about it). We also had a play date with our old neighbors Carter and Cole, they are so much fun and we are still sad to no longer be able to walk across the street and play with them multiple times / week. Gwyn just looked too cute here, so I had to throw this picture in somewhere!

Other things of note, it has become a weekly ritual on Monday mornings that we go grocery shopping around 8 am, and there is always a firetruck parked out front. The kids get so excited to find the firemen inside the grocery store and we usually check out what they have in their basket. One time we found them in the meat section getting a TON of hamburger, and another time in the milk section getting jugs and jugs of milk. They are nice to us, and it keeps the kids somewhat entertained as we race through the store to find them. One time we looked all through the store and didn't see them and then the firetruck was gone when we left, and Jacob said we weren't fast enough! This week though we had another fiasco because the infamous race car cart (which allows both Jacob and Gwyn to sit in it AND me to have a place to actually put the food) were all taken. So, Annie rode in the cart and Jacob and Gwyn walked and took turns putting stuff in the cart for me...two words...NEVER AGAIN! If the race car carts are all gone next time, we are just going to have to turn it around and come back later.

I thought it was SO funny that the kids were saying that Brian was 43 instead of 33, until Jacob asked me how old I was and I said 31, to which they both replied "41!" Not so funny anymore, and I am now on a mission to teach them to properly say t-h-i-r-t-y o-n-e instead of 41. I guess you reap what you sow! The kids are still so into books. I have recently had to institute a "20 book limit" during the day, because they keep bringing me book after book after book, and my mouth seriously gets tired! They didn't think this was fair, so I'm now once we reach our 20 book limit, let them pick out 2 more books each for Brian to read to them when he gets home! Oh, and the other night for dinner, I fixed turkey burgers and I put one on each of Jacob's and Gwyn's plates, and Jacob said, "This looks like a cookie!" Later, Brian told Gwyn to eat her meat and she said, "My meat cookie?" Yummy, turkey burger cookies!

Oh, and I have to document this somehow, but I was gone for a couple of hours on Saturday morning, and I came home to learn that the kids had locked Brian out of the house! I secretly smiled when I learned this (because it lets me know how much I'm missed!). Apparently, Gwyn turned the lock with the key inside it when Brian went out front to move the sprinkler. She was laughing at the door when he got back, and then got really upset because she couldn't turn it back. She got Jacob, who said he couldn't do it, to which Brian replied, "You better do it!" A few frantic minutes later, and it was unlocked and Gwyn was immediately put into time out, where she kept saying, "I not going to do it again!" Hopefully, she has learned her lesson!

Brian made dinner on Sunday night, and I had to take a picture of it...he out does me all the time, and Jacob said, "Daddy you make the best dinners ever!" I took the opportunity here, to recommend a vote that Daddy cook dinner every Sunday night, to which all 3 (me, Jacob & Gwyn) voted yes...Brian was not as excited!