View from the driver's seat

Since our move to Henderson, I am now commuting 45 miles/50 mins to get to Duke's campus for work. Kathleen has stayed in her current school KinderCare Learning Center on 15-501 for 3 days a week. It has worked well to keep school the same for her while we settled in to the new home and church communities. At the end of the month she'll be moving to The Little School on Duke's campus for school Monday-Wednesday. So with the change in our schedule the question that I have received most often over the past two months has been, "How's the commute?" My answer is, "We're workin' it out, some days better than others." Most mornings we sing and read books on the way to school. Here is my most common view from the driver's seat. (On the way home Kathleen is so tuckered out from the fun day at school she falls asleep before we hit I85.)

Happy 15 Months!

Kathleen is 15 Months old now and she surprises me with something new every single day. I love how quickly she is learning and how much fun it is to play with a daughter who understands what you're saying to her. Kathleen is still considered a good eater, she sleeps well most nights, and she has a number of words that she can say and use clearly. Right now she is 30.5 inches tall and 26 pounds. We can pretend together already and she still love, love, loves her books.

Here are some of Kathleen's more impressive words that she uses these days:
Apple
Bubbles
Baby
Nose
My Book
Purple
Rascal
Shoe

When you say Cow she moos with Sheep she Baas and when you say Banana she says Mmmmmm.

This weekend we played Freeze, Ring around the Rosies (Kathleen loved falling down with Mommy) and pushed our cars around the living room. Kathleen also figured out 2 of the 9 blocks in her shape sorter set that she is happy to push through the hole over and over and over again. She loves to dance, is great at playing peek-a-boo and can clap her feet better than anyone I know. Kathleen loves to hold and kiss her baby doll and she's also great a brushing her own hair all by herself. What little of it there is. She can take things to Daddy, throw things in the trash, and tell you she needs a diaper change by bringing you the diaper and wipes and laying down in front of you. It is also very common for her to hand you a book and sit in your lap or sit in front of you so that you can read it to her.

This morning Kathleen surprised me with the word "Animal". She pointed to the stuffed elephant at daycare and said "animal". I responded: Yes, that's an Elephant! And the teacher clarified for me, yes it's an animal.

I am just so impressed with my sweet girl these days. Over the past month she has learned so much!

Wheee!

Kathleen can slide all by herself! Just a couple weeks ago Calvin took Kathleen to the park at Kerr Lake here in Henderson. She was happy to show off her skills of going up the stairs and sliding all by herself. Calvin hovered a few times before he realize she had it down and didn't need him any more. We had no idea she learned how to do this at daycare. It was just 3-4 weeks earlier at the park in Durham that we were still holding her hands the whole way.

http://youtu.be/3HrPAGhjyfA