19 Months

Kate loves her new stroller. I found her giving a picture of mama and papa a ride around the condo

In Brownington, VT at Grammy's over Thanksgiving. How do you know your mama's a "flatlander"? Full snow gear for a mere dusting...

Grammy up in the barn

First snowballs

"Sweeping" with Grammy

Kate and Papa at Grammy's

Auntie Donna gave Kate a box of chocolates....

Look mama: Two! Kate loves to wear undies and try on her clothes. She especially likes anything "two" and often comes and tells me "two pants"

Turned my back for a moment and she got a hold of the PB jar. Yes, I have lost control.

Kate loves to color

Likes to put mama's socks on

Sunday mornings...

Kate and I have gone to the Boston Children's Museum with our friends Cathel and Rover a few times this month. Kate's favorite is the fake bodega, where she can 'shop'. They even have a baseball game in the Dominican Republic on the TV in there!

On the bike path behind our place. We spend a lot of time there!

Kate and her buses

Milestones this month:

Has become very independent

Has her own stroller to bring on walks

Knows her colors!

Started counting to 2. Loves pairs of things

Really enjoys Mega Bloks

Had the H1N1 vaccine (round one)

Started singing. Some favs: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, ABCs, Wheels on the Bus

Knows her colors and says blue is her favorite color and wants papa to give her a purple car.

Can say Katherine and Cherington!

Loves her crayons

Had her second Thanksgiving (first in Hanson with the King's , than in VT with the Cherington's)

Played in the snow for first time with Grammy up in VT

Lots of new teeth (I think 5) for 15 or 16 total

Halloween

Better late than never!

I brought Kate to my mother's nursing facility (she's a RN). They had a Halloween party and trick-or-treat with employees' children. The residents and the kids loved it!
Kate dressed up like Butch...
My camera was on the fritz and took very blurry pics. Oh well.

Kate with Grandma

Josh and Johhny were there as well

Running with Butch

Kate, Grandma, and Scrapper the Cat

2051

California Trip

OK, here they are! Our pics from California. Forgive me; I know there are a lot of pics (50), but I pared it down from the 523 I took!


Kate on the dance floor at Nick and Sheryl's wedding in Berkeley (the reason we went to California). She really tore it up on the dance floor.

At the hotel in Berkeley.

At UC Berkeley Faculty Club for a post-wedding brunch

Kate and Liam (Nick's nephew), both 18 mos old.

We spent two nights in Berkeley and then drove to Sacramento. I didn't take any pics in Sacramento. Boo. We had a great time our with (American) friends from England, Ross and Amber. We spent one night and then drove 3.5 hours the the southern entrance of Yosemite National Park. We spend two nights in Yosemite.

At the Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp, right outside Yosemite. Our room at the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite was cancelled at the last minute and they put us up in the swankier Tenaya. We fit right in.

Yosemite falls- the tallest waterfall in North America.

Yosemite is very large. Kate was a trooper as we drove place to place.

Glacier Point, Yosemite. We were at 8,000 feet!

The famous Half Dome

The view of Yosemite falls from Glacier Point

View of Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

Kate was amazed by the Jeffrey and Sugar Pine cones. Huge! We spent a good part of our time in the parks on cone hunts.

We then drove 3 hours to the southern part of Sequoia National Park and spent the night in Three Rivers. We spent the next day driving from southern Sequoia into southern King's Canyon National Park.

Papa and Kate in the Giant Forest

The Sequoias were really large, beautiful, and OLD. The oldest we saw was 2,700 years old (the oldest living tree known in the world).

The upside of touring the national parks in October is the lack of tourists. Downside? Lots of road work. We got caught in a one hour road stop in Sequoia, so we jumped out of the car for an impromptu picnic.

A downed tree on the General Grant tree trail in King's Canyon. Crazy.

A Sugar Pine cone to write home about.

Kate in front of the 2,300 year old General Grant Sequoia. She is definitely more interested in the pine cones. She had a bit of trouble seeing the forest for the trees in the park! There is nothing like an 18 month old to make you stop and appreciate every detail.

Stopping to appreciate the trees.

We then drove to Joshua Tree National Park. We left King's Canyon area after Kate's bedtime and drove 7 hours. We arrived at 1 AM and spent the next day in the park. Above is the Inn that Gram Parsons died in. We stayed across the street.

It was neat to go from sweatshirts to sundresses. It was about 75 degrees in the high desert (5,000 ft here) and 85-90 in the desert valley. Unlike the northern national parks, October is Joshua Tree's peak season because of the mild temperatures. We didn't find it too crowded, though.

Mama and Kate

Cap Rock

Cap Rock is incredible. To quote Steve, it is like being on another planet.

Kate and papa find a desert oasis

We then drove 2.5 hours to San Diego and stayed 2 nights with our friends from Boston, Ed and Amanda and their 16 month old son, Ben.

Had a great time at the San Diego Zoo.

Kate and Ben

Elephants!

Ariel Tram

Coronado Beach.

Kate, Ed, and Ben

Kate loves her papa