alphabet and spanish

ok, so i am a proud momma when it comes to caitlin. what can i say. she is one smart cookie to say the least. she knows most of her colors. her vocabulary is amazing. she knows her right and left. she knows many songs. she knows her numbers by sight as well as counting to 12. she knows her alphabet, not just the song. and she knows some spanish words and can count to 10 in spanish. all good things.

i am now trying to work on the sounds that go with the letters.

below is an alphabet puzzle i have that caitlin likes to play with. under each letter is a picture representing something starting with the letter. she will pull out the letter from the bag, say the name of it, and place it where it needs to go. no problem with that. except.... remember how i said she knows some spanish? well, under the letter M there is a picture of the moon. caitlin knows the letter M. she knows the moon. but she is too smart for her own good sometimes: she will pick up the letter M, place it in the correct spot, and say "luna" ever so proudly. um...while she is correct (luna being the spanish word for moon) i am hoping that she doesnt grow up thinking the letter M sounds like the letter L! actually i find this situation rather amusing and try not to laugh too loud when she does it :)

i can only imagine what will come next out of that smarty pants!

its been awhile

havent posted in awhile. glad to say that the sleeping issue has gotten better. i guess she just needed to adjust to the changes that went on in a short amount of time. i am daily amazed by the growth in caitlin, and not just physical. for instance, she can now count to 14, sing her ABC's, recognize a few letters when she 'reads'. she loves to sing-Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mary had a little lamb, Old McDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to name a few. its just a fun time :)

gosh, she looks so grown up like she is ready for school or something. aah!

Please?

her ladybug backpack is almost as big as she is!

sleep

something just isnt right. something has changed. and that something is caitlin's sleep schedule. i wish i knew what the deal was, cause its frustrating me to no end. before i left on my trip to virginia caitlin had a pretty good schedule going. she would normally wake up around 730-8am. she would take a nap during the day, usually noon-ish. then she would go to sleep around 8pm. it was pretty consistant.

however, since i've been home things are very different. she is waking up around 630am. her naps are not till late afternoon and that usually comes with a tantrum which may or may not result in sleep. and the past couple nights she isnt going to bed till 9-ish, and even then its with a MAJOR crying meltdown.

and it doesnt matter what time she goes to bed, she is still up bright and early. this morning she woke up and stood in her door and i could tell she was still very sleepy. she ended up throwing another fit and crying spell. it was obvious she really didnt want to be up. and yet she was.

so what is causing this change??? i wish i knew. i wish i knew how to make it be alot smoother. cause i am on a losing battle here. i feel like she is an infant again and i'm up all night with her and not getting enough sleep myelf. which is clearly causing my frustration to rise. and that isnt fun at all.

2 year dr. visit

so Caitlin had her 2year doctor visit while i was gone. this is what the doctor told chris

height: 35 inches, 75%
wt: 33 1/2 #, 97%
head: 48.8 cm, 80%

i was kinda shocked at the 97 percentile on weight, but the doctor didnt seem to have a problem with it, so i'm not gonna concern myself too much. at her last appointment at 18months she was in the 95th percentile weight so its gone up while her height stayed the same in the 75th percentile. she is a solid little girl though. so many people tell me she looks way older than 2years old!

a week with family

this past week and a half i was in Virginia. while i was gone Caitlin got to spend lots of time with daddy, Grandma Kinion, Aunt Kathleen, Great Uncle Mark, and Great Aunt Evelyn. they did lots of fun stuff together:







I know Caitlin had a blast, because when they came to pick me up at the airport upon my return she gave me a weird look like 'i know you, but i'm not so sure whats going on'. it wasnt until we pulled into the driveway that it dawned on her that i was home. she then exclaimed "MOMMY!" like it was the first time she saw me (mind you, the drive from the airport to our house is about 15 minutes). since i've been back she has smothered me with hugs and cuddles. :)

it was great having everyone here though. not only cause she got to see them, but all the interaction impacted Caitlin greatly. her communication and smarts has increased dramatically in 10 days. i am soo impressed. i was like 'what happened to my little girl?? she's been replaced by a teenager!' (well, not exactly...but you get the idea). i can only imagine the leaps and bounds she will make quickly when she does the mothers day out in the fall!!

but anyway, thanks to everyone for coming to visit, and we hope to see you again soon!!

Official birthday

today at 5:28pm Caitlin will officially be 2 years old. Happy Birthday, I love you!

chris and caitlin

my friend took these pics on saturday, i love them!