Katie and a visit to Grammy and Grampy's

Katie got to spend a day with Grammy and Grampy yesterday. She had such a fun time baking and running and playing and I guess she had grammy hopping! The night before though, she decided she didn't want to go. I asked her why and she said "I scared" which surprised me because she's not scared of Grammy and Grampy's house or of Grammy and Grampy! Well, maybe of Grampy when he snaps his teeth out at her. :)

I asked her why she was scared and she said "Because someone will grab me and keep me and I won't see mommy or daddy again." I realized that Grammy had told her that when we were at Walmart and she was hiding under the clothes racks... I tell her that too but I guess she listened to Grammy better! (Grandma told me that when they were in the cart to check out, a man was behind them in line and he was flirting with Katie and she asked him if he was a man who took little kids... or something like that.) I told her that no one will grab her if she stays with Grammy and Grampy and keeps an eye out for them. After that I may have also mentioned her toy tiger and the dice and the other fun toys at grammy and grampys. She changed her mind about the visit pretty quickly. Then she was very excited. Good thing too, she had a great time and Mommy got some delicious rhubarb crisp Katie helped to make (see grammy's note below).

Grammy sent this to me:
"Katie was a blast yesterday. We had a lot of fun. On the way to our house after picking her up yesterday morning I noticed a pink ice cream truck parked in a parking lot. I wasn't sure if she could see out the window to see it but she did. I told her the story about ice cream trucks going through the neighborhoods selling ice cream to people who came out to get a treat when they heard the bell announcing they were coming. She piped up and said she has ice cream cones and ice cream at home and she didn't need that guy. I thought that was so cute.

We played "Katie says" and she had grammy jumping, hopping, walking, running, etc. I found out how out of shape I am when it comes to jumping and hopping. She helped grammy make Rhubarb Crunch. She is going to be quite a cook if her interest keeps up when she gets older."

We (Grammy, Grampy, Katie, Uncle Mark, Mom, Dad, me and Jake) met at La Casita for dinner last night and had a fun time. Jake was quiet most of the time, just on the verge of falling asleep. He actually did doze off as soon as it got louder in the restaurant. I don't know how this kid does it... it seems like every time we're someplace loud, he falls asleep.

After dinner, Katie got some coins for the fountain from Grampy and mommy and tossed them in. We got them as high as the second from the top tier. Then we went into the bathroom and I answered many questions, including "why we don't touch things in the bathroom mama?" and I kept asking her if she had to go potty and she didn't. So I washed my hands and finally got the towel dispenser to work. Those things need to be tweaked so they all work the same. You shouldn't have to wave your hands around like a crazy person to get it to "sense" that you are there. By the time you're done waving, your hands are dry anyway. But I finally got it working and Katie was impressed.

We went back to our table and sat for awhile and I asked her again if she was sure she didn't have to go but then decided that she really should at least go in and sit down to make sure she didn't have to go. So we did that... and she went (YAY! I'm so proud of her!). She didn't even have to wave her hands in front of the dispenser to get it to work... it was on it's best behavior for her. She got her towels, dried her hands, threw them in the trash and got more dirty pennies to throw in the fountain. I guess clean hands at that age are a loosing battle. Everyone met us there and Uncle gave her more coins and he held her up so high that she could see the top tier. I don't know if she made any in but she sure liked that.

Earlier, before her bathroom visit, I told Katie we were going to go to Sams Club with Gramma and Grampa. She said "and Mommy and Jakie and Gammy and Umpy?" I told her that Grammy and Grampy were going to go home to bed (not really but she understands "night night") and that we were just going to go with gramma and grampa, she was mad. She said so... lots... while we sat at the table. She wanted to go home with Grammy and Grampy and said that too... lots. I finally got her to agree that maybe Sams Club wasn't so bad.

Katie had her baby doll so we were all lucky when Grampa found a cart with the plastic seats because baby doll has to have her own seat AND be buckled in AND be able to sit up. We got both of them in and baby doll settled and headed into the store. Katie sat in her seat till we started to look at the outdoor furniture. Once I sat on the comfy chair, she wanted to also. So we sat, for 3 seconds, till it was time to look at strawberries and that was more exciting than the chair. Soon baby doll wanted to get out to walk around. Really. Katie puts her feet on the floor and holds her hands and baby doll walks. At a snails pace but Katie has fun with it. She talks to her and encourages her to keep walking. It's funny to watch but you can't laugh because she takes this seriously.

We finally got home and got settled and went to bed. Well, Katie fell asleep on the couch but John carried her to bed. It was a fun evening.