Nana comesfor Katie's birthday

Although Nana had just spent 1o days with Katie in Dallas, she still came to NYC for Katie's birthday party. This was a very special for us (Papa was working, it was just Nana). So Nana had some quality Katie time in Katie's environment. She loved watching Katie play with her friends. Katie was very happy to see Nana. She met us at Erika's house where Katie was taking a nap that Friday. When I got Katie up and took her into the living room, she saw Nana and ran into her arms. It was so great. There was the terrible rain on that Sunday so there were no fun trips to the park, but Katie loved her special visitor.

More pictures

Another birthday party picture. These are the April Girls! Erika (4/11), Emma (4/19), and Katie (4/8).

I've been admonished for being behind in my blogging. Lots to say, but want to tell you about some of the cute things Katie's been doing lately.

- Yesterday she made her babies kiss their lips together, complete with smooching sound. Katie was pretty excited when she figured out that her new baby (thank you Aunt Debbie) can suck her thumb, just like Katie.
- Last Friday Katie spontaneouly burst into song while sitting in the cart in Target. Her choice of songs was "A Rum Sum Sum" which is a Moroccan folk song found on Laurie Berkner's Buzz Buzz CD. And she's continued with other songs on that album. Katie can now also sing all of Old MacDonald, not just the animal sounds. Cows and pigs are still her favorite.
- Katie says "Thank you" pretty regularly now. She thanked me the other day for giving her dinner and I almost melted. So cute! "Thank you Mommy."
- We were walking on the street a few days ago; Katie didn't want to be in her stroller. I said, "Come on Katie." and she said "Come on Mommy." We kept this up for quite a while. It was pretty funny.

Katie and cousin Robin in the ball play house at the birthday party. Katie loved having her big cousin there. And Robin had a great time. When I asked Katie the next day who was at her birthday party, she said "Erika, Robin, Moose." More on the moose another time...
The Upper West Side Girls - Jill (mom of Kevin), Karen (mom of Jamie), me, Beth (mom of Grace), and Kelli (mom of Erika). Katie now knows who goes with who, so that if we see Jamie, she knows we see Karen too.

Happy Birthday Katie and Erika!

We had such a fun weekend! Katie and Erika's birthday party was a huge success and everyone had a good time. More pics to follow. But here's picture of the fantastic cake, made by a friend of our friend Elaine's. Yes, it tasted good too.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Katie's 2 now! SOOOO hard to believe! Everyday she does something new, says a new phrase, or expresses herself differently. It's such a joy to watch, it's kind of unbelievable. I never thought that I would love being a mom as much as I do. Don't get me wrong - I've always wanted to be a mom, it's the only thing I've known I've wanted to do my entire life. But having Katie is so much more fun than I imagined. I always found babysitting fun, but a little boring. But watching Katie laugh and play dress-up and figure out a puzzle all by herself is so wonderful.

Katie's birthday was last Sunday. We took her to the Children's Museum, possibly Katie's favorite place in the neighborhood (well that and Hippo Park). She was so excited because Mommy and Daddy went "MUseum" (Katie's toddler accent); she usually goes with Ania. Then a whole bunch of our family came over: Aunt Yeshey, Dima & Dipa, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Howard, Peter, Mitch, & Robin, and the special guest star: Oma! We brought in food and had yummy Passover brownies for dessert. Katie loves playing with Robin. She talked about it for days.

Happy Passover!

We're back! We all had a wonderful vacation. Here's Katie at the seder table in Dallas, complete with her own little seder plate (thanks Leslie Null!). We have lots to say and pictures to share but it will take a few days to catch up.