The Dwyer Patch: Happy Birthday Catherine Anne!

Birthday lunch at Chick-Fil-A

Catherine Anne turned two on July 30^th. She sung “Happy Brithday to me” all week and Logan helped her sing as well. We had a cake on July 4^th weekend when we had family in town so for her actual birthday we defrosted some left overs. Of course the kids did not mind.

With Catherine, I find myself better able to appreciate the age and stage she is in. I think it is because I am keenly aware of just how fast it will change. We were in New Orleans last week and she wanted to hold my hand while walking up and down the stairs at my parent’s house…over an over...morning, noon and night. It never got old. The nice thing is that I was thrilled to do it because I know the next time she visits Granny and Grandpa, she will not need me to climb those steps.

Every age comes with highs and lows. I love that she can talk now and tell me what she is thinking. I love that she participates in or replicates a lot of our daily duties, from cooking and cleaning, to reading and working. A low for her age would be attention span. Logan and Catherine take a lot of turns doing things, and although Catherine understands this concept, she will and does sometimes have a melt down if she is not ok with it being Logan’s turn.

Likes- She likes to call daddy at work and make other miscellaneous phone calls. She adores taking care of her stuffed animals and baby dolls. She lays them out on blankets, wipes them with diaper wipes and then changes their diapers. She likes to read and is always bringing books with her and pretending to read them to us. She is still completely enamored with Winston and can be quite demanding with him, saying things like “Winston come, sit here now.” And she will get very upset and emotional if Winston does not do what she asks. She is very independent and insists on doing most things stating “me do it.”

Dislikes- She can’t stand loud noises. I guess it is an ear tube thing because Logan is sensitive to them as well. She will get really scared if there is a loud noise such as a whistle or thunder. She also asks if a background noise is going to get louder.

Sleeping/ Eating- Catherine loves to eat and she really does eat anything. There are times where I will make something for me and if I don’t offer it to her she will have a fit! I made kale the other day with a lot of onion and garlic and just kind of assumed it would not be to her liking and she insisted on eating her own. She sleeps solidly through the night and still takes a 2 – 3 hour nap daily.

Speaking- She is speaking a bunch. We can’t always understand everything but she is saying the words. She call’s Logan “Yoyo” and it really is too cute! Favorite sentences that I have heard recently: “I love you my mommy.” & “Watcha doing?” She also loves to sing and will sing on her own. Favorite songs right now include Happy Birthday, Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC’s, Bingo & 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed.