Today is Katie's second birthday!

It's hard to believe it, but Katie turns two today. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, Katie has transformed from a helpless infant into a full-fledged child. A child who can do somersaults, who's getting the hang of using the potty and who loves to be tickled. An adventurer who loves worms, the iPad, puzzles and puppets. A chatterbox who frequently amazes us by the things she says, and almost as frequently baffles us with long rambling stories that we can only hope to understand. A kid who can count to 10 in Spanish (to some degree) but is still figuring out how to hold up just two fingers. A daredevil who insists on sliding down the biggest slide and climbing into her own car seat. A little girl who offers a taste of her water ice, who makes sure everybody has a drink and thanks her friends for coming over to play.

Katie is a character, a free spirit, a sweetheart and a joy. She brightens our lives and those of others she touches. We can only imagine what the coming weeks, months and years will bring.

We captured Katie at two yesterday and are happy to share these new photos after a long drought on the blog. We prepped Katie ahead of time, and when it was our turn, she marched right in and sat down on the backdrop, ready for her photo shoot.

It took a few gummy worms to get her totally warmed up and smiling, as above, and by the end she was running in circles. Kudos to our photographer, Stefan, for managing to keep up with her.

Finally, we managed to grab her for a few seconds of cuddle time with Daddy and Mommy.

We pledge to do a better job of keeping the blog up to date. We'll post more photos soon of our summer and the rest of Katie's birthday festivities. Until then, here's the album for the birthday photo shoot:

Katie's 2-Year Photo Shoot

Watch out world...

Like other kids her age, Katie is a sponge right now, absorbing knowledge like crazy. This is particularly true for language, and since she's an early talker, she's really able to express to us what she's learning. Here are a few videos from just the past six weeks.

The first, taken tonight, is a review of her numbers, animal sounds, alphabet song, fruits and veggies and more. She says so many cute things, we've had a tough time recording it all. Sriyesh even had to pretend to turn off the camera to get her to count (fooling me too, hence my reaction). It's a little long, but it's fast-paced. She's 18.5 months today.



This next video came about because Katie was interested in the letters of her name on her bedroom wall. Sriyesh started spelling for her, and before long, she surprised him by chiming in! She's almost 17 months in this video.



Finally, here's a cute video of how Katie and Sriyesh spent the day when I went to a wedding shower in NYC back in January. From Guitar Hero to Beyonce, they had a terrific dance party. By the end, Katie could barely stay on her feet!

Playing dress up

Katie came back from NC this weekend with an off-kilter sleep schedule and a beautiful new dress from Thatha (Sriyesh's dad). The two combined a few nights ago when she couldn't sleep and found the dress while I was unpacking.

She proceeded to reorganize our medicine cabinet...

And go through her shoe collection (all the shoes she's ever worn or refused to wear). What can we say -- she's all girl!

It's not the first time she has enjoyed playing dress-up. Sunglasses are one of Katie's favorite accessories (along with scarves, watches and hats -- see below).

And recently she got to play fairy princess and rock star with a few beautiful dresses sent by Sriyesh's family in India. (Thanks, Abitha and Kamali!)

Click on these albums for more photos from the past couple of months and some pictures from our recent vacation to Florida and NC.

Katie at 16 & 17 months

Katie Indian Dresses 2010

Holiday fun!

We had a really wonderful holiday season with Katie. While she wasn't quite sure what Christmas was all about, she had fun playing with her Little People nativity and trying to squeeze as many animals and people inside the barn as possible. (It's cold out there!)

She also learned that Santa says "Ho, ho, ho!" and she loved the lights on the Christmas tree. Every morning she asked us to turn them on, then said "Oooooh!" She was very good about leaving the ornaments alone for the first few weeks, but later they were too big a temptation to resist. She also helped Sri put the angel on the top.

We kicked off the season with luminary night in our neighborhood, the highlight of which is a carriage ride through the streets to see all the lights. Katie neighed at the horses, "bow-wowed" at the driver's dog who was riding along and had a great time.

We also celebrated the season's first major snow by building a snowgirl. Well, Sriyesh did most of the building while Katie cheered about the snow and gave instructions. (See the video in the last post for more fun.)

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home in Bryn Mawr this year so that Santa would be sure to know where to find us. He did an excellent job, bringing Katie exactly what she wanted -- an Elmo chair. Katie has been introduced to the character in her new class and we're told she spent most of her first weeks in the class sitting in an Elmo chair there. She loves to chant, "Elmo chair! Elmo chair!" anytime it's within view.

Later, Katie played with the dreidel she made at daycare while decked out in her Christmas finest. (We've always been an interfaith family... if only Sriyesh and I knew more words to the song than, "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel...")

Christmas night, we headed out on the long drive down to NC while Katie and Betsy (and sometimes Anne) slept in the back. Thatha, Achi and Priyesh were waiting for us with a magical house full of lights and more great presents, including another Elmo (she gives him a kiss in the photo below), a fabulous kitchen and the best raincoat ever. Katie refused to take it off for several hours.

Santa also came to visit on the 27th on his way back to the North Pole to spend some quality time and deliver one last gift for Katie and some family friends.

We made time for a couple of basketball games during our swing through NC; Katie was enchanted with the band and the Ram (although she kept mooing at him) and enjoyed wearing Daddy's trademark blue hair.

Finally, we picked up Anne's mom and headed to Shelby to celebrate the new year with that side of the family. Katie was reunited with her cousins and their dogs Allie and Binkie and had a great time running around Darwa's house -- after opening MORE presents, of course.

All in all, a wonderful second Christmas filled with fun for Katie and our family.

Please check back soon for more photos in this album:

Christmas 2009

Playing in the snow

The recent blizzard wasn't Katie's first snow, but it was the first one she was able to get out and play in. At around 18 inches, there was no way any of us could walk on top of it, so Sriyesh carved out a place where we could build a snowgirl and play. Enjoy the video!

We're not lion...

She has grown so much! Here are Katie's Halloween photos from exactly a year before...


Click on the album below to see more of this year's costume pics!

Halloween 2009 (14 Months)

Our big girl

Katie has been standing alone for very brief periods, almost unintentionally, for a couple of weeks now, and this weekend in particular. Tonight, she pulled up on a laundry basket and put on a show.

Then, shortly after Sriyesh started recording Katie standing, she surprised us by taking her first steps!



We figured we'd take advantage of the good mood to capture a few of Katie's new sounds, as well. They're a work in progress, but they're cute!



We're so proud of her!

Katie's 11- and 12-month portraits

Katie's now just over 13 months, but we're happy to share the last of her monthly portraits for her first year. She ended the year around 20 lbs. and about 30.5 inches -- she's too wiggly to stay still for the measurement any more!

In other Katie updates, she's saying more than a dozen words now, including "Daddy," "Mommy," "up," "bubble," and "baby." She also knows a couple of signs (both related to food) and says some of the sounds when Anne sings the silly frog song (see post on 6.24.09) and Old McDonald.

First, a few 11-month photos. Here, Katie shows off her crawling skills.

And here she is with her favorite scarf. She loves playing "Where's Katie?" with it, and more recently, "Where's Daddy?" (or Mommy).

Katie's 12-month photos show off lots of new skills, including pulling up.

Katie also loves making the gesture for the number one.

Finally, she showed what a happy girl she is!

Click on the links below for more 11- and 12-month photos.

Katie 11-Month Photo Shoot

Katie 12-Month Photo Shoot

2009 Summer Roundup

We've had a busy but great summer, filled with lots of firsts for Katie.

She went to her first residency picnic (where we broke out the baby pool);

We went with friends to the zoo, where she had her first carousel ride;

She climbed stairs for the first time at Lachlan's birthday party;

And we celebrated her first birthday in style.

Last weekend, we closed out the summer with a trip to NC to visit our families and take Katie to another Carolina football game. Even though she was squirmy and wanted to get up and move around, she still was very, very good. It helped that she took a nap midway through.

After Katie woke up, we were all excited to show off her cheerleader outfit.

Last weekend, we also went to a religious celebration in Greensboro. The event, intended for women and children, depicts Hindu religious faith and history with dolls, dioramas and singing. It was tough for Katie to not be able to crawl around, but she was still very good.

We then headed to Darwa's, where Katie played hide & seek in the curtains and cuddled up for a picture.

We finished the trip with Anne's parents in Mt. Airy.

Click the image below to view lots of additional photos, both from this recent trip as well as earlier this summer.

Katie Summer 2009