Caitlin - 4 to 5 Years

Happy 4th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Caitlin - 4 years old! She had a princess themed party at Deb's parent's house and enjoyed it very much. Aunt Sherrie gets the award for "worst gift" and "best gift" all in one. The last two photos are of that gift - it's a Dora The Explorer toy that you throw at a window or wall and it sticks, then slowly tumbles down, sticking with each flip it makes. Worst gift because teaching 4-year olds to throw things at the windows, doors, and walls is not the brightest idea. Best gift because in response to the "what the heck is that?" questions around the room, without any warning Aunt Sherrie flung it across the room onto the sliding glass door to demonstrate it - much to Mom's chagrin. I have the feeling Sherry got grounded a lot when she was growing up - I know the feeling. :-)

Here's some more pictures of the same party from Grandma McDaniel's camera.

Another gift-opening session (on Caitlin's actual Birthday, no less) for the gifts from the East Coast part of the family. Right after we got done, Aunt Jen called and talked with Caitlin, interrupting the "Thank You" movie recording we were doing. The worst gift here was the shoes with the lights in them that blink when you walk. Yay. At least we'll be able to find her in the dark... :-)

Caitlin playing with her new Leapster - thanks, Great Grandpop Kehr!

Caitlin helping the neighbors wash their car. It was like watching the part of Tom Sawyer where they paint the fence, just in real life.

Easter Sunday. Caitlin liked her Easter dress - and she really liked the candy, computer games, and movie we got her.

Caitlin somehow managed to poke herself in the eye with her own finger and scratch her cornea. So, she did the pirate-looking-eye-patch routine for a day until it healed. Ask her what happened and she says "I wasn't being careful". Priceless... This one is getting saved for future "show the potential suitors" events. :-)

Caitlin is now learning how to read.

We got a Slip-n-Slide for Caitlin, and after some initial time to get used to the idea of the thing, Caitlin and her friend Dorothy had a blast playing on it. We shot a number of movies with Deb's new camera - they came out great. The first one (025) is Caitlin not wanting to play on the slide, and by the final few (034) she's having a blast, bragging about how she's going to show off for Grandma, and telling the camera how much she likes her new toy. Some of the movies are really big, but worth it.

CaitlinMovies025.avi (31Mb)
CaitlinMovies026.avi (11Mb)
CaitlinMovies027.avi (6Mb)
CaitlinMovies028.avi (15Mb)
CaitlinMovies029.avi (7Mb)
CaitlinMovies030.avi (3Mb)
CaitlinMovies031.avi (5Mb)
CaitlinMovies032.avi (600Kb - only 1 second long)
CaitlinMovies033.avi (12Mb)
CaitlinMovies034.avi (26Mb)
CaitlinMovies035.avi (2Mb)

Grandmom Rowand and Aunt Nicole came out for a visit. We did some typical tourist stuff at the Ballard locks where there were lots of salmon - they were really running when we were there - plus stop by Pike Place Market. We also had to get Caitlin a dress for Nicole's wedding - Caitlin is going to be the flower girl.

CaitlinMovies036.avi (7Mb)
CaitlinMovies037.avi (6Mb)
CaitlinMovies038.avi (17.2Mb)
CaitlinMovies039.avi (700Kb - only 1 second long)

After some hard playtime, Daddy and daughter are crashed out on the couch.

Daddy's little helper working on the car. Yes, she actually did help me - she stepped on the brake pedal to hold the wheels still so I could remove the tires. I jacked up the car without loosening the lug nuts first, and Caitlin was ready, willing, and able to help out. In addition to the actual helping, she was sitting in there pretending to steer, so I let her and showed her how to shift gears (the car is a manual transmission). Before that she kept grabbing the wiper lever and trying to put the car in gear - she's seen Daddy drive various column shifted automatic cars, and she knows the drill pretty well - she's a very observant little girl. Anyways, check out the movie of her shifting - she got 1st and 2nd gear correct, and I think 3rd and 4th gear. She missed 5th gear, but she had the idea. Now she just needs to grow enough to reach the pedals and see over the dash... :-) While I was working on the car, she was pretending to drive all over the place, tell her pretend kids in the back seat to calm down, and in general have all sorts of fun. It was great to have her out there while I was working on the car - someday she'll be spinning wrenches with her old man. And that will be a lot of fun!

CaitlinMovies040.mov (8Mb)

Christmas 2006. As in past years, the gift pile was enormous and Caitlin had tons of fun opening everything, seeing her new toys, and then after it was all done, she had a blast playing with everything.