The Adventures of Monkey

Every child has a security item of some sort and Kate's item is her beloved monkey. She simply calls him "monkey"; she is not in the naming stage yet I guess. Kate takes monkey pretty much everywhere she goes. Monkey was a gift from one of Chris' former students. Kate just took to monkey right away. She takes his paw and rubs it on her lip; that is a cue that she is tired. Kate has been doing this from the beginning. She actually has a "test" with any stuffed animal...she will take it and rub on her lip, if it is soft enough and she likes the way it feels against her lip the animal passed her test and has become part of her posse. Let's see, she now has a growing entourage...there is Brobee, Olivia, Elephant, and of course monkey and let's not forget her blanket and pillow pet (they ALL have to be in the crib with her when she goes to bed and in the morning when she makes her way to the couch)!

Anyhow, we took monkey to the movies with us the other day and GASP! We forgot him when we were leaving! It was dark and we left early because Kate lost interest in the movie and wanted to climb the stairs. Of course I was thinking HELL NO we are not doing that! However, I must add that Kate sat and watched the movie for almost an hour! So while leaving in a bit of a hurry we forgot monkey! I was driving home and halfway there I thought, CRAP! We FORGOT MONKEY! So I texted Chris and told him the bad news and I turned the car around to go find him. I called the movie theater and told them that if they found a monkey to leave him at lost and found. LUCKILY they found him and Chris went to pick him up. That was a close call and I will definitely be more careful next time!


Kate's beloved monkey waiting for his ride at the theater!

So Chris and I want to chronicle the adventures of monkey since he is part of our family too.



Monkey went with us to Mexico, of course! Here he is waiting at the border.



Monkey went to get his ears checked; that was the only way Miss Kate would allow the doctor to check her ears. Monkey has been a great help in getting Kate to do things. For instance while at the doctor's office Kate wanted to play with the doctor's stool so we kept telling her, this is Monkey and Kate's chair and this is doctor's chair. Then when the doctor walked in she told him "this my chair" "that your chair" ~ whoo, bossy one on our hands! He had to check monkey's ear first in order to get to her and she reminded him to check "da odder ear"; kinda cute telling the doctor how to do his job. So after that she allowed the doctor to check her ears; Kate's hearing is fine by the way, everything came back normal!



Bwahahaha....evil laugh!

Happy Father's Day!

Kate celebrated her daddy and many grandfather's at Mimi and Grandpa Mike's house; they hosted a beautiful breakfast. Crazy thing was that the weather was great for this time of year and we ate outside! Of course, even though it was Father's Day...let's face it, it is really "all eyes on Kate day"...what else is new right?!


All the hail to the Queen


Present for me? No, Kate it is for daddy


the quintessential Father's Day gift ~ the tie!

Road Trip

Kate had a busy weekend! She traveled with Nana, Ma (her great-grandmother), Chris and I to Chandler, AZ to party with the Perez clan for her Bella's 5th Birthday. The next day we made our way to Rocky Point to take Ma home and the very next day we made it back safely to Yuma. Whoo! That's a whole lot of travel time with a 2-year old in a car!

Kate had been pretty moody since Friday. Nana attributed it Chris and I having been gone for two days ~ mommy and daddy needed an adult vacation to celebrate another successful school year and beginning of summer break! However, Kate is, well, Kate. She is just moody! Don't know where she gets that from? Not only is she moody, she is 2 ~ they are supposed to be awful at this age, right?! It also could have been because I made the mistake of telling her we were going to go to the park to see her cousins Bella and Nati. Little did she know that she would not be at the park until 5pm. Not that she has any idea about time frames, but I am sure she thought 'why the heck is it taking so long to get to the freakin' park?!'. Needless to say the trip to Chandler was not our idea of a good time. We were pretty much wiped out by the time we got there. Our hotel room was not ready so we headed over to the mall. Normally, I would have been in heaven...but, we had Kate with us. She was tired. We were tired. It was hot. I got some cute clothes for Kate and she got popcorn and a stroller ride in the mall stroller rental. However, not good enough for any of us since we all needed some rest before the party.

Anyhow things changed when we got to the party. Kate was happy to see her cousins Bella and Nati. She did not want to join in the water fun but had a blast running around all over the park and hitting the pinata. By the time we got back to the hotel and gave her a bath she was ready for bed! Mommy and daddy had time to relax but then we heard a "THUD" and screams coming from Kate; poor baby rolled off the pull-out couch bed ~ even with pillows surrounding her she managed to fall out! Since I was freaked out about it happening again I slept with her on the pull-out. Kate is a wild sleeper I must add. At one point she stole the blanket and was sleeping on it and her feet were kicking my chest.


Kate with Nanalu and Nana


Bella the birthday girl loving all eyes on her!


Kate with Nanalu and Ma


Kate hitting the pinata

Nati loving the water!

Bella encouraging Kate to go with her in the water ~ so sweet!

So I was thinking that after running wild at the park and getting a good night's rest Kate would be ready for her next road trip. I think we counted 8 cries in 4 to 5 hours? Let's see what made Miss Kate upset:

1. She did not want her diaper changed;
2. She fell off a chair;
3. She tried giving her cousin Nati a hug and tumbled into the corner of the dresser;
4. Kate did not want to get in the carseat;
5. Who knows;
6. Wanted my thirstbuster;
7. Who knows;
8. Can't keep track...

Needless to say we were all in need of a strong drink by the time we made it to Rocky Point! After our much needed drinks ~ Ma busted open her bottle of wine, Chris, Nana and I had beer ~ we made our way down to the beach. I think the pictures show how happy Miss Kate was being outside. We all realize that it is very difficult for a 2-year old to be trapped in a carseat for a long period of time and empathized with poor Kate just wanted to be outside playing. Needless to say, she LOVED being out on the beach. I am happy to report that on the way home she was a great traveler! Gotta love the iPad that we loaded up with 14 episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!