Moving to Facebook

After double-posting everything on this blog and Facebook for a while, I've decided to move exclusively to Facebook. So, if you read this blog and would like to keep up with the latest stories, pictures, videos, etc. regarding the Cutforth Family, look me up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cutforth. For now, I'll keep the blog as an archive, but anything new will only be posted to Facebook.

If you're new to Facebook, it's free and easy to sign up. Just click on this link and follow the instructions: http://www.facebook.com/cutforth. What are you waiting for?

Kaitlyn - Photographer & Model

Recently, Kaitlyn has been fascinated with pictures; taking them, posing for them and looking at them. She'll start to do something goofy, look at me and say, "Picure" meaning she wants me to take a picture and/or video of what she's doing. When she's done, she'll say, "I see" and want to view the finished product. Then, she'll ask to hold the camera and take a picture of something herself. Here are some recent pictures of Kaitlyn in action.

This video shows one of her more recent goofy episodes. She started saying, "Wabbitawabbit" which I have no idea what it means or where she came up with it, but she sure thought it was funny. Since then, she has asked to watch the wabbitawabbit video several times a day. Silly girl...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dt_u_jkEBM

Potty Training & More

For the last couple of weeks, we have been focusing on potty training Kaitlyn. She gets to wear big girl panties most of the time and only wears pull-ups while she is sleeping or if we venture far from home (just to be safe). The first couple of days were rough and resulted in a few accidents that required carpet cleaner. Since then, however, Kaitlyn has been very good about telling us when she needs to go and we have found that M&M's are a great motivator - 1 for going #1 and 2 for going #2. Lately, when she has to go, she yells, "Mama/Dada peepee/poopy" and then runs to the bathroom. When she's finished, she tells us the number of M&M's she should receive based on the aforementioned formula, picks them out of the container and tells us the color of the one she has chosen. So, she's well on her way to being potty trained as well as learning her numbers and colors. Triple bonus!

On a separate topic, here's a video of Kaitlyn doing one of her favorite things; helping Mommy cook. In this case, she's making breakfast and has the good sense to taste it while she cooks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR1YC01SaTw

Disneyland Trip - August 2-6, 2009

Despite just going to Disneyland in December, we decided to take another trip with our friends Phil, Char, Brandon, Addie & Terry. It just so happened to coincide with a big scrapbooking convention that was being held at the Anaheim Convention Center (funny how that worked out). So, Shawnna flew down a couple of days early with Char to attend the convention. That meant I had the pleasure of making the long drive alone with a 2 year old. It ended up being a fairly easy ride as I strategically placed a big bag of toys next to Kaitlyn's car seat, so she was able to entertain herself during most of the drive with the occasional, "Dada watch!"

We arrived in Anaheim on Sunday, checked into our hotel (Best Western Park Place Inn), then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner with our friends. After eating and looking in a few of the shops, we decided to call it a night so we'd be ready for Disneyland the next morning.

We ended up going to Disneyland/California Adventure on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Here are the highlights:

• Monday
• Lunch at Club 33 - once again, a great experience (video walk-through below)
• Kaitlyn's first roller coaster (Gadget's Go Coaster) - she loved it and rode it 3 times!
• Rode King Arthur Carrousel several times ("More ride horsey")
• Dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
• Watched the fireworks show on Main Street - Disney certainly knows how to blow things up
• Tuesday
• Lunch with Aunt Liz and Cousin Andrew
• Rode on Tower of Terror with Andrew, his first time!
• Dinner at Napa Rose
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride was a big hit ("More Pooh")
• Wednesday
• Lunch at Blue Bayou
• Kaitlyn loved the Playhouse Disney live show

Unfortunately, all good things must come to and end, so after spending a good portion of the day in both parks, we headed back home at 4pm. After fighting traffic in LA and a short stop for dinner, we were back home by 10:45pm. Kaitlyn had fallen asleep in the car at 8:30pm and went right back to sleep when we put her in bed at home. Two trips to Disneyland in less than a year - maybe we'll wait a bit before we go back. Of course, that's what I said last time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI-rhYDRbTY

Pictures and Punishment

As promised, here are the professional pictures we took on Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday (July 1st). We took some wearing her Abby Cadabby dress that Grandma Pride made her as well as some family portraits wearing red, white and blue. It took a little time and patience to get these shots, but Kaitlyn did really well and the results speak for themselves.

Here's a video I posted on my Facebook page a few weeks ago. Kaitlyn wasn't listening very well, so I put her in timeout. A couple minutes later, I went to talk to her about why she was in timeout. Did she understand? You be the judge...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV8y0NJGN50

Kaitlyn's 2nd Birthday

Proving that time really does fly, Kaitlyn is now 2 years old. She has really developed a little personality (I call her "Lil' General") and it has been a lot of fun watching her learn and grow.

On June 27th, we celebrated Kaitlyn's birthday with friends and family. Since it was an Abby Cadabby theme, Shawnna made an Abby cake, Grandma Pride made an Abby dress for Kaitlyn to wear and there were Abby balloons and decorations all over. We had a Disney Princess jumpy house, a large kiddie pool, 2 infant pools and an inflatable water park. Despite the fact the temperature was in the high 90s, we spent most of the time outside. All the kids seemed to have a blast and the adults tolerated the heat in the shade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mH3LuadfrY

The night before Kaitlyn's birthday (June 30th), we went out to dinner with friends Phil, Char and Addie at Texas Roadhouse. Since it was (almost) Kaitlyn's birthday, she got to sit on the birthday saddle while everyone sang Happy Birthday, then she got some ice cream to enjoy. It was a lot of fun! On Kaitlyn's birthday (July 1st), we got pictures taken (I'll post them when they are developed in a couple of weeks), then went to lunch at BJ's Restaurant and Kaitlyn got a birthday Pizookie which we all got to share. Yum! Today (July 2nd), Kaitlyn spent part of the day at the new daycare she will start on Monday, then had her 2 year checkup at the doctor. Her new stats are 29 lbs 5 oz and 35.5 inches tall; very healthy. And many more...

Little Swimmer

This week, Kaitlyn and I attended a parent/tot swimming class. It was a chance for Kaitlyn to get comfortable in the water with my assistance and maybe learn a thing or two. The first day, Kaitlyn was eager to get in the pool, but was disappointed that she couldn't stand up on her own (it was 4 ft. deep). She quickly got over it and for each of the four 30 minute sessions, she learned to kick, blow bubbles (with her mouth ;-), float on her belly & back (assisted) and just horse around. We both had a lot of fun and Kaitlyn now thinks it's part of her normal routine. She might be disappointed tonight when she doesn't get to put on her suit. We'll have to get a nice, big inflatable pool for the backyard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXwZF0l1fBI