We’ve had a really fun weekend. Yesterday, Cate and I met up with Cat, Tony and e-baby for the Raleigh airport’s “open house” for their new terminal. I know, it’s kind of weird to go to the airport just for fun, but there was free food! And a guy wearing a Curious George costume! And… uh, I don’t remember what else, but the girls had lots of fun running around.

That afternoon, I chatted with my next-door neighbor while Cate played with some of the neighborhood kids. The older kids asked if they could rake the leaves in my yard. Um, YEAH! They only wanted to do it so they could jump in the leaf pile, but hey whatever, free labor, right? Cate kind of stayed out of their way to avoid getting trampled during all of the action, but after they were done, they raked the leaves out to the street for me, which was nice. And as soon as they all left to go home for dinner, Cate plopped herself down in the pile of leaves and then pulled them onto her lap in order to thoroughly bury herself.

She had a great time and threw a huge fit when I dragged her inside twenty minutes later. (It was getting dark!)

Oh also, my next-door neighbor loaned me a couple of Halloween costumes that her kids have worn in the past, so I wouldn’t have to go buy Cate one. It was really sweet of her. I love this “101 Dalmatians” costume, but Cate seems to feel otherwise about it.

Luckily the other costume is totally adorable and she doesn’t seem to mind it, so I think that’s the one we’re going with. And I’m not telling you what it is or taking pictures yet, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Then the absolute best, best, BEST part of this weekend: today we went to our local Down’s Syndrome Association’s “Buddy Walk” fundraiser, and we got to meet Rachel, Alex and Leah from Signing Time!

I don’t think Cate recognized them from the DVD’s at all. At the next booth over, she saw the Signing Time DVD’s on display and she got all excited, saying “sign, sign.” I said, I know, see? I pointed back over to the actual Signing Time people (who were taking pics with other people and totally ignoring us) and I sang the theme song from the DVD to try to get her to put the two together. She looked sort of confused, I honestly don’t know if she got it or not.

Anyway, Rachel was super-nice, and I told her she’s basically the Mick Jagger of our house, like the ultimate rock star. She clapped and said, “woo! I love it!” It was pretty awesome, my hands even shook because I was so excited to meet her. I know, I am a total geek. But it was a great day.

1. We headed back to the pediatrician today so the doctor could check to make sure Cate’s lungs are all clear. She also got a flu shot, which was no fun. I still really like this new pediatrician, although man alive, I am tired of doctor’s offices.

Oh, when the doctor checked her throat, he said, “Man, she has all kinds of teeth coming in back there.” Kind of nice to have official confirmation of what I’ve been suspecting. The dreaded molars are on their way.

2. On our way out of the pediatrician’s, we ran into Kimberly, my across the street neighbor who recommended this group of pediatricians to me. Her little girl Morgan (the one whose birthday party we went to last weekend) was there for her 12-month checkup. We chatted for a while in the parking lot and finally exchanged emails and phone numbers. She invited Cate and me to a mommy playgroup thing next week, so that should be fun. She seems really nice and I always find it really easy to chat with her, but I’m such a dork that I sort of have to hold myself back from grabbing her and asking her if she’ll be my new BFF. Apparently this whole stay-at-home mom gig has been a little more isolating than I thought it would be. Man, I need a job.

3. I lost my keys for an entire week, and couldn’t find them anywhere. I knew they were in the house because I remembered that the last time I had used them was to unlock the front door. Beyond that, though, I had no idea where they were. It was driving me insane – I had my extra car key, but no house keys. Yesterday, I was cleaning the house and finally found them. We have a big overstuffed chair in our living room (this one), and it was underneath the cushion. Hmm, I wonder what little blonde toddler thought to hide them there. Gah. Dave and I seriously have to put beepers on our keys so we can find them when she stashes them (or when we misplace them, which happens all. the. damn. time.).

4. On Saturday, two of my friends from college are getting married, and I’m so excited and happy for them. Kris and her fiance Tony are flying in for the weekend, so she and I are going to meet up for breakfast tomorrow. Dave will be working from home, and I’m leaving Cate with him, so Kris and I can have some one-on-one time without trying to wrangle a toddler in a restaurant.

Btw, does anyone know the appropriate attire for a lesbian wedding? Or “commitment ceremony” or whatever you want to call it since the stupid state won’t recognize their union? I’m assuming I just wear the same thing I’d wear to a regular ol’ hetero wedding, but if I’m about to make a huge fashion blunder, I’d appreciate a heads-up. My plan is to wear my faithful long black skirt (the one with the stretchy elastic waist that doesn’t mind if I gain or lose ten pounds) and a cute top. The wedding is in the early afternoon, so that’s probably ok, yes?

However, I do have to do something about my feet before this wedding, because I haven’t had a pedicure since Linda’s wedding back in July. Yikes. If I can find a good color nail polish already in the house (which is dependent on whether I can find the box of make-up that I almost never use), I might try to tackle my toes myself. Otherwise, I might have to drop the $20 to have them professionally done. We’ll see.

I don’t really know how to sum up our weekend, so here are some of the 100 or so pictures we took.

First, Cate got some new toys from my parents that she really, really loved.

And she was generally loved on by everyone.

The musicians in our family kept us entertained.

We also had a playdate with Cat, Tony & Elizabeth.

Later, we went out for dinner, where my sister took this fantastic picture of Cat & Elizabeth.

The girls sat in their booster chairs next to each other and were pretty well-behaved for the entire meal.

More than any other activity this weekend, though, Cate ran in circles playing peekaboo with everyone. It kept us all laughing, and made her hysterically happy, so that worked out well.

It was a good weekend. (You can see the whole set here if you want.)