The Day Katelyn Got CRUSHed

Preparing for Valentine's Day was so much fun this year. Katelyn loved writing out her Valentine's and was able to do it without any help. We sat at the table together and had a good time working on our Valentine's as opposed to the years of me spelling out each word one painstaking letter at a time and Katelyn being so frustrated at needing so much help. I certainly didn't mind, but she was born wanting to do it all on her own. (I wonder who's gene that is?) So this time, we got to just sit and talk while we worked and that's when it happened... Katelyn started telling me a story that I didn't expect to hear about for a least another 7 or 8 years.
There are twin brothers in Katelyn's class - they are really fun and sweet and have been friends with Katelyn since Back to School Night. Katelyn's current "BFF" Sara is also buddies with them and I hear stories everyday about their adventures together in Kindergarten. This story however went something like this...
Katelyn: "Mom, guess what Sara told me today?"
Me: "What?"
Katelyn: "That Ben told her that Bradley has a crush on me and then Bradley told her that Ben has a crush on her."
Me: [Stunned silence... didn't know she even knew what a crush was]
Katelyn: "What's a crush mom?"
Me: [gleeful with reassurance that she didn't know anything about crushes] "A crush just means that someone thinks you are really neat and likes you a lot."
Katelyn: "Ok, well then I have a crush on Brooke and Sara and you and Daddy
Me: "That's good, I am glad you have a crush on us"
Katelyn: "Oh, and I have a crush on Ben and Bradley too"
Me: [silent disappointment that she added boys other than her dad to the list]
Then we went on to talk about other things until Katelyn started making a Valentine for Bradley (the twin with a crush on her). That's when she said something that gave me great relief:
Katelyn: "Mom, I think I'll give Bradley this Valentine because it's not too pink and it doesn't have any "kissy lips" on it - he HATES "kissy lips" and anything like that that is gushy"
At this point I could have been in a panic because she was talking about "kissy lips" which is not something she learned at home. But since I am in her classroom helping out every few weeks I knew that the term all started from a book their teacher read to them and then continued to talk about because it grosses the boys out and gets quite a reaction from the class every time she says it. So, how do you spell relief? In this case you spell it B-r-a-d-l-e-y - d-o-e-s-n'-t - l-i-k-e - k-i-s-s-y - l-i-p-s.
So, on Valentine's day, Brooke and I had a chance to go to Katelyn's classroom for their party. The kids had so much fun and I think Brooke would love it if she could go there everyday with her sister. The reading swing was definitely one of her favorite parts, she also loved the pink frosting that Katelyn's teacher encouraged me feed Brooke by the spoonful.
Katelyn's favorite part of the party was delivering her valentines to everyone's mailbox. She was so cute and carefully "mailed" each valentine and treat that she had prepared for her friends. Several of her classmates on the other hand just ran around the room on a sugar buzz randomly depositing valentine's into the first mailbox they ran into (and I do mean literally ran in to). It was hilarious!
Here is a video of the girls playing on Valentine's Day and some of our only footage of Brooke while she was in the "Frankenstein" phase of walking. That only last about a day and half before she was onto a very deliberate toddler walk so I am glad we caught what we did. She loves walking and Katelyn loves having Brooke's skills as a playmate improve daily.