Levi's name and Kaylee's adjustment

Our little boy's name is Levi Quentin. The way we chose that name was bouncing ideas off each other for months - each one of us turning down choices left and right. We only found a few that were acceptable to the both of us. They were Jordan, Anthony ("Tony"), and Levi. I found the name Levi in a baby book name search, generic I know - but true, I thought that name would sound really cute with Kaylee, easy to spell and pronounce, and unusual to go with our last name but not too unusual to be out of the ordinary. Eric was lukewarm on the name - but since I loved it so much he said he could get on board. We chose the middle name Quentin since that is what Eric's grandfather's name is, and we've been using family names for middle names. Kaylee's middle name is one of my sister's names. Later on, much later after we'd named him, my grandma let us know that she was so happy with the name. She said that it was her grandfather's name, whom she loved very much. That made the name so much more special. She sent us a photo and story of her grandfather, which we will treasure very much. Also, we liked the fact that Levi, even though not an everyday name, is a traditional old name and that it is a biblical name.

Kaylee's been having an excellent week with potty training. our daycare provider decided to take the lead on the potty-training efforts. She got Kaylee to go 2 days every time in the potty (for tattoos)! At home we were able to get her to go quite a few times as well. She has had an excellent couple of days - it seems like potty training's just around the corner! That would be so excellent if she would - just one kid in diapers ahhhhh! She loves the tattoos - and will scrub them all off once she has a lot in the bathtub to make room for more.

Kaylee's verbal skills continue to progress at a steady rate. She for the past month has been saying long and correct sentences. Just now to Eric she said, "Thank you for getting me more cereal Daddy." Eric encouraged her to be polite and to try to fill out her sentences. I have to admit I thought he was a bit overdoing it with her, but it's worked out great. Because she's so articulate and easy to tolerate, tantrums and discipline haven't been as (but we still do time-outs now and then) necessary. It's more pleasant to hear no from you toddler with an explanation and even though you might say no back, for her to be able to understand the reason (she may not like it) for the no.

Kaylee has also been just in the last week, experimenting with using the words "yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow" in her sentences. She's also just beginning to understand the concept of weekends (at home with Mom and Dad.)

This week at daycare they went to the Minnesota zoo. She didn't say much about it but it the photos were amazing - looks like a good experience.

Last night my family came over for a visit - Kaylee enjoyed showing off her little brother. She says to us now, "It's OK for Levi to live in my house. "It's OK for Levi to nurse in our house."