Photo of Our Brave Girl at the Dentist - 1st Time!

Holiday cards

Bunk Bed, but "No Jump"!

Kaylee and Levi got a new bunk bed! The reason we are transitioning Levi so early to a bed is that we saw amazing results in Kaylee’s ability to sleep through the night at 18 months when we did it with her. Now, I was thinking it would be a Christmas present and that he would be 16 months, but we ended up getting it a bit earlier at only 14 months. But the results have already been great. He’s sleeping more soundly and only woke up 1 time each night so far! He usually has been waking up 2-3 times a night still. So yay! Already we had to institute an absolute zero tolerance for jumping on the top bunk. Last night they had a great time in the “cave” on the bottom bunk.

Now…in the meantime Kaylee has been pretty sick with the flu (cold and cough type this time) and so that DOES NOT mean that I got sleep while Levi was a good sleeper. She woke up an average of 2-3 times a night since last Wednesday. We took her to the doctor yesterday and he does think she looks good and it was just a virus. Also her fever broke yesterday at 3 am so she was able to go to daycare today to enjoy “Feast Day” which is the day they have Thanksgiving Dinner at daycare.

I’ve been trying to get Levi to talk more. I’ve been attempting to make him ask me for something before I give it to him. This is because I know he CAN talk, but ISN’T. I want to encourage him to try. So this morning at breakfast for about 2 minutes I would not give him the raspberries, prompting him say, “More” say “Berries”, say “Please” and then finally out of his mouth came “Dat”. Of course I was satisfied with “That”. I was also trying to get him to maybe sign more, he did a movement with his hands and it was more of a clap however. I’m going to take more of our time in the morning together before Kaylee wakes up to get him talking. One issue is he doesn’t want to look at my face and see how I’m forming the words. He is busy and looking everywhere else. This is one way our kids are different for sure, Kaylee was always looking right in my face and practicing. I’m willing to be okay with their differences of course, but since I know he CAN talk, I’m simply encouraging him to do so. One way I’m doing this is by reading him lots of books. He’s okay with 2-3 pages then he wants to grab it and check it out him self, turning pages, turning it upside down, throwing the book…completely normal of course. I’m so proud of my boy, he’s so sweet and smart. He’s babbling a lot, he’s well on his way! I’d say he can say like 20 words, though doesn’t say them often. Though now he is more purposeful in his use to get what he wants/needs and is associating the correct word with the correct thing more and more. He’s also trying out sentences, one of his latest is “open the door”. (Of course this is coming up after Kaylee wants to lock doors and put him in the room with her, but without us. Or just puts him in a room and closes the door. Thankfully we always are alert to this and he never freaks out. BTW, we are considering changing Kaylee’s door knob to an unlockable type.) Way to go little guy!

One word he knows well is “Jump” he knows just what to do when he hears jump. He smiles and tries hard to jump, saying “Dump!” He still hasn’t left the ground, but that doesn’t deter him one bit. Also Levi has learned to blow a kiss and to try to kiss, which of course just melts my heart! He also understands the word “dance” and begins to showcase his moves. Kaylee is frustrated that he doesn’t know how to dance together, because she’s such a sweetie and wants to hold his hand and dance with him, but he just doesn’t GET that yet.

Also on the basement: The walls are mudded, taped and sanded… See photos! Can’t wait until paint and floor go in, it’s getting so close!

Ice skating gone bad

Well Kaylee and I had fun at the brand new ice arena skating ( only 5 mins from home!) BUT 1hour or so in, we took a spill. I was holding her under her armpits skating slowly when she drove in her toe pick and we both went down. I landed on top of her. She ended up with a bloody nose and a fat lip and I ended up with a very badly hurt knee. I was very concerned with Kay when it happened obviously, noting first that her nose and teeth where not broken, I rushed her home since she was screaming for her daddy. Once home and snuggled in Eric's lap, I noticed how really sore my knee was and started icing it. Woke up in the morning with a seriously swollen hematoma the size of a baseball. That day I had a meeting, so I went. I could still walk. However right before the meeting it got suddenly much more painful, my boss had some advil so I took it and went on running the meeting, seated with my leg up. But after the meeting I stood up and knew I wasn't able to walk. So I called Eric to come get me, waited till most people left the meeting then asked for people to assist me down the stairs and my boss helped by bringing a wheelchair. So embarrassing! Anyways, Eric took me to my clinic and my dr squeezed me in during lunch. Did an X-ray, not broken just a blunt force trauma to the knee. Gave me crutches and Advil. I haven't been using the cruthes as I am able to bear weight and I will only consider using them if it gets worse like right after that meeting. So! 2days later I have a bruise that radiates 5-6 inches from the center of the injury, and is still growing while the swollen ness is still there and bad, it is less than the day after. Day after kaylee was already very excited to show and tell about how, "I got a fat lip at the ice show last night" sadly, she's said she never wants to go skating again though I told her this is not an option, that we will use the supports next time for her and that her daddy will be there. So we'll see, I'm looking forward to when our injuries fade and we're back on the ice.

Levi is now 14 months old. He is learning how to say some two word sentences now like, 'thank you' and 'I got i't and' there you go ' and 'up down' ( we think this means a hug). His talking is very sporadic and sometimes you hear just baby babble only. He loves to wave 'bye' and say it all the time upon leaving. Its like his latest trick he can do, he smiles and looks very proud of himself. Its adorable. He knows to wave hello too but he doesn't say 'hi' yet. His other trick, trying to jump, his repeated efforts still havent actually taken him off the ground ... But he perseveres and keeps on trying, one of these days Levi! He also likes to push himself around on the big wheel outside. He can push backward and forward. Kaylee never had much interest at least so far, so he is way ahead.

They are playing so much together now it's so cute! The play hide in the fort and giggle our heads off in the dark, they play chase you around the kitchen loop and laugh with hilarity all the way around, with one of them being the monster. They both love my castle book and look at it with awe, while I tell them about the castles. They dance around to music and laugh at each other. Don't get me wrong, these two do fight and arent real good at sharing. Kaylee also still overwhelms Levi often, but he is resilient. But basically my point is we are starting to see their love for each other come through, it's so good to see them enjoying each other, of course it's what we were hoping for when we decided to have a second child!

Kaylees become very communicative, telling me about preschool and daycare...having conversations with me where I can teach her about things, tell her about family and fun things and hear her thoughts. It's lovely! she was just talking with me this morning, I was telling her about how I grew up doing everything with her aunt Krissy. I was telling her all the fun we had and how excited we were when our other sister, Becky, was born and how we loved a baby sister. It's fun having a two-way communication finally, just a bit at least.

This week is the convention, and Kay's enjoying the idea that mommy has to go to school.

Daylight savings still seems to affect us, we are still going to bed early and getting up early, today we're up at 5am. So snuggle in and enjoy you sleep if you can! Take care everybody!