KaylBop the Impatient

Kaylee has been sleepy lately when she comes home from daycare. I don't know if her schedule got really screwed up while we were on vacation or what - but at daycare today she only slept 40 mins and she's already asleep this evening. When I come home from work, I want to see her so I miss her a little. I'm hoping soon her schedule will be back on track. She seems to still sleep pretty well at night, without long wakeful periods.

It seems like everyday we're are hearing her say more words:

"Jenny" yes she's been calling me Jenny. I've been saying "That's my name, great job, but you should call me Momma."

"Nope"

"Rio" while referring to "Rico".

She's continuing to say "water" whenever someone says it, and when I open the refrigerator. Now I'm trying to teach her "milk." Oh she said "cookie" earlier today too.

Eating remains not too steady since vacation. She has been loving pretzels, which don't have a lot of nutrition. Today I offered her two great meals she wouldn't eat until she saw the pretzels and ate a few of those. I continue my efforts because I never know when all the sudden she's going to want it. It's so satisfying when she finally does eat, she smacks her lips a lot. It's so cute. Until then, she's doing great on her milk and we'll have to add vitamins on days when she's resisting eating her meals. I hear this is very common in her age group when they are mobile, don't want to be pinned down and simply would rather be off exploring things.

Kaylee seems to want to actively play more with us. She wants our attention and cries when not getting 100% because we're doing chores or whatever. She's impatient, but again this is exactly how she's supposed to be at this age. We can now not going out to dinner without first knowing it's a family restaurant and inexpensive, in case of a fit or she just refuses to sit still. When we went out to celebrate my LEED exam, we had to pack up our food and leave. It was nice on vacation having multiple people there so one person could watch her while the other eats/relaxes/converses. Now I see the real need for a babysitter when Eric and I want a nice dinner out. When I grocery shop I need to hurry because I know her patience will only last about 20 minutes before she wants to get down and run around.

Kaylee also has been crying for about 3 months during diaper changes. Diaper changing is now "going to see Elmo" (oh by the way she says "Elmo" which I can't say I'm entirely proud of). Her Elmo dolls talks and moves and distracts so that it's not a constant crying, rolling, running, arching of the back fiasco. Sometimes she has unexpectedly arched her back and cracked her head on the door frame. It's so sad and I feel so bad but honestly, you can't see it coming. I have managed to get very good at changing diapers while she's standing or running across the room. I also have trouble putting on her shoes and tying them. She hates been restrained. She loves to kick her feet - I call her my little "Kangi Kaylee" because she reminds me of a little Kangaroo how much she has always (since the very beginning) loved to kick her feet. Now I see the value of velcro.

I just want to record here where she is developmentally for our own family history - not so that I can complain about her behavior. The good times with Kaylee well outweigh the fussier times, and her smiling, happy, babbling, giggling, silly, dancing, gleeful times are so precious you can barely remember that she was ever crabby.

A poem from Grandpa - how special!

Soft as your blankets
sleeping in peace.


Then stomping and spinning
while laughing and shouting.

I stand back and ponder
what am I seeing?

Something so precious
I don’t want to miss it.

Watch and listen
think and remember.

Back from vacation!

We made it back to MN after 22 hours in the car yesterday and a speeding ticket! We are all doing fine and Kaylee was very glad to run around with her toys and dance to her fridge farm music last night.

We had a great time in NM. and oddly and inadvertently, felt there was a baby missing when we arrived back home. Eric and I both were looking for F around the house, we got used to him being around and checking in on him. It was very fun to see the Iza's! Their life is currently a whirlwind and we marvel at how well they are dealing with the transition to CO! I loved playing with E and F, and seeing home much Kaylee did worship E, following her around, stoking her hair and face and laughing histerically at her antics.

These are the new words we heard this past week:

Water

Missy

Mesa

Sebastian

Abby (all dogs were "Abby" for a few days)

Open
Shut

(by the way there were 7 dogs there and relative peace was maintained most of the time thanks to Eric and his Mom and Dad)

Kaylee seemed a little stunned to go back to daycare today, but didn't cry. Hopefully I will get a good report at the end of my workday today!

Vacation

Our family arrived in NM after 24 hours in the car. It took Eric two days to recover. Kaylee did pretty well in the car, her limit seemed to last about as long as a tank of gas so we are very lucky! I sat in back with her entertaining her, I was very squished but she was happy that way. We are happy to finally be here and to be on vacation! We have just been hanging out, going to the coffee shop in town and eating great meals my Mother-in-law has made.

Kaylee started to say "Pa Pa" for Grandpa. She also started to say "more." That is such a wonderful word for her to know! I am hoping that soon she will say it during meals telling me she wants more food, but that is probably wishful thinking to bestow upon my picky little eater.

Kaylee has become obsessed with the straps on the little booster seat they have here for eating in. She spends a long time in it, saying "mom more" asking me to unstrap them so that she can fasten the clips. She loves when we clap for her and takes a breath of pride when she's accomplished her goal.

Kaylee has had a great time with her Grandma and Grandpa, they have a swing on their swingset that she really enjoys. And also she has used a sandbox for the first time ever while we're here. She loves to throw the sand, which we are trying to deter. She loves the feel of the sand on her bare feet. Who doesn't?

Kaylee has gotten a bit of sun but no sunburn. She has a farmer's tan now.

Kaylee has been flirting with the people at the coffee shop when we go, if someone doesn't notice her. She waits by them until they do, and gives them a giant smile!

I can't wait to see what her reaction is going to be to her cousins arriving on Thursday. When we saw her 4-year-old cousin in December, she worshipped her so I'm sure there will be more of the same. I am very excited to see the kids (and their parents too of course), especially excited to see my 18 month old nephew. It's a unique preview into what I can expect for Kaylee in the coming months.

I'm excited too to see how things go at the fireworks display on July 4. I hope she does okay, it will be her first since I thought she was too little last year and I also thought it would be too much work. So we'll see! Yay!

Take care everybody. Have a safe and happy July 4! :)

My baby Daddy...

I just wanted to take a second to talk a little about Eric and Kaylee's relationship, and how special it is to honor him around Father's Day. Eric is very attentive to Kaylee and a lot of times notices things about her, or patterns in her behavior before I do. He tells me what he's noticed and it helps in getting to know who she is and what to expect.

He and Kaylee have so much fun together. They have fun together in a very different way than Kaylee and I have fun together. That's what makes me so happy Kaylee has an involved and loving father. He'll chase her, throw her up, tickle her, make her laugh belly laughs through some sort of specially-invented Kaylee entertainment he's thought up.

I don't know what I'd do without his help, he helps out in the middle of the night with feedings, he takes her for a while each morning so I can do the ironing, getting ready what I need to do to go to work, he takes part in feeding, picking her up at daycare and obviously like I said playing with her! Phew! Too many things to name!

Kaylee's face lights up when she sees her Dad when he comes home from work, she can't wait for a hug and a kiss. When he goes outside to work on the pool, she shouts "Dad, Dad!" out the back door. Sometimes she cries when he leaves the room. It's very sweet.

Eric I love you and so does Kaylee! Thanks for all you do!

(Thanks for taking her during hours of studying, you were integral to my passing the LEED exam! Thanks for always encouraging me to grow!)

Someone went and got LEED certified. Way to go!

Test music class

Well, we did try out the music class this morning as "test." I was there for it, to observe and help. Basically at first she just wanted to get in the buggy (the multi-seated buggy with all the infants in her class in it) and was trying to climb up into it. Then I went and sat in the music circle with Kaylee on my lap. She jetted off immediately to try to go back to the buggy and then off to whereever... After about 10 minutes of trying to keep her under control, I said to the teacher "I think we better wait another couple of months." The lady was really nice about it and tried to incorporate Kaylee into the class by giving her a turn on the keyboard and also by using Kaylee as a model of how to make letters with your body (nice way to restrain her for a bit). She agreed and I put Kaylee back in the buggy and off they went to continue their day.

So I think I'll try again with her at 18 months. The teacher said in September that the older kids will be going off to kindergarten and it then it would be a good time for Kaylee to join with some of the other younger kids. I didn't know what to expect exactly and her response was one of the things I thought she might do - to try to bolt right out of there! The teacher told me that it would probably take Kaylee a couple months at first of really learning how to sit in the circle. She said they all get it after a little exposure. Sitting in the circle, I realize that the other kids are a bit old too and learning their letters which is way way past Kaylee's age group. Maybe I'll have to find her another class to participate in (with me) during the nights/weekends soon. I am definitely considering a swimming class since I am nervous about our pool, and want to expose her a little to learning how to be in the water.