Final blog - and promised picture, April 5, 2010

Hi, blog readers. It seems this blog is stirring up unnecessary controversy and criticism, so I will be discontinuing it. It's been fun having an audience and sharing our journey with you. I look forward to finding other ways to keep you engaged in Kaylynn's life.

The final picture - Murphy really really wants a hug... really, she does!

April 2, 2010

I spent a great deal of time this morning wandering around the house, trying to figure out what smelled “poopy.” First, I thought Willy had passed some gas. But it lingered. Then I thought maybe Murphy had an accident. Nope. Then, I investigated if last night’s poopy diaper had been put in the inside garbage. No, again. When Kaylynn finally got up, I was sure it was her diaper. I asked if she had a poopy and she said, “no.” I looked down the back and didn’t see anything, so I was still puzzled. It turns out she did have a poopy, but it was hiding. I hope she hadn’t had it all night!

As predicted last night, Kaylynn woke up late because she had gone to sleep late. I didn’t want to rush her, but I really needed to get to work! O well… there’s only so much you can do to rush a toddler. She was pretty upset that she didn’t get to put her own socks today, but I’m sure she forgot about it the moment she got upset that her backpack was too heavy for her to carry by herself. Continuing the series of disappointments, she discovered she was not allowed to touch the snow blower in the garage, either, but had to get into her car seat. Finally, she got to school and was allowed to “cowy.” Whew!

The report from school said, "Kaylynn had a good day! After breakfast, we went on an Easter egg hunt on the playground. We all found some eggs to take home in our Easter bags. We also played outside until it started raining - then we came in and played with the animals & blocks."

When I walked in to pick her up, she was standing by the door to the room with 3 other kids. It was sweet when she saw me - she smiled & held her arms up for "uppy." I let her hold her Easter bag in the car... not really knowing anything about what was in the bag. Soon I smelled chocolate. She had opened the little plastic eggs and opened the candy inside. They put candy in those?!? At some point at a stop light I was able to get the bag into the front seat, but she had already gone through 3 pieces.

She had some soup when she got home and we played until Melissa (mom) came to get her for the weekend. We danced and did lots of "ring around the rosie," and Kaylynn climbed all over me after one of the times I "fell down." Julian got the bright idea to have her walk on my back to get out some of the kinks. It was somewhat successful. :) There's a priceless picture of Kaylynn hugging Murphy that I have to get off my phone when I go to work. I'll post it next week.

Julian & I spent a quiet night watching TV. We went to bed early & woke up late.

April 1, 2010

Kaylynn had a horrible morning. She screamed starting at 1am and kept the whole household up. We finally took her to the ER and found that her elbow - her favorite hokey-pokey body part - was severely sprained. We also found out, later, that it's April Fool's Day and none of that actually happened.

Kaylynn woke up more or less on time this morning. Between that and having packed my lunch the night before, things felt a lot calmer. She was very hungry and I gave her cereal 3 times before she declared herself 'done.' I found these cute little ladybug crop-pants in her pile and they actually fit! I tried to find a red shirt to go with them, but the only red shirt we have is a t-shirt with a shiny rainbow - much too casual. I put it on her anyway, but didn't like the way it looked or fit - it seemed too snug. Last minute before we left I changed her into a white shirt. Much better! I'm pretending that I didn't send chocolate pudding with her for lunch... yes, people, I do let her eat sugar (against my better judgment - ha ha).

Last night when I was putting shoes on her to go play outside; I realized we need to pick up sandals for her. It's been so beautiful and her little toes should enjoy the spring air.

And of course, she sat down to color first thing when we got to school. Other kids were playing with blocks (Duplo, I think) and a couple were playing with airplanes and bunnies (don't know what that game was.) The report from school said, "Kaylynn had a great day! After breakfast, we each got to dye 2 Easter eggs to take home! We also had music class with Mrs. Jean! Kaylynn had fun swinging outside today :) "

Julian planned to work late tonight, so we had a friend, Sam, come to help me. Having an extra set of hands (and eyes) just makes things so much easier for me, and I'm so lucky to have such great friends, willing to come over to play! After a snack, we got ready to go to the playground. Sam took Kaylynn on her new tricycle and walked Willy while I took Murphy for a more vigorous walk with the same destination. About 20 minutes later, they were ½ way to the park. Kaylynn rode her trike on & off and walked a little, too. At one point, she reached for the leashes, which I was holding, asking for one. I said, ‘no,’ and she got very upset. Sam explained to me that he let her hold Willy, since he knew he’s faster than Willy and could grab him at any time if need be. Of course, Willy isn’t much of a ‘bolter’ any more. It’s hard to believe the dog that pulled me on my in-line skates is now so old and slow… he’s such a good dog. But I digress…

We got to the playground – finally – and there were other kids there. One little one (15 mo?) was just leaving, and two older kids stuck around a little bit and played with Kaylynn. She had fun with them. Sam helped her up to the “chin-up” bar to hang and she surprised us by hanging there for at least 15 seconds! She’s much stronger than we give her credit for.

We didn’t get to stay long because I had to leave for my meeting at 7, so at 6:15 we started for home. Her snack filled her up, so she wasn’t hungry for something more substantial. Lesson learned there… Julian pulled in the driveway just as I was pulling out. It looks like they did some coloring before bedtime. Julian said she got lots of books and actually didn’t get to bed until 8:15 or 8:30. That means a late start for Friday.

March 31, 2010

Kaylynn woke up before 6 and I went in to see if she was ready to get out of bed - it was about 20 minutes earlier than usual. She had sort of an 'off' day today, mood-wise. She didn't seem to be ill or in pain, but she wasn't her usual cheerful self. In the morning, she followed me around whining "uppy" over and over and over. I had already explained to her before I put her down in the first place that I had to make "nummies" for lunch and we don't do "uppy" when someone is cooking. Today, she wanted "uppy" and nothing else was satisfactory. So it was a bit noisy for a while around here before we went to school.

School's report said, "Kaylynn had a good day. Of course she did some coloring, but she also liked playing with the plastic food & play dishes. At group time, we read the book Dora's Easter Basket. We made our "Easter basket" for the egg hunt on Friday. We spent a lot of time outside to burn off our energy :) "

At home, she had some snacks but wasn't into what we had for dinner. We played outside, of course, with chalk and the slide. She was really snuggly and clingy - wanted to have "uppy" or be held or sit close a lot. She's definitely into Dewey (Julian) these days, and when he was eating & couldn't give her an "uppy" right away, she started to really melt down. It was around 7:30, so I started the bedtime routine early. We read more books than usual - lots of those ABC books, which I really like - and she put her baby to sleep before she gave a half-hearted protest... but she laid down right away once in her crib and was probably asleep before we left the room. Maybe she was just tired all day.

March 29, 2010

Kaylynn demonstrates how she puts on her coat...

Monday turned out to be a very long day. Kaylynn had a good day at school. They said, “Kaylynn had a really good day!! At group time we read the book The Night Before Easter. For art we decorated a cross with flower stickers. She had fun coloring & putting puzzles together. We played outside on the playground - Kaylynn liked swinging & sliding down the slide. Very smiley & happy. :) "

We had a dinner party to go to Monday night, and Kaylynn was invited, too. There were about a dozen adults and two 6 year old boys. This is a group of very close friends who have all heard about Kaylynn, so she was very warmly greeted. She was shy girl for a long time, which is to be expected. She didn’t want to sit in a high chair for dinner, and I didn’t push the issue - I let her sit on my lap. It was a very long dinner and she opened up after a while when the adults near her started to play with her. She wasn’t interested in playing with the other kids, most likely because they were in another room and she didn’t want to be away from Julian or me. We had brought finger puppets for her to play with, but of course she found other very interesting things. Fork & spoon make a nice noise when banged together. Crackers are crumbly when they meet fork tines. Origami frogs are fun to retrieve from under the table. And grown-ups do silly things to make little girls laugh.

Julian arrived a little later than I – he had to work late. We pre-arranged that he would take her home for bed, so we needed separate cars anyway. At one point during dinner, my leg started to feel unusually warm. Yup – she had peed through her diaper and not only onto me but onto the floor as well. Julian took her for a diaper & pants change – thank goodness we always pack a spare pair of pants! One of our hosts brought me some paper towels & cleaner for the floor and then went hunting for jeans that would fit me. Thank goodness she kept her pants from before she lost all that weight!

Kaylynn made it through the soup course – and LOVED the soup – but then she flopped back on me and looked like she was suddenly overwhelmingly tired. That was Julian’s cue to take her home. It was a little past her bedtime. She wanted to do a lot more things and protested a little about leaving, but he said she was really sweet & snuggly at home and went to sleep right away.

March 30, 2010

If you look closely, you can see the blue-chalk moustache. :)

At school, they said, "Kaylynn had a good day!! We enjoyed the beautiful weather outside & played on the playground. Kaylynn likes walking around to all the teachers & giving them fives :) We made sock bunnies for art & read the book Happy Easter. We also colored with markers, did bubbles & sang songs!"

She had a little bit of a snack after school, then some dinner, and then she & Julian, Murphy & Merlin went outside to play. She 'helped' Julian rake leaves (using her new toy rake) and delighted in rolling the chalk down the slide, though coloring with it just wasn't her thing (nor was sliding down the slide herself). Julian did some very nice chalk drawings, however :) She was in a really good mood and was chatty & giggly all evening. The loves to throw the ball for Murphy, and Murphy seems to know she should get excited to run 1 foot and pounce on the ball to make Kaylynn feel good. Kaylynn even came inside under her own power without protesting. She wanted something to eat. While sitting at the table, she picked up the bunny she made at school and pulled the felt "teeth" off. I asked why she did that. Julian answered for her, "because I'm 2." It was bath night and she had fun with her new toy, coloring on the side of the bathtub, on her toenails and on her face. At bedtime she pulled out a few of the 26 alphabet books she got for her birthday. They're really cute little books & we looked at O, Q, P and S. Then it was bedtime - a little whiny protest but it wasn't too sincere. She fell asleep quickly.

March 27-28, 2010

Saturday
Saturday started nice and early, as usual. It was clear Kaylynn was still not feeling well. Our first clue is always when she’s not interested in “nummies” right away. She was in a good mood but was fairly subdued – more interested in coloring (of course) and watching videos than playing with blocks or something like that. Final clue – the big bomb she dropped into her diaper, pajamas and sock. She was rewarded promptly with a bath. Poor baby had diarrhea big-time… Saturday was the 3rd day.

I had a few things to take care of out & about. While I was gone, a neighbor dropped off a plastic slide and a soccer-type net (small) for Kaylynn. I wanted was home by 3:15 so Kaylynn could get to her haircut appointment on time. It all worked out, but since I had groceries, someone had to stay home & put them away. Julian got stuck with that, while I had the pleasure of taking Kaylynn to get her hair cut. We got there in plenty of time, but she needed a diaper change. Right after diaper change and while I was taking advantage of the 1-seater, I heard something from Kaylynn’s general direction… yup, she had diarrhea in her new diaper. No longer new, I took it off & tossed it, replaced it, and on we went to the hair cut itself. We went to Kids’ Hair, where they know how to deal with kids really well. She was very upset to sit on the chair and the cartoons playing and fancy cape didn’t help much. She cried until she realized she wasn’t being hurt. She never did smile, but the stylist was really fast! We mostly wanted it trimmed & shaped, so not all that much came off. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of her major unhappiness.

When we got home, we had time to play outside on the slide, which Julian placed in the back yard. I think she went up, down & around 20 times before she needed another diaper. We came back outside, but she was more interested in seeing what else was in the yard since she last inspected it. Not much had changed…

She didn’t really eat much the whole day – we gave her crackers, apple sauce, some pedialyte popsicles and other relatively binding food. We decided to have a bonfire. Julian got it going and we came out to play. Julian showed her where we had a lot of dry brush to throw in that would catch quickly & make a fun flame. She walked all over the yard gathering stuff to throw in the fire. She was very respectful of it – she’s been around fires before. She was one very busy little toddler! At one point, she was sitting on one of our stumps and Willy & Merlin were behind her. Merlin was under the wood pile & tarp, and Willy was trying to play. Willy’s back was turned to Merlin and you could see Merlin dive out, nip at / scratch Willy, and run back in. Willy turned & jumped, which made me start to laugh really hard… and that made Kaylynn start to laugh, even though she didn’t know what we were laughing about. Of course, that made me laugh more.

At the end of the night, Kaylynn was wiped out. She went to sleep really quickly. We tried to get her thinking about her upcoming birthday party while she slept, but who knows what actually goes on in the mind of a toddler.

Sunday
Sunday was a nice, relaxing morning for Kaylynn and me. Julian needed to get up & gather stuff to bring to his parents’ house, where we were having a belated birthday party for Kaylynn. We didn’t need to be there until 10:30. Kaylynn asked for “nummies,” so I started slowly, giving her relatively “safe” foods for her tummy. Our pediatrician recommended yogurt and an acidophilus supplement to balance out her digestive system. It must have helped - the eating machine was back! We slowly started getting ready for the party. I cleaned up a little & she played with her baby. She got a car seat from a friend of mine and carried her baby all around in it, pretending to feed her & give her a nap. Then we started to get dressed. It was so nice to have some time to do things slowly in the morning, as opposed to the usual 45 minutes we get on school days. By the time she got dressed, hair was done & teeth were brushed, it was time to start toward the car. My target for leaving was 10, and I think we pulled out at 9:50. Sweet!

Melissa (mommy) and Devon (brother) were already there when we arrived. Kaylynn was really happy to see her mom. Soon Nicole (auntie) and Nick (uncle) arrived, followed by Tracey (gammy) and Al (gampy). All Kaylynn’s people were there and she seemed to be really happy about it. We had a fantastic brunch. Then we opened presents. Kaylynn got quite a lot of really fun gifts! She got stuff for coloring & art projects, a house-cleaning kit (vacuum that makes noise, brooms, mop, dustpan…), a baby bottle for feeding her babies (I think that was her favorite), a rocking horse and other fun things and an ATW – all terrain wagon. As soon as we can figure out a way to get her to sit & ride in it, we’ll be set for walks to the park and on hiking trails. An aside – we now have 3 strollers and a wagon, but she won’t ride in any of them… yet.

Melissa put her in her car seat and Kaylynn was sobbing really hard. She really loves her mom and has a hard time leaving her. She stopped crying as we were driving down the street. Then she fell asleep in the car on the way home to nap. I tried to keep her awake and then wake her up, but it was no use. She was out. She woke up and cried really hard, so I held her and rocked her a little, she calmed down and went into her crib for a nap. Julian came home & we unloaded. After nap, Melissa came over to pick Kaylynn up for an evening together. Because Kaylynn gets so upset when mom leaves, we invited Melissa to give her a bath and put her to bed. Kaylynn cried another heart-wrenching cry for a while and Melissa held her until she calmed down to just a regular ‘complaining about bedtime’ cry. Melissa had barely crossed the room to put on her jacket and Kaylynn had already fallen asleep. That little girl can definitely sooth herself.