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.

March 25 - 26, 2010

On Thursday morning, it had been 2 full days since Kaylynn pooped. Julian was starting to get very worried. Thursday afternoon, when I arrived to pick her up, Kaylynn had had the biggest poop I've ever seen. It could not be contained by a mere diaper, but went down her legs, too. No worries - stuff is moving!

Tonight, a friend came over to help out, since Julian was working late. We took Kaylynn and the dogs out for a walk. It was a really cool day, though, so we couldn't stay out too long. She learned how to put her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. She is also successful more than not when trying to put her coat on herself. We have a new umbrella stroller and thought we could take it for a spin and give Kaylynn a ride. She definitely didn't like it. She liked pushing it herself & put her baby in it for a while, but didn't want to ride in it. It would be really helpful to get her used to a stroller so we could go on longer walks down to the park or shopping or something. She has done well in grocery carts, so we'll keep trying with the stroller.

Otherwise, it was a relatively routine day. Her school report said, "Kaylynn had a good day! During group time, we read the books It Looked Like Spilt Milk and First Day of Spring. We made coffee filter flowers for art. Mrs. Jean came for music. We sang spring songs. Kaylynn seems to like music - she likes to watch everyone sing. We played outside for a little bit."


Friday
Kaylynn didn't eat breakfast Friday morning, which was really unusual for her. She was crabby, but didn't have a fever and couldn't really tell me what was going on. When we got to school, she was completely fine and happy to be there. They called me around 1:15 to let me know that she had vomited immediately after lunch. She had fallen asleep for her nap right away, so I didn't go pick her up until after nap time.

Friday night she had at least 5 diarrhea diapers. We debated taking her to urgent care, but got in touch with our pediatrician instead who said to just keep her hydrated and it was probably a bog. Her mood was fine, though her energy was a little low. She didn't want to eat much and we didn't push it.

Here's what the school report said. "Kaylynn had a good day! For group time, we listened to the tape story The Rain Came Down. For art, we started making spring collages and made an umbrella with raindrops! Kaylynn had fun playing with the babies today!"

March 24, 2010

You put your left elbow in, you put your left elbow out, you put your left elbow in and you shake it all about....

Calling out a "happy 14th birthday" to our friend, Iain. Hope it was fun, with more fun yet to come.

We seem to have a routine now during the week - as routine as you can be with a toddler, anyway. I can make all the plans in the world, but her agenda comes through no matter what. You know - get up, eat breakfast, change diaper, get dressed, pack lunches, put on shoes & coat, out the door... except there's a request for more nummies, diaper cream, "I want to do it" expressions around getting dressed, desire for "uppy" when making lunch, walking the opposite way of the car when we get out the door. But we seem to always make it without a lot of fuss, and I seem to always catch my bus. And the first word she says when she walks in to daycare is "cowee" (color). Her report said, "Kaylynn had a good day! During group time, we read the book Duck! Rabbit! For art, we made "mud pies" out of special play-doh! Kaylynn had fun doing the Hokey Pokey and Ring Around the Rosie! We also spent plenty of time outside in the beautiful weather!"

Kaylynn & Julian were already working on dinner when I got home. Kaylynn and I danced around (including the Hokey Pokey - Dan Zanes' version) while Julian finished up. We sat down together for dinner and then got ready to go outside. She was stubbornly trying to put the zipper on her jacket together herself. After several minutes, I took the dogs out and she headed for the door, finally accepting help with the zipper so she could go out. She scribbled with chalk, threw the ball for Murphy, played with rocks, sat on the rocker, climbed stairs.

She was very potty-obsessed at bedtime. She sat on the big potty and then the little potty. She got her baby & put her on the potty. A quick diversion (thanks Julian!) got her in her room for bedtime.

March 23, 2010

Today was a pretty good day in the world of Kaylynn. She was excited to arrive at school to color, but instead of sitting right down, an older girl (maybe 4) started to engage her in some play. It was really adorable.

When I picked her up, they were outside playing. She was sitting in a toddler swing and, again, an older girl was pushing her. Different girl. Apparently the older kids love to push the little kids on swings and help them out with things. Her report for the day was, "Kaylynn had a good day - she sure is talking more & more, getting more words. At group time, we read 2 books - The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Playing in the Rain. We went "puddle" jumping using carpet squares and made a butterfly for art."

We stopped on the way home to pick up a humidifier for our bedroom, in hopes that it helps my coughing. I also grabbed some sidewalk chalk. She was very happy to carry it up to the front, put it on the counter, help me with the credit card machine and carry it out to the car. We had a lot to carry in when we got home. She started out with her lunch box and the chalk, but when she got to the stairs, she realized she needed a hand to hold the hand rail. So she walked all the way back to me to hand me the chalk, walked back to the stairs and started to climb.

Julian was ready with dinner when we walked in - thank goodness! She had a great helping of spaghetti with (turkey) meat sauce. We got her face & hands all cleaned up and she went outside with a piece of chalk. I showed her how it worked and she did a little coloring, but not a lot. There's way too much going on in the yard to be stuck in one place. We threw the ball for Murphy, sat in various places around the fire pit, pulled some weeds, and walked up and down the stairs several times. She is certainly looking more adventurous, too, getting her toddler bumps and bruises. I think a couple of the scratches on her face are from her finger nails. She has some bruises from playing on the playground over the weekend. This afternoon she slipped on one of the stairs and now has a little scrape on her back. She cried for a little bit but then was back to climbing the steps again. She's quite the trooper. She also practiced some jumping.

It was a bath night, so after a little snack, into the tub she went. She had a lovely bath and was on & off the potty a few times, but didn't produce, of course. We had our usual bedtime routine and she dropped off relatively quickly after lots of hugs and kisses.

March 22, 2010

I usually start at the beginning of the day, but the end of the day was so fantastic, I have to start there. After brushing her teeth (she was just in her diaper), Kaylynn opened the potty and asked to sit on the big girl potty. So I took her diaper off. She hung out there for a little bit, and 2 farts later, she pooped - right there in the potty! Just like that! I knew she had to go because of the way she was (or wasn't) walking around the bathroom, but I had no idea she'd produce in the potty. How exciting is that?!

That little girl sure was tired out this morning. I opened the door so she could hear the household noises. She didn't budget. I turned lights on in the hallway and bathroom - nothing. I opened her blinds. Nada. It wasn't until about 10 minutes after I opened the blinds that she woke up and said "hi!" It was 7:10 - over 30 minutes later than usual.

Her school report said, "Kaylynn had a great day! During grouptime, we did puzzles and listened to tape stories. For art, we each got our own egg cartons and planted wildflowers in them. We will keep them here until they start to grow! Kaylynn had fun playing in the sandbox outside today!" When I got home, she was having a snack and was in a pretty good mood. She had chicken & peas for dinner - lots of it! She must be in a growth spurt.

She and I ran a few errands. We borrowed a stroller from some friends and then went to the store to get me some cough syrup. Trying to let Kaylynn be helpful (and avoiding a meltdown), I let her hold the bag. I told her it was heavy - it was too heavy and she dropped it. It didn't occur to me until we got home that the cough syrup bottle was glass. So much for that endeavor. Julian said my cough is the wrong kind for that medicine anyway. Lesson learned - I'm the adult, she's the child, and she can have a fit if I decide something is too heavy for her to hold.

She had a few pieces of oatmeal cereal before bed. She couldn't really settle on a book to read, though she did pull many off of her shelf. She took a little longer to settle down, but, of course, she did.

March 20-21, 2010

Saturday morning, bright & early, Kaylynn and I had breakfast, played and got ready for our day. Our first plan was to go to Eagle's Nest, an indoor playground. It was sunny, but in the 30s, so indoors seemed the best place to be. Julian, who's still not feeling well, bucked up and came with us. We got there right when they opened so there were very few kids. Hindsight being what it is, it would have been a good time to play in the big kids' area first. But we didn't do that. We went to the toddler area and she did the usual - up & down the slide, in & out of the balls, play in the tree, walk across the walk-across thingy, jump on the padded mats...

After a while, Julian thought we should try the big kid area. One of us would have to crawl through there with her. Guess who got elected? So, claustrophobic me crawled through what was basically a kid-sized habitrail. We went up stairs that were too big for her to climb herself, so she would stand on my leg to hoist herself up, then I'd climb up & she'd do it again. The first slide we tried was a twisty one and, in my opinion, way too long and fast. We climbed up and around again and tried some different slides, which I think we both liked better. There were lots of other things to climb on and through before getting to the slide, too. One skinned elbow (mine) and a few bruises later (also mine) we were giggling and having a blast and then took a break to eat some snacks.

Tracey & Al (gammy & gampy) met us there around 11 and she was very happy to see them. She was also pretty tired! I guess she rolled the ball around with them but was ready to go back to their place.

Sunday evening she came back around 6:30. She cried so hard about them leaving that it was heartbreaking. However, she did stop crying by the time they pulled out of the driveway. Willy kissed her face and she said "shoo shoo wee" and that was the end of the tears. Redirecting to coloring was relatively easy to do, and pretty soon we were all giggling about something or other. We got her ready for bed and she didn't even complain a little bit. She hadn't had a nap, so she was exhausted and fell asleep before we closed her bedroom door.

March 19, 2010

This morning, Kaylynn got up right on time. Breakfast and school went off without a hitch. I picked her up after work and they were playing outside. As soon as she saw me, she gave me a big smile and ran over to say 'hi' - or, I thought that was what she was doing, but she ran right by me and directly to the gate to go home. So much for *me* being exciting. Their report was, "Kaylynn had a fabulous day! We played outside for a while this morning, then came in to make smoosh art rainbows!"

She got a little snack when we got home and we played for a little while so Julian could heat up dinner. We all got to eat together. They had chicken soup and crackers and I had some yummy spaghetti. She held her cracker in front of her face, said "nummy!" fairly loudly, and then chomped on it. That's a darn exciting nummy!

After dinner we all got a little silly. Julian built a fire in the fireplace. Kaylynn & I put on some music (Dan Zane) and danced all around - with and without "uppy." We were all jammin' in the living room for a few minutes. I put her on my shoulders for a while & danced - she liked that. She jumped on the dog beds, rocked on her rocking chair, and pretended to sleep with her "blankey." She got into coloring for 5 seconds and I laid down on the couch ... and then she pounced on me. She was very physical tonight. Julian and I sat on either end of the couch and she took turns 'falling' off of our laps and we'd each catch her. She was a total gigglepuss.

Tracey (gammy) and Al (gampy) came over to get directions to a concert they were going to. As soon as Kaylynn saw them through the front door, she shrieked with delight. She jumped back & forth between them and was so happy to see them and they were happy to see her. We did "happy-anu-know-it" for them because it's so darn cute, everyone should see it. They needed to leave and she started crying really hard. One lesson learned tonight - long goodbyes don't work with a toddler. She did stop crying soon after they left when she was distracted by her bath. She sure does love gammy & gampy - it was really sweet.

Bedtime was routine - a couple books, songs and hugs & kisses, but tonight she decided she wanted to put her babies to sleep herself. She took them off the shelf, put them on the table by her bed (where they sleep) and worked very hard to cover them up with the towel. She kissed each of them and then went to bed with her usual chatter.

March 17 & 18, 2010

Wednesday, 3/17/2010
I didn't realize it was St. Patrick's Day until I walked into the classroom with Kaylynn all decked out in purple. From what I can tell, she didn't get pinched. Her report for Wednesday said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Kaylynn had a good day. Lucky came again today & brought us Lucky Charms to eat for breakfast :) For art, we easel painted with green & white paint & Mrs. Lawrence painted a shamrock on our cheeks. We went on a Lucky hunt trying to find Lucky, but he was too tricky. Played outside on the playground."

When Julian picked her up, she seemed really crabby and not ready to come home. He found out (after she was in the car) that she had a poopy diaper - no wonder she was crabby! Since he wasn't in the best mood, either, he figured it was just a crabby day for Capricorns everywhere. I don't think he checked in with any others to validate his theory, but neither of them had a particularly good evening.

Kaylynn & I walked around outside, counting stairs again. She is learning how to jump, not just in place but over things and down small "steps" (like the curb). She enjoys practicing.

Dinner was green beans and garlic chicken - she scarfed it all down. At one point, Julian was grabbing a pudding for her and she was whining at him. Then she saw the pudding in his hand and it sounded like this, "waa... waa... waa... nummy?"

It was a bath night and she had a lot of fun with the letters - putting them on the tub and on herself - and pouring water on herself (though not over her head). We read books for bedtime and *almost* didn't read "happy-anu-know-it" but, in the end, she asked for it.

Thursday, 3/18/2010
She woke up with a series of cheerful "hi"s. She got to have some yogurt and milk today - her cold is over enough that she can have dairy again. I put her hair in pigtails while she was brushing her teeth, but she promptly took the rubber bands out, so she went without a hairdo today.

Julian has bronchitis. While he was at the doctor, I picked Kaylynn up from school. They were outside playing. She was standing near one of the teachers, who was comforting a kid who was crying. She looked very concerned about it all. I asked one of the teachers if Kaylynn plays on the playground, because any time I see her she's standing by a teacher. She assured me that Kaylynn is participating and is no longer just an observer. I just catch her at those moments when she's standing still. She's also napping relatively easily with the other kids (usually from 1:30 to 3:00 - nap/quiet time is 1-3). She's also eating more of her lunch and generally feeling comfortable. It's really nice to hear about the progress she's made.

The report from school said, "Kaylynn had a great day! For art today, we made green pepper prints with both green & white paint. Our friend, Peter, brought us two books & he read them to us, too :) Mrs. Jean came today for music & we played the fishing game. It was so nice outside we played outside both before & after music."

We got home and had a snack (melon and some juice). Then we changed her shoes into boots to go for our daily walk outside. This time I leashed the dogs and we walked partway down the block. I pointed out grass, leaves, trees, sticks, and pine cones. The dogs didn't have a great time, but Kaylynn had fun practicing her jumping and wandering around. Julian made dinner for them - pasta and a turkey/tomato sauce. I had my own food. She ate a huge portion. We had a lot of wipe-up to do - her face looked just like the pizza picture. She colored for a while and I cleaned up the kitchen a little bit. She had a lovely poopy diaper (immediately after Julian left to go to the pharmacy... interesting timing, little one!). I took the opportunity to put her jammies on, since I like her to have a little pajama time running around before bed. We watched the Bobs & Lolo video that our friends in Canada sent us. Hands down, it's my favorite video. They sing and dance and are generally fun and educational. Kaylynn sat and watched some of it. At one point she stood up from her rocking chair and was dancing. I motioned for Julian to come watch because she was so darn cute, the way she was holding her hands in the air and wiggling her tushy.

Bedtime was fairly routine. We put tzedaka (charity) into her piggybank (named Traify). She was chatty for quite some time after bedtime. Maybe dancing before bed isn't really winding down.

March 16, 2010

Kaylynn woke up really late this morning! In fact, at 6:30 I had to open her door and have Willy tromp around to rouse her. Since we generally try to leave for school at 6:50 or 7:00, we were pushing it. Fortunately, all went well with getting her dressed, fed and to the car, so I made it to my bus just fine.

When we got to school, I put her down for her to take off her coat, and then she looked up at me and said "uppy" a few times. Then one of the teachers said "Kaylynn, do you want to color?" and she switched from "uppie" to "co-wee" pretty quickly and took off for the coloring table. I got a hug & kiss goodbye before the crayons called her name.

I picked her up and saw the report. "Kaylynn had a great day! We made a leprechaun for art, played in our room and rode bikes downstairs." One of the teachers was putting the papers in the kids' folders, and I asked her if all the kids have "great days," since it seems that Kaylynn usually does. She assured me that they're truthful in their reports and that Kaylynn is cheerful and has a lot of fun.

We came home with "nummies" on the brain. She got pudding for a snack and then Julian had dinner ready for them - pizza. And that's where today's picture came from. Needless to say, she put her 'all' into dinner tonight.

After dinner we went outside with the dogs. While we were in the front yard, I heard neighbors & their dogs walking toward us, so I had Murphy stay put for as long as she could. She did fairly well, but did bolt when she saw it was her friend, Lily. Lily was with her new neighbor, Cooper, and Cooper's dads. They all went off leash and ran around the yard. She loved watching the puppies.

We came in with just a little protest and kind of played in the living room for a while. She still has her cold and "blew" her nose, then calmly stuck her finger in it and put it in her mouth. I could see Julian about to pass out... he calmly put her on his lap and explained how incredibly disgusting it was to eat out of her Kleenex. I'm sure she understood thoroughly.

Julian brought her beads out and showed her a magic trick, pulling a bead out from behind her ear. She quickly imitated and pulled another bead from behind her ear. I can't describe how incredibly cute it was watching her try to imitate his moves.

And last, she needed to feed her baby. She got her pretend plate of food & the small spoon. She fed her baby, then me, then Julian, then Murphy (who was laying on my lap), and then she went to feed Willy. Poor Willy was actually expecting some food. He licked the spoon and then put his paws over his face as if he was deeply disappointed. We need to have the video camera going all the time to get this stuff. I was laughing so hard I started to cough.

We read 3 books, sang songs and she went to bed, chatting to herself for a while, as usual.

March 15, 2010

We must have done something right with the school she attends - she ran in and pounced on the kid-sized couch, saying "co-wee" (color) over & over. She barely had time to take her jacket off and she was rarin' to go. Julian thinks she must have had a dream last night that she absolutely had to get on paper.

When Julian picked her up, she was really happy and playing on the playground. She carried her lunch bag & the daily note all the way to the car. Julian held on to her hood because she likes to take off if you're not holding on. They talked about her day and she seemed really excited to share with Julian. Here's what the note said. "Kaylynn had a great day! Lucky came and played some tricks on us today. He tipped our chairs, walked on the tables and turned our milk green. We played outside and made a Lucky finder for art."

On the way to pick me up from work, she got hungry. Again - thank goodness for emergency car-snacks. She not only ate all of her snacks, but she ate some of Julian's too. We have to re-stock. The reason they came and got me was that Julian & I needed to sign our taxes. We got that done and she just kind of chatted to us and our accountant throughout it all. At the end he said, "thank you very much" and she said "much." Adorable.

We came home and had some fabulous soup for dinner before going outside to play. She likes to sit on the logs near the fire pit. Then we went out front and started to look for the ball she had thrown for Murphy the day before. We couldn't find it, but we just kept circling the house, counting the stairs as we went up and down and watching Murphy follow us and delight us with her spinning and romping.

Kaylynn wasn't too happy about coming in until Julian showed her that her bath was ready. They had a great bath, playing with letters and squirty toys, washing hair and naming what they were washing. I could hear her giggling as I was cleaning up books & putting away some clothes we had gotten for summer. Yes, we're already set for summer clothing-wise. Very exciting. She asked for "nummies" so she had some applesauce and animal crackers before we started reading books and winding down for bed. Not only did she want "happy an-you-know-it" but she knew that after clapping hands came "boo hoo" and after "boo hoo" came stomping feet. It was adorable. The great outdoors seems to tire her out quite a bit. The bedtime routine really helps, though. When she protests about going to bed, we tell her "we do this every night - it's the same thing" and she seems to understand that. It calmed her down tonight when she wanted "uppy" and she was quiet soon after we left the room.

Tonight is the 5th night she has been bottle free! It's quite a milestone. She gets a sippy cup with water in it and is just fine with it. There was no protest about the change at all.

March 14, 2010

This morning started early, as usual. Julian's cold was getting worse and I am still exhausted from surgery, but I was functioning better than he was, so I got up with Kaylynn to get her day going. We had some cereal and "na" (banana). She wasn't feeling too well - I think it was 1/2 her teeth & 1/2 her cold - so she was a little crabby and impatient with me. We got her crayons out and she climbed up on the couch (and off the couch, and on the couch, and off the couch...) to color. Meanwhile, I put a DVD on in the background that seemed to catch some of her attention. It's "Bobs & Lolo" - a kids' entertainment duo. The DVD was sent to us by our friends, Doug & Marsha. I absolutely loved it & played it in the background 3 times. Kaylynn watched on & off. Their music is fantastic and the video for their songs is really fun. More Bobs & Lolo stuff is definitely in our future.

I needed to be at the synagogue at 11:30 today and didn't know that Julian was going to feel so crummy, so I called our friends at 8:30 (probably woke them up, since they had been at the party) and asked for help. Thankfully, they were free and more than willing. They went above and beyond. Not only did they come and play with Kaylynn, they brought the makings for a fabulous, healing chicken soup, some cough syrup, and some ginger & lemon juice - all wonderful things to make Julian & Kaylynn feel better. When I left, Saren was sitting on the couch with Kaylynn, playing with some brown rice puffs - hiding them and "finding" them in mock surprise. Kaylynn was giggling and seemed to be feeling better.

The report when I got home was that Saber & Saren took Kaylynn outside to play. She loved just walking around on the grass, going up & down the stairs, and generally being outside. When it was time to come in for lunch and nap, she protested vehemently. She did, however fall asleep quickly.

I took a long nap myself. She came in to wake me in time to get to the synagogue again. We went outside and walked all over the place before I left. She threw the ball for Murphy several times and giggled when Murphy ran to catch it. Again, she wasn't too excited to come back inside. Saber & Saren came back to help Julian while I was out for the night and it seems they went outside yet again and followed her around the yard and circled the house a few times.

We had her wearing her "pajama day" rain boots. They're PERFECT for her to tromp around in. She walks really well in them and they're just fantastic in the mud. It's nice to have them and know that she'll be able to wear them next spring, too.

Kaylynn was absolutely exhausted at bedtime, as was Murphy - hence today's picture. She didn't talk to herself or count or anything. She gave a few whines, said "uppy" and was silent for the rest of the night.

March 12-13, 2010

So, Friday was another banner day for all of us. It was Julian's last day punching a time clock - ahhhh, management - my last day of lifting restrictions, and Kaylynn's "pajama day" at school. You could almost feel the excitement buzzing around us.

We had borrowed some kid-sized rain boots from friends. They're adorable but still a little big for Kaylynn - perfect for putting over footie-pajamas. She brought Puppy (her stuffed bunny) to school, too. Here's the report. "Kaylynn had a good day. We had fun watching *Monsters, Inc.* and eating popcorn. We also rode bikes and played downstairs."

When I picked her up, they were all dancing around to silly music and pretending to be doggies or snakes or who knows what else. Kaylynn had eaten all of her lunch, which is always encouraging. Some days I just don't know what to send, so it's always nice to get it right :)

She still has a pretty nasty cold, so her mom decided to leave her here with us this weekend. We were trying to figure out what to do Friday night with her and then decided to go out to Chili's for dinner. It's quite kid-friendly! She ate a little bit of chicken and some mandarin oranges and she colored a lot. We played for a while when we got home and it was pretty clear she was tired. We did change her pajamas into fresh ones for bedtime, though it would have been quite convenient to just leave her... but we couldn't do it.

Julian has Kaylynn's cold, so he needed to get some really good sleep. Kaylynn went to sleep at a little after 8 and Julian & I went soon after that. We chatted & read and wound down a little before nodding off.

The first I heard from Kaylynn in the morning was at 5:45. It was just a little rustling and one word of some sort. I waited for more, but she went back to sleep (whew!) until 6:45. We had breakfast and colored and watched a new Sesame Street video (thank you, Saba & Savta). We got dressed and tried not to wake Julian, but to no avail. I found out that an indoor playground opened up at 9am on Saturday, so she & I went to play. She had a BLAST! She tried the ball pit and wasn't a huge fan, but she LOVED playing in the hollow tree and she must have gone up and down the same slide over 50 times. I should have counted but there was so much going on it was hard to keep track. She was in constant motion and I only had the camera on my phone, so the picture is a bit blurry.

At around 11 she got hungry. I had some snacks, but not nearly enough for the appetite she worked up. So we came home for lunch. She was not too bad about leaving the place, especially when I explained that there were snacks in the car. Thank goodness for the emergency stash!

After lunch she asked for Elmo. Am I playing too much video for her? Well, she doesn't really sit & watch it much anyway. We put in "potty time," which she completely ignored. I enjoyed what I saw, though. One of Julian's friends stopped by with a load of books & kids' CDs that her kid had outgrown. Thank you, Beth! Then it was nap time. I'm pretty sure she fell asleep moments before her head hit the pillow.

After nap & snack, I decided to pack her up and go to the playground again. She didn't complain - she was excited to be there and jumped right back into the routine of going up & down the slide. Unfortunately, there were a lot of older kids in the toddler area, so I had to stay pretty close to her (as opposed to watching from the bench) and ask the bigger kids to be careful. I was pretty upset - the toddler area is supposed to be for 3 & under, but no one could be found to enforce it.

We had big plans Saturday night. Our friend, Max, had a surprise birthday party brewing. Kaylynn & I were part of the "ruse," while Julian helped set up for the party. Basically, we needed to show up for dinner, which was supposedly the surprise. Meanwhile, Max's partner, Tyler, got "called in to work," but actually went home to set up for the party. Kaylynn was amazing at dinner. We got corn-dog appetizers and she ate what she needed to. She didn't really try the tater tots or any of my salad. I brought quite a bit for her to play with, but she was focused on "super nurse" and our friend, Jed, who loves little kids and sat next to her, making faces and playing with her. She sat contentedly on my lap for all of dinner and seemed entertained & engaged. Then we went to the party already in progress. Saber & Saren, who she knows well, were there. Our 6-year-old friend, Addie, was there & very excited to sit down and hold Kaylynn. As Julian put a very content Kaylynn on Addie's lap, Addie let him know that "it's OK - I'm good with kids." Good to know. Kaylynn was "uppie" with Julian or me most of the time, but we planned it so she wouldn't be there too long. Since Julian wasn't feeling well, he took her home soon after we got there put her to bed. I stayed for a bit to catch up with friends, some of whom didn't know Kaylynn was staying with us.

It looked like he gave her a bath and my bet is she fell asleep really quickly. It was a big day for a little girl, and she had a blast!

March 11, 2010

First, a forgotten story from yesterday. Kaylynn and I were sitting on the floor rolling a ball to each other - or, I was rolling it to her and she was rolling it part way back to me. I told her to push hard on the ball, so she put her hand on top of it and pushed down (toward the floor) very hard. Needless to say, the ball did not roll my way.

Today was a day for thinking. Kaylynn did a lot of it. You could see her little brain working - it was kind of fun to watch.

Today we had the visit from the Early Childhood Intervention program that our doctor recommended. So Kaylynn stayed home in the morning. We followed a similar routine to other days this week - Julian would get her up and change her diaper; I would spend a couple hours with her so Julian could sleep, since he worked the later shift. She was fairly well occupied with breakfast. A new discovery - she really likes cantaloupe. I gave her pineapple, strawberry, grape, honeydew... and the last thing I had to give her, she liked. Because of her cold, I was really pushing fruit and other non-dairy foods to keep her from getting more congested. In fact, she had rice milk in her cereal and ate every bit and drank some of the milk.

So, Linda and Cheryl from the Early Childhood Intervention program arrived. Linda was the "adult" intake person and Cheryl was the one who played with and assessed Kaylynn. They brought some of their own toys, and Kaylynn was quite interested in what was in the bag. I think she took out just about everything to play with. A lot of the assessment was as we thought. She has incredible fine motor skills. In fact, she pulled out a pair of (safety) scissors and Cheryl showed her how to use them. One demonstration and Kaylynn was hooked - she was cutting paper all over the place and doing it rather well. That's actually an advanced skill. Her vocabulary continues to improve and Cheryl and Linda were not as concerned that other people can't understand her as our doctor was, but they told us to keep repeating her words correctly (e.g., "ba ba" - say "bottle" back to her) and just talk to her all the time about what we're doing, what she's doing, what's going on around her and her language will continue to improve. Her gross motor skills are also good as is her understanding of multi-step instructions (example: please pick up the book and bring it to Wendy). They did recommend a hearing test be done, so we're trying to figure out when to schedule that.

We brought her to school a little late because of the meeting. It was "western day," and the best I could come up with were some overalls and a black turtleneck. Some kids were decked out with cowboy hats, but we didn't have stuff like that. Today's report was, "Kaylynn had a really good day :) She got to enjoy the last few min. of music - she loves getting her stamp at the end of the class. Because of the rain we went downstairs and rode bikes. We also got to ride in the wagon. Kaylynn liked riding in the wagon." She ate all of her soup and her fruit leather but wasn't interested **at all** in the egg. I didn't think she would be, but it's always worth a try. They say to offer a new food at least 7 different times because it may take that long for kids to try it at all, so I'll keep trying.

After school we did an errand, returning some clothes Juilan had picked up and buying some play-doh (though I intended to buy a humidifier...) She got a little whiny about the play-doh (wanted to hold it) and I asked her to say "please." I also did the sign for please. She imitated the sign and I decided that was as good as an ask, so I gave it to her to hold. From then on, she called it a "please."

On the way home, I gave her some raisins and dry cereal to snack on, since she's usually hungry after school and dinner was going to be a bit late. When Saber (still my "muscle" while I can't lift) handed the raisins to her, he referred to them as "humiliated grapes" (a line from one of my favorite movies, Benny and Joon). I started laughing, Saber started laughing, and Kaylynn thought the whole thing was funny. I could hear her giggling behind me. When she was done with the raisins, she held out her hands to Saber and said "yucky." We didn't have anything handy to wipe her hands and tried to tell her that. She repeated the word and gesture several times. She was quiet for a moment and then said "y u ck y" - very slowly, as if Saber was just not understanding her and she had to slow it down for him. We cracked up, which made her start to laugh again.

So... dinner... I gave her the rest of her soup and some pasta. She ate the chunks out of the soup but didn't want the broth. She had a few bites of pasta (after playing with it & the fork for a while) and then she started... well, watch the video. (Long story short - pasta and soup were combined into one big gooey mess.) The entire episode lasted for at least 7 minutes. It ended when it all started dumping on the floor and the dogs were getting to it... I didn't want them to get sick. Before I started filming, she was able to get the food back and forth between bowls without spilling, which is why I commented that she was starting to get sloppy - she hadn't spilled much at all up to that point.

Tonight, bath time was brought to you by the letters Z, C and W and the number 0. We had a fun bath and she produced lots of "boogies" for me to suck out of her nose. The humidity was helpful. She played with water running out of the faucet (kind of a trickle) while I sponged down her hair with a wash cloth. Julian was right - it is easier when she's distracted and she didn't get upset about it at all. When she was playing with the squirty toys, she squirted some water on her own face and into her eye. I think it's good for her to get comfortable with water on her face when she does it herself.

I was supposed to pick up a humidifier tonight (or a mister, I'm not sure which Julian wanted...) but couldn't find one at the store we went to and I needed to get home for dinner and bath time, so maybe we'll pick one up tomorrow. I'm inclined to get a mister, like I had when I was a kid. We don't need whole-house humidity, especially at this time of year. Any ideas where I can find one?

March 10, 2010

Well, we don't have a picture of Kaylynn today, but Merlin took advantage of her chair and I couldn't resist.

This morning we had milk, banana, raisins and some crackers. We played with the usual toys and went to daycare with Julian at around 8:15. It was "preschool prom" day, so we dressed her up in her nicest outfit - the purple corduroy jumper. The report from daycare was, "Kaylynn had a great day. At Preschool Prom we danced & danced - to both fast & slow music. She danced a little, but she also liked watching all the other kids dance. We drank punch & had cookies :) The kids also got their pictures taken by the preschool prom sign."

She was all smiles and hugs when I picked her up. We came home and set to work playing with beads and coloring. I took a break to make dinner (yes, Julian was working so I had to 'cook'). I went the easy route - chicken nuggets and peas. She was really whiny and only had a few bites of chicken nuggets, though she ate all her peas. I tried giving her some Popsicle to soothe her teeth but she didn't want it. I gave her some ora-jel and Motrin - that helped. We played more, but she was really not feeling well and continued to whine, so I spent a lot of time distracting her. We put on the Sesame Street ABC video and Kaylynn jumped on the couch and pounced on my belly... a little owie for me. Julian came home just in time for bedtime. We read 3 books and sang songs and she went to sleep after a little protest. It's a tired day with a 2 year-old who is teething and has a cold.

March 9, 2010

Wow - we got an early start this morning. Kaylynn was up at 6am! Julian got her out of her crib & changed diapy - then I took over for a couple hours. A nod to Savta for bringing us those wooden beads - Kaylynn LOVES them. She dumped them into a plastic bowl and then put them away in the "box." Then she did it all over again a few more times. Then she put some on a string. Then dumped them on the floor, put them away... you get the picture. In toddler hours (basically 1 minute = 1 hour) she was enthralled for 6 hours at least!

Then we colored colored colored ... another favorite. She likes to sit on her new picnic table and color with the markers - also hours of toddler fun. We can't even remember what we did without having a table for her to sit at.

She had a breakfast of go-gurt and milk and, later, a banana for a snack. It was "beach day" at school today, so I put a beach cover-up jacket on top of her clothes for the occasion. She had a choice of 2 pairs of shoes and picked the ones she wanted to wear. We bundled up and went to school.

At school they feed her cereal for breakfast. We didn't get the report for the day, yet, but she always eats well there. They had Popsicles for a snack, set up a tent and pretended to grill, and played with a beach ball. We sent enchiladas with a few splashes of Tabasco and she ate almost an entire thermos-full. I'm starting to think about putting Tabasco on everything, but Julian stopped me from putting it on her sweet & sour chicken tonight.

The director of the school was there when Julian picked Kaylynn up and said that she had had a very fun day and she is such a joy to have in the class.

I had taken a nap this afternoon and woke to squeals of delight as Julian was giving her pudding for a snack. Of course, who doesn't love pudding?! Then we - you guessed it - colored for a while. I put on a Sesame Street ABC video in the background and she ended up snuggling with Julian for a while and watching it. Suddenly, it was dinner time. We had leftover Chinese food (without Tabasco) and she was getting a little fussy. I put some ora-jel on her teeth and noticed that she was a little stuffy. When Julian gave her a bath, a big green booger came out of her nose, so I ran to Walgreens to find some decongestant. Turns out there's nothing approved for kids under 4 years old, so I brought home a suctioning thingy and a saline mist instead. The warm bath helped clear her sinuses and Julian sucked a whole lot of booger out of her nose. She seemed appreciative and was very cooperative.

Getting undressed for bath time, Kaylynn took her own socks off, Julian took her pants & shirt off, and had just removed her diaper when she started to pee while she was standing up. He was quick and was able to hold the diaper in place and catch every drop. That was a close one! A typical bath time gift from Kaylynn to Julian. How lucky can one guy be? He's 4 for 4.

We picked up some colorful interlocking rubber mats today at Home Depot and put them on the floor of her room to make it more comfortable to play on. She pulled out all sorts of blocks and - yes - the wooden beads and her coloring book & crayons and just played all over the place before bedtime. She was really snuggly with Julian while they were coloring together. I got to play photographer. So cute!

At bedtime, we read - again - the Elmo "happy and you know it" book. She knows it so well now that she'll do the actions as soon as you turn the page and she sees the pictures. She'll actively ask for "feet" (stomp your feet) - seems that's her favorite. It's so incredibly cute when she does "boo hoo" (sad) and the "clown around" (silly). She's a goofball.

It seems she's not feeling her best tonight and has the start of a cold. According to her mom, she likes to share everything with her little brother, who had an ear infection this weekend. Here's to building a good immune system and loving your brother!

March 8, 2010

Kaylynn was up and ready to go nice and early this morning. First thing after she got up and had a go-gurt - a big poo-bomb in her diaper. It was just in time to get dressed for school, so we did that and off we went.

The report from daycare today was, "Kaylynn had a good day. She loved giving her friends hugs - she would walk around the room, following the kids w/ her arms out and say 'hug, hug, hug...' For wacky day we finger painted & ate a wacky breakfast - pink & green sprinkles on applesauce and toast and drank pink milk. We played outside."

When she & Julian got home, she was very excited to color. Then she had bananas and raisins for a snack - good balance :) She and I colored for quite a while and were very busy dropping marker caps on the floor and picking them up. Meanwhile, Julian made dinner (enchiladas for them, quinoa for me, broccoli for all of us). He put a touch of Tabasco on the enchiladas and she scarfed them down. She wasn't so fond of the broccoli, but it was a good try.

After dinner, she started to play with some big wooden beads that Savta gave her. Julian showed her how to string them on the lace, which is the point of the toy. Unfortunately, she really liked dumping them all over the floor, and unfortunately, Murphy liked to chew on them. Good news - Murphy didn't swallow anything, and only 1 bead was sacrificed. She sat on the floor for 9 minutes non-stop stringing those beads before Julian sat down with her to play. She also took all her groceries off the "shelf" and put them in her shopping cart. She loves doing that.

We were having trouble with Julian's laptop and called our friend, Tyler, to come for a visit and a little bit of help. The good news is that the laptop shaped up when Tyler walked in so we got to visit without having to work. Kaylynn was getting to know Tyler from a distance, but eventually she came and sat on my lap while I was sitting next to him. She also started jumping on a dog bed and "falling" down, making all of us laugh. She watched Tyler carefully to make sure he was paying attention.

For bedtime, we had a "happy and you know it" story (big surprise) and sang songs before she settled down. She had a few rounds of "up... down... up... down..." before she fell asleep.

March 7, 2010

We picked Kaylynn up at her grandma's house at 4pm this afternoon. She gave everyone kisses goodbye and off we went. In the car we were singing and she was laughing and goofing with her new sun glasses. When we got home, we had an early dinner waiting. She wasn't big on the beef kabobs but she loved the chicken enchilada. It was mildly spicy. We had a special dessert made by our friend, Saren - it was cheesecake that I could have topped with fruit. Kaylynn didn't try the cheesecake, but she loved her blueberries.

After dinner she played with her crayons and generally had a good time with our friends while we cleaned up the kitchen. She got a bath, colored with markers and we read a few books. Coloring with markers left the paper briefly and made its way onto her hands and face. Blue everywhere! Thank goodness for the inventor of washable markers.

We tried something a little different with the books tonight. We read one with her sitting on my lap, and then we put her in her crib to read another so she could look at pictures and I could get through an entire story without her flipping pages everywhere. We'll see if it takes off. We sang Twinkle Twinkle and ABCs and off to sleep she went.

March 4-5, 2010

Thursday morning, Kaylynn got up after all of us! She was excited to have some go-gurt and milk and get ready for school. She wore a pretty new outfit we got from one of Julian's co-workers and had her hair in pigtails. She looked so darn cute! Julian took her to school and my mom & I were to pick her up in the afternoon. She was drawn in by coloring and didn't notice when Julian said "good-bye" and left.

I took the dogs for a short and very low-key walk and got a call from the daycare place that Kaylynn had a fever, though she seemed to be acting/feeling OK. Savta and I hopped in the car to pick her up before nap time so she could nap at home. She was just finishing lunch and saw us across the room. She gave us a big big smile and I got lots of hugs and requests for "uppie" (which were provided by Savta). We gathered her things and brought her home for a nap.

She slept for almost 2 hours and I gave her more Motrin when she woke up. Julian's folks, Nana and Papi (though she doesn't call them that, it's easiest for the blog to give them their own names...) came over for dinner. She was happy to see them and delighted to see Dusty & Shadow (the dogs). They brought a bunch of presents for her, and it's not even her birthday! They brought her a tot-sized picnic table where she can sit and color, some markers and crayons, some giant coloring sheets, some good Sesame Street learning books and some Elmo story books. We love Elmo!

Dinner was a hit all around - Chinese take-out. She had sweet & sour chicken, but the lo mein was definitely her favorite. She wasn't too interested in the egg roll. Considering she didn't feel so great, she ate well. After dinner, she crawled onto Nana's lap and was super snuggly. She was playing with her "super nurse" figurine and Nana put it on the table and ordered it to "stand up." Kaylynn found that hilarious. I don't know if it was the standing up or falling down, but she was belly-laughing pretty big. (My back was turned, so I just heard it - didn't see it.) A few times she almost fell asleep. I had to leave at 7 for a meeting at the synagogue (surprise!) and Julian wasn't scheduled to get home until 7:30, so I left the machatunum (since there's no English word for what my parents & Julian's parents are to each other, I'll use the Hebrew).

They kept Kaylynn awake until Julian came home and she got another dose of Motrin before going to sleep. I guess they hung out and talked for quite some time. I was surprised to see both my mom & Julian awake when I got home around 10.

Thursday night was a little rough for Kaylynn and Julian. She went to sleep right away when Julian put her to bed, but we think the fever woke her up, so Julian decided to try bringing her into our bed to keep an eye on her. Julian wrapped her in a snuggly blanket and laid down with her laying on top of him. She was chatty for a little while - we have a lot going on in our room, with puppies and "kee" lounging about - and then she settled down a little. I was still tired from surgery so I fell asleep despite the activity going on in our room. He said that he would touch her face to check her fever and she would reach up to touch his face. Then he rubbed her arm a little bit and she reached out to rub his arm. It sounds so sweet, I wish I had been awake for it! She was very stoic about her fever and the Motrin controlled it really well, but she really seemed to enjoy the snuggling. I guess he brought her back to her bed around 2 after giving her more Motrin and feeling her fever subside. I didn't hear a peep out of her for the rest of the night (baby monitor was on my side).

Friday morning we were all up hours before Kaylynn. We checked on her a couple times and she wasn't warm, but she was sleeping pretty soundly, so we let her. Julian left for work just after she woke up, so Savta and I got her up and decided she was OK to go to school. No fever! She did have a very heavy diaper, though. Savta said something about 2 lbs of diaper... she drank 3 bottles of cool water through the course of the night before, so it made sense! She had a pretty big breakfast and Savta taught her how to sit down on her picnic bench and color. Then we packed lunch and took her to school. My mom & I went shopping (more diapers, apple juice and V8-fusion) before I took her to the airport.

I needed to get Kaylynn by around 3:30 because her mom, Melissa, was picking her up at 4. Our friend, Saber, came over to lift her into & out of her car seat, which was acceptable to her. Melissa had trouble with her GPS, so she called for directions and was running a little late. That gave me an opportunity to cut Kaylynn's bangs a little bit. Her hair does seem to grow fast! I didn't want Melissa to have to mess with that stuff. Kaylynn was very patient with the cutting and evening process and stayed still.

When mom (Melissa) and grandma (Tracey) walked in, Kaylynn was clearly very excited to see them. Kaylynn's baby brother, Devon, was also with them, and she tried to give him his bottle. He had an ear infection and wasn't too interested, but she was so sweet about it. She climbed all over grandma and mom, and then they all packed up and went over to grandma & grandpa's house for the night. It was suddenly very, very quiet.

March 3, 2010

We were going to bring Kaylynn to school in the morning and pick her up for her doctor appointment, but we decided to keep her at home instead. The timing of lunch and appointment just weren't going to work out, and we thought it would be fun to hang out with her. It was!

She had breakfast and wanted to color. Since we don't have a little table/chair set for her yet - somewhere comfortable for her to sit & color - the best place for her to do it is in her booster seat, so she stayed there after breakfast and colored to her heart's delight. She colored kitties, Julian traced her hand & she colored that, she colored on her actual hand and made pretty finger nails... She helped Julian put laundry in the washer and made sure to feed her baby and give her lots of hugs.

Lunch was relatively early and, as usual, she ate really well. We headed out to her doctor appointment around 12:15 and were early. It was at Children's clinic so they had lots of stuff for her to play with. She had a great time in the little plastic house. We were sure to bring Llama with us, because Llama sets such a good example for behavior. We had to wait a long time in the room for various parts of the appointment, so she spent a lot of time with Julian looking out the window, showing Llama the birdies and sky, scooting around on the wheeled chair, and hopping around on the different colors on the floor. When Dr. Goepferd came in, she was very cooperative, letting the doc listen to her heart and lungs, look in her ears, mouth and eyes, palpate her tummy - all the doctor things.

Here are Kaylynn's stats. She is 33 inches tall, which is the 16th percentile. The doctor said that's genetics - she's just a small kid. She weighs 25.2 lbs, which is the 26th percentile. Anything over 16% is good. Her head circumference is in the 32nd percentile. Her next checkup is at 3 years unless she gets sick. She was behind on 2 shots: DTaP and Hep A and she got a flu shot. She needs one more Hep A booster and she's up to date.

When it was time for her shots, which went in her legs, the nurse had her on the table with her legs dangling over, and Julian held her hands and leaned over & talked to her. The nurse was very quick about it all. By the time Kaylynn started to cry, it was over and she stopped crying pretty quickly and checked out her "stickers" (band aids). Then it was time for the blood draw. I went to do administrative work, so I wasn't there, but here's how Julian reported it. They rolled up Kaylynn's sleeve, cleaned her with an alcohol wipe (and Kaylynn was fine). Then the nurse put the little needle (Kaylynn watched) and Kaylynn looked at Julian with a look that said, "can you believe she just did that to me?!" She started to cry and then the needle was out, it was done, and she stopped crying.

In terms of her development, her vision and hearing seem to be OK for her age, but her speech is delayed. The doctor put her at about 15 months in terms of speech development, which is almost a full year behind. They contacted the Robbinsdale school district for us. The schools will come to your house, evaluate the child and create a program to help catch them up. We'll be working with Melissa and Kaylynn to do all the things she needs to do to catch up - she'll be just fine.

We've instituted a 'no whining' policy. She's got enough words to be able to tell us what she needs, so she doesn't need to whine. When she does, we simply say "use your words, tell us what you need" or "please don't whine" and then when she does use her words, we respond to her. So, basically, we're not letting her get what she wants by just whining. The doctor suggested this should help her talk more, too.

After the doctor appointment she took a nap for about 1 1/2 hours while Julian and I hooked up with her mom to get the paperwork squared away so we can keep her in daycare. We also made arrangements for Melissa, who lives close now, to have Kaylynn on weekends.

Savta took good care of her. When we walked in she gave us a big smile and "HI" and big hugs all around. She had some dinner and my mom & I had to leave for a meeting I had at - yes - the synagogue.

After dinner, Julian was checking Murphy's skin out with a flashlight (she's been scratching a lot lately - no fleas, tho) and Kaylynn loved the flashlight. Julian turned off the living room lights, Kaylynn sat in her Shrek chair and shined the light all over the place, entertaining herself. He said she did that for about 5 minutes - the longest she's done any one thing other than color.

The doctor gave us a couple books, and Kaylynn crawled on Julian's lap to have them read to her. One is a simple book with pictures and words to build her vocabulary. The other is "ring around the rosie."

Then it was bath time. Julian played "head-shoulders-knees-and-toes" with her as she washed herself. He played games with the wash cloth to get her hair wet and to rinse off the soap. It worked really well and she had a great bath experience. She has letters that stick to the side of the tub, so they went through those and played with the water squirty toys. Then it was time to get out. Julian reached for the towel & when he turned around, there were 4 very well-formed poos floating in the water. He couldn't believe his good fortune! He's trying to figure out why he gets the pees & poos at bath time - must be luck! He fished them out (thank goodness for disposable gloves being handy) and rinsed her again and dried her off. They put on PJs, had milk in the sippy cup, read a little more, sang. She was snuggly and chatty with him and then went to bed around 8:20.