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.