Walking... short and sweet.

Here's a video taken over the weekend of Kylie walking a few steps on her own.

Oh, and this is what mommy can expect when she goes out and leaves the baby with daddy for a night ...

nice, daddy.  real nice.  Please don't encourage her!

first steps, food and more food

Well, as of Friday, July 2nd, we have a walker on our hands.  And as far as I'm concerned, Friday was the day she took her first steps.  It may have happened sooner, at her babysitter's house, but Michelle & I have an agreement that if Kylie should have any "firsts" at her house that she should keep quiet about it and wait for me to bring it up - that way, Mommy doesn't feel bad about missing any of the good stuff while I was at work.  Anyway, Kylie stumbled about 2-3 steps before landing back on the floor.  She took a 2-3 more steps on her on for Daddy on Saturday, and on Monday, he saw her take 4 consecutive barefoot steps across the yard.  So exciting!

She's also learned to climb.  Whenever the opportunity presents itself, she'll raise up a knee againt whatever piece of furniture she's in front of and try to hoist herself up.  The leather upholstered ottoman is currently her favortite climbing apparatus, as its at the perfect height for her.  Once she gets up, she stands on top like a proud little "queen" of the hill.

We went to the Hampden Community Pool on Monday - what a blast! (Borrowed photo:)

First impressions: it was pretty crowded, after all, it was the 4th of July holiday and it was close to 100 degrees.  But that aside - we had a great time.  At the last minute, we met up with our friends Johanna & baby Charlotte (now 5 months old).  I was a little worried at first - Kylie is a little timid of the water. She likes playing in our backyard pool- but from the outside edge, reaching in.  Oh, but sometimes she plays IN the pool - when its empty.  She despises getting water in her eyes in the bath.  So, understandably, I was concerned how she would react in this situation.  With the large, boisterous crowd and screaming, splashing kids - it was difficult to find a quiet corner to get Kylie used to the water.  But, eventually she warmed up - like she does with everything else.  Johanna took a great picture of Kylie playing in one of the small fountains - I'll have to get that up here later.

Finally, we went out for ice cream last night.  This has got to be one of my favorite summertime activities.  Like her Mommy & Daddy, I'm pretty sure Kylie has a sweet tooth too, so I knew it would be a successful trip.  Kylie ate a great dinner, so I knew she was probably pretty full and I wasn't too concerned about her eating too much ice cream so close to bedtime.  Here's some decent shots taken from Kevin's iPhone.

I've been meaning to post these too - Kylie loves her food!

This was a couple of weeks ago, when I let her eat yogurt by herself :)

Ok, wait! I'm not done yet, (ha, ha): here's video of our favorite one-year-old eating corn on the cob - she's practically an expert! We're still tring to figure out, however, if she'll be a girl who eats in rows, or round in circles.  Based on this video, I'd say she's going for the popsicle method - top to bottom :)

And lastly, a serene photo that Daddy took of our kitty, Mr. Blue in our back yard.

Catching up...

Busy, Busy, Busy - First things first, lets run down our latest achievements:

Kylie is standing on her own, and even walking with help. Here's a video of when we first caught her attempting this feat.  Probably taken shortly after her birthday in May. 

 

Of course, since then she's been a lot more brave, and is standing, and stooping to pick things up - and is very steady.  We've tried to trick her into walking for us: Kevin and I will stand a few feet apart and tempt her to walk to one of us by holding out a favorite book or toy.  She goes for it, but trusts us enough to make a dive for it instead of stepping out on her own. 

 

She is communicating better.  We (I) have tried to teach her a few signs.  She clearly understands a lot, but gets a little whiny (okay, sometimes alot) when she wants something and we can't understand what she's asking for.  I definately believe that signing can help bridge that gap.  So far, she knows the signs for "Milk", and "More".

 

We're working on "Cookie" which she attempts to say, (she's says the "key" part) and I think she'll have the sign down by the weekend - especially if it means she gets a cookie everytime she gets the sign right :)

She had chocolate ice cream for the first time... and couldn't get enough.  I can't wait to get video of her first ice cream cone :)  Until then, here's one of her after dinner last night, trying her hardest to see if she can get any more ice cream out of the container... Its about 3 minutes long, and it may only be her parents that think its cute, but, oh well!

Well, she told you.

A funny thing happened last night...

We were sitting on the back porch eating the pizza we made (first time for Kylie - which she didn't seem overly enthusiastic about, but ate just the same). 

When Kylie starts to get "full" she starts pushing her plate around and getting fidgety. We are hoping to instill some patience and possibly some table manners in her over the next couple months before we go on vacation, because we're expecting to eat several meals out. Anyway, Daddy was being very patient, and when she would try to toss her plate, he would hold it down - look her in the eye - and say very sternly, "NO."

Now, I'm not too sure how much they actually get at this age, but I don't think we give her enough credit. We've noticed over the last few weeks that she clearly understands most of what we tell/ask/say to her, but the limitation is in what she is able to communicate to us. And sometimes she gets frustrated.  I don't know if its too late or not, but I can definately see a use for baby signing here.  But, that's beside the point...

So, after like the 10th time of Daddy telling her no, and moving her plate & cup away, she started flipping up her placemat.  So, again, Daddy looks her in the eye - points at her, and says, "NO".

Kylie did not hesitate this time; She looked him dead in the eye - pointed her finger at him, and said, "NO, NO!"

We immediately started cracking up.  Kylie wins this round.

Memorial Day Weekend... a week later

... was jam packed.  For starters, Mommy had a 4-day weekend; my regular furlow-Fridays, in addition to the Monday holiday.

Friday
Our weekly trip to Mother Goose on the Loose at the Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.  I noticed a significant change in Kylie's interaction in the program this week.  Overall, she was much more engaged.  She clapped her hands spontaneously, oohed and aahhed, and generally participated in more of the activities.  (I think it helped that she had been taking later naps, so she was more awake and alert).  She happily shook the maraccas that were handed out, and even helped put them away on her own. When Kelly goes around the room and lets the kids bang the syllables of their name on a drum - Kylie did it on her own.  In weeks past, I've had to hold her hand and show her how to do it.  They also have a felt board, and sing the "Humpty Dumpty" song, and let the kids take turns knocking Humpty off the wall.  When it was our turn, I held Kylie's hands and we walked over, and she daintily brushed him off the board onto the floor.  (She's such a girl, and it seems everything she does is "dainty").  But she did it.  I am such a proud Momma.

Saturday
We noticed this weekend that Kylie is now giving hugs & kisses on demand.  She seems more willing when she first wakes up.  If you ask her, "Can I have a Hug?", she throws her arms around your neck and rests her head on your shoulder.  Sometimes, she'll pat you on the back.  If you ask her, "Can I have a Kiss?", she comes at you face-first, mouth open and plants a big sloppy one right on the mouth.  (Since this initial discovery, we have learned to use these requests sparingly. Overuse has resulted in complete request denial)

Sunday
We had a picnic dinner with our neighbors, the Noe's/Dill's. Kylie always enjoys being social, and especially likes eating - no matter what the occasion.

Monday
Monday afternoon, we invited our neighbors (specifically Hanna, 9 mos) over to our house for a swim in the new mushroom pool. (The grown-ups got to play in the sprinkler).  Seemed like the girls (everyone) had a great time! They did some splashing, (so did we) and played harmoniously side by side for a while.  Then they each got tired of the pool and climbed around in the wagon - sharing sippee cups and water bottles, and pushing each other out of the way for the better seat - so sweet, (ha, ha). Once Kylie warmed up to Hanna's excited screeching, she decided to join in and for a few seconds I noticed the girls communicating back and forth in high pitched squeals. Good times.

FIRST BIRTHDAY BASH

Well, its happened - we "officially" have a toddler.

Kylie turned ONE on May 20th.  This fact altered my reality earlier that same week... I get these emails regularly about "your baby's development" - usually with the subject, "Your Baby: Month 8, week 2"... The lastest one had a new subject line, "My Toddler this week: Your One year old". Ugh.  How fast does time FLY???  Funny, its the one thing that everyone warns you about, "enjoy these days", and "they fly by"... they weren't kidding, and you don't believe it until she's sitting in your lap with green frosting on her face... next post I'll be blogging about handing her the car keys....

But back to recent news: The party was a complete success! And I have to pat ourselves on the back, Daddy and I had minimal pre-party spaz-outs, and even hi-fived each other a few times :)  Kylie was a pro too.  She took a great 2-hour nap, and woke up in time to let her Nannie Sue from Massachusetts feed her some lunch before all the guests arrived.

For the big day we sported some very girly pink coutoure sent by her Auntie Kristen, Uncle Graham (aka Uncle Cracker), and cousins Lexi & Brycen... a pink onesie with "Birthday Girl" on the front, a sparkly pink tu-tu, and a soft pink princess-crown with a silver number "1" on the front... to our astonishment, she loved the crown, and actually kept it on her head the entire time.  Here's the BEFORE picture:

Right on time, great-aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbors began to arrive - the back-yard was full in no time.  Kylie has always seemed to be a really social baby, and did great interacting with everyone.  I actually had to track her down a couple of times, not really sure where /or who had her at the moment.  Kylie's friend Hannah, (9 mos old), stopped by and shared some great pictures on her blog as well. 

Surprisingly, our girl was very dainty and very serious about the task of diving into her cake.  She tentatively poked at it a few times and examined the the icing stuck to her finger, but hesitating at the idea of putting it in her mouth.  So I took a fingerfull of frosting and held it up for her to taste - letting her know this was something that was OK for her do. Finally, it was Mommy that got impatient and took her hand and smushed it into the cake for her.  She seemed confused, but a little excited, and eventually, but ever so daintily began to go back for more tastes of that sweet new treat. Here's some of the most important pictures of the day, THE CAKE:

And here's some pictures of Kylie's biggest fans of the day:

After cake, we made a wardrobe change into another wildly girly brown dress with white polka dots and a poufy crinoline skirt.  (Another awesome purchase by Auntie K in MA :) )  I was worried at first how she would manage to crawl around with all that "pouf" but she's pretty determined and managed without any issues. Kylie got a lot of attention in this dress too, but maybe it was the brown color, (we unintentionally dress her in pink more often than I'd like ), she adopted a new nickname today, "Kevin in a dress"  Yes - I suppose she looks a little like her Daddy.  Hmmph. Here is where I direct you to a quote from a beloved sister-in-law, that has come up in conversation more than I can count over the past year - - - Yes, I did all of the work, and get none of the credit.  (My nephew after all, is the perfect "mini-me" to my brother, and barely resembles my sister-in-law at all)  I will  say though, regardless, we both made some damn-cute kids.

When the rain threatened to hit a couple of hours later, we I gave in to the pleadings of the younger guests of the party to open some gifts.  That was the only point of the party that got a little "hairy".  Maybe it was the witching hour of the day, or the excess of sugar and adrenaline that was coursing through their little bodies - but my biggest mistake was agreeing to let them help open gifts.  Thankfully, I had an entourage of experience mommies with me and they helped to corral the kiddos in - and (I think) we got all the right gifts written down with their correct gift-givers.  SO, needless to say, if you get your thank-you note, and I happen to reference something you didn't get - now you know the reason.  We are grateful just the same. We were and ARE completely overwhelmed with the generousity of all our friends and family.  Kylie got some really great and fun things.  I have to say though, that Kevin & I are having more fun playing with some of the new toys than Kylie is at the moment.

(Gift pictures still have to be uploaded - check back)

Needless to say, Kylie's first taste of sugar was hugely successful.  As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure it was that tasty cake-icing that kept her awake and surprisingly agreeable until well after 10pm.  We were even able to spend some QT over Skype (our ID is kka.freeman) with some family back in Massachusetts before the last of the sugar-rush wore off and she finally crashed... no doubt with dreams of giant pink frosted cupcakes.

bored ...

I'm posting right now totally and completely out of boredom - this is brutal.  longest day ever. ugh.

To kill time, I've been reading other people's blogs - i was inspired by one, which I'm now starting to follow.  The writer has a very positive, spiritual message and definately relates to new moms, motherhood and relationships in general.  In one of her posts in particular, she refers to her daughter as "her very own little Buddha".  Which could not be closer to the truth for me - Kylie is barely talking and already, I am so inspired by her innocence and authenticity.  Its the simple things in life that give her joy - we could all use a lesson like that.

As I think of it, here are some of Kylie's "joys", (and ours too) :)

• Our kitty, Mr. Blu.  She calls for him from the moment she wakes up, "Owww" (her version of meow)
• cheerios, (or Joe's O's)
• the first time she sees mommy or daddy in the morning
• swinging
• her books
• being silly with daddy
• singing songs with mommy after bathtime, while we lotion her up and put pj's on
• waving her fingers and saying "hi" when her hand pops through her sleeve
• maggie the puppy (x2 - we bought a back-up, 'just in case')
• bedtime snuggle bear (need to get a back-up of this guy)
• babies