I have decided to award myself with something most fitting: World's Crappiest Blogger! Yay!
Do I have an excuse? No, unfortunately not. I wish I had some amazing story but the truth is, I just haven't put the time nor energy in.
I look back on my previous blog posts and realize I haven't truly written about anything worth reading in quite awhile. Hopefully that's about to change.
Things here have been ... well, changing. Life has become so FUN.
Kaleigh still remains a very sweet, easy going girl, but she is definitely coming out of her shell. She is getting to the point now where she has opinions and knows it, which, has been fun to watch. She still is really good about not giving me the "No!" response I hear other toddlers give their parents, but she will sometimes look at me with a sly little smirk when asked to do something, and will need a second asking.
She has finally taken an interest in climbing and running, all of which I knew was coming. It's a riot to watch her run, especially when she runs into our room and face plants onto our bed (which is a Japanese style on the floor). She likes to make noises as she runs and her cheeks bounce up and down as she goes! I love it! She loves climbing up onto her trunk full of books with her mic in hand and singing along to "American Idol" or any other singing show that may be on TV at the time. She then asks for "More" when it's over. It's ridiculously cute.
When wearing anything with letters on it, Kaleigh will begin reciting letters and pointing to them. She loves to try and sing her ABC's, even though she can only get to "C." She also has taken a high interest in trying to count things - anything. When playing with her blocks, she'll say "Three, seven, nine.."
Coloring has also become a favorite of my kid's, and she's still ambidextrous. Brian is left handed as is his dad, and I'm right, so it'll be interesting to see which hand she ends up choosing. She loves to color and even holds her crayons correctly, which is amazing in itself! She colored on Valentines for her family and some of her little toddler friends and was extremely pleased with herself for doing so.
My girl has become such a girly girl! She loves trying on shoes and clothes. She asks for "Ponies" in her hair and bows. She points to things she wants in the store and says "Buy?" For example: We had a few snow days and had chosen not to go out. My husband had to go look at a job across the street from Fred Meyer's, so we all went, and I took Kaleigh to look at the toys inside Freddy's. (Something we do on a weekly basis since I do my grocery shopping there). Well, they had set out their clearance shoes from Christmas season, and, needless to say, we didn't even make it to the toys. Kaleigh was in HEAVEN trying on all of the shoes and asked to buy a pair of purple Twinkle Toe shoes. She put them on and was dancing around the store to the point where people were stopping to watch her. Of course, Brian saw this, and caved in and bought them. Good thing they were on clearance ;) She loves them and wears them all the time.
I love all of the above. Watching her grow and form these opinions and personality traits has been such a blast. She understands so much now, and not only simple basics, but processes. For example, the other night we baked a funfetti cake together. The second ever and it had been about a month and a half since we'd cooked the last one, but Kaleigh knew to get her whisk and sprinkles from her play kitchen out to prepare.
This summer is going to be insanely fun with the swingset up and all of the outdoor activities we can do now that she's walking. I am so pumped!
At her 18 month checkup (which really was at 19 months because she kept getting sick with ear infections), she was 34" and 28.8 lbs which is 75%. This makes me happy - she has slowed down in her growing to where she has been wearing clothes for awhile! This makes one happy Mama, as I can now give in and buy the $20 shirt and not wonder if she'll only wear it once and then be done with it. Seemed like such a waste when I did that when she was little.
We are still co-sleeping. Call us crazy. Co-sleeping is something we never thought we'd do. We usually don't publicly offer that we co-sleep because we don't like having to feel like we need to explain ourselves, but, being that I am choosing to put it out there, I'll explain:
Kaleigh was 4.5 weeks early. She had Jaundice, and was hospitalized after birth. She slept in a bassinet for about 3 days, and then hated it. Went from sleeping soundly to screaming in it. It was Brian's bassinet, so it was an older wicker bassinet with wheels on the bottom. The doctor thought she maybe had a bit of reflux since she was formula fed due to my severe pre-eclampsia. We couldn't elevate the bassinet and she HATED the crib, which, the doctor also said was probably because she was preemie and hated the open space. Long story short, she ended up in her carseat. It was snug and it kept her upright, so, from very early on, she slept right next to me and I knew her state of being at all times. She saw my face when she woke up and never shed a tear. Four months rolled around, and, she outgrew her car seat. She slept until 10 AM, and we had only tried the crib a couple of times since. She still hated her crib. She ended up in a co-sleeper in between my husband and me, which was propped up and slowly we took the incline away until she slept in it soundly. We figured she was used to our room and being with us that changing her place of sleep, her room, and not seeing us would be too dramatic of a change. Of course, she never left our bed. So, here we are, at 20 months and still co-sleeping. The funny thing? We love it. Still. She sleeps in until 10 (at least) and we are still under the "Why fix what's not broken" rule. Are we crazy? Maybe, but it's what my husband I feel is best for us at the moment, even though she's almost two. I love having her wake up and snuggle right on my chest in the morning. I turn on Sesame Street and we just snuggle there and take our time waking up. I love knowing her state at all times still, even though she's older. We do have a plan to get her out of our bed eventually, but for now, we're still letting her sleep with us, at least until the addition is done and she gets a new room because we'll all be getting new rooms and new beds! Woo Hoo! I sort of feel like moving her will be like potty training for most kids: it will happen when she's ready and when it's supposed to.
Speaking of potty, my kid is still going #2 on the potty and I really need to sit down and see if she's ready to train. I just bought her Gerber training pants tonight from Target, as she seems to be into undies (she already has a few pairs I picked up on clearance from various places). It's just a matter of actually taking the time and motivation and patience to sit down and stay home with her and give it a go. It's definitely on the list of things to do.
So, there you have it. Hopefully this was enough of a novel to read to somewhat makeup for my absence. I promise I will try and be better about blogging. (Key word: Try)
All in all, I'm still loving parenthood and motherhood and am excited for what the future holds:
1) Our addition to our house happening in Spring 2012. We are adding a second story onto our dinky rambler to give it some value and hopefully be able to refinance. Our goal is to be OUT of this house in 3 years. Wish us luck....
2) More adventures with the family, especially as the weather gets nicer. We bought a humungous swingset for our yard (23 feet long complete with tunnel slide and all), which will be a BLAST to play on. Hiking? Definitely. Camping? Hopefully. The Fair? HELL YES, Kaleigh will be old enough to go on rides this year!!!!!
3) Baby McKee #2 has been a Hot Topic in conversation as of late between us. More on that later... (No, I'm not pregnant).
4) Possible trip to Minnesota this summer. This is huge - it will be Kaleigh's first time meeting alot of her second cousins! I am really hoping we can make it happen, it all depends on whether or not our addition is done and if Brian can escape from work. My cousin is getting married and we'd love to be there for the special day! If not, we will tentatively plan a trip with my brother and his wife and their kids so we can all cruise back and invade the town! Lookout!
So there ya have it. My life in a nutshell.
I'd say I'm pretty much winning all around, even if I also am winning at being a Sucky McSuckerson at blogging. I still feel pretty good!!!!
It blows my mind to think she used to lay there at one point and not even be able to turn over.
