Admiring Shoes

"I'll sit in such a way that you can admire my adorable shoes."

Avid Reader

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but K. has been spending more and more time in her room looking at books. She also has a longer attention span when she is being read to. "Look, if you're going to talk to the dog next to you, I'll stop reading. Pay attention."

If the Shoe Fits

"Oover, UNder, arROUND the tree..."

Walk This Way

No explanation needed:

Happy Shopper

K. with her new shopping cart. She pushed it around the living room today and put blocks into the cart, then took them back out again. K. has also gotten much better at standing. She can, while standing, bend over and pick something up, then stand back up. Today I saw her stand all of the way up without pulling up on something.
This is just a random photo.

Doggy Playdate

The dogs have been a little jealous: since K. was born, all of the play dates have been for her. I had a friend and her two pooches over, and the dogs had such a great time! They romped in the back yard, romped inside, lounged, snacked, and got along really well. Once K. woke up from her nap, she joined them in the living room.

The dogs in their down stays--our trainer (we go to the same one) would be so proud!

And we were able to get all four of them to "pen up" together in the crate--crazy!

New Favorite Sound

The newest sound that K. likes to make is a "ligglegigglegiggle" with her tongue. She does it near the end of this video. Sorry about the terrible videography--K. is very interested in grabbing the camera.

Indiscriminate Mama

K. has an increasing repertoire of sounds that she makes, and stumbles upon words at times. Here she is saying "Mama," though rather indiscriminately.

After Midnight...

...you've gotta shake your tambourine

Influential Friend

Dear A.S.:

Thanks for the tip about the farm animals.

~K.

See K's inspiration at http://stahranecdotes.blogspot.com/2008/08/few-alex-anecdotes.html

One Giant Leap for Mankind

On My Agenda Today

By K.

1. Pretend like toy animals are cars
2. Drive animals around on table
3. Throw animals, one by one, to the floor
4. Make Mom really, really excited that she was taping
5. Play with the barn

Texture Hater

This picture doesn't have anything to do with my post for the day, but you can see how focused K. is on her task at hand. I'm not really sure what that is, as she didn't explain it to me, but she sure is focused.

K. really has a thing about textures--mostly disliking certain ones. She won't usually crawl on grass or concrete (which makes those ideal places to practice walking, but I digress). When we were at our friends' house on Sunday, she got some sand on her hands from the sandbox, and she kept brushing them together to try to get it off (it was actually very cute, but I pitied her and wiped it off for her with a wet paper towel).

So we had tacos for dinner Monday night, and I gave her some of the meat and some tomatoes, no problem. Instead of cutting up a cheese stick for her, though, I gave her shredded cheese (since B. and I were having that on our tacos). She put some of it in her mouth (it had stuck to the tomatoes), then spent the next several minutes trying to wipe it off of her tongue and off of her bib and off of her hands and off of her tray. I totally feel that--if I get something icky on my hands (or feet, for that matter), it becomes all-consuming until removed. I will, however, eat shredded cheese.

Later that night (it's late while I write this, so it was actually tonight), she played one of her new favorite games, which is the "Stack Things On K's Big Toe" game. The objects that stack may vary, but the objective is always the same:

And Dreaming

"Peek-a-boo!"

Texting

"How RU? IM fine. CYAL8R!"

Dewdrops on Roses

Before bed tonight, K. was clowning around quite a bit. She did manage, in all of that, to make a collection of her current favorites: part of a stacker, her tote bag, and (perhaps regrettably) a drumstick.

Get Down

K. likes to sit on chairs and couches, so her dad taught her the technique for turning around to get down (rather than going head first). Here she demonstrates it:

"Yeah, man, that's cool."

Fun in the Sunday

We had dinner tonight at with some friends. It was fun (and delicious), and their kids are great with K. She always takes several minutes to warm up, but after her initial uncertainty (and dinner) she had a great time playing and chatting with her friends.

K. with her friends. Someday she, too, will learn to smile on command.

K. and L., playing at the kitchen. K. goofing around with S., who is so sweet with her. You can tell what a good time K. had!
Playing on the climber in the back yard. K. doesn't climb yet, but she loves wandering around and investigating. She also opened and closed the yellow door (behind her in the photo) about one hundred times.

Bowled Over

This afternoon we went bowling and out for dinner with some great friends of ours. This was K's first time bowling, and she really liked watching the ball roll down the lane. She spent much of the time walking around with our friend J--they looked at so many fun things, practiced walking, and pretended to drive at the arcade. K, jealous that she doesn't have nifty shoes like Dad:
"Don't let them roll me down the lane by mistake, Mama!"

Smiley Saturday

"Cheese...how much longer do I have to smile, Mama? My cheeks are starting to hurt. Hurry up and take the picture."

Tote-tastic

For the record, I am perfectly willing to admit that I have somewhat of an obsession with tote bags (really with any sort of luggage). K. likes to put things in containers and take them out again, so I thought it was high time that she had her own tote bag. She really likes the tote (imagine that). And, if you've ever met my mom, you'll know where K. and I get our obsession from.

Nice.

Here is a post to shamelessly toot our own horn: B. made a great instrument rack for me, and I wanted to show it off on the blog. I needed a nice place to store my instruments, and this rack does the trick. So, um, yeah, here's a photo of K. Really. That's why this post is here--to show another photo of the little one.

Little Drummer Girl

"Gotta focus...must...get...this...right"

We Be Jammin'

K. got a new pair of PJs. They're quite cute (in my opinion) so I let her wear them this morning when we were playing.

Teriffic Twin Times

K's friends A. and E. came over today--they're twins, and just over a month older than K. She had so much fun playing with them, and they were, of course, great with her because they're used to being with other kids. We had lunch and played until nap time, and I was proud that K. seemed to interact well.

Two out of three isn't bad for a photo taken just before nap time:

K. with E. trying to decide what book to read. K. is standing up with the help of her bookcase; her friends are both walking so I think she watched them and took notes.

K. and A. at the kitchen counter:

K. and E. playing with the set of squeaky eggs:

Saturday Visitors

Grandma and Grandpa L. came for a visit today. We had a great time playing, though I didn't grab my camera until just before nap time (thus the sleepy little one). Grandpa playing "this little piggy" with K:
Blue eyes run in the family:

Ring, Ring

"I know--can you believe it? I just had to call and tell you: I've started to do imitative play and it's such an exciting milestone!"

Climb Time

All the way up...all by herself.

Future Pianist?

You should hear the wonderful (modern) songs that K. composes on the fly! She really enjoys the piano, so perhaps we'll force her to take lessons when she's a little bit older. Of course, she'll have trouble with the pedals for a couple of years...

Vroom, Vroom

Whenever K. plays with her Little People school bus, she makes a "vvvvvv" sound, like the "vroom, vroom" that Mom makes while pushing it around. Here's a video of her playing. Oh, and she waves at you at the end!

P.S. Guess who can crawl up an entire flight of stairs by herself? (Don't worry, I was right behind her.)

Future Cheerleader?

Is K. a potential cheerleader? She didn't seem to mind wearing the outfit, and if she gets Dad's genes she'll be athletic.
She might have to go somewhere other than Purdue, though, as gold isn't a good color for K.

Shifting Gears

K. is playing with a toy that has actual spinning gears. It is from a friend who went to Purdue, so it is only fitting that she is sporting Perdueware while playing with it. "Is this the same color as the one in my other hand?"

I Know A Little Girl

Just to show K's hair--this is how curly it is when fresh from a bath!

Monday Morning Exhaustion

K. had a jam-packed weekend (see previous posts) and was ready for her nap pretty early on Monday morning. The following photos were taken in a span of only a few minutes: Here she is, happily dropping a cup down the slide.
Still with the cup...
A little less energy this time...
So tired she can't support her head on her own.

First Comes Love

Although several experienced moms and dads have told me that I actually want to discourage walking, K. got a new toy to encourage it. It's a doll carriage (or buggy) and I like it because it's quite sturdy and she can put things in it and push them around. I put the doll in for her, as a suggestion, and she later added a small red ball and an animal bowling pin. She did catch on to the pushing and walking thing, though, which makes me quite proud.
(And you can admire her cute dress again).