Weekend Wrapup

This weekend, we visited Grandma and Grandpa A, and K. had fun playing and enjoying all of the attention. We went to a festival and walked around. There were so many fun things to see! These photos are random and mostly unrelated--the dress is a cute one that we bought this weekend. It's too big for her now (it's for next spring) but she was able to wear it to church this morning anyway.
There is something enticing about driving a car...

Under the Climber

I've put K's Little People farm in the 'playhouse' area under her climber, and she loves sitting under there and playing. She'll play for much longer than I think her attention span is, even.

Puppy Love

K. has always liked the dogs (and will "bark" if you ask her what dogs say). She has been carrying a doll around a lot recently. I think she's having the doll pet the dog, too:

Too Too Cute

I am in another one of my crafty phases, so I made K. a tutu to wear. She's maybe a little young for dress-up, but I wanted to try one anyway. She really liked to wear it (sorry, K. senior) and walked around with it on all morning. It didn't even get in the way of her climbing--or her drumming!
"Peekaboo!"

Climb and Hide

K. got a new climber that she uses in her playroom upstairs. She climbs the stairs and plays on the platform forever. She likes to play peek-a-boo over the edges. Here she is peeking out from the side. She loves it! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa L.!

Great Grand-Tuesday

We visited K's Great Grandpa for lunch today, and even got to see Aunt J. The weather was beautiful, so we spent a little time outside, too.
Pardon how strangely I'm standing in this photo--I was making the cow rock with one of my feet. K had fun riding the cow at the restaurant at which we ate.

Sunglass Stylin'

"This is what cool looks like!"

Four Generations

A Swingin' Good Time

K. went to the park with her friend L. on Thursday. There was only one baby swing, so the girls shared! The walk to and from the park was brutal--it's pretty short but there is a serious hill involved. I almost needed to have K. push me up the hill, but we made it, and it was worth it! K., enjoying outside:

Percussive Hazards

K. has been wielding her drumsticks with a bit too much of a carefree attitude..."Ouch, I hit myself in the head."

Walka Walka

Though she only started walking a week or so ago, K. walks nearly exclusively now. Even when she's playing with a toy, she often stands up and bends over at the waist.

As a result of all of her hard work, I realized today that I see much more of her diaper as her pants sag around her waist. I don't know that she's lost actual weight, but I think she is slimming down (like everyone said kids do) as a result of all of the extra work she's doing. I think I'm going to have to take tucks in more of her pants!

Block Head

Here is a photo of K. stacking two blocks together. Another milestone reached! Assuming her normal position of wanting to stand all of the time and bending just so she can reach her toys:

Park it Here

We went to a park this afternoon with a playground. We climbed on all of the equipment and went down the tornado slide (K. on my lap--she's not quite ready to do that on her own yet). There were 'lots of steps, which she liked, and plenty to hold on to. Once we'd been there a while, a couple of kids came (a younger sister and older brother). They were running and chasing each other, and K. was so thrilled! She'd laugh every time the kids were nearby or whenever they'd smile at her. And I let her do a lot of the walking unassisted. She's really figuring it out!
Sometime I'll have to have someone take a video of her walking up steps--she takes the most giant steps I've seen, and it's hillarious! She thinks it's hillarious, too, as she laughs most of the time she's doing it.
On our way out, we walked by the tennis courts and a couple of guys were playing tennis. She was pretty intrigued by that, so perhaps tennis will be her sport of choice.

In other news, K. can successfully stack a block on top of another block! She's done it a couple of different times now, with different blocks, so I know it's not a fluke.

From Zero to Sixty

It seems like the day after K. learns something, she's a pro. She sat up unassisted one day, for moments at a time, then the next day could sit indefinitely. Here's a video of some walking today at the church--we were there for a playgroup in the morning, and then I stayed to get some work done. She walked around for a while before we left.

Beach Baby

K. had her first visit to a beach this Labor Day. She sat politely on the towel, but was really looking forward to getting in the water.

Lake Baby

K. had her first experience swimming in P. Lake this weekend. As we expected she might, She Loved It. We let her sit in the shallow water, wade in the water (while we held her hands), and we splashed around with her in the deeper water.
K. and her dad splashing near the shore:

Naughty Baby

K. was playing quietly in her room, which she does often. Suddenly I realized that she was being too quiet--a bad quiet--a "gotten into something that's off limits" quiet. I quickly entered her room to find K., surrounded by the contents of an entire box of Kleenex. She was having a blast, removing the sheets of facial tissue one-by-one from the box and was completely engrossed in her task. She had pulled the box off of her dresser--I didn't realize she could reach it. "Oh, hey Mom. Would you like one?"
So I get to spend my evening putting tissues, one-by-one, back into the box.

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.