Christmas, Part One

K. playing with a puzzle she received. She played with everything as she opened it (or opened with assistance from Mom or Dad--have you seen what kind of packaging toys come in these days?!)"Check...check...is this thing on?""I love my new baby!"
K. carrying around her baby. She has done this nearly non-stop since Christmas.
"Why are you in the way of my baby and stroller?""Outta my way. It's my turn."

"What? You would have done it too."
Sitting on the steps at Christmas--we're hoping to make a tradition of taking a picture the same place every year.

No More Monkeys

Before opening presents, K. and her cousin M. had a good time jumping on the bed.

Christmas, Part Two

For the second part of Christmas, we spent time at my parents' house. Here K. is, rocking next to Great-Grandpa.K. reading a book to her baby. It is not infrequent that she will pick up both a doll and a book together.Having a tea party with Grandma J. "Does the salad fork go toward the inside or outside?"
K. was so excited to see a doll set up in a high chair for her to play with. When she first spotted it, she just stood and stared, then picked up the little sippy cup and put it to the doll's mouth. After that, she fed the doll with the spoon. She was occupied with that playing for quite a while.In the car on the way home, her doll kept her company.

The family (my Mom's side):

Merry Christmas!

Sugar Plum Fairy

The Nutcracker was on TV today and, while we don't typically allow K. to watch things, we thought she'd enjoy this. She did like watching the dancing and did, of course, like the music (though I've never seen anyone shake their backside to Tchaikovsky). K. wore her tutu.

Here K has learned how to twirl:

And another (sorry it is sideways):

Then she was all tuckered out and just sat to watch the ending:

Secret Drawer

Remember the previous episode with the Kleenex? I thought I had put all of them out of reach, but I was wrong. I had a box in the top drawer of her nightstand, and took the knobs off so she (theoretically) couldn't open the drawers. I discovered that she had, at some point, taken the kleenex out of the box in the top drawer and put them all in the third drawer--totally random. The drawer was completely full of Kleenex!

Here, Dad, I have plenty. I can share.

Bell Ringer

I think that K. actually has learned to anticipate the ending. What do you think?

Ho, Ho, Ho

What does Santa say? "Oh, oh, oh."

Wintry Wednesday

It was cold and blustery outside today, thus we remained inside the house and played. We played with Little People, plastic cups, links, a doll, the piggy bank, several books, singing snowmen, and colored with crayons. Mom is exhausted but the little one took a nap this afternoon and is feelin' good.

A week ago, K. turned 17 months--almost a year and a half old! She's got a few words in her vocabulary (ball, baby, doll, hi, ma (more), da (play the singing snowmen again, please)) as well as many animal noises (dog, cat, sheep, and she was working on pig this morning). She also seems to say "wow" and "oh" in the appropriate context. Sometimes it sounds like she repeats exactly what we say or says entire sentences (like "I did it") and we're not sure if it's a coincidence or not.

They Call Her Swiffer

It's never too early for children to help out at home! Maybe if we make it a habit now there will be less fighting about it when she's older.

Future Artist?

K. has started to color with crayons (washable, of course). She mostly stays on the paper, but I have the table covered just in case. Perhaps she will have an artistic future.

Saying Grace

K. and I were playing with her dishes and "setting" the table. She was playing happily, so I left her for a moment to send an email. When I turned back around, she had gotten up into her chair and had her hands folded and was talking--she knew to say a prayer before eating! And I thought she didn't pay any attention to her dad and me. I guess it's true that she really is a little sponge and takes in everything we say or do.

Jumpin' Jumper

Why is K. so happy? Because she's wearing a one-of-a-kind dress.
When I visited my parents for Thanksgiving, Mom and I went through her old fabric and I found this great wool that had been used for a suit jacket. I decided K. needed a grey wool jumper.

I Heart Carharts

Since Dad wears his all of the time, I got K. a matching pair of Carharts.

Hello, Dolly!

K. was playing quietly in her room, so I peeked in to see what she was up to. I found her playing with her dolls and their blankets, and saw that she had carefully laid out a blanket and put the doll on it. She played like this for a long time. Who knows? Perhaps she'll be the nurturing one of the family. While playing, we were listening to some Christmas music. One of them had been recorded live, and the audience applauded at the end. As is her custom, K. stopped what she was doing for the moment and joined in with the clapping:

Holy Molars

If you look closely, you can see that K's first set of molars has come in.

In unrelated news, K's actually started talking! She still makes her animal sounds, but has added the words ball, baby, and doll to her vocabulary.

Since We've No Place to Go

K. got to experience a snowfall, and she loved it! She doesn't seem to mind the coldness, and loved the feeling of the snowflakes hitting her face. She smiled the entire time she was outside.

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! We spent the holiday at K's Grandparents L, and even got to spend some time with Aunt J (who, fortunately for the rest of us, is an excellent chef!). K. spent plenty of time running around and playing, and it was even nice enough to take a walk to the park and play one afternoon. Dad and Grandpa watched high school football in the basement, but since K's not allowed to watch TV, she mostly partook in reading during her down time.
Another fun activity is that K. learned how to climb into the K-sized rocking chair. She also learned to make it rock back and forth. She spent huge amounts of time just getting into and out of the chair.

Lap Happy

K's Grandma J. had surgery a few weeks ago and is still recovering. Grandma was worried about K. wanting to be picked up and playing rough, especially since K doesn't really have the vocabulary understanding for us to explain everything to her. We didn't need to worry. Like the way some animals know if there's something wrong, it seemed that K could intuit that Grandma wasn't at 100%. K, who likes to run around and be busy busy busy, sat in Grandma's lap and played quietly with toys and read many many books.
They both had a great time!

Turkey Sunday

On the way to and from Grandma and Grandpa L's house, we stopped and saw Grandma and Grandpa A. Here K. is on Grandpa's lap, hanging out either just before or just after church (I can tell since she's dressed up).

The doll that Grandpa is using to tickle K was purchased earlier in the week. Since K learned how to point, she's been pointing at everything. While shopping with Grandma, K pointed at the doll in the store. Grandma handed to doll to K, and K wouldn't give her up (even to pay--Grandma had to get another one to give the cashier to ring up). Ah, K has learned the fine art of manipulation at such a young age.

I Want to Ride

My biiii-cycle, biiii-cycle, biiii-cycle... It is not apparent in the photos, but K. is actually propelling herself forward!

Looney Ballooney

What could possibly make K. this happy? Balloons, of course.
I hosted a baby shower and had a couple of balloons that remained after the shower. After B. tormented the dogs with them, K. had a chance to play with them, and Loved It! She could hold them by the string and carry them around, and even switch hands so she had both strings in one hand.

The most exciting thing, though, is what conspired while she was on my lap with the blue balloon. The green balloon was in the room with us but she was not holding it. K. specifically looked at the green balloon and pointed to it while making sure I was watching her. She wanted me to notice it and get it for her. This might not seem like a big deal, but to her pediatrician and pediatrician friend, this is a very important milestone. Take note and celebrate!

Nude Nap

Conversation from Saturday afternoon:

B: "Did you put K. down for her nap without clothes on?"

J: "No."

B: "And with no diaper?"

J: "Certainly not."

B: "Then she figured out how to undress herself."

J: "She didn't poop, did she?"
B: "No."

J: "Thank goodness!"

"Look at my clothes down there. I'm free as a bird!"

Morning o' Fun

K. has a lot of toys, so in order to keep things interesting, I try to rotate them. To a kid, a new toy is a fun toy, regardless of the toy itself or intended age, or even if it really is a toy (K. is reading my college alumni magazine as I write this--yikes, she pulled out the donation envelope from the middle. Hope she doesn't get ahold of my checkbook and send a blank check).

Since she comes out into the playroom in the morning, I've been trying recently to take a toy she hasn't really played with in a while, and set it on the table as something "new" for her to "discover." I stacked one of her stackers the other morning, and she was so delighted to see it--just look at her smile!

And here is a random photo of a smile. I don't remember what caused this one, but I just take pictures and ask questions later.

I'm Not Your Stepping Stone

From a friend, I got the idea of letting K. use a step stool to get up to chairs she couldn't reach well on her own. I put a little step by her table and chairs, and she spent an entire morning practicing.

"Step up..."

"Turn around and back down we go." [Note: she would get all of the way up on the chair and sit, then climb down, but the other photos just weren't that interesting. Not that these are thrilling, but the others were even less interesting.]

Stripey Sunday

I am a big fan of cute, patterned tights, and K. wore a pair today to church. They match her shirt, which I am always in favor of. She was at church twice today--we had an anniversary celebration this evening, and she did great (since we didn't have to put her in the nursery). I only had to be away from her for a couple of songs and there was a meal. K. loves to eat, and sat nicely with me the rest of the time. We spent a little time playing with D., one of the cutest little guys I've met (he's probably 5), and K. was smitten as well. He handed her fake leaves from the table decorations, and she collected a bundle of them. Neither of them stopped grinning (I know--my daughter who spent the entire morning at church scowling)

Ride the Painted Pony

We were at a mall today with K's Grandparents A and her aunt/uncle/cousins to take a large family photo. After pictures, we ate at the food court where there is a double-decker carousel. She (and I, who is obstructed by her and the rabbit in the photo) took a ride on it. She was terrified just before riding, as a large cow (ChickFilA mascot) came up behind her. Let's just say she wasn't feelin' it and had no interest in the freakishly large creature. Once the cow left, we were fine and went around and around.

Weekly Reader

After her (our) Sunday afternoon nap, K. was ready to do some reading.