#1 of Kaylynn's Top Ten - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

#1 is brought to you by:

KAYLYNN-ISMS

Now, these aren't Kaylynn's favorites - these are her Mommy and Daddy's favorites - favorite things that Kaylynn says or does. We're just going to do this in list form to keep it simple.

1. "Shake your booty" She says this while shaking her booty. Brian started singing, "shake, shake, shake. shake, shake, shake. shake your booty" to her and it stuck.

2. "Ohhh, snap." Sometimes Brian likes to say things just to hear what it sounds like if she says it. This was one of them. But she still says it.

3. "Oh, Come ON!" Let's just say Mommy got a little bit of road rage one day and spoke very loudly to the car in front of them. Now, every time a car isn't moving, she'll say, "Oh, come on!" (I specifically used nice words though!!)

4. "Pappap in Louisinana" Her Pappap has been working in Lousiana for a while now, back and forth, and every time she would go to her grandparent's house, she'd ask where Pappap was. Grandma always told her, "Pappap's in Louisana." It got to the point if you asked her where he was, she's always tell you "Louisinana".

4. "Ohio" Ask her where Gigi lives and she'll tell you "Ohio". If you ask who else lives in Ohio, she'll say "Aunt Melissa, Uncle Angelo, Cousin Anthony, and Cousin Dominic. No Uncle Mike Aunt Donna."

5. "Dump Trash" and "Feed the cows" At Meese and Papa's house they have a mule (you know, one of those Kawasaki gator riding things). Papa uses his mule to dump trash and feed cows. Now, Kaylynn loves to go on a ride. She is content as long as she's going somewhere (she gets that from me...always wanted to be going somewhere. She gets the wanting to drive part from her daddy). Every time we go to my parents, she says "Papa dump trash." So he takes her on a ride to dump trash. See, she likes doing chores!

6. "Open Sesame!" Speaking of dumping trash, in order to do so, they have to go through the gate. Once they hit that magic spot where it detects a vehicle, Kaylynn goes "Open Sesame!" Then she tells Nash (the dog) to "GO HOME, NASH!"

7. "BIG Truck" It used to be that we just spotted trucks and would say "truck". Then Grandma and Grandpap got a new truck. It's bigger than their last one, so Kaylynn started in on "BIG Truck." She points out all 18-wheelers, full-sized trucks, moving vans, etc as "BIG Trucks". Emphasis on the big. She's also quick to tell you if she sees a tractor on a trailer, "No big truck. That's tractor." Grandma keeps telling her that her daddy is going to buy her a Corvette one day (HA! If by Corvette you mean Ford Focus), but I think Kaylynn is going to push for a BIG truck.

8. "Papa yike Jimmy Buffett" If you know anything about my parents, you know they are Parrot Heads. Yes, it's true. I can admit it. So much so that they travelled to Paris with their friends, M & K, to see him. Brian and I were supposed to go, but turns out, you can't fly when you're 8 months pregnant. M & K will forever been grateful to "Paris Ben". [l-r, JB (The Man, The Myth, The Legend), MM, Dad, Random Yellow Shirt Guy]
I digress...this is about Kaylynn. One day when we were driving, I was flipping through channels on XM and hit Margaritaville. The song "Margaritaville" was on and Kaylynn said, "That's Jimmy Buffett." I was floored. We told her that Papa liked Jimmy Buffett. Now, whenever she hears a man singing on the radio, she'll either say (if it really is him) "That's Jimmy Buffett" and if it's not him, "That's no Jimmy Buffett." A lot of times, she will ask who it is, and just last night, when we listened to "Anything like Me, she said, "That's No Jimmy Buffett." I said, "That's right, who is singing this?" Her reply, "Brad Paisley". No lie. (In case you didn't know, Brad Paisley does sing that song.)

9. "Dada get Kayin. Mama get Ben." This is her car mantra. She is making it known to the world that it is Mama's responsibility to get Ben and Daddy's to get Kaylynn. Mind you, when we're all in the car together, Ben rides behind Daddy and Kaylynn rides behind Mama, so it would be easier for Mama to get "Kayin" but the Daddy's girl that she is, only wants him (unless he's not there, then she wants Meese, or Grandma, or whoever else is riding shotgun). That girl sure does love her Daddy.

10. "I get Gus." Kaylynn and her Daddy have a thing they like to do together - chase the dog. It consists of Kaylynn getting in her red wagon and Daddy pushes her (at a really fast speed) throughout the house, chasing Gus. Gus hates it. He thinks I'm his safe zone, but when I call him over, it's really because they are there waiting to "get him" again. Kaylynn does the deepest belly laugh (the kind of laugh she gets when she sees her Pappap for the first time in a long time - sheer happiness) and could ride in that wagon for hours.

And just for the record books, right now - you can say your ABC's (for the most part), count to fourteen (no idea why to fourteen), tell us when you need a diaper change (whether you will or not is the big question - when can we potty train you?!), help us feed Gus, yell at Zoe to get down, recently started sucking on your pointer finger, help us around the house, hate to take a bath, love to eat beans, yogurt, and cheese, love to test us, are strong-willed, determined, independent (yet dependent all at the same time), lovable, sweet, and the most beautiful little girl in the entire world.

We're so glad you survived your second trip around the sun with us and we're so glad you are our baby girl! Happy 2nd Birthday, Kaylynn! We love you!