Storytime with Kaylynn

There hasn't been a dedicated Kaylynn post in a while, and I want to remember her cute little quirks.

Right now, Kaylynn is into her blocks (legos). She and Daddy have a grand ol' time building and building and building. It's funny to watch, because she like to match the colors together. Sometimes she even likes to wear fun hats while she builds.

Lately, she has been sounding more and more like a little person instead of a babbling toddler. We can have conversations and she'll answer questions and ask questions, then answer her own questions. She'll tell us about her day, what she saw at the airport, who she played with, etc. Funny thing is you can't always believe her; she just says something to say something.

Jingle Bells is her song of the moment. In February. Yup.

She loves stickers, yogurt, cheese, chocolate (the only 2 year old at a party who finished her entire piece of cake and ice cream cup...no one else had the attention span that she did), being outside, reading, HEB (yes, the grocery store), kicking a ball (she's quite good), the park, hearts, and the color yellow.

At 26 months, she's definitely in the heart of the "two's". She melts down at the drop of a hat, for reasons we don't know. She hates being told "no" (who doesn't) and will usually tell us "Don't say no, Moms."

HEB story - When we go on a car ride, the first thing she asks is if we're going to HEB. If we're not, she'll say, "We're going to Target?" If we are going to HEB, she starts talking about what color car she wants to ride in. If we drive past HEB, she'll tell us to turn "here". When we ask her which direction "here" is, she replies, "left." I'm not sure if she really knows her left and right, but when we ask her which way is which, she gets the answer right (haha!) more often than wrong.

She's loved reading since I can remember, but lately, she's getting really good at doing her own "reading". I know it's really just memorization, but dang, she's good! She doesn't have to hear a story more than a couple of times before she can tell it back to you. Don't believe me? Watch the video below for Kaylynn's rendition of "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".


And lastly, some fun photos.

4 Months!!

Benjammin, again, another monthly milestone and another tardy Mama!

You began your 4th month by being diagnosed with Type A & B flu! The Saturday doc said that it's rare when someone gets them both at one time, but you tested positive for both and handled it like a champ. You battled some fever off and on for a few days while we and your pedi thought it was reflux/shot related congestion, but we were all wrong.

Good news about it is we finally found a formula that works for you. Man alive, you're a happier baby now. You are not near as congested sounding, and we've reduced your reflux meds to just one time a day. We actually did this accidentally, as we kept forgetting to give you your afternoon dosing, but you haven't been in pain, so we figured it was a good time to start weaning you off it.

This whole bout of flu forced you to sleep in your own room, finally. See, Daddy had to take the Bar exam last week and we didn't want him to get sick, so I slept in your room with you the first night. You've done ok, but I will say that walking across the house to give you your paci back 7 times between 3am and 4am is not fun! If that starts to happen, I tend to just lay down on the bed in your room and low and behold, you stay asleep after that one. I think you just like your mama close to you.

Your 4th/5th month will probably consist of getting you to sleep without your straight jacket. You are entirely too long for it (a whopping 26 inches a few days before your 4 month birthday,), but I'm scared you won't sleep well without it. We shall see. Speaking of length, might I mention that you and your sister weighed the exact same at 4 months (13lbs 10oz), but you got 2 inches on her at 26 inches.

8pm is your witching hour. After your 6pm bottle, you hand out in your bumbo with us while we eat dinner, do a little playing, then take an evening nap from about 7-8. For some reason, despite being tired, you always wake up angry around 8-8:30. Takes us about 30 minutes to calm you down, then you sleep til 10pm, take your last bottle, and you're down for the count. We need to gradually push that 10pm feeding back, but right now, you'll sleep from about 10:30 to 6:30-7:30.

You have started talking up a storm! You've given us some squeaks and coos here and there, but one Sunday you got pretty consistent and you were off and running after that. You get very excited when you get a sound out. It's cute. You also have become a HUGE fan of your hands. If you're awake, you've got a finger or 5 in your mouth, just a licking away. It creates a LOT of drool. The other day, you soaked an entire bib in 10 minutes!

Speaking of cute, here are a few pics of you this month!

Ben, I hope you continue to be the loveable, snuggly, smiley, happy baby you that you are right now. Your little gummy smiles make our hearts melt each day!

Much love!
Mama

I think Ben's hiding here somewhere...

He's deciding what's going in his mouth next - the elephant's trunk or the bear's arm.

Did I mention that he's tall? Already long enough for the bouncer. I think Kaylynn had another month to go before she could tip toe on this thing!

Cute face!

Trying out big sister's booster seat while Daddy paints the back door.

They See Me Rollin'...

Feb. 1, 2010, Ben decides that rolling is fun. He won't let his Daddy see it, or his Papa, but Meese and I can attest - the boy can roll.

Snow Day!

Here's the explanation. All week, the Houston weathermen talked of this big storm, 1-3 inches of snow, etc. On Thursday, the district decided to cancel class on Friday due to "inclement weather". Since Brian is studying for the Bar, I was going to bring the kids up to Mom and Dad's to give him some quiet time. Right after the district decided to close, I got a text from Brian that saying that if I didn't go to Frankston tonight (Thursday), I wasn't going at all. The weather would be too bad to drive. So, I had him pack bags for the 3 of us and gave him instructions to meet me at the babysitter's house and I'd leave from there.

Fast forward 12+ hours to Friday morning. Frankston got around 4ish inches of snow. Houston - NOTHING! Luckily, Mom's school got cancelled and us girls (and Ben) got to enjoy a "Snow Day" afterall.

Now, growing up, everytime in snowed/iced over, the place to be was The Hill in front of the elementary school. I wanted Kaylynn to get to sled down The Hill for the first time (of many to come, I hope!)

The Hill was hopping this morning. People were sledding down The Hill on all kinds of things, real sleds (us, courtsey of Lynsie), metal pot lids, a piece of tin (as in a tin roof), cardboard boxes, kneeboards/boogie boards, and my favorite - a plastic swimming pool. We didn't plan ahead with the packing, so Kaylynn was dressed crazily. Layer 1: A longsleeve t-shirt,PJ pants, and socks. Layer 2: A 1-piece PJ set with feet. Layer 3: A pair of black pants and her coat. Top that off with green rain boots that looked like frogs, and a hat that looked like a pumpkin.

Ready to sled with Mama!

Walking up the hill is hard work.

This little girl loves the snow.

She sweet-talked "Yuke" to pull her back up.

Got a Little Story for Ya Ags!

I wish you could have been there. This child makes us laugh on a daily basis. It's sad that at this *lovely* age, we can go from laughing to frustrated to laughing in a matter of minutes. This was definitely a laughing moment.

So, during the service each week, they have a children's message. It begins with the congregation singing "Jesus Loves Me" and the kids go up to the front. Kaylynn perked up when she heard everyone singing this song, since she asks us to "Do Jesus" quite often. Keep in mind, she usually goes to the nursery during church because being quiet just isn't her thing. Then she saw all the other boys and girls going up to the front. Enter game: "Monkey-see, Monkey-Do." So Kaylynn wanted to go up. Except she didn't want to go all the way, and talked Grandma into going with her. See below.

I think she waved at each and every one of us sitting in the pews. And I'm pretty sure she waved at the ministers (who were sitting behind her). All-in-all, this girl put on a show. During Ben's actual baptism, Pastor Dan took Ben to the baptismal font (as they do) and Kaylynn, in her 2-year-old cuteness exlaims, "That's Ben!" Pretty sure the entire congregation heard her, because we had people come up to us at the end and say how adorable she was (and Ben, too, of course, but mostly referring to her antics).

Really, really love this girl.

3 Months...

...have come and gone. Benny-boo-boo, I have thought about writing your 3 month post since Jan. 18th - when you actually turned 3 months old, but clearly, it hasn't been done.

Things to note:

You are sleeping all night! Finally! We have some lapses every now and again, but that has only happened 2-3 times, I think. Oddly enough, it's always at 4am. I mentioned in your 2 month post about what content and happy baby you were - you must not have liked me saying that, because over Christmas, you had a few days of crankiness. You were only happy if you were getting rocked. You are much happier and content now days, but you still love to be held, rocked, and snuggled. A little rocker boy. We're trying to get your naps figured out now.

Just for record keeping purposes, you now eat anywhere from 4-6oz every 4 hours, at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm. You are still sleeping in our room (I need to buy you a wedge for your mattress).

A fun note, tonight (Feb. 1), you rolled from your tummy to your back. I think it was a fluke, but it still happened. We'll see how long it is before it happens again. You are Mr. Smiley all the time. Daddy says that I got my "mama's boy" because you sure do give me tons of smiles. Also, you are "enjoying" tummy time a bit more now, too. You hold your head up really well for a few minutes, then get tired and angry.

We're still fighting the reflux battle. You don't seem to be hurting, but make the most awful sounds and sound very congested in the throat. I know it's the reflux, because you don't have a runny nose, you aren't unhappy, and it only happens when you eat. I hate it for you. We switched you over to the formula for "lactose-sensitive" babies...not sure that it's helping a lot. Just more things to ask the pediatrician in 2 weeks.

You were baptized on January 9th. This was also your Papa's birthday! The weather was cold and yucky that day, so we had a small little gathering of family and friends after the ceremony. You wore the same outfit your daddy (and I assume Uncle Mike) wore when he was baptized. Daddy was 6 weeks old and you were 12 weeks old, but it still fit perfectly.

Gigi came to visit and meet her 4th great-grandchild! She had a great time feeding and rocking you when I had to go back to work.

I still need to take your 3 month onesie pictures, but here are a few to commemorate your 3rd month.