Roller Baby

Six months old and she's on the move!  Kenzie was a mover, but I don't think she got across a room as fast as Kaia.  Kaia rolls around, babbling da da da the whole way.  She is great at entertaining herself.  She has mastered the ability to push herself around with her arms and she's beginning to put her knees into it.  In a matter of weeks she is sure to be crawling.  With two on the go things are definitely getting more exciting around here.  The blanket on the floor has become more of a suggestion than a rule.

Here are some snapshots, all taken in about a ten minute period (in this order) to show you how she's getting around.

Milestones

September was a busy month in the Ricci household.  Dustin's school year started, I went back to teaching a couple of nights a week, we attended three weddings and three birthday parties, Kenzie got hand-foot-mouth disease (no it doesn't come from farm animals!) and the girls reached some important milestones.  I can't believe that October is here already and a look at the calendar tells me things won't slow down around here until mid January at best.  No stress, though, because these are the things that fill our lives with so much joy.  This is the life I  dreamed of long ago and it amazes me everyday that I get to be a mom.

She always falls to sleep with these two fingers in her mouth.

Kaia is growing faster than I ever remember with Kenzie. She is incredibly active and noisy.  She wants to get her hands on everything, and, once in her grasp, wants to get everything into her mouth.  She is so intense when she has her eyes set on something, it's clear that she is not going to give up until she meets her goal.  She has once rolled from her back to her belly and when on her belly she can push herself up with her arms.  She drinks from a bottle now (when I'm away) and had her first taste of rice cereal last week.  She still gives the biggest and brightest smiles to anyone who pays her the slightest bit of attention.  I'm sure that she has made the day of many older ladies at the grocery store.

McKenzie has gotten the hang of this whole potty thing.  She still wants the reward of watching Barney and Friends after each pee (and it's a must for #2), but I figure she won't always need that crutch so we're taking what we can get. If Kenzie hears the beginning of Barney she immediately begins undressing.  We just hope Barney isn't a part of pre-school; then we might have some 'splainin' to do. 

What?  You don't have a potty in your living room.

McKenzie also said goodbye to her beloved Binky recently.  It's been a tough couple weeks but we are really hoping that we did the right thing.  The Binky Fairy took her broken Binky.  She will fix it and give it to a little baby who needs it.  Kenzie got some gummy worms in return.  She's been trying to avoid going to bed and has a had a few nap-free days recently.  I feel like a mean mother.  Dustin and I keep reassuring each other that this is the right thing and that she'll be okay, but it doesn't make it any easier.

Conversations with Kenzie

McKenzie has entered the "Why" phase.  It's torturous.  Last weekend I spent a four hour drive to Maine answering various "whys" and I'm not sure I have the strength for this.  Here is one example of a conversation we had after going through a toll in New Hampshire.

McKenzie:  Mommy, what you do?  What you do, Mommy?
Me: I had to give the man some money.
McKenzie: Why?
Me: Because we have to pay to drive on this road.
McKenzie: Why?
Me: I don't know honey, it's the rule.  People who want to drive on this road have to give the man some money first.
McKenzie: Why?
Me: Honey, I don't have all the answers.
McKenzie: Yes you do Mommy.  You do Mommy.

                                                                                                       

Last night I was teaching a night class and Dustin and Monica (who is staying with us while she's transitioning to a new job) were sitting down to dinner.  Monica said that shortly after they sat down McKenzie ran to the other room to get her Buzz Lightyear pretend flip phone.  She put on the table and commented, "Just in case Mommy calls."

                                                                                                       

There is no shortage of noise in our house.  McKenzie talks incessantly.  It's hard to capture on film because she usually stops what she is doing when I break out the video camera.  Yesterday I was able to catch her pretending to cook food while I sat on the couch nursing Kaia.  I am probably the only person who can understand everything she says, but you can get the idea of how verbal she is.  Note that she sits for a total of about five seconds. She's a very busy girl.

Mommy Moments

Some of my best conversations with Kenzie take place in the car.  I sit in the driver's seat, nursing Kaia.  She sits on her potty on the passenger seat.  In that moment there's no escaping the fact that I am a mom, and I love it.

Don't worry, we're parked while this is happening.  I ain't no Brittney.

Conversations with Kenzie

McKenzie: Mommy has a big neck.
Me: A big neck?
McKenzie: Yeah.
Me: What about you?  Do you have a big neck?
McKenzie (thinking): Nope.  Just Mommy.

                                                                                         

Nana (handing McKenzie a black-eyed susan): Here's a pretty flower.
McKenzie (examining it): There's poop on it.

                                                                                          

Me: We are going to go to a museum today with Lily.  Doesn't that sound fun?
McKenzie: Maybe big party there.
Me: Maybe there will be a big party there?  I don't think so, honey.
McKenzie: Maybe.  Maybe cake there.

                                                                                          

Milestones

Kaia is getting stronger and bigger every day.  She can hold her head up really well now and a couple weeks ago she flipped for the first time. It seems like she'll be sitting on her own in no time.  She's starting to grab onto her toys and sometimes she successfully gets them into her mouth.  She coos, squeals and recently began working her vocal chords with a loud noise that sounds like the cross between a scream and a grunt.  McKenzie does not like it when Kaia makes this new noise. She tells Kaia, "no make that noise Kaia.  No make that noise. Scary."  

5 Happy Things

Singing McKenzie sings.  She's not good at it (she gets that from me), but she sure does enjoy it.

A Smiling Baby Kaia is the smiliest baby I've ever met.  With the exception of the photographer at JCPenney, she smiles for everyone.

The Letter Y Doesn't everything sound more fun when you add a y to the end of it?  McKenzie thinks so.  She has transformed many words in her vocabulary to be  "y" words.  She wants to play in the other "roomy," stand on her special "stooly," and change her baby's "daipy."  It's pretty silly.

Play-Doh It's impossible not to love Play-Doh.  McKenzie spends hours every week molding multiple colors of play doh into various foods and creatures (although everything she makes looks pretty much the same). Her two-year-old, uncoordinated hands have difficultly making exactly what she wants.  This, combined with her Type A personality and drive for perfection, makes creative projects somewhat frustrating.  While she likes playing with Play Doh, she much prefers telling Mommy or Daddy what to mold for her.  Dustin is always asked to make more "ballies" while I'm the designated cake maker.

This pic is from April when warm pjs were still a necessity. 

Fists/Thumbs/Fingers Kaia progressed quickly from sucking on her entire fist to suckling on her itty bitty thumb.  We thought she was a happy thumb-sucker but in the past couple days she has taken to sucking her middle and ring fingers.  She still doesn't want a paci and won't take a bottle, but her hands are oh so tasty.

This is serious business.