Giraffes

We have four recent additions to our family.  Four giraffes to be specific.  Buckles, Boo Boo, Pinky and Frog are their names.  We take these baby giraffes wherever we go.  I have to open the hatch to let them jump into the car and remembering to let them out once we have arrived has turned into a new chore.  The other day while at the library for storytime Kenzie suddenly remembered that the giraffes were in the car.  I assured her that they were taking a nice nap and would be happy to see us when we were all done playing.  Then I explained to my fellow storytime moms that I am not, in fact, keeping strange zoo animals prisoner in my station wagon. 

The other day McKenzie asked me something about them, I can't remember what exactly.  Something like, "Mommy are the giraffes sleeping."  I responded with, "I don't know, honey, you're the one who can see them."  She got a real kick out of this.  She stopped short of laughing in my face when informing me, "Mommy, they're just pretend."

5 Reasons Why Kaia is Amazing

1 She's talking.  Crazy.  Last weekend she was saying "hi" a lot.  She is really good at imitating us, though, so we didn't really think she was saying it as a word, just a sound.  By the end of the weekend everyone was telling us that they were convinced she was using the word properly in context.  It took us a while, but Dustin and I now proudly agree that she is, in fact, saying hello to people she sees.  She will extend her arm, turn her palm up and say "hi" as clear as day.  She expects a response, too, and will say it again if the person she's talking to doesn't acknowledge her.  In the past couple days she's convinced us that she also says Kona's name.  I take her outside with me to play fetch with Kona and I say, "Go, Kona, go!"  Now, before I say it, she does.  It sounds more like, "go, go, go. Goa, Goa," but she is definitely saying both "go" and "Kona."  She'll also say "Goa" when Kona comes into the room. (Still trying to catch these on video.  She does NOT speak on demand.)

2 She's walking....with assistance.  For the past month or so she perfected standing up without holding onto anything.  She didn't have any real desire to move, just to stand and balance in one place.  That changed a couple of days ago.  She will grab onto her push car and walk her way around the kitchen with Kenzie steering her in the right direction.  She wants to move fast, too.

Please pardon the baggy shirt and over-sized sweats.  We don't get dressed up on weekends.  

(Okay, we never get dressed. up.)

3 She climbs. This one is a parenting bummer. Kenzie was never a climber and that made things easy for me. Kaia is into everything and wants to climb on everything from the dishwasher door, to boxes and stairs. The other day I caught her happily perched on the first step. She turned and smiled, so proud. Yikes.

This is her getting down from the stairs.  She was standing up on that first step!

4 She shares.  She'll gladly hand over whatever is in her hand or her mouth if we just hold out our hand and say "thank you."  It's really helped alleviate the stress involved with playing the What-Did-Kaia-Just-Sneak-Into-Her-Mouth game.

5 In just two months she will be a year old!  Wow.  That is the most amazing thing of all.

I am one of Pavlov's dogs

Many times each night  I find myself coming to consciousness about ten steps from my bedroom door, in the hallway to the girls' room.  It takes a moment to realize what I am doing, then I'll hear Kaia's cry or Kenzie's, "cover me please, Mommy, cover me" and I'll snap to reality.  Apparently, in my sleep, I jump at the sound of distress from my daughters.  Letting them cry it out or find their own covers might be the better choice if I ever want the cycle to end, but that's not how I've been trained.  Instead, I jump from my bed as if it's on fire and rush down the hallway.  Sometimes I wake in the hallway and don't hear any noise at all coming from the girls.  What's that about?

We use sleep training for Kaia to get her sleeping through the night.  Our method is to have Dustin go to her instead of me.  After a few nights she realizes that she isn't going to get what she wants (me) and will just start sleeping longer.  This works until the next cold hits or her next tooth pops through, then more sleepless nights and more sleep training. 

If it's possible to retrain a baby, how do you retrain her mommy?  

Man, I'm tired.

Cheep! Cheep!

We've been talking for a couple years about getting some backyard chickens and last night we took the plunge.  We purchased a variety of breeds to see what works best for us.  We got ten chicks, five of them we had sexed to ensure they are hens, the other five are a gamble.  One of them is a Jersey Giant and is already twice the size of the other chicks.  The odds are good that a couple of them are "Easter Eggers" and will lay colored eggs.

This is the Jersey Giant...roosters can grow as big as 15 lbs!

They will be great at helping us keep our extensive tick population off of Kona's back, will provide lots of entertainment for the girls, and, best of all, will (hopefully) lay lots of eggs.  

Dustin says we have to start saying things like "I reckon" and "darn tootin'" now that we are officially chicken farmers.  I say let's not get ahead of ourselves. I hope to share pictures of vast amounts of eggs later in the summer!

9-months-young

Our little Kaia boo is growing up so fast.  I swear McKenzie's first year didn't fly by like Kaia's has.  She had her nine month checkup last week and we were surprised to learn that she is actually smaller than Kenzie was at this age.  She looks like a little chunker to me.

According to the charts, 93% of babies Kaia's age are heavier than her.  Can you imagine bigger cheeks than these?

While some second-borns are content to sit by and watch their older siblings play, Kaia refuses to be forgotten.  She is a little troublemaker.  I'm constantly stopping her from climbing over the Candy Land board or puzzle or book that Kenzie is playing with.  I'll set up decoys so she'll have her own book or puzzle to climb on, but she's only interested in the one Kenzie is using.  She is always sneaking into the forbidden breezeway (where Kona's food and water are kept), or crawling to the one plant I can't seem to keep her hands out of.  She loves outlets and wires.  She's always on the move.  Whew.  She's busy.

It doesn't matter what room I put her in, the first thing she does is  leave.
She's cute when she's escaping, though, isn't she?

Dustin calls her Hoover because she find every single thing on the floor and sucks it up faster than we can get to her.  We'll see her pinching her tiny thumb and forefinger together and yell "no" or "eh-eh" to try and stop her, but we're never fast enough.  Instead we need to use all our might to pry her jaw open before she swallows said object.

She had her first bath by herself in the big tub.

Splash, splash, splash!
. 

 She's able to stand on her own and does this often.  She has learned how to fall gracefully

She made a canine friend and LOVES to spend time with him. He's pretty indifferent (unless she happens to be holding his tennis ball).

Conversations with Kenzie

McKenzie: Mommy, can I have some water please?
Me: Yes you can.
McKenzie: Ha!  You never say no to that question, Mommy!

                                                                                                      

"Haha.  Kaia, you make me mile." (note: Kenzie pronounces many words that begin with "s" as if the s was silent . mile=smile, no=snow, etc) 

                                                                                                       

Dustin was searching for a video on YouTube for Kenzie to watch.  He couldn't find her specific request.

McKenzie: Daddy I want the money Barney, please, Daddy.
Dustin: I'm looking honey, I can't find the video about money.
McKenzie: It's at online dot com, Daddy.

                                                                                                      

 She does a lot of things based on age...

When getting tucked in to bed:
Me: How many blankets do you want?
McKenzie: Two.  Cause I'm two.

When having a snack:
Me: You can have one more cracker.
McKenzie: I'm having one cracker because Bennamin (Benjamin) is one.  Madson (Madison) is one too.

When getting dressed:
McKenzie: I have two socks because I'm two.
Me: So when you're three are you going to wear three socks?
McKenzie: No, Mommy, that's silly.

When playing:
McKenzie: I'm making three castles.
Me: That's good.
McKenzie: Cause, Yeeyee (Lily) is three, Mommy. 

No Man

We were all very excited to have our first real snowfall this winter.  It was perfectly packable snow and McKenzie couldn't wait to make a snowman. I did all the work, of course; the packing, the careful placement of eyes and nose, the scavenging for two perfect arms, the digging through the bonus room for a suitable hat and scarf.  All the while, Kenzie cheered me on and Kaia whined about having to sit in the snow.  I worked fast and was reasonably satisfied with final product.

I snapped a couple pictures.

And it's a good thing I did, because two minutes later...