Daddy days...

Kay spent a lot of time with Craig last weekend. Now that she is able to walk, it is so much more fun to play outside. Craig took Kay to play basketball at our neighborhood playground. She did have fun with the basketball, but I think she had more fun playing with the leaves.

Three little monkeys...

Kay and her cousins Charlotte and Will had a blast together this weekend. They had a special visit from their great aunt Pat and got to play together for several hours. The favorites of the day were Kay and Charlotte "talking" on the two toy phones and all three of the kids playing us a lovely song on the piano.

"Baby"

Kay was very interested in Laurel. She did great with not getting upset while I was holding her. It was very entertaining to watch Kay pull Laurel's socks off constantly. I am trying to work with her to teach her to touch the baby feet and avoid the face. Here is a small video of Kay saying hi to Laurel.

Walking!

Kay is walking all over the place now. We went to her therapist yesterday and she is pretty much dismissed. They will watch her once a month for awhile just to make sure she is continuing to get the skills every child gets like running, jumping, etc. The therapist wanted to see her walk, squat to pick something up and stand back up, stand up without using anything for support, and walk turning around or in a circle. Kay passed all this week. Now, we just wait for her to get stronger and start to use walking full time. She now continues to crawl when she wants to get somewhere fast. I would say she is up to walking maybe 70% of the time. We had her practice with walking on a squishy mat. She found it more fun to fall and bounce on it than practice walking. Our homework is to have her practice walking on softer, uneven surfaces like mulch in the next few weeks.

Kay also loves to go down the stairs now. She has the concept down and knows how to do it. We have to watch her closely because she likes to treat it like a slide and slide down instead of stopping herself with her feet.

Today at lunch Kay was throwing her food on the floor (like always) and I told her no (like always) only this time she looked at me with her big blue eyes, blew me a kiss, and clapped. Oh man... now I have to learn to not get wrapped around her little finger! Kids are just so cute!

Weekend fun

Kay loves hanging out with her friends Sarah Bess and Davis. Although this picture is very blurry it shows just how much she fun she has. The kids were all piling on top of Jimmy and Kay was giggling up a storm. Hannah and Jimmy watched Kay for us for a few hours over the weekend. Hannah shared a funny story about Kay. When Kay saw Sarah Bess standing on a chair she pointed, said "uh oh" and "sit down". I guess she knows the rules. Now, we just have to get her to follow them!

Mommy, I want a doggy! I am waiting for those words to come out of Kay's mouth some day. Again, this picture is blurry but it shows how excited she was to have Molly sitting beside her in the car. She kept pointing at her and saying "dog" over and over again. I think she attempted to make a barking sound but it sounded more like a sheep "baaaaa".

Mommy, that is pretty!

Ok, I admit...I am not the best singer. Thankfully, 1 year olds can't tell the difference and Kay thinks it is great when I sing! When I sing in the car she nods her head along with the music and claps the entire time. At least someone thinks I can sing pretty!

I love every time I put my car in reverse and turn around to back up. This is what I see. How can that not make you smile??? Kay finally hit the 20 pound mark and we were able to turn her car seat around. We waited as long as we could because we know rear facing is the safest. Her legs were getting so long they were squished on the seat. She LOVES being able to face forward and watch us.

Nana and Pops come to visit...

We had a great visit with Nana and Pops this weekend. Scott, Annelise, Will and Charlotte came over to play on Saturday. We had Kay'sfirst dental cleaning appointment, ate tacos, and hung out as a family.

Pops showed pictures and videos from his recent visit with cousin Hazel and Cousin Miles. He had several videos of Hazel singing and Kay would smile really big and clap every time when she was finished. Here she is clapping at the tv while watching Hazel.

Kay had a lot of fun with Nana and Pops. It took her a little while to warm up, but by the end of the weekend she was giggling non-stop with them.

Who came up with the idea of day light savings? When you there is a child in the house it makes for a rough transition. When your child already wakes up early, falling back an hour just means an even earlier wake up! We took a walk to the grocery store and Kay was so tired from the adjusted time that she fell asleep in the stroller. It has been months since she has done that. Now, when in the stroller she won't close her eyes at all because she doesn't want to miss anything! Last night was rough again. I am hoping she will adjust quickly.

So many changes...

We had a very uneventful Halloween. Craig flew home from China the afternoon of the 31st. Kay and I picked him up at the airport in her bumble bee outfit. We were glad to have him home, but the entire family was so tired we were in bed and asleep before 8 pm. We only had one group of trick-or-treaters before we turned the lights out.

When Craig got home he was impressed with how far Kay had come with her walking. She is now able to walk across a room, walk and slow herself down to look at something (instead of just diving into a piece of furniture to stop herself), and can stand up without holding onto anything. Now, we just have to wait until she gets fast enough at walking that she picks that as her method of getting around. We are almost there!

Kay now knows nose, ear, and sometimes belly. She is stacking blocks up and talking up a storm. She still babbles at anything, but now she is starting to make some sense. It is amazing how much she understands. After the shower she will bring me my towel and then my robe. One day I did not put my slippers on and she crawled over and brought my slippers right to my feet one at a time- so cute! Whenever I get my purse she will crawl over to my shoes because that comes next. If we talk about bath she starts saying "ba" over and over again, squealing in excitement. She still flirts with everyone in the store. She is having a little bit of separation anxiety when we drop her off at the church nursery. The most exciting accomplishment is she has pooped in the potty three times! Kay will make a face and point at her diaper when she has to go. If we are close by and can catch her we put her on her little green potty and she will go! She is so far from this being a regular occurrence, but she definitely recognizes the feeling and is willing to let us try it.