What is Kay up to these days?

Kay has changed a lot in the past few weeks. Her speech is really taking off, but her ability to interact with us is where we see the biggest difference. These days she loves helping to dress herself (or at least try) and she LOVES helping to put on her lotion. When I say "lets go for a walk" it is a mad scramble of an excited Kay running around the house to collect all necessary items. She starts at my closet to get my walking shoes, then heads to find my keys, then goes to the coat closet to get our coats, and finally her hat. When I say its time to clean up after a meal she grabs a towel and attempts to wipe the table and then goes to the closet and gets the broom out. I think I am going to invest in a small broom so she can actually help me sweep the floor. She tries, but our broom is too big. Whenever she sees a piece of trash on the floor she picks it up and takes it to the trashcan. I am waiting for the day when I find something that is not trash in the trashcan. She is also starting to really sing along to music. We will be riding in the car and she will be humming along with the song. Some of her new words are "spoon", "jeans", "swing", "chair", "Bailey"(our friends dog), "hot", and "keys". She has had a few time out sessions as she begins to test the waters with hitting. Kay is also getting really good at giving hugs. She will randomly come up to our legs and give us a big hug. It warms our heart! We feel so blessed to have such a happy and healthy little girl.

A visit with Charlie and Natalie...

Charlie and Natalie came to visit us a few weekends ago. They came up to help celebrate Marcia's mom's birthday, my birthday and grandma's birthday. We visited with Poppy some Saturday morning and spent a few hours together on Sunday before they had to head back home. Kay loved the fact we watched Molly (their dog) at our house. We heard a record number of "woof woofs" in a weekend. Kay would follow Molly around saying "woof woof" over and over again. Thanks to Craig for the yummy cake!

Again, we attempted getting pictures with all the kids together. Here are the best shots we got. Notice Kay holding a blanket that all the kids wanted. We then took it out of the picture and notice them all reaching for it and then the melt down began....

The sun is out!

The sun is starting to come out more and we have been at the park a lot! I got Kay a little ride on scooter at our church's used baby sale. She loves riding on it. We take it down to the basketball pad in our neighborhood and she rides it all over. She hasn't figured out how to turn it yet so she rides it all the way to the end and then backs all the way to the other end.

New Daycare...

We are sad to say Kay will no longer be attending ABK daycare. We LOVE Ms. Lora and Ms. Melinda. We will greatly miss ABK and their loving staff. I know Kay is going to miss her kisses and snuggles with these two women. They have helped watch her since she was an tiny preemie. They helped with her physical therapy while I was at work and helped her grown into the little girl she is today. My favorite part was how excited Kay would get when she realized where we were going in the morning. She would squeal in excitement as soon as we rounded the corner of Ms. Lora's neighborhood.

Don't be alarmed...

Don't be alarmed if you see our family out and about in 70 degree weather with our winter coats and hats on. We worked so hard to get Kay to be willing to wear a coat and hat (especially hat) in the beginning of winter that now she won't leave the house with hers on (and without us wearing ours too). The weather has been going back and forth from warm to cool and every time we go to leave the house she runs to the coat closet and does her typical point and grunt when she wants something. She will say please over and over again until we finally put a hat and coat on her and then she won't give up until we are wearing ours too. We went through this activity this morning and I debated whether to try to push not wearing one but I know tomorrow is going to be cold again. So... in the meantime... don't be alarmed if you see us decked out in our winter gear in 70 degree weather!

Tennessee to see Nana & Pops..

As quickly as Craig got back in town from another China trip, he left town again to visit his parents in Tennessee. We were so excited to take Kay to another state! Nana and Pops had a blast showing her their home. They even babysat one night so we could go on a date! We had some excitement during the trip. As soon as we arrived Kay began breaking out in hives. She was obviously reacting to something she ate or that touched her skin. After calling the on-call nurse, she told us to give Benedryl and keep an eye on her. She did not seemed to be bothered by it one bit- it just looked terrible. Kay enjoyed the science museum, cooking with Nana, going to the park, and walking around the Farmers Market.

Growing Up (too fast!)...

Kay is beginning to experiment with the word "no" now. I don't think she fully understands what it is, but is sure trying it out. The other day she said "no" when I handed her milk to her. Then, two seconds later did the sign for "more". She is also testing the waters with protesting things she does not want to do. For the first time she arched her back while putting her in the car seat making it into a wrestling match (while saying "no" over and over again). Thankfully, I am bigger than her and won the challenge. She is like a sponge and learning everything. She remembers where everything goes (wants to help hang up hangers, put away her jacket, put the broom away, get a washcloth for bath out of the drawer). If we leave the remote within reach she will pick it up, carry it to us, and start saying "thank you" because she knows we thank her every time she hands it to us to put away. "Cheese" is now a new favorite word and food. I used to not be able to get her to eat it and now she loves it. Everything is a "baby" now. Plants, chairs, people...everything is called "baby". She says her own name now. It is the most adorable drawn out "Kaayy".

I flipped through my baby calendar the other day. Here are two pictures of me at the same age as Kay. I can see some of me in Kay. At the same age one week I used the potty for the first time, the next week I refused to wear a diaper, and the next week I was waking my mom up at night to take me to the bathroom at night. If only Kay would be that easy! It is funny to read the differences. One of my first words was "mine" (I am sure because I have an older brother) and Kay hasn't said that word yet. Around Kay's age my doctor was thrilled when I reached the 0% mark in weight because I had been off the chart I was so thin. I guess we should be excited Kay has stayed on the chart (although very low).

Here are some videos of Kay and her recent activities. Notice how excited she gets when we talk about GG. She really misses her great grandma!