Busy as a bee, happy as can be!

From the moment Kyley wakes up, she is always wanting to do something, watch something, touch something, see something or listen to something.  In the mornings she does like to take it a bit easy to start, as I have mentioned before.  Overall, she is the happiest baby I know.  Even her crabby start to the mornings sometime result in numerous smiles and giggles or at least cuddles and snuggles!  She was even the same happy spirited baby when she was down with her cold.  Kyley never really let it get to her unless it was time to sleep.  She spent every day this past week like any normal day.  It amazes me that she has figured out how to "work" all of her toys and she knows what to expect.  She knows that when she squeezes her puppy's ear or foot it will talk or sing.  She loves singing...and sadly she prefers when mommy sings to her:)!  I figure if it makes her smile I will do it a million times and each time sillier than the last.   

Okay, I know we probably have been saying it for the past 6 months, but she is officially teething.  Now, this does not mean there will be a tooth tomorrow but there will be one soon!  I know all babies put things in their mouths but she has all the classic symptoms, and there is nothing left untouched and shoved in the mouth.  She will gnaw on about anything...even metal!

She always has such a dumbfounded look on her face when she wonders what I am up to.  For example, she was probably thinking...why are you sitting me on the floor in my room to play...I never play here.  And, why is my piggy bank on the floor by me...I never get to play with that.  She is usually right to question what I am doing.  Sometimes I am not even sure what I am doing.  However, I was attempting to take some cute pictures for a birthday party invitation.  As you can tell they did not work out so great as she just wanted to chew on the crown. 

I always talk about how Kyley never gets to see anyone, but when she does she is in heaven.  She is happy as can be when she is around people...especially family and good friends.  Kyley got to have another play date with her cousin, Calyn, over the weekend.  And, even though the two of them were crab apples because they did not nap...they sure were able to make Grandma Barb & Grandpa Barney happy too.  They had not seen Kyley since late summer when they visited Wichita, so it was a nice visit for all of them.  Kyley and Calyn got to have their playtime together, and Kyley got to rummage through all of Calyn's toys like she it was a treasure chest.  As you can see they were both happy and busy as can be!

It has been almost 11 months and...

Kyley has her first cold.  Yep, she made it almost 11 months without any sickness, but the sick bug finally got to her.  Of course we have no idea how since we really do not take her anywhere, and we are so diligent about washing and sanitizing.  However, it just proves how easily a cold can be passed and that we have done the right thing the last 11 months by keeping her protected.  Her pediatrician said that RSV, flu and something like almost 70 strains of viruses have hit Wichita late this year and hard.  These viruses have hospitalized more children than normal and especially the preemie babies.  We also knew it was inevitable that she was going to get sick as she is a kid, but we are so happy we got her through the rough stuff.  Kyley seems to be handling it well especially during the day...she is one tough cookie and has been in great spirits even though her nose is a mess.  However, the nights have been long and tough to sleep.  So, she has been back in mommy's arms in the recliner...this seems to let her get some sleep but not mommy!  Kyley has already learned that she hates to have her nose wiped and how to blow it in our shirts when she sees that Kleenex coming.  Anyway, we hope we are about halfway through it.

Wednesday was also her "almost" 11 month check up.  Other than the cold she is doing great!  She has gotten so big!  Her growth has slowed a bit as expected at this age though.  She weighed 16 lbs. 14 oz. and was 25 1/2 in. long.  They were very proud of how healthy she was otherwise and how she was progressing developmentally.  Due to the lateness of the illnesses this year, her pediatrician wants us to wait about 2-3 more weeks before we start getting out and about a lot with her.  Kyley is no longer on any medications for reflux or anything...all she takes is her vitamin with iron.  We did have one big surprise that morning...they had to draw blood to check her hemoglobin levels as a follow up from the NICU.  It was awful for all parties involved...they took quite a bit from her arm and they could not easily locate a vein.  She is like her mommy in that aspect.  Either way, Kyley is one little trooper...even a cold, having blood drawn and seeing the doctor twice in 2 days doesn't seem to keep her down.

My first real play date!

Kyley's cousin, Calyn, was born just a few months after her.  In fact, Kyley and Calyn both were at Wesley Medical Center at the same time, and they both went home on the 4th of July!  We knew that we were blessed that Kyley would have a built in, lifelong friend who was family that lives only 10 minutes away.  However, we have not been able to spend as much time with Calyn as we would like due to Kyley's doctor's orders.  We were able to watch some Husker football together in the late Summer early Fall before flu season set in, but we had not really been able to get together since Thanksgiving in Nebraska.  Well, while daddy was out of town mommy had to show some houses to a client.  Since it was Spring Break most of our "helpers" that is able to come to the house to hang with Kyley when daddy is not free were busy with their own families or out of town themselves.  So, we decided with it being so close to the end of flu/rsv season and Uncle Greg, Aunt Emily and Cousin Calyn were all healthy, that Kyley could go play and spend time with her family that she missed and that missed her dearly. 

It was Kyley's first real play date.  Prior to Thanksgiving she was not really at an age that she cared or knew much about interacting with other kids (not like she has ever been around any other than her cousins).  As you can tell they had no problem sharing each others toys or acting like they were old pals.  Kyley wanted to be all over Calyn...pulling her ears, grabbing her, etc.  Calyn is very mobile so she was good at crawling all over Kyley and supervising Kyley while she was playing with her toys.  They even had their first fight, and Kyley got her first battle wound...the first of many between these two.

I think that Uncle Greg and Aunt Emily had their hands full with the two of them, but I think they enjoyed the play date just as much if not more than the girls did. We are so lucky to have them so close to us, and we hope the girls will be close like sisters.  We look forward to so many more years of fun watching the two of them together.  We are not looking forward to the trouble the two of them will get into together though...we know both of their parents;)!  Kyley was exhausted after a fun day of playing, but she cannot wait to do it again soon!

March Madness!

 Yes, it is that wonderful time of year...March Madness!  I believe this is the 11th year (less one for the birth of a nephew:)) that Jason, his brother Brian, and his dad have made the trip to Las Vegas for the opening rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  The three of them and 1000's of other crazy college basketball fans and spring breakers are all hustling and bustling to get there and stay up all night.  Well, Kyley and I have been having our own "March Madness" here at home the last 4 days.  Of course she has been nonstop go, go, go as is expected at this age.  However, little did we know that her teething and tiredness would get the best of her while her daddy was away.  And, I think it is possible that she may be a little disrupted by the change in schedule.  She is VERY routine and having her daddy here for one on one time is definitely a part of that.  I guess it could also be that she just misses the only other face that she gets to see, and she is plain sick of me...she deserves a break too!  Yet, you would never know by the smiling, bubbly face in all of the pictures I have taken while Jason has been gone.  I was taking them to send to her daddy, and she was a willing subject every time.  It was like she knew she had to smile to make him think "don't listen to mommy...I am happy as can be and giving her no grief at all"!  That is the craziest part about kiddos at this stage...it is madness:)!  She can be as fussy as a bear one minute, fighting her nap and then smiling and giggling the next.  Kyley has spent the days going through every teething ring she owns and then chewing on anything and everything she can get her hands on.  All the while drooling everywhere...there better be a tooth soon!  Her naps have been shorter and bedtime has been taking longer, so we just chalked it up to the teeth.  However, I am a big reader and have been reading the "No Cry, Nap Solution" as I want to get her napping schedule on track and in her crib.  As I was reading I started realizing that maybe the early bed time we had moved her to was not early enough.  So, I figured it was worth a shot.  Well, last night she was in bed by 7:30 PM after less than 5 minutes of rocking.   I hear her starting to move right now almost 12 hours later with only 1 night time waking (and that was at 5:45 AM).  So, I am not sure if we will see teeth anytime soon, but we are working toward a happier baby back to her normal nights of restful sleep.  Maybe she just did not want to adjust to the time change...either way...it will work if I can see this happy face more often!.

She will get you with those blue eyes everytime...

How can you not say yes to this little face when she bats those beautiful blue eyes at you??  It is almost impossible.  If she is pouting or has tears (fake or real) in her eyes they look even bluer.  Even what she wears such as dark blue or purple make them pop!  She has a way of making you melt every time you look at her because you catch a glimpse of those dazzling eyes.  I find myself wanting to take more pictures just to capture them...along with her "classic" expressions:).

So why are her eyes so blue?   Well, of course, she has bright blue eyes because Jason and I have fairly blue eyes, but and we all know that eye color can alter quite a bit in a child's first few years of life so they could still change.  I sure hope not, and I doubt they would be anything but blue.  However, here may be another reason that Kyley's eyes are BRIGHT blue.  My sister is a Professor of Developmental Biology and Genetics at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.  She has filled me in on this interesting research several times, and I thought it would be fun to share. 

Because Jason and I both have blue eyes,genetically, Kyley has blue eyes.  On the level of pigment, this means she produces eumelanin instead of melanin.  No big deal, but the intensity of the blue is due to the lack of stimulation of melanosomes, rods, and cones of the eye.  The stimulation comes from absorption of different wavelengths of light.  Therefore, less natural light or light of any kind will give a more intense blue eye.  In Kyley's case, the lack of natural light while she was in the incubator during her NICU stay contributed to those beautiful bright blue eyes.  She often suggests to her students for them to relate, "Let's do an experiment where we keep a Caucasian baby in a closet with no light for the first 3 months.  They will have dazzling blue eyes." 

So there you have it...I guess Jason and I are not completely responsible for those eyes that are going to get or already get her anything and everything she wants! 

I love my cup!

Kyley loves her straw cup.  She has this blue and yellow one, a pink and green one (actually two), and I am not even sure what the other new colors are.  Kyley is still breast feeding exclusively.   When I say exclusively I mean that literally.  She refuses to take the bottle and always has...I think I can count on both hands how many times she has taken a bottle.  So, everyone suggested getting her a cup.  I tried every brand/type of cup out there.  Then, my sister suggested a few months ago that breastfed babies do well with straw cups, but she said to make sure it is the soft, bendable straw cup.  Well, I searched everywhere and finally found 1 left at babies r us and 1 at Walmart.  We thought we would try it out with some water just to see what she would do.  She immediately grabbed on to it like a professional back then.  Now, she is a master at drinking from this cup.  We give it to her at meals with water.  She needs the water to help keep her regular, and she absolutely despises juice both apple and pear.  Kyley gets so excited every morning when I pull her cup out, and she anxiously anticipates every time we are going to give her a drink.  Sometimes, I just let her sit and practice with her cup.  She loves it, and she drinks well from it.  She also plays with it, throws it, chews on it, and on occasion she will even take milk from it for her daddy:)  So, I ordered two more online.  We are making progress!!!

Cookie Monster!!!

Well, the cookie monster visited our house yesterday!  Kyley had her first Gerber Graduate cookie, and boy was that an experience for both of us!  Not only did I fail to put a bib on her...for those who know me well I let her eat it in the living room (which I swore I would never do)!  She absolutely loved it, and she did really well for the most part.  When it broke into a few smaller pieces she was not quite ready for that consistency in her mouth so we were done, but she chewed on it for a long time and made it a complete soggy, sticky mess.  Kyley was covered in cookie...her face, her hands, her shirt, her pants, her bumbo chair...and she loved it!  I wish I had gotten a picture of the aftermath, but at least I got it on video!  We cannot wait to try it again today!

Oh the places we will go...

As Kyley was laying on the floor the other morning looking as cute as ever in her hip outfit from her cousin, Morgan...I started thinking about all the places we will go and all of the things we will do when we can start getting out and about.  It has been a wonderful, yet sometimes long 10 1/2 months not being able to take her out and show her off to the world.  Most people do not even realize that she has never been to a restaurant, a grocery story, any of our friends homes, a park, church, or to either her mommy or daddy's offices.  These little things and daily activities that most of us take for granted will be such an adventure for us in the coming months.  We are already planning a weekly zoo date, park visit and of course grocery store run.  We know we still have to be careful as everyone does.  Of course it will make life much easier on me to be able to do run some errands that I have not been able to do unless Jason or a close friend was here to keep an eye on her.  However, the most fun will be to see how much she enjoys all the places we will go and to show her cute little face to the world.

I mean we do not lack in the "having fun" department as we have toys and books galore.  Every day we find a new creative way to play or something new to do.  Kyley loves it when you stack her blocks and then she gets to knock them over.  It has become quite the game.  She has no problems figuring out how to work every button or switch on every toy, and she loves hearing us sing along. 

I am also not sure if everyone knows but we have the wonderful privilege and benefit of having Rainbows United come check on Kyley once a month.  They come to check on her progress developmentally...how she is moving, talking, eating, growing...all of the important things.  Well, they gave me a bit more insight on why the walker gets a bad reputation as well as the commonly referred to "johnny or jenny jump up" or "jumper" or "jump n go".  I guess if babies spend too much time in them they can be what are called "tip toe" walkers, and it can take longer for them to transition to walking or be able to walk with flat feet.  I wish I had known that before I bought them both and threw away the boxes they came in lol:)  Oh well, Kyley does not spend much time in either of them anyway, so the amount of fun she has in them cannot hurt.  At least I can get a kick out of watching her, if even just for a few minutes a day!

A Day in Kyley's Life...

A day in Kyley's life is quite a day.  First, let's make it no secret that mornings are not her gig.  Jason likes to say that she takes after me, and there are times when I completely agree with that.  However, I think that the older I get the more of a morning person I have become.  Kyley, on the other hand, wakes up all smiles and she cannot give enough of them, but the minute I take her out of her room...a switch gets flipped.  She is not her happy, loving, giggling self.  She doesn't hand out the smiles as readily, and she for sure does NOT want to be doing anything really active for the first few hours of her day.  If I dare put her on her tummy or make her work for her toys...I hear about it and then some.  She makes it very clear that she wants to relax and take her time waking up.  So, I let her or I pay for it.  Now, if I miss those first nap signals by 5 minutes...I pay once again, so I am on point all morning long!  After she eats breakfast and naps (only a 30 minute power nap), she is raring to go.  We then begin the day of play.  She plays nonstop.  Toys go flying.  She can sit and play with either Baby Einstein or an episode of Miss Spider's Sunnypatch Friends on in the background for quite sometime before she gets bored.  It is so much fun to watch her.  FYI...the boppy pillow is not necessary to help her sit up, but it is security for me.  She has to always look back and make sure I am there or she likes to fling herself back when she gets overly excited...I did not deal well with the first time her sweet, tiny little head hit the floor under my watch...so for now it is there JUST IN CASE!  Meal time has become sooooo much more interesting the last few days.  Kyley thinks she needs to and can feed herself.  So, we let her.  I think a bottle of Dreft stain remover will only last a week around her, but she is getting better all the time.  She does great grabbing the spoon and getting it to her mouth, but sometimes she pulls it out really fast with food still on it and either throws it across the room, drops it in her lap or puts it in her hair.  What matters most is that she is trying and having fun doing it!  We are proud of our big, little girl!  She has made so much progress in her feeding/eating skills!  Kyley has really been watching us eat more and more and chews will we are chewing, so I think we are going to try some finger foods soon!  I never thought that eating could be so much fun!

TGIF

 So, I wasn't even going to post this photo of Kyley and I but it's Friday and I am in a good mood!  I do not seem to put on makeup or do my hair these days (for the past 10 months) unless I am headed out to work.  I figure it makes no sense to if no one is going to see me, and it just ends up all over her.  In addition I always have some crazy facial expression because I am trying to get her to smile or laugh.  Anyway, these are the days that Jason decides he WILL take pictures, and I of course want pictures of Kyley and I.  Oh well, all that matters is that she looks cute as a button.  And yes...I purposely put us both in pink that day! 

As I am sure you all know by now, Kyley has quite the little or shall I say BIG personality.  She often gives me these looks like "what are you doing now" or "seriously, another picture".  I cannot get enough of her...I cannot help it!  She is my special little girl and my only child.  I want to capture every bit of her childhood that I can, especially since I do not have a picture of myself as a baby to speak of.  Not only do I want to remember every bit of it, I want her to have the special memories and the ability to share them when she is older.  Back to her personality...it is getting bigger every day.  She is more and more vocal with her wants and needs, and she does not stop until she gets what she wants or needs.  Yes, I know that I am the one that determines when and if that happens, but you all know what that outcome is.  Sure I may regret it later, but I also know that we will have a special bond and that matters more to me right now.

 Kyley is truly a goof ball.  She is always ready to smile or giggle or scream something wild.  And, she loves her doll.  It somehow disappeared into the toy totes for a week or so, but when it resurfaced she went nuts.  She reaches for it first thing every day.  Kyley loves to sit and play and play and play.  She will alternate between toys over and over again and can play forever.  And, she is absolutely sitting up on her own...100%...no falling or forgetting that she is.  If I am not right behind her she will check every five minutes to make sure I am close by though. 

Kyley has a few other favorites...her table, her musical book, a block, her rings, her purple kitty blanket from great grandma, and her pink $.99 ball from Walmart.  She and her daddy play catch and she gets so excited to hear him say "Good job, Kyley".  She also know leans against it on her knees and blows on it to make the sound it does when I blow on her belly to make her giggle.  It continues to amaze me how much she pays attention, imitates and learns.  Kyley and I have made it through another week of this Winter, and we had fun doing it.  But, we are happy about two things...that is is Friday and Spring is just around the corner!

I'm Just a Girl...

 Kyley is all girl right now!  The funniest part of that statement is she doesn't even know it.  I know that I am the one that dresses her, buys her toys, blankets, gear, etc. and I, of course, make sure it is all about being a girl.  But, I am well aware and very excited about the fact that she will probably be very athletic, outdoorsy and laid back like her daddy.  However, she will be just as girlie as she is all of the above.  I love working out and staying fit.  I grew up camping on vacation.  He grew up in hotels on vacation.  So, she can hunt and fish with her daddy, but we all know she will shop and get pedicures with her mom!  I mean look at her...she already has it figured out.  The shirt says "Love to Shop", and she has a cell phone and money on her???  She knows what is important:)  What she doesn't know is that she will know more about shopping by the age of 5 than she probably would care too.  I admit it...I love to shop.  But, you all may not know that I am one of the biggest coupon cutting, sale and clearance searching, bargain dealing shoppers out there.  I have an awful addiction to jean shopping, but I am also working on the bargains there too.  Kyley and I are looking forward to the months ahead when we can enjoy some of our first shopping trips together.  We will have so much fun!

Speaking of fun...this silly girl knows how to have fun, and she knows how to make every day fun for me.  I swear that all I have to do is make an abnormal face or sound and she giggles the day away.  If I say "HI" in an excited manner, she thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread.  And, once we get those giggles started I will try about anything to keep them going. 

Kyley has been sitting up 100% on her own for a while...no toppling over.  In fact, she leans over into the crawling position and continues into a roll over regularly.  This week she has just been on the move...we cannot imagine it would be too long before she is crawling.  We almost retired her play gym until we realized how much more exciting it is to sit and play with all of the cool toys.  She cannot seem to get enough of it the past few days.  I am sure it will be old news soon just like everything else, but it keeps her entertained for at least a few minutes now! 

If you haven't figured out, she is definitely not camera shy.  She will pose and look right at me from any angle.  I cannot seem to get enough pictures these days.  And, I am constantly reminding Jason every day to make sure to take some pictures of her.  When he asks why and of what all I can say is that  we never get these moments back.  I learned that from a very special woman once.

I wish she would be as cooperative when I have the video camera out, but such is not the case.  If I pull out that video camera, she is stiff as a board the minute she hears it power on.  So, if I cannot get all the action video I want...I guess I will get as many still and action photos as humanly possible.  Isn't that a girl thing too?  I hate the video camera, but I am alright with a picture now and then.