Just Cruisin'

Some people say that these walkers are not a great or safe idea for infants.  However, I don't see the harm in them as long as you have baby gates closed and your house childproofed.  And, anyone that really knows me knows that I have read every book, website review, and anything published on the safety of infant items.  But, we really wanted another option for her to get some practice moving those little legs.  In fact, Kyley loves her walker!  She has recently figured out how to make it move and walk in it...backwards..but nevertheless she is moving:) She will start on one end of the kitchen and cruise all the way to the other.  This walker even moves well on carpet, so she will really be able to get around the house!  Plus, it has music and toys to keep her entertained so I have another few "hands free" minutes to eat or flip laundry.

Kyley is growing up so fast.  Today she is 10 months old!  It is so amazing to watch her grow and to look back and see the progress she has made in that time.  She is really trucking right along to catch up in size too.  Kyley weighed 16 lbs. 9 1/2 oz last night...quite an accomplishment considering she started at 1 lb. 15 oz. just 10 short months ago.  We look back at the pictures from the NICU, and it is truly hard to believe that this is the same baby that we could hold in both hands.  Now, she fills up our arms and laps!  We count our blessings every day for this beautiful baby girl!  She is a true fighter and continues to impress us with all of her determination and happiness!  We are so excited for all of the milestones ahead!

Just say "NO" to tummy time!

I am sure that Kyley is not the only baby that despises tummy time most days!  Or, she makes it seem like she does with the grunts, groans, yells, fake cries, etc.  Maybe it is because we have always been pretty consistent about making sure she gets plenty of it??  And, she starts out just fine smiling and playing with her toys...grabbing them and pulling them in...but she has a "not to exceed" limit:)  The funniest part is that she has always been really good on her tummy as we put her blanket in front of the tv, so unless we turn that tv off...she is up on those little arms, arching that head to see what is on the "big black box" as we call it!  Now do not think we are teaching her bad habits already, the spot in front of the tv is really the only good place to put her in our upstairs living room that allows her freedom to move.  

Kyley has been able to roll over for months at least four in fact.  However, she really has just been lazy and only would do it on a rare occasion (I think just to let us know that "yes she can do it") or if she felt like showing off I guess.  Well, we have probably been REALLY over doing and pushing the tummy time even more so than normal lately.  We have been working with her to crawl...not that she has to or needs to, but we want to make sure we are doing everything we can to guide her.  So, I think that she has just decided to say "NO" to tummy time this past week.  Almost every time we put her on her tummy, she ends up on her back immediately.  It becomes a game full of lots of giggles too.  She rolls to her back. I put her right back on her tummy.  She rolls to her back the other way.  She giggles and rolls the other way kicking and giggling all the way.  She is so proud of her self, and of course we clap and tell her good job!  Kyley has even been showing us how she can roll on her own from her back to her tummy, but she does not do that often as that defeats her purpose, right?

So once again we will let her have her way, and find her like this every time.  Although we will keep putting her back on her tummy so that we can continue to hear her giggles and see her big smiles!  Kyley will crawl eventually, and I am sure when that happens we will wonder what we were in such a big hurry for!

Time flies when you are having fun!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I took this picture of Kyley in only her short sleeved onesie.  However, it was Sunday...the day it got extremely hot in our house...the day the cute little outfit she had on went by the wayside.  She was so hot and sweaty that she was not interested in eating or doing much of anything.  By the time we did change her she looked exhausted (as in the picture), but she was so happy and was all about having fun playing on the floor with daddy!  I will admit...Kyley has not spent much time hanging out in just a diaper or a onesie.  We seemed to always be trying to keep her warm when she was a little preemie since she did not have the body fat to regulate her own temperature.  But, now that she is getting bigger and the weather in Kansas is so unpredictable...every day is a new story.  Either way...she LOVED it and had so much fun! We get crazier every day around here:)

Kyley is an entertainer...as I mentioned she loves having an audience.  This time her audience was just daddy and I as her company had left.  I am not even sure what she was doing other than putting whatever she can in her mouth these days.  She has so much fun on the floor with all of her toys...rushing to put one toy in her mouth and then on to the next!  We like to believe that it is because she is teething too, but I think it is just because it is fun and she is a baby!  And, the littlest thing can be so much fun because we laugh at her and then it is a game!                                                                               Now the exersaucer is one place she has a ton of fun all of the time!  She will go around it and chew on everything, pull every toy, push every button and jump up and down a million times over!  Kyley has even figured out a long time ago that if she pushes the music button repeatedly, she can keep mommy and daddy dancing which makes her giggle and laugh uncontrollably!  It is amazing how much fun we all have, and we don't even care if the neighbors are watching.  And, it never gets old for her or to be honest for me either!  I love to make her laugh, and I get a little exercise too.

How can you not have fun with this sweet little thing looking up at you and smiling all the time?  We spend our days playing with way too many toys, but it is so much fun to watch her get excited to play with them.  And, Kyley loves her water bottle...yes a regular old water bottle.  We are still pretty sure that reaching for this or her beloved remote will be the only object that makes her crawl.  She is such a busy girl...nonstop all day long.  Kyley is really trying hard to crawl this week...let's just saying she is doing everything but crawling.  It doesn't matter what it takes...anything to get her off of this tummy.  So, if we turn our heads for a second...this is how she ends up...on her back...and we repeat the process over and over again all day long. 

I hate how fast the days and weeks go, and of course she will not be a baby forever.  But, we sure do have have fun, and we try to capture every moment we can! 

                                                                                

She had an audience!

As you all already know Kyley and I do not get out much, we rarely have people over to the house either.  It is a very random occasion if she sees someone other than her daddy and I.  First of all, the doctor has ordered that anyone that comes in to the house or near her has to have had their flu shot, and if they want to hold her they have to have the adult Pertussis vaccine along with not having been around anyone sick.  We follow these rules not to make everybody's lives difficult or to keep people away, but we do it to keep her as healthy as possible and out of the hospital this first year.  So, we always wonder if she will be scared of people or what she will do.  Well, so far she LOVES people...she loves an audience!

Kyley had a very captive audience this past weekend.  Her Grandpa Bob and Great Aunt Dale came to visit and play with her so that mommy and daddy could attend a friend's wedding.  They had not seen her since Thanksgiving due to the doctors orders that kept us home at Christmas time. Obviously, Kyley has changed a ton since then, so she had a lot to tell and show them.  She had so much fun, and I am pretty sure that they did too.  Kyley even got to open some fun Christmas gifts.  She enjoyed eating the paper more than anything!  She got some fun clothes, books, blanket, teddy bears, a doll, toys, and a book narrated by her cousins.  Kyley also got the best Valentine gift ever...a brand new polka dot bikini and sun hat!  She cannot wait to show it off this summer!  She was such a big girl opening her presents, and then she had to show them how to play with all of them!

We are not sure what all went on when we were gone, but we know that there were lots of giggles, lots of playing and lots of cuddling.  We also know that she was worn out by the time they left on Sunday.  She enjoyed her audience, and is already patiently waiting for her next!

I may be a little dramatic!

Let's just say that Kyley puts her heart into everything she does.  She wakes up in the morning as happy as can be with the biggest smiles and hellos.  She plays in high speed...screaming, babbling, going from one toy to the next, throwing toys, etc.  When she is hungry she will go from happily playing to completely frustrated.  Kyley will make you think from the tone of her complaints that she is in excessive pain if she is finished with tummy time.  And if she wants to get out of her exersaucer...she will produce a fake cry that makes you think she hit herself in the head with a rattle or got her finger stuck in something.  She will laugh loud and nonstop at the silliest things, and she actually makes us think we really might be funny!   If she wants or needs something it does not go unnoticed as she has found a way to let us know EXACTLY how she is feeling:)  She has recently started putting this energy into her crawling practices, and we have observed her really starting to make some progress...usually in a circle or backwards, but progress nevertheless!  Kyley is most dramatic when she gets sleepy.  She has the cutest fake cry/whine that stills fools her daddy, and it makes me giggle.  Along with that she uses every facial expression known to man, and she has mastered the completely limp body act.  Kyley truly keeps me entertained throughout the day, and she never does anything with less than 100% effort.  She even manages to make nap time seem like a dramatic event.  One would think she had not slept in days.  Oh well a baby's life is tough and a princess needs her beauty rest when growing and playing so hard!

 

Daddy Time

Obviously, I am very blessed to be able to stay home with Kyley.  I am thankful every day.  The flexibility of my job, my wonderful husband and our schedules allow me to be home most days with her.  I cannot imagine doing anything else more rewarding, and I would never want anything different.  I know staying home is not for everyone, but it is definitely my gig. With that being said Kyley is a "mommy's girl" and we get PLENTY of one on one time together.  We play, cuddle, read, sing, dance, whatever the day and mood brings...we do it.  I told her she could be both or a mommy's girl but not just a daddy's girl or we would have a problem:)  So, she is both...mommy's girl and daddy's girl!  This is a good thing because no matter how much I enjoy our one on one time together every day, she still needs time with her daddy and I need some time to get things done without two extra little hands. 

Our lives have become very routine.  From the minute she wakes up until the minute I lay her down in her crib every day is essentially the same.  This is ultimately a good thing for Kyley as she seems to function as a very happy baby most days.  When daddy comes home from work every night, she is ready to play with him while I workout, clean, work, or whatever else I need to do for about an hour or so.  I am not always sure what they do, but I sure know she is having fun from the squeals and all the talking she is doing.  I know that he looks forward to it too.  Sometimes, they just relax and talk...either way she seems very content and loves her daddy time.  It is a great way to wear her out for the day, because then the bedtime routine sets in and another day is over for this sweet, little girl.  She has to get her rest so she can do it all over again the next day!  Being a baby and growing is hard work!

Spring Fever!!!

I know that this time of year has everyone going stir crazy.  However, I will have to say that I am not sure anyone can truly understand the meaning of having "Spring Fever" until they have lived the last 9 1/2 almost 10 months with Kyley and I.  We spent the first 10 weeks of her life in the dark, mostly depressing walls of the hospital.  Only to come home on July 4th (a great celebration) and spend the next 8 months in the confines of our beautiful home.  I say that honestly as we love our home.  We get plenty of indoor sunlight, and we are almost always happy and loving life.  Most importantly, we are doing it for her health and to build up that little immune system for the years to come.  But, we have been confined...other than walks in our neighborhood and the minimal direct sunlight that brings, a few trips to Nebraska late summer/early fall before flu/rsv season set in, and our regular doctor visits...we do not get out of the house.  Plain and simple.  So, thankfully we live in Kansas where it can be 17 degrees below zero one week on Tuesday and 69 degrees the next Tuesday in February.  I am not sure if most people know, but I am a weather freak.  If Baby Einstein is not on the TV...the weather channel is...Jim Cantore and I have been close for years:)  I had been anticipating the weather change so Kyley and I were preparing for our walks last week.  So, the minute we got up yesterday morning we were planning our attack for the warmest time of the day which was around 3:00-4:00.  It was a beautiful day...minus the forever annoying Kansas wind.  She seems to enjoy the walks more and more the older she gets.   She is much more aware of her surroundings and is taking in all of the sights and sounds.  I enjoy it more and more as I get to see more and more smiles like these.  We cannot wait to get out again today!

These clothes are cute but not practical

Ok, so anyone out there that has a little girl knows how much fun it is to shop for them.  There are so many stinking adorable dresses, leggings, jeans, shirts, skirts, shoes, etc.  And, when we see them hanging on the rack we think how cute would my baby girl look in that.  They suck you in.  The clearance racks are even worse...you get more cute clothes for less so WHY NOT buy them.  You even start planning ahead for the seasons to come!!  Everyone else thinks the same thing too as who doesn't love buying clothes as gifts for baby girls...especially if they have a boy or haven't had a wee one in awhile.  So, we end up with tons of absolutely, completely adorable clothes.

Then reality sets in as you are looking at all of the clothes hanging nicely in the closet.  First, when will she wear all of them.  Even if I dress her up in a different outfit everyday...she could quite possibly grow out of them before she has a chance to wear them.  The biggest mistake is taking the tags off and washing them all before REALLY thinking about when she would wear a certain outfit or not having or misplacing a receipt.  What a waste of a great outfit!  Second, in Kyley's case we do not get out much now so no one gets to see her in these stinking cute outfits, so I try to take as many pictures as possible.  Then you have to deal with the fact that many of the outfits...no matter how cute they are...are just not practical for rolling around on the floor at home.  And, in order to wear some of them I have to layer them.  I cannot have her bare arms exposed in the frigid temps so then she is sweating bullets.  Finally, I may not ever get that far as they can be so difficult to get on.  By the time I have one arm in the outfit her face is completely red from the frustration because it is taking me an hour to dress her.  

So, here is to another cute outfit that I got on for an hour.  She was dripping with sweat after 10 minutes in her swing while I got her food ready.  I got a picture.  She will never fit into it again as the arm sleeves were tight.  I ended up leaving her in boring old black & white underclothes for the rest day.  And, it will get moved to the tote full of clothes that have been retired by Kyley.  Oh well, at least she still looks cute!

And then it was Monday...

Mondays are always an interesting day at our house.  One of those long, fun filled weekends with double the attention of both mommy and daddy leads to one overly exhausted little girl.  She sleeps through the night just fine, gets up like normal but then spends the first hour in zombie land.  We usually get up and sit and watch Baby Einstein and play with a few toys in mommy's lap, eat and then before we can get Kyley dressed for the day she is done.  The eyes are being rubbed, fussy girl comes out and do not even think about making her do any work such as tummy time.  So, it is time for the first nap.  Then, we literally repeat this cycle all day long until bedtime which by then she will do anything to get you to take her to bed.  Well, I promise we do not watch Baby Einstein each time...we only do that once and eventually move on to playing:) The fun part about it is that during these cycles of tiredness, she is still her happy, loving self.  Yesterday was Valentine's Day so we wanted to try to get a special picture to send to her daddy at work.  We thought we needed to be a bit more creative since lately all of the pictures seem to be eating in the high chair or working hard at tummy time...we are on a mission to crawl!  If we had a photographer on hand all the time we could get more, but I can only do so much.  So, we decided to take a few in her room since it is all pinks and browns anyway...perfect for Valentine's Day!  She loves to be set down in her glider...her "big girl" chair.  For some reason it brings on giggles and smiles every single time?  I guess it could be the voices I am talking to her in or the faces I make, but either way I think it was the perfect choice and daddy enjoyed his "Be My Valentine" request.

 

Whew...it was a long weekend!

The weekends are always fun at our house.  We do not necessarily do anything special, as you all know we cannot take Kyley anywhere right now but we get a lot of great family time in.  Also, daddy is home all weekend, so we play nonstop and Kyley gets to have two of us at her beckon call instead of just one.  The older she gets the more inquisitive she gets and is always thinking, moving, looking, going, chewing, yelling, smiling, giggling, reaching, grabbing, pulling...you get the drift.  Everything that was there before seems to take on a new meaning every day for her too! It is so much fun to watch her play with her toys like her dolly that she absolutely loves or whatever she can find more interesting like the remote.  We seem to catch her doing the funniest, yet cutest things  and only wish we could get them all on camera.  But, we do get some of them. 

All of this activity sure seems to wear her out a lot more these days.  By the end of the day she could fall asleep standing up or sitting in her highchair.  She is so tired throughout the day and fights it like no other!!  I guess she must be like me and think she is going to miss something because her daddy could fall asleep sitting up in a concert hall.  She is so tired...to the point of eyes rolling into the back of her head and of course some dramatic fussing that turns into laughter then a whine then a cry then a smile!  There is one other big problem...she will not nap unless she is in one of our arms.  It does not seem to make sense as this is the girl that will sleep 12 straight hours at night in her crib. But, we are not complaining...holding her for naps isn't going to be something I can do forever so I will enjoy every bit of them while I have the chance.  In fact, I have decided that maybe I will benefit from these naps since I don't sleep any better at night even though she is an awesome nighttime sleeper! 

Eating solid foods has been such an adventure for Kyley.   Along the way she finally decided she would drink out of a cup.  It took buying about 5 different types/kinds before trying the kind with the soft straw.  She grabbed it the first time and drank like a champ right away.  Now don't get excited...Kyley will only take a few drinks of water or juice when she is eating, playing or has the hiccups.  She still refuses to drink milk out of anything for her daddy.  She is stubborn and stuck in her ways...not sure where she gets that from:)  Anyway, back to feeding...she is not a picky eater, and she will truly eat about anything you put in front of her.  I hear this is good as I have had so many mom's warn me about how awful certain foods were and how their kids would spit them out or refuse to eat.  Kyley will eat anything...this does not mean that she will not let us know that the food we have given her is awful or not her favorite.  We definitely get the faces, and man are those the best facial expressions ever!  We ended the weekend with the introduction of meats...beef tonight to be exact.  Jason has to try the meats...we made a deal...as I tried basically all of the fruits and vegetables, and he said it was just bland...and the consistency was a bit odd.  It looked like it to me, and as you can tell Kyley thought so too!  

Another weekend over...fast as it may have gone for us...full of many more fun memories with her...and we start all over again tomorrow...life couldn't be more worth it!

Let me explain..

I have to explain why this blog is called Kyley's castle. 

If any of you do not know about Kyley, here is the brief background.  She was born 14 weeks premature, spent 10 weeks in the NICU, and is always being watched over by her guardian angels...Grandma Denise, her twin sister, Kyndal and Mr. Kitty.  She has led a very warranted but sheltered 9 1/2 months to keep her healthy and strong, loves to smile and loves people, is a little fighter, stubborn,  goofy, cuddly and most of the time is happy!  We have been keeping a journal on caringbridge (www.caringbridge.org/visit/kyleydenisekubik) since she was born, but we will be ending that soon and wanted to continue sharing her story with the world and share the silly stuff too!

As we all know when you have a little girl you can really get carried away with pink clothes, girlie toys, pet names, etc.  Let's just say I got carried away.  Well, all of that along with the fact that Kyley is our first child after 10 years together...maybe the only one...and had to fight her way into the world...she is the true definition of a princess.   Princess is a female ruler of a principality and a spoiled young woman...enough said.  And, she knows it...our lives revolve around her and she definitely tells us what is up and how things will go...and we are okay with that:)  Kyley will definitely not grow up being the spoiled rotten or snotty kid as we will make certain of that, but she will know what it means to be overly loved and have us wrapped around her fingers.  She is the epitome of "girlie" as I have a tendency to buy everything gender directed and pink of every shade, so beware of the pink to come...and the attitude to go along with it!  Therefore, it was only fitting to call her blog Kyley's castle as that is where we are making and sharing her moments and memories from as that is what our home has become...for now anyway!