Big Girl Changes

Kiki is currently undergoing lots of big girl changes, now that she's a year older.

1. She is transitioning from the Toddler classroom to the Young Preschool classroom. In this classroom, the kids are more or less independent in the classroom. They serve themselves food and drink at meals, they have access to the classroom sinks, and this is "the potty training room." She's had her ups and downs since she started visiting, but I can already see changes in her in just a few short days of exposure to her new environment.

2. She decided to start potty training. She had been showing little signs of being ready the past 2 or 3 weeks, trying to pull her diaper off, wanting to check out the toilet, diapering her stuffed animals. But a switch flipped yesterday. Sparing you the gruesome details, she made it known that now was the time and 5 minutes later, we 3 were high fiving and hugging with her first ever potty success.

3. Paci is going bye-bye. This one we are approaching a bit more slowly. Until a few days ago, I didn't know that her teachers had weened her from Paci at nap time. We want to continue that, and also get her away from it at bedtime. However, as you can see, she has a lot of changes going on right now. She has been sleeping quite restlessly lately, and we're not sure if the nightmares are back, or if she just has a lot going on in that little head of hers. In any case, Paci does have a calming affect when she is upset.

For those of you who requested MORE PICTURES (yes, I hear you loud and clear), here are a few from the day of Kiki's birthday party.

The only clear party picture taken during the party. Here she is enjoying a yummy Dora cupcake.


Post-party relaxation on the couch. She looks a LITTLE tired.


Before bed, sporting her new pjs from Grandpa and Grandma.

My Baby Super Model

While I admit I watched much America's Next Top Model while I was pregnant, I never expected Kiki to go "diva" so soon. As Tyra Banks would say,"she's fierce."

The Student Becomes The Teacher

Often on our way to and from work/school, Kiki and I take a route past many of the southern campus farms. In the past, I used these trips as an opportunity to show Kiki the many animals and to practice their sounds.

Tonight on the way home, I heard her talking in the back seat, saying "See, Pink Dog? Horse, neigh! See, Pink Dog? Cow, Moo" I glanced back and saw Kiki holding her pink dog up to the window so it could see the animals, too.

Good Housekeeping Tip #1

When a beam of sunlight comes though your window …and you see small bits of dust floating through the sunlight …and your daughter runs through the beam with glee screaming “Bubbles!!”…don’t feel bad.

Why Batteries Should Grow On Trees In My Backyard

Kiki took her second try at sleeping in her new bed last night. All was going well, until about 3am. She cried out and was a bit confused, so I went in to comfort her. I turned on her ladybug night light. It glowed soothingly. Kiki said "Monkey."

Let me explain. Kiki has a Fisher Price Rain Forest crib soother that makes rain forest noises and gently glows with a swinging monkey, hopping frog and bubbling fish. She first had one in the NICU, and it always did the trick in calming her, so she was graciously given one for Christmas when she was home just a few days.

So I turned on her sound maker. It turned off again after about 3 seconds. "Monkey?" I turned it back on, and it promptly turned off again.

"How could this be," I thought. I had changed the batteries only 2 days ago. Come to think of it, the crickets HAD sounded a bit weak and that rendition of Frere Jacques DID sound a tad sick when I tested it. And since I had changed the batteries so recently, I knew that there were no more C batteries in the house.

So I spent the next hour or so trying to coax Kiki to sleep without her "monkey." Eventually,after putting her back in her crib, she dozed off and stayed asleep the rest of the night.

So the top item on my "To Do" list? Check that we have replacement batteries for all "essential" child rearing devices.

A Letter I Don't Want To Write

I really hope that there isn't a time in the future that I have to write a letter like this.

Night Terrors Are The Pits

And that's all I have to say about that.

Something New

Kiki has learned a new skill. Just this week, she finally figured out how to operate the spray bottle we use to spray water on her hair in the morning. It has kept her busy for much of this week.

Check out this video of Kiki having a little fun at our expense. The video isn't great, as we were in her darkened room, but it's the audio that is really the star of this one!

That Girl Is Greased Lightning!

A few pics taken by TimeFrame Photography at the Dino Dash this weekend.

This one is about a half mile into the race.

This one is in the same location, but with only about .1 mile to go!!

Two Down, One to Go

I finished my second of three 5K races planned for this fall. I'm not incredibly happy with my times for either race, but I am VERY happy that I was able to finish both races. Yay for me!!

One more race scheduled for the end of October. Ray and Kiki will also do that one.

Sue and I are considering the 10K River Run in the spring. All dependent if I can schedule the time to train.

10K. YIKES!!

A Blog Post About Blog Posting

Over the past month and a half or so (let's see, when was my last post?) there have been a dozen or so moments when I've thought, "I should blog about this." And I had every intention of doing so. But the general hustle and bustle of life has been getting in the way quite a bit lately.

So this post will serve as the Reader's Digest version of all those things that I've wanted to put out there for you all to know and read about. I'm personally not a big Twitter fan, and I'm not sure how many of my readers are Twitter-users, but I think I may make a personal goal of a Twitter-like post at least once a week. Short and sweet.

But on to the news...

-Kiki is mega teething. One of her bottom canines is on its way in, but I think she may gnaw her hand off before it gets here.

-We are ending (knock on wood) a phase of Kiki wanting significantly less sleep than in the past many months. About three weeks ago, Kiki woke up at about 5:15 am, instead of her usual 6:15. This has continued since, regardless of what time we put her to sleep, how much energy we tried to run out of her, or how much we begged (yes, it came to that). She also would occasionally wake briefly in the middle of the night. The time she woke up could be anywhere between 4:45am-6:00am. The last two mornings have been 6:07 and 6:10, so hopefully we are returning to normal. It has truly been like having a newborn in the house again.

-My first 5K is this coming Sunday. I have now had 3 practice runs of the full race length, so there are no excuses. I know I can run the whole thing. Yay!! I will be running another on Oct 4th and another on Oct 25th. That will probably be it for the year, but I really have the running bug. I will start looking at 2010 races soon, to keep myself motivated through the winter!

-Inspired by Uncle Gregg, his masterful culinary creations, and my own general desire to build more variety and healthful foods into our menu, I have recently been trying some new recipes. As Uncle Gregg often does, I took pictures of a few of them, with the intention of blogging about the experiences. But it just didn't come to pass. I still hope to do that in the future, but in the meantime, here is a list of what we tried and our general assessment of the dish.
-Chicken Pasta Fagioli - Tasty (less salt next time), Easy, Good leftovers
-Chicken Tortilla Soup - Tasty, Spicy!, Easy
-Rice Stuffed Avocados - We do not like warm avocado, but the rice was good!
-Chicken Club Salad - Delish, a great make-ahead meal. Even Kiki liked it!
-Pork Apple Meatballs - Got this one from the toddler cookbook. Freezes well. Needed a little extra salt.

If any one has any ideas for other healthy, quick and EASY (I'm really no cook) recipes, send them my way! And I'd be happy to pass any of those from the list along as well.

-Kiki has been cousin crazy the last month or so. I will say that her end-of-the-summer "Cousin Party" was a lot of fun, and a big success. She was a happy girl at the end of that cousin filled day. Since then, she has had a sleepover weekend with cousin E, several play sessions with cousin K, and many video screenings of cousins L and M.

-This past weekend, we went to an orchard for a day with Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Carol, cousin E, Aunt Jeff and Aunt Angela. Kiki and E had more fun riding the tractor, playing in the mega sandbox and eating donuts than apple picking, but all in all, it was a great day with beautiful weather!

Happy Birthday Lansing!!

Today we went to the capitol to celebrate the 150th birthday of Lansing. It included a picnic lunch on the lawn of the capitol building, dance demonstrations, music from the Boomers (JNL corporate band, w00t), story time, and much, much more.

Immediately following lunch (including birthday cake!), Kiki tried out the bubbles provided in the kiddie bag provided to her. She approved of them immensely.


Then we went over to the Kid's Tent to play in the sensory table, filled with dried beans, macaroni and rice. Fun!! After that, it was over to the merry-go-round. Yes, this was the hit of the day. It was smiles all around for the Kikster.




Then we shared some ice cream...


Then we played peek-a-boo on the capitol steps...



Finally, we watched the Nakomis dance and drum demonstration.



We had so much fun, we went straight home for a nap!

Summer Cousins

Today Rae came by and asked if Kiki could go on a quick bike ride with her cuz. Here's a picture of Kiki and K, post-bike ride. I think they both had fun, despite the look of puzzlement on both their faces.

Yay! She's Learning Words *grimace*

Kiki's vocabulary is really blossoming these days. She is learning lots of words, some useful that help her ask for things she needs or wants, others are just fun to say. I revel in every new words, each one a little miracle that passes her lips...until I've heard it the 1000th time in about 5 minutes.

Yes, Kiki has a favorite new word, or name I should say. This little story starts with a little application called YouTube and my idea that watching YouTube videos would be a great way to keep Kiki occupied and have a little connection with her extended family.

But then she realized that is was the same people that she was seeing in the videos, and one little cousin in particular. And that cousin has an easy to say name. And say it she does. Here is a brief summary of the first 20 minutes of Kiki's day today.

6:15 am - Mommy goes into Kiki's room "Good morning, Kiki" "Nea? Nea? Nea?"
6:20 am - "Would you like some yogurt?" Points to laptop. "Nea? Nea? Nea?"
6:30 am - "Time to get dressed, Kiki." "Neeeeeeeee-aaaaaaaa!!"
6:35 am - "Would you like to watch Tigger and Pooh, Kiki?" Climbs up on couch and sits in front of laptop. "Nea? Nea? Nea?"

Thanks for the videos, GreggR. You keep us connected and entertained!!

Little Miss Firecracker 2009

We had a relaxing July 4th at home this year. Nothing too exciting, but I thought I'd post a few pics.

Here is Kiki cheesing it up. She was working on an art project while I made dinner.


Here is her final "Fireworks 2009" masterpiece.

Just Goofin' Around

My favorite times with Kiki are when she is just being silly.

Easter

Happy Easter!!

It's been a long day, but fun. Ray and I were up early to get ready for church and for Ray to make brown bread for dinner at his uncle's tonight. We got Kiki dressed up because it's a special day, and let's face it, she looks adorable. Pictures below.

Kiki played in the living room while Ray and I were getting things together, and she accidentally found (they were on the living room table) the hollow, plastic carrots I stuffed for a hunt in her room. Luckily, she's little and didn't realize what they were.

Shortly before we left for church, we got a great surprise. The doorbell rang and as I walked past the bay window, I saw a 6 foot rabbit running down our driveway to a burgundy Saturn Vue. On our doorstep was a special basket with candy and dyed eggs. Thanks Farras!

After church, Kiki hunted for the stuffed carrots in her room. She was excited to find that the carrots held her favorite treats (baby goldfish, honey Teddy Grahams, mini Oreos).

In mid-afternoon, we headed for the east side of the state for dinner at Uncle Joe's, a yearly tradition. We had a few great hours of fun with family. Kiki visited with her cousin, which is always fun (the highlight being the few moments they spent in belly shaking laughter because they were just staring at each other).

All in all, a full day, a fun day, a tiring day. But a good day.


"Are these for me?"


Who says you can't be naughty in a pretty dress?


Kiki at church


Watching Daddy make bread in the kitchen

Just A Quickie

Kiki getting ready for school with big girl hair.

Two For One

I have been meaning to post something FOREVER!! We have been busy, busy, busy with life in general. But since I haven't posted in a while, you get a two for one this time around...

HITTIN' THE GYM

A friend of mine told me about a local gymnastics company that holds an open gym every Saturday. They have one gym for the bigger experienced kids and a smaller gym for smaller kids who are basically just running around and experiencing the equipment in a very rudimentary way. We thought it would be a good way to get Kiki out of the house on the weekends without throwing her into the alternating snow and the mud puddles in our backyard.

We have taken Kiki twice and she LOVES it. The first time, she really just had fun collecting all the hula hoops she could find. She wandered a bit, checking out the trampoline, balance beams, and the flexible tunnel. Ray got some great pictures that time around. And when the session was over, Kiki was ready for a nap.

We took her again his past weekend, and she got a little more adventurous. She swung on the rope swing (that will take a little practice), jumped on the large trampoline, and ran into the foam pit. And the second time, when it was time to go, she screamed and shouted all the way into her car seat.

Here are a few shots from our first trip.













CALLING ALL PARENTS (and other wise ones)

Here is the biggest parenting question I have had to pose so far. This is serious. Are you ready?......How the heck do you get a toddler to let you brush her teeth?

When she first got teeth, Kiki was more than willing to have her teeth brushed. In fact, she seemed to love it!! That is no longer the case. She has 10 teeth and they need to stay clean, but she is having none of it. We now have to fight with Kiki twice a day to get a few swipes at those pearly whites. She does whatever she can to prevent us from succeeding.

We have tried everything we can thing of. Toothpaste, brushing in the bath, letting her have one brush while we use another, letting her watch the tooth brushing process in the mirror, EVERYTHING!!

Does anyone have any suggestions, methods that worked especially well for you?

If anyone has an idea, PLEASE leave a comment. I don't want Kiki losing teeth before she has to!!!!

V-Day Baby

Kiki had her first ever Valentine's Day party at school yesterday. She and her friends exchanged valentines and had lots of fun snacks. I arranged to leave work early so I could be at the party and see Kiki and her friends in action. Although I hadn't planned to get Kiks all dolled up for the party, I happened to get her some pink and red pants during a recent shopping spree, and she and I found some bows for $1 at Taget last weekend...so she was a bit girly for the holiday. Here's the final product...

Superbowl II

Hard to believe how much Kiki has grown in a year!!

Superbowl 2008


Superbowl 2009

Our World Should Be For Everyone

As most of my readers know, my sister is a second grade teacher. Her first year has been full of challenges, as her students are not the easiest bunch to teach. But the more stories she tells me, the more I realize how much the environment that we live in influences the way we learn, what we learn, and which tools are available to teach us.

But a shortage of resources doesn't mean a teacher can't be resource-FUL!! My sis told me about donorschoose.com, and that she had something posted on it. When I went to the website and read her proposal, I wanted to cry!! Aside from being a great teacher, my sister is a wonderful writer and I think she has really conveyed the needs of her classroom. It just made me so sad that there are kids who don't know about their world! Our world should be available to everyone!!

In any case, I would encourage everyone to check out the website. Even if her proposed donation item is not for you (but I hope it is) maybe you can find another proposal that speaks to you, a way that you can help kids prepare for the world around them, and to know that there is even more world beyond them.

An Appeal

We have canceled our cable. It will save us money, and hopefully help me save brain cells. I'm trying to get away from the habit of watching TV at night, and to start reading more. I used to read all the time and have just gotten away from that over the years.

But I don't know what to read anymore!! What is relevant? Topical? Just plain good? What are my friends/family/peers reading?

So, I have recently signed up for Good Reads (goodreads.com). It is a website that lets you "friend" people, similar to other social networking sites. But here you can see the "bookshelves" of your friends, what they are reading, what they have read, their reviews and comments about books, etc. It's pretty cool.

I invite anyone who is willing to share their literary experience with me to sign up for Good Reads, and friend me. Just search for me by first and last name. There are currently only two of "me", so I shouldn't be too hard to find.

I look forward to reading with you!!

Christmas Fun

Phew!!! The holidays are behind us and I can take a deep breath knowing that there are no more parties to go to, presents to wrap, or trips to take (although, I wouldn't mind a few more days off from work!)

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas. Good company, generous gifts, and Kiki was especially fun this year. Though I don't think she really grasped what was going on, she enjoyed her time with cousin Ev and her new toys are lots of fun. She also perfected her "camera face", which I think is a combination of her knowing she should smile and also anticipating the flash. It's so cute, and cracks me up EVERY time!!



While we waited for people to arrive at Grandpa and Grandma's Christmas party on Christmas day, Kiki tried out one of her gifts from Ray and I. I think she liked it.



Here is a video, so you can see her in action. Listen closely for the giggles.



When we got home, Elena enjoyed her other gift from Ray and I (on sale for $30 bucks, score!) I think Elena and her cousins M and L might have to get together for a bake-off, as they are all now equipped with the proper tools.