Spoiled?...of course!

Jonathan started it...he was the one who put her in her bed one day with a video on and hooked her up with a comfy pillow to prop her up. Now she will walk over to her crib and reach up to get in and then point to the video player (clearly she knows what she wants!). Or she will point to it first thing in the morning when you walk in to get her out of bed. Its kind of funny, but at the same time, genius! Hey, if it will buy us 30 more minutes of sleep on a Saturday morning then I'm all for it!

Sometimes its a great place to put her if she's tired and needs a nap but you know she's not going to take one, so some "rest" time while dinner preparations are underway is a great option.

As a result of this royal treatment, she also gets to be propped up while watching a show in the den. Her favorites have always been Baby Einstein (mostly Mozart, Newton and VanGogh), but recently she has really gotten interested in Barney. I think it is because of the singing and dancing. Of course, she doesn't lay down to watch Barney because she has to be up dancing along with it!

So is she spoiled? Definitely--we wouldn't have it any other way!

Mismatched socks

Funny story about Kylie and socks. We usually put socks on her feet before she goes to bed at night since its cooler now and she doesn't sleep with blankets (even if we put them over her she just kicks the blankets off after a short time so what's the point?!). Anyway, the night before last I couldn't find the pair of socks that I like to put on her (only could find one sock of the pair) so I decided to use it and then picked another sock of a similar style/fabric/feel/etc. to go with it. Who cares right? At least both feet were covered... Well, Kylie was NOT okay with that! She kept pulling one of the socks off--and it wasn't just one in particular so I knew it wasn't because one didn't feel comfortable. I think she just did not like the fact that they didn't match! Well, after she fell asleep I went back in and put the other sock back on. I checked on her before I went to bed and she only had one sock on! So I replaced it (again!) and went to bed. Jonathan went in to get her the next morning and brought her back to our bed and guess how many socks she was wearing? One! We put her to bed last night with a matching pair of socks on and she seemed to sleep just fine! Guess we won't make that mistake again...!

Here's a cute picture of the sleeping beauty--the covers didn't last long before she kicked them off!

Halloween 2009

We had such a fun time getting ready for Halloween this year--I think it works out much better to be on a Saturday--more time to enjoy it. Our town has trick-or-treating on Main Street downtown every year and most of the stores/businesses participate and pass out candy to the kids. Since we live so close to "downtown" (did I mention that I love living in a small town??), we can just walk to all sorts of parades and festivities throughout the year and not have to worry about parking, etc. The downtown fun was on Friday night and then we had a party to go to right afterwards. We also had another party to go to Saturday during the day, and then more fun with trick-or-treaters Saturday night. We got to wear our costumes several times, but at first Kylie wasn't so sure about it all!

Our costumes weren't anything fancy. Ben knew he wanted to be a vampire and so there was talk a few weeks ago about possible face-painting and "blood" around his mouth. Well, I wasn't necessarily enthused about that topic, so I was quite happy to find the perfect vampire/dracula mask at the dollar store instead. Kylie's costume also came partly from the dollar store (wings), and turned out to be the perfect accessories to some things we already had in her wardrobe for a cute little butterfly. At first when I put the wings on her she started to cry and took off down the hall, but when it was actually time to go trick-or-treating she seemed to be okay with it and played along. By this point she was already wondering what was going on anyway since her brother had on a cape and some weird-looking mask, and her mom had a strange pointy-hat with orange hair...

The night only got stranger as we headed downtown and saw more and more people dressed oddly. It really was fun to watch Kylie's face as she took it all in! Who knows what she was thinking as perfect strangers put candy into her pumpkin bag and told her happy halloween! It definitely had her attention!

We decorated the front porch a few weeks before Halloween. Well, when I say decorated I may be stretching it just a bit. We set out a pumpkin and put up a spider-web made out of cotton (complete with a few plastic spiders!). I wonder what the real spiders that live on our front porch thought about our creation?

If you look closely you can see Kylie through the door inside the house. I put her inside so she wouldn't fall down the steps while I was taking pictures and she was pressed up against the glass saying hi to us through the door--so cute!

Here's a "before" shot of the pumpkin. Ben actually carved it by himself, but not until Halloween day. He drew out a plan on paper first (typical Ben!) and then got to work on carving it with only a few deviations from the original plan!

Here's a picture of Ben and Kylie as we went out to trick-or-treat at our neighbors' homes. By now Kylie has accepted that its just going to be a different couple of days so just put on the wings and roll with it!

Some pics with friends as we trick-or-treated to our neighbors' homes. We only went to about 5 houses because we (Ben) were (was) anxious to get back to pass out candy to the people who came to trick-or-treat at our house. We always get a TON of people. I think most of the people in our county bring their kids to our neighborhood--which is nice that we live in a safe one, but it gets pretty busy!Here's a shot of Ben sitting on the porch taking care of his passing out candy to the trick-or-treaters responsibilities (all serious/no-nonsense of course!). He had a "system" and was all set up with the talking pumpkin to say "Happy Halloween!" at just the right moment when the kids would walk up (so he didn't have to say it) and then give them the candy. Kylie was more interested in her pumpkin treat bag than she was in the candy; probably because it said "happy halloween" and then laughed a spooky sounding "he-he-he-he-he" when you pressed a button on it. What a crazy weekend!

Goodbye Halloween--see you next year!

Run along and play!

So far, Ben and Kylie have been really great friends and so nice to each other, especially Ben! He loves to include her and doesn't mind that she destroys practically EVERYTHING he makes (examples: lego structures, lincoln log villages, train track towns, etc.). But like it or not, Ben is so fun to play with and Kylie absolutely wants to be doing exactly what he's doing (and does whenever possible!). Sometimes I can tell that Ben gets a little annoyed by the constant imitation/shadow/etc. but he doesn't let it show to the point where her feelings get hurt.

I remember when he used to do the same thing to me. I didn't want to be the kind of mom to tell her kids to "go away" or something similar in a mean tone so that I could get a moment of peace and quiet and to not be bothered. So instead I used to gently steer Ben towards his room full of toys as I would say, "Ok, now run along and play!" And then nine times out of ten he took my subtle suggestion and would happily go play (independently) as I finished a page in a book, or any number of other things that are accomplished so much easier alone than with a talkative helper!

Well, the other day I overheard Ben say this same phrase to Kylie while she was playing in his room, obviously wanting to play with whatever it was that he was holding at the moment. I love it!! He wanted to play by himself without her "help" or assistance, but didn't get mad at her or do something to make her cry. It also made me a little bit happy to know that such a great phrase was passed along. So I intervened at this point, knowing that Kylie really doesn't know how to run along and play on her own just yet! And smiling happily with a feeling of deja vu, I gently led a little girl who was also smiling happily (and blissfully oblivious to anything else) down the hall to her own room full of toys!

Thank you Ben for continuing to be the best big brother to the luckiest little sister in the world!

Snuggles for everyone!

Above is a picture of someone deemed very special in our house. It is the Curious George in the yellow shirt. Though it may appear to be a simple stuffed animal, it is actually the object of much affection--and not necessarily by its owner! You see, Ben is the owner of the George in the yellow shirt, while the one in the red belongs to Kylie. Kylie likes her Curious George just fine, but is very much aware of the fact that the one that belongs to Ben is the one in the yellow shirt. And that single fact alone makes it the item she wants most on just about any given day. Ben has loved Curious George since he was a little toddler, and its quite likely that you saw his Curious George if you saw him ever while he was 3 or 4 since he basically took George everywhere he went (probably even still some while 5 and later). Don't worry, George was always safe, he usually even had his own seatbelt on while riding in the car. Since then, George has still been an active member of our family's comings and goings, but mostly just on overnight trips since he spends most of his time now on Ben's bed (or in Kylie's clutches, but that is another story...).

When Kylie was just barely big enough/strong enough to hold Ben's Curious George on her own she tried to...of course this was also a time when she put EVERYTHING in her mouth so there were instances when George's shirt would show up in the laundry basket because Ben was trying to cleanse him of the baby drool! One time (fairly recently) George's shirt showed up as I was folding clothes from the dryer. Ben was at school and Kylie was asleep, so Jonathan and I took the yellow shirt and put it on Kylie's Curious George and then set it on the edge of the couch where she would see it when she came in the room. Sure enough, she zeroed in on it as soon as she came in the room and started pointing at it and laughing and babbling all kinds of baby talk. We're pretty sure she was just letting us know that someone had put Ben's Curious George's shirt on her Curious George and either it looked ridiculous or she loved it, but either way she carried it around with her for the rest of the day!

Here's a picture of a very happy Kylie snuggling Ben's Curious George in his bed while he was at school one day...she does this as often as she can, don't tell Ben! :) Just kidding, he knows but is such an awesome big brother that he doesn't mind. Don't let the red shirt confuse you in this picture. It really is Ben's George, he is just wearing a shirt from another stuffed animal (probably while his yellow shirt was in the wash!).
Kylie has been working puzzles lately and has really amazed us with her skills. She picks up the pieces and puts them where they go without anyone helping her. Here's a video of Kylie working a puzzle, but it starts with a shot of her with Ben's Curious George so I thought I'd include it with this post.

One more thought for this post, here's a cool story about something that happened the other night. This is just another example of what a great big brother Ben is, and how lucky Kylie is to have such a brother. It was time for bed and Kylie had Ben's George. We went into Ben's room so she could give him back to Ben since it was time for bed. Well, she didn't really want to give him up. She held him out to Ben but didn't let go of her grip on George at all :). We even got her Curious George and tried to trade but she wasn't having it! Ben told her that it was okay. He took her George and said she could snuggle his Curious George that night and he would snuggle hers, with the added rationale that her George doll didn't get snuggled as much anyway and would love the opportunity! Isn't that a nice big brother?! Well, the story doesn't end there. I took Kylie to her room and put her in her crib with Ben's Curious George. She pulled him up to her neck and peacefully drifted off with a blissful, content smile on her face. What a great way to fall asleep! Thanks Ben for continuing to bless our home and family with your sweet loving spirit!

Achieving Freedom and Independence!

Kylie was so excited to take her first steps and literally walked around the house for several days with a huge, satisfied, proud, permasmile plastered to her face! We don't actually have a video of her first steps, but I got to be there for the big event and see it firsthand--and I am so grateful! It was just Kylie and me in the family room and I was sitting on the floor a few feet away from her when she decided it was time to walk towards me--on purpose. I say "on purpose" because she had taken a few steps here and there without realizing it several times during the previous weeks--but as soon as she would realize she wasn't holding onto anyone's hand or the couch or some other object, she would drop down to the floor and crawl the rest of the way. But this time she knew exactly what she was doing as she looked right at me, grinned, and took a step, and then another and another! To say that she was obviously very pleased with herself would be an understatement. I don't know where the camera was or else I would have grabbed it, but here are some shots of her early steps anyway:
She is loving the fact that she can go where she wants to, when she wants to...unless of course someone interferes and picks her up or stops her or something--which is entirely a different issue and brings out a side of her (or anyone for that matter) that we don't typically capture on film!

I love how she carries an object in each hand as she walks, maybe for balance? maybe so she won't be stranded somewhere without something to do? Either way, its been so much fun to watch. The other day she was carrying a book in each hand and kept stopping, sitting down, reading, and then getting back up to continue on to wherever she was going. I have a picture of one of her reading breaks here:
Kylie's favorite animal/object/theme/etc. is ANYTHING to do with dogs! She is absolutely fascinated by every animal she sees (especially since she's never met a mean one!) and literally SHOUTS out her excitement when she sees a dog. We found that out quickly when what seemed like an innocent book to let her look at during church became the source of the loudest noise to happen, naturally right during the quiet, most spiritual part of the meeting! It wasn't even a book about dogs. Ironically enough it was a book about the sacrament, but there just happened to be a picture of a dog on one of the pages...she let EVERYONE know about it! :)

This clip is one of her "reading" a book about dogs. By reading I mean repeating the word "doggie" as many times as you can, sometimes with different inflection!

She is such a cautious walker--very steady and determined. I guess that since she waited until after she turned 1 to walk that she also waited until she was definitely ready to do it right! Ben was eager to go as soon as he could, and I know that by the time he was her age he already had received several battle scars from various mishaps! Kylie mastered turning very quickly (maybe a few hours?) and considers herself completely independent now, ready to take on anything! Watch out world--here she comes!

I love living in a small town

I love living in a small town... for example, I'm planning to have a yard sale this Sat. so I go to the internet to look up the phone number on the newspaper's website so I can place an ad. I see "Classified Sales" and a phone number with extension #21... so I call the number and a nice lady answers the phone very politely, here's what happened next:
Me: Hello, extension 21 please.
Nice Lady: One moment...(pause)...we don't have an extension 21.
Me: (only slightly confused because, well, I've been in this town for 3 years) Ok, classified sales then please.
Nice Lady: (sounding very confused) Umm, who are you trying to call?
Me: I'd like to place a classified ad and I got this info from your website...
Nice Lady: Ok,...(pause)...now what is it that you needed? (still sounding confused)
Me: I'd like to talk to someone who can give me information about running a classified ad. (??)
Nice Lady: (sounds of confusion still coming through the phone line as she's trying to decide who to pass my call to)...okay, so you probably want to talk to, well, hmmmm...
Me: (trying a different approach) Maybe you can help me--I'm having a yard sale on Saturday and want to put an ad in the paper about it.
Nice Lady: Ok! (as if to say, why didn't you say so in the beginning?)

Seriously? Why didn't I?? :) -- after this she was very helpful and answered all (well, most) of my questions. :)