gold fish

Kaylea loves her gold fish. She asked for some and when she does, she always tells me she needs a spoon. I found her in her room using a chair as a table and using her spoon the right way. Our baby girl is growing up!

my sweet girl

No particular reason for this post. Kaylea was given this dress as a late birthday present and I wanted to get her picture in it for a thank you card. She had a paci in her mouth. I asked her to take it out and smile for a picture. She did such a great job and I love the picture.

nite nite

We had a lot of fun today, but I only captured one picture. We had McDonald's for breakfast...well, mommy & daddy did. We asked Kaylea what she wanted for breakfast and she said, "cer-e-o." We asked if she was sure she didn't want cakes and she said, no, fruity pebbles.

We took her to the park & played - she got super dirty, so we took a bath. We thought it was nap time - not so much. We tried for 2 hours to get this girl to take a nap, but she would not. We finally gave up.

We headed to Incredible Dave's tonight for some play time with Mimi. Kaylea fell asleep on the way over, so she got to sleep for about 20 minutes. Kaylea had so much fun playing on the bouncies & running through the obstacle course. She was dead beat when we got home. When I carried her in the house she looked at me and said, "mommy, i go to sleep." I asked her if she was tired and she said no.

After getting her pajamas on, I walked into the other room and when I came back, this is what I saw (the picture below). Kaylea was snuggled up in my bed. I tried to get her out of the bed and she said, "I'm asleep. I'm hiding." Needless to say, it was easy to put her to bed tonight.

moments

Since Kaylea has started in the 2 year old classroom a few weeks ago, she has been wanting to use the potty. She started telling my mom one day this weekend. Last night she told daddy while she was in the bath tub, and I found out she used the potty twice at day care today. While we were out at Target tonight, she told me she needed to go. I took her to the bathroom and sure enough she did! She also told me that she wants to wear her panties. I keep telling her that as soon as she starts using the potty, she can wear those panties. I keep wondering if we should try the potty training thing again. It hasn't been but a month since we tried before, but the girl seems ready. What to do, what to do!

happy birthday kaidyn

Today we celebrated Kaidyn's 3rd birthday - it's still a little ways away, but she has a baby brother due anytime now, so they wanted to have the party early. Kaylea had a great time. It was outside, but she didn't care. She loved playing in the bouncy house. I can't believe I got them to pose for the picture below.

first hair cut

Kaylea had her first hair cut this weekend. Taylor, my stylist, gave her a little trim. There really wasn't a lot to trim, but we wanted to even it out a little in the back. She wouldn't sit in the chair, but she was willing to sit on my lap, as long as she had a sucker in her mouth. Taylor snipped it very quickly and Kaylea did a great job.

holiday world

We took Kaylea to Holiday World - we weren't really sure what to expect. We decided to drive there when we thought she would sleep. She didn't :( She fell asleep about 15 minutes before we got there. So, we sat in the car with the AC blasted and let her sleep for an hour.

We went in and headed for the kiddie rides. I was nervous to put her on the carousel by herself, so I rode with her the first time. She did great. She rode all of the rides. It shocked me that she was only 1.5 inches from riding some of the bigger rides with an adult (she'll be able to next year).

We got hot so we headed to the water park. She liked the toddler slide area, but she also wanted to ride the big slide. She kept telling me she wanted to. She didn't want to stay at the water park too long (we think she was hungry). She told us she wanted to go home. We changed clothes and gave her a snack and she was ready to go ride again. We had a great time.

airplanes
big carousel

salmons - one of her favorites

canoes - notice her hand in the water

bumper boats

sea horses

kiddie carousel

2 Year Check Up

We took Kaylea for her 2 year check up today. I was super excited because there weren't going to be any shots. No one told me that they prick their finger. That was as bad as a shot. Kaylea remembered the place when we arrived and she was not happy. As soon as she sat on the scale, she started screaming. She knew she didn't want to be here. We talked to the doctor and asked a few questions (I rarely have any).

1. Was it OK to switch her to skim milk (since we already had) instead of 2%? They said it was absolutely OK.

2. When should we take her to the dentist? The nurse said 3; the doctor said some dentist want to see them 6 months after they have teeth. I think we are going to take her at 2 1/2.

3. Kaylea has this dry skin type of thing behind her ear - asked about it and no worries - just a slight case of eczema.

Kaylea's 2 year stats - 25lbs, 11 ounces (35the percentile); 34.5 inches tall (5oth percentile); Looks like she's a healthy girl and developmentally where she should be.

kaylea's 2nd birthday party

Kaylea slept in on her birthday until 8:40 or so. When she got up, I asked her if she wanted to eat donuts or pancakes for breakfast. From the moment I asked her, she just kept saying pancakes, want my pancakes. We took her to McDonald's because it's quick. She had her pancakes. We hung out most of the day getting ready for her party. She was one lucky gal.

Something I want to remember. I thought she might get overwhelmed and sure enough, she did. At one point, she went upstairs with Nana and "hid" under her art table. I asked her what she was doing, and she said, "I hid under table mama." I asked if she wanted to go get her cake and she said, "No, I hid under table." Poor thing.

She tried to escape back upstairs a few other times. She generally likes to stand on a chair and sing happy birthday because this is what they do at day care. In fact, last night, she stood on a chair in the living room and me, daddy, nana, and mimi sang to her. She was so excited at the end, she yelled, "AGAIN." I didn't think that would be the case today. I thought she would freak out when all of the attention was on her. Sure enough, she did. She started out standing on her chair and smiling and then she realized what was happening, and headed for mama's arms.

She was super blessed with a lot of friends and family and way too many gifts. (I uploaded my pictures in the wrong order, but I wasn't about to start over)

after the party!
could this be my child? she didn't touch her cake or ice cream

one of her favorite presents

lucas helping kaylea open gifts - she wasn't too into the gift opening

going in to give alton a kiss

kaidyn enjoying her cake

mimi & kaylea

mommy & the birthday girl

checking out her cake

daddy & the birthday girl

kaylea's 2nd birthday party - decor

I am a little bit crazy - I have been working on party ideas for Kaylea's birthday for about 5-6 months I figure with the time and energy spent, I could dedicate an entire post to the decorations and food. I delegated out a lot of the food - my mom made barbecue, potato salad, hot dogs, and mac & cheese. Kathy made fruit salad. I made green beans, the cake, and cake pops. Party favors were stuffed Sesame Street characters, books, personalized crayons, Lillie pops, and a sand bucket. We had a great time!

party favors & kaylea's favorite treats
wall decorations

the cake

hand-made birthday banner

lolly pops

development - 2 years

1. Favorite Foods - pancakes (she no longer calls them cakes :( ), chicken nuggets, apples (although she is starting to try a lot more).

2. Favorite Songs - The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bity Spider, Old MacDonald

3. Favorite Toys/Activities - Loves to draw, loves to dance, loves to swim, and loves to swing.

4. Other Favorites - animals (especially cats), books, and Barney!

5. You take art class & dance and tumble class - you are an observer. You do not love to participate in class. You like to watch the others, but as soon as you get home, you can't wait to try everything out.

6. We are constantly complimented on how well you speak. You are putting together 5-7 word sentences already and you repeat everything you say. A quick story I want to remember - we were at the license branch on Friday and it was taking forever. You were being great. I was trying to distract you by having you walk across the chairs and count them. You counted them as we walked across. The workers were just amazed. They kept saying how awesome it was that not only could you count, but you could already count objects. You also impressed them by saying their names over & over.

7. When we ask you what your name is, you respond by saying, "Kaylea Jordyn." When we ask you how old you are, you say, "2" and hold up all 10 fingers!

8. You feed your self and you finally eat table food (it took forever).

9. You are very attached to your blankie and you still use your paci.

10. You go to bed at 8:30 most nights and sleep until 7:30 or 8:00 (this is perfect since daddy is off work for the summer). You still take one nap (about 2 hours a day).

photo shoot - 2 years

I can't believe our baby girl is already 2 years old. We had her pictures taken a few weeks ago and I wanted to post some of my favorites. It was extremely difficult to decide which ones to post. We had them taken at Central Park in Louisville. Kaylea wasn't too interested in the pictures, but she enjoyed playing in the water and on the swings & slide. I can't believe that she has been in our lives for 2 years. I am truly amazed by how much she was learned in the last year. I am so proud of our little K Monster.

moments

Last night I was putting Kaylea down for the night and singing her a song. I sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." I sing about mommy & Kaylea, daddy & doodle, itty bitty mimi, nana & pop, shannan & brenden, and anyone else I can think of. I stopped singing and Kaylea looks up and me and says, "I like that song, mommy. Again." Too precious. So of course, we sing it again.

happy 2nd birthday lucas

On Sunday, we spent part of the afternoon celebrating Lucas Hamm's 2nd birthday. Kaylea had a great time. The party was cowboy themed and Erin did a great job hosting. She had some really cute party favors. Kaylea didn't want anything to do with her cowgirl hat yesterday, but she has been asking for it all day today. She keeps saying, "I want my cow hat."

Blowing Out His Candle
Swimming

Sliding

Water Table

Eating!

only child syndrome

It's possible I've blogged this before, but it is oh, so true. Kaylea definitely needs her alone time after being around kids all day. Since we kept her in day care part time this summer, this was after she came home. She wanted to go relax. We thought she was playing, but instead climbed up into her chair with her pillow and blanket, grabbed the remote, and turned on some Sponge Bob.