April Update

Well, it’s been 2 months, and it continues to get easier with a toddler.  Kayli is a very happy baby and overall an easy-going kid, so that has made things very easy for us all.

She has been sleeping through the night since I last wrote.  She goes down about 8:30pm, and if it’s quiet in the house, she will sleep until about 8:00am.  If it’s a day that the boys get up for school, she usually hears them, so she wakes up around 7:15am.  She still takes 1 or 2 naps, either two 1 hour naps or 1 longer one.   Kayli is still an extremely active child.  She is constantly on the go discovering new things or following the boys or the cat.  If I happen to put something new in a drawer, like Tupperware, she will usually pick it out immediately and play with it for 15 minutes or so.  She still really enjoys playing with things other than baby toys but we make do. 

We started daycare on 4/28, and she goes 3 days a week.  We have our neighbor Mandy who runs a daycare in her home watching Kayli, and it is working out well.  There is a little girl (Julia) there who is 4 months older, so Kayli really enjoys keeping up with her.  Mandy says the girls are also quite jealous of each other.  If one has a bottle, the other one wants it, or if one is sitting on Mandy’s lap, the other one wants up also.  I am sure it is keeping her VERY busy.  I usually drop Kayli off at 7:30am, get her settled and leave for work around 7:45am.  I am able to pick her up by 4:45, and we are very happy to see each other.  The first day I picked her up, she actually hugged and kissed me for 3 minutes straight!  What a sweetie.

We also took Kayli to our permanent campsite for the first time last weekend.  She had to sleep in her pack-n-play for the night, and we were not sure how she would do.  It took her about 45 minutes to fall asleep, but then she slept from 9:00pm till 7:00am.  I was able to put her pack-n-play under one of the bunks in the boy’s room.  The boys slept on the other side (Evan on the bottom, Trenton on top.)  She really likes to be outside and being outside seems to wear her out (my first child that is actually tired from being outside; I think it energizes my other two!)  Jeff has to finish the deck soon since she likes to push on the camper door, and we are worried if it would unhinge, she would fall out (yikes.)  We will be taking her up again next weekend, so we hope it goes as well.  We also decided that a regular stroller doesn’t do well in gravel, so we wanted to get a jogging stroller.  I also decided that I wanted to buy a used one since it will only get dirty camping.  I drove by 20+ rummage sales in 2 weeks and never found one. But then I went to a local resale shop (Once Upon a Child), and there it was!  And it was only $55.00; what a deal.  I can’t wait to use it.

Kayli’s brothers' summer sports have all begun as of this week.  I have not quite decided how I am going to keep her busy during each activity.  Today at baseball she decided she wanted to try and eat little stones and grass (I thought we were over that.)  YUCK.  So I may be dropping the boys off a lot and returning when they are done practicing.  Luckily my mother-in-law will be able to watch Kayli for Soccer games on Tuesday nights since Jeff and I don’t want to miss any games.  Evan and Trenton are on the same baseball team this year, so that will cut down on the amount of practices.

Walking, walking, and walking.  Kayli started walking 1 week before she turned 11 months.  And now, 3 weeks later is walking rather quickly!  She is very steady on her feet and rarely crawls.  We are going to buy her a real pair of shoes this week (she has been wearing her Robees mainly.)  Our cat, Chloe, isn’t pleased with Kayli’s latest accomplishment since she is much faster, but she is learning to deal with it. 

Jeff and I have still not gone out without the kids since Kayli has been home.  We only want to leave Kayli with someone she is comfortable with so we are limited.  I hope by the next update we will have actually gone out without the kids.  :)   Jeff is still busy with his truck remodel and told me he hopes to drive it by July.  Personally I hope it is sooner than that.  I wonder if Kayli thinks he lives in the garage some days. 

Kayli is still tickled pink when either her Daddy or brothers get home.  She squeals and expects to be picked up immediately.  They all enjoy the attention.

Kayli has finally learned 1 sign.  “All done,” although Jeff thinks she isn’t really signing because all Kayli has to do is wave her hands in the air to sign “all done”  I know she is communicating with me when she does it.  She also likes to stare at things she wants and started pointing a few weeks ago and then stopped doing that.  She has said “Buy-Buy” and says “Mama” a lot, usually in the correct way.  She really doesn’t say Dada anymore so we are working on that again.  She also is fascinated with eyes.  Whether it’s on a doll, a stuffed animal or one of us.  She also pointed to her own eye last week when I asked her “where is Kayli’s eye?”

Kayli is over 20 lbs now and has a little belly.  She is still eating about anything we give her, although she doesn’t like ham, poor girl.  Next week I am planning on starting to add whole milk to her bottles so we will see how that goes.

She was baptized 4/27, and the whole family was over (25+ people.)  Now I have to start thinking about her birthday, which is only 2 weeks away. 

We have not received any strange or negative comments.  A handful of people (that I didn’t know at all or well) have asked a few questions but they have always been very polite.  I am impressed with how people in the Fox Valley have acted when seeing our family.  The boys think it is pretty neat because so many people say “what a beautiful baby!”

We will send 1 more update in early June.  What a fantastic journey this has been.

The Bloms

 

Kayli’s Baptism

Silly Girl

Eating

With Blankie

Playing with Mom

This page hosted by