Kaelyn has hit the part in life where she is changing constantly. It seems like she has a new thing everyday.
Lately her expressions have been pretty funny. She'll stick her tongue out as far as it will go and curl it up over her top lip, as close to her nose as she can get it. It's an expression she gives when she thinks something is funny or is having a good time. Sometimes a little giggle will accompany it.
Shortly after Thanksgiving her two bottom teeth popped through. They're just nubs, but they're definitely teeth, you can feel them in there. Not that I recommend you stick your hand in her mouth, of course. :)
When we're playing she is in constant motion. She likes to sit on her knees and play. It's kind of a semi-standing position. She always just sat on her bottom before but now that she can get on her knees she does so frequently!
Last week Kaelyn was definitely getting around. She'd be sitting and then roll over onto all fours and then sit back up the other way so she could move across the room in that fashion. I don't think she really meant to go anywhere, she just was practicing going from all fours to sitting. But she DID go somewhere! This week she has continued to do that but she also can crawl a good distance as well. She started crawling a few weeks ago but only one or two shaky little "steps". Now if she really wants something, she'll go for it! It's still shaky but she's starting to figure out she's not limited to whatever area she's plopped. She can go wherever she pleases!
She takes advantage of this new mobility the most during diaper changes. Why is that? She'll stay still for the unveiling of the diaper but as soon as it's off she rolls over, gets up onto all fours, and takes off! I took a picture of that view the other day and emailed it out to some people just to get even with her. So far we haven't had too many tinkle incidents, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I usually just let her go and play for awhile because when I try to pull her back she yells at me. Who doesn't prefer their butt to be bare over having a diaper on, I guess!
Kaelyn also loves to stand now. I have to help her balance a bit but she's always lunging for the footstool, the couch, my knee, whatever is handy that she can grab and get herself up on. She also stands when playing with something short. She'll have the wipe box in front of her and she'll be banging on it and them all of the sudden her butt's in the air. Her hands are still on the wipe box but she's now standing up bent over the box. This is dangerous because it's only a matter of time before she gets off balance or the box tips and she face plants. Normally she doesn't even seem to mind those tumbles, but if another toy gets in the way and she catches that, watch out! I try my best to help her balance but if I look away for a second, that's ALWAYS when it happens, you know?! What do you do.
She's also started to en
joy eating at the table more. The last few days she's really been chowing down the baby food as fast as I can shovel it in. It's hard to eat myself when I'm feeding her because she just wants it so fast! I try to give her a bite, then take a bite myself. That doesn't always work when she's sitting there like a little birdie with her mouth open. More please, mama! We're also working on the sippy cup thing. She doesn't really drink from it, but she LOVES to chew on it and in the meantime water comes pouring out all over her face, bib, chin, clothes under the bib, etc. I had to completely change her after supper last night she was so wet from that game! But I figure it's good practice and she's probably getting a little water just from so much of it being in her mouth. Though most of it comes right back out. Hence the clothes change.
Today was Kaelyn's first day in a winter coat. I put her in a full body suit thing
and she couldn't even move it was so puffy. She fell over from the sitting positions, her arms straight out from her sides, and just cried. It was really funny. That thing was SO big I couldn't get her in the carseat with it on so I switched to just a regular winter coat. It was still really puffy and she still couldn't move but she didn't complain so off we went on our first COLD winter outing of errand running, yippee.
Kaelyn still loves sticking her fingers in things. Mostly her pink diaper pin toy and any straw that slows down, but she's also taken to turning things over and over in her hands to inspect them. Like the little travel sized lotion bottle I got out the other day to keep handy. And her new thing this week is she just LOVES when toys attack her. We have this little turtle on wheels that plays songs and I would roll it across the floor last night and run it into her and she would just SQUEAL. We must have done that for a good 30 minutes before she got tired of it. I haven't gotten the turtle out today but other toys have attacked her with similar results.
For some reason, these last couple of weeks, Kaelyn's favorite books are Halloween books. We've had them since Halloween and she never really cared much but lately she's in love with them. She helps me turn the pages and just giggles and carefully looks over every character on the page. Sometimes she turns the pages too fast to look very closely, I must admit, but when she's under control she enjoys looking! One of the books is a lift the flap book and we got stuck on one page today for a good 15 minutes. Under the flap were three balloon jack-o-lanterns that said "one two three". Every time I would lift it and say "one two three" there was a giggle explosion from this kid! I have NO idea why that was funny but I kept doing it until she stopped giggling!
Naps have also become a changing thing. Kaelyn has been notorious for her 30 minute naps. She was taking them pretty regularly 3 times a day. Well, lately she's sometimes slept 30 minutes, sometimes an hour and a half! And one of the three naps a day is a real fight. She's not crabby with me, she just won't close her eyes. Or if she does, she's up like 5 minutes later ready to go again. I'm trying to switch her over to 2 naps a day but I haven't quite figured out the best way to do that just yet. Today she napped at 10 for 30 minutes and then not again until 4. That was a LONG time awake for her. But she was happy the whole time, so it worked for me!
I'm hoping with all of these changes another thing that will change is her stranger anxiety. A stranger being pretty much anyone but me. We spend SO much time together that anytime anyone else is holding her she's just LUNGING for me like she's going to DIE if I don't take her back. That's really hard because I don't want to take her from others but I don't want her to be scared or unhappy either. With these other changes, perhaps that will be shifting too?
I tell you, just when you think you have a kid figured out, they change on you. We had a good little pattern going and now I'm trying my hardest to figure out and establish a new one according to the cues she's giving me. Can't she just say, "hey mom, I only need 2 naps and I would like them at this time and that time." "Mama, I don't need to eat as often, so cut my schedule back to every 4 hours and amp up the REAL food, please." "I'm on the move now so get out of my way and quit trying to tie me down to a diaper!"
If babies could talk...what a wonderful world we would live in. I'm still in favor of them coming with some kind of manual or instruction book, but so far I haven't figured out how to get that passed through congress.
I imagine the changes in Kaelyn have just begun, but it's really fun to see them happening on a daily basis now. She's really becoming my little buddy. I enjoyed her before but interacting with her now and seeing her thrilled expression by our silly games really makes my day. Let's face it, it's the little things that matter in life and there's nothing smaller or larger than a baby's laugh.
Lately her expressions have been pretty funny. She'll stick her tongue out as far as it will go and curl it up over her top lip, as close to her nose as she can get it. It's an expression she gives when she thinks something is funny or is having a good time. Sometimes a little giggle will accompany it.
Shortly after Thanksgiving her two bottom teeth popped through. They're just nubs, but they're definitely teeth, you can feel them in there. Not that I recommend you stick your hand in her mouth, of course. :)
When we're playing she is in constant motion. She likes to sit on her knees and play. It's kind of a semi-standing position. She always just sat on her bottom before but now that she can get on her knees she does so frequently!
Last week Kaelyn was definitely getting around. She'd be sitting and then roll over onto all fours and then sit back up the other way so she could move across the room in that fashion. I don't think she really meant to go anywhere, she just was practicing going from all fours to sitting. But she DID go somewhere! This week she has continued to do that but she also can crawl a good distance as well. She started crawling a few weeks ago but only one or two shaky little "steps". Now if she really wants something, she'll go for it! It's still shaky but she's starting to figure out she's not limited to whatever area she's plopped. She can go wherever she pleases!
She takes advantage of this new mobility the most during diaper changes. Why is that? She'll stay still for the unveiling of the diaper but as soon as it's off she rolls over, gets up onto all fours, and takes off! I took a picture of that view the other day and emailed it out to some people just to get even with her. So far we haven't had too many tinkle incidents, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I usually just let her go and play for awhile because when I try to pull her back she yells at me. Who doesn't prefer their butt to be bare over having a diaper on, I guess!
Kaelyn also loves to stand now. I have to help her balance a bit but she's always lunging for the footstool, the couch, my knee, whatever is handy that she can grab and get herself up on. She also stands when playing with something short. She'll have the wipe box in front of her and she'll be banging on it and them all of the sudden her butt's in the air. Her hands are still on the wipe box but she's now standing up bent over the box. This is dangerous because it's only a matter of time before she gets off balance or the box tips and she face plants. Normally she doesn't even seem to mind those tumbles, but if another toy gets in the way and she catches that, watch out! I try my best to help her balance but if I look away for a second, that's ALWAYS when it happens, you know?! What do you do.
She's also started to en
joy eating at the table more. The last few days she's really been chowing down the baby food as fast as I can shovel it in. It's hard to eat myself when I'm feeding her because she just wants it so fast! I try to give her a bite, then take a bite myself. That doesn't always work when she's sitting there like a little birdie with her mouth open. More please, mama! We're also working on the sippy cup thing. She doesn't really drink from it, but she LOVES to chew on it and in the meantime water comes pouring out all over her face, bib, chin, clothes under the bib, etc. I had to completely change her after supper last night she was so wet from that game! But I figure it's good practice and she's probably getting a little water just from so much of it being in her mouth. Though most of it comes right back out. Hence the clothes change.Today was Kaelyn's first day in a winter coat. I put her in a full body suit thing
and she couldn't even move it was so puffy. She fell over from the sitting positions, her arms straight out from her sides, and just cried. It was really funny. That thing was SO big I couldn't get her in the carseat with it on so I switched to just a regular winter coat. It was still really puffy and she still couldn't move but she didn't complain so off we went on our first COLD winter outing of errand running, yippee.Kaelyn still loves sticking her fingers in things. Mostly her pink diaper pin toy and any straw that slows down, but she's also taken to turning things over and over in her hands to inspect them. Like the little travel sized lotion bottle I got out the other day to keep handy. And her new thing this week is she just LOVES when toys attack her. We have this little turtle on wheels that plays songs and I would roll it across the floor last night and run it into her and she would just SQUEAL. We must have done that for a good 30 minutes before she got tired of it. I haven't gotten the turtle out today but other toys have attacked her with similar results.
For some reason, these last couple of weeks, Kaelyn's favorite books are Halloween books. We've had them since Halloween and she never really cared much but lately she's in love with them. She helps me turn the pages and just giggles and carefully looks over every character on the page. Sometimes she turns the pages too fast to look very closely, I must admit, but when she's under control she enjoys looking! One of the books is a lift the flap book and we got stuck on one page today for a good 15 minutes. Under the flap were three balloon jack-o-lanterns that said "one two three". Every time I would lift it and say "one two three" there was a giggle explosion from this kid! I have NO idea why that was funny but I kept doing it until she stopped giggling!
Naps have also become a changing thing. Kaelyn has been notorious for her 30 minute naps. She was taking them pretty regularly 3 times a day. Well, lately she's sometimes slept 30 minutes, sometimes an hour and a half! And one of the three naps a day is a real fight. She's not crabby with me, she just won't close her eyes. Or if she does, she's up like 5 minutes later ready to go again. I'm trying to switch her over to 2 naps a day but I haven't quite figured out the best way to do that just yet. Today she napped at 10 for 30 minutes and then not again until 4. That was a LONG time awake for her. But she was happy the whole time, so it worked for me!
I'm hoping with all of these changes another thing that will change is her stranger anxiety. A stranger being pretty much anyone but me. We spend SO much time together that anytime anyone else is holding her she's just LUNGING for me like she's going to DIE if I don't take her back. That's really hard because I don't want to take her from others but I don't want her to be scared or unhappy either. With these other changes, perhaps that will be shifting too?
I tell you, just when you think you have a kid figured out, they change on you. We had a good little pattern going and now I'm trying my hardest to figure out and establish a new one according to the cues she's giving me. Can't she just say, "hey mom, I only need 2 naps and I would like them at this time and that time." "Mama, I don't need to eat as often, so cut my schedule back to every 4 hours and amp up the REAL food, please." "I'm on the move now so get out of my way and quit trying to tie me down to a diaper!"
If babies could talk...what a wonderful world we would live in. I'm still in favor of them coming with some kind of manual or instruction book, but so far I haven't figured out how to get that passed through congress.
I imagine the changes in Kaelyn have just begun, but it's really fun to see them happening on a daily basis now. She's really becoming my little buddy. I enjoyed her before but interacting with her now and seeing her thrilled expression by our silly games really makes my day. Let's face it, it's the little things that matter in life and there's nothing smaller or larger than a baby's laugh.
So true!!! She sounds like she has changed so much since I last saw her, I am anxious to see her tomorrow! :)
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