Something I thought I never see: a child who LOVES nose spray (that's right - I said NOSE SPRAY)...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  20 months and 10 days

Family,

Well, keeping pace with a Sunday schedule was clearly wishful thinking, and so let me bid you a

wonderful Friday afternoon from the Queen City, where the Bull has wrapped work and is now safely ensconced on the couch watching football while the Munchkin sleeps.  Wife Muffin is off with the girls  for a weekend (to watch football, no less!), and as I'm sitting here having an AFD, it feels like the perfect time to try and catch up on the week ending 11/16.

It was another great one for Team Taylor, albeit with a few rough patches along the way.  Monday was a tough one, as it marked the first time we've ever tried in-home care for K.  The bank has this fantastic program which gives you access to 25 days of in-home, personalized childcare at a ridiculous rate, and given that I was working and JT was still away, we decided to avail of it to see how it would go.  I am very happy to report that the caregiver was FANTASTIC - exceptionally well prepared, very friendly, and 100% dedicated to K the entire time she was there (8 hours!).  She even offered to help tidy the house, fold/put away clothes, and empty the dishwasher once K was down.

And just like that - K figures out how to
work the water fountain.  And suddenly
it looked like Lake Michigan on the sidewalk.

K, however, was NOT thrilled about seeing a new face - especially since we'd both been up since 6:45 playing.  The second the caregiver walked into the house, K's face instantly changed, and she was a heartbeat away from crying (the corners of her mouth turned down almost instantly).  As we'd just had a PERFECT Sunday and had spent the last 2.5 days together non-stop, we were finally back into a groove that had felt missing over the previous weeks.  And so when I started reviewing feeding schedules, pointing out toys, and (most especially) kneeling down to chat with K and explain what was about to happen, her sense of apprehension grew.

As I started walking away, she clung to my legs, and picking her up only led to her holding me that much tighter.  And when the caregiver said "come over here and sit with me" and pulled K off me, THAT.  CHILD.  SCREAMED.

Give the nanny a TON of credit.  K was very cold and fussy at first, but the lady was wonderful and persistent.  She gave K space, sang to her, played music constantly, and read lots of books to her.  And while K would still sprint to me anytime I came downstairs (which I tried to limit), she did ultimately loosen up.  So on the whole it was a success (and we had the afternoon outside to relax and hang out), but it was tough at the beginning.

It should also be noted that the Panther's played on the Monday, and K actually PICKED OUT THEIR JERSEY as the shirt of choice for the day.  We would always go through the ritual of selecting clothes, and normally she'd shake off the first 4 or 5 selections before settling on a winner.  Well, on Monday, she wanted NOTHING to do with any shirt except her Panthers gear - clearly the brainwashing has worked!  Now if they could just win a game...

Jenny got home Tuesday, and I was one tired bunny!  We'd had 2 good days and 2 rough days, and Tuesday was great (we ended on a high note with me even getting a run in over at NOMAD).  The rest of the week went by in a blur, and K had quite the stuffy nose most of the week.  We had to give her Advil and Benadryll several nights, and we even resorted to Children's Vaporub to try and loosen her up.  By the end of the week we'd resorted to saline spray, where we were treated to quite the hilarious realization - K LOVES THE STUFF!  Seriously - she CANNOT get enough nose spray.  And now she even knows that, once it's sprayed in, she's supposed to squeeze her nostrils together and move the saline around.  She can't quite blow her nose yet, but once she can LOOKOUT!  I really must try and get video of her face when she sees both the nose spray and the snot sucker - SO EXCITED!  She even gives the more sign once you spray her nose AND helps you steer the snot sucker into her nose (and holds for you no less) - LOVE THIS KID!

The weekend itself was great, as we had the Thunder Road half marathon and a quiet weekend at home.  The run went really well, and the weekend was nice and relaxing after that (and did I mention filet mingnon on Saturday night!).  Sunday was a hoot as well, as we had some of my work mates up for a cookout.  Two couples came over - both recent transplants (as of 2 weeks ago) from Costa Rica.  The afternoon was a blur of laughs, food, and stories in 2 languages - no complaints there!

Yikes! Who's the homeless guy stealing our iPad and
playing with our daughter.  Oh, wait...

In terms of development, the biggest milestone to report is that K has a new phrase:  "OH, WOW!!!!!!!"  She will say this nothing shy of 1,000 times at a clip if she gets going - SO CUTE.
Also, our neighbors have been kind enough to "loan" us their play lawnmower, and K is LOVING pushing that thing all around the cul-de-sac.  Also, K is starting to get the hang of the iPad.  I didn't realize that JT had been working on this with her, but she's starting to understand simple moves and commands on the children's games we've downloaded.  And while neither of us want her on it 24/7, we both agree she does need to have a grasp of technology and learn how to operate the tools of modern day society.  The key is just ensuring you cover the home button and protect the tablet with the world's largest otter box - then you're good to go. :-)

And lest I forget - we decorated for Christmas on Sunday!  K was in HEAVEN, saying "OH WOW!!!!!" every time daddy brought a box down from the attic.  She was DESPERATE to touch every ornament we had, and we've already had some close calls with her ripping ornaments off the tree.  JT did a very smart thing and gave her 3 soft ornaments, and nightly she's been working on walking K over to the tree and asking her to put the ornaments back on.  Usually 1 gets on, lasts about .00007 seconds, and then is yanked right back off the branch - fingers crossed all those breakable ornaments see 2015 and beyond. :-)

K did NOT like the stand-up Santa that we have in the house - was even a bit afraid of him at first I

"You step out of line and I will POP you - got it?"

think.  However, add in enough ornaments, bulbs, bags, and other bric-a-brac, and soon enough she was all over the place.  So far she's been pretty good about not touching things.  In fact, when she picked up a wooden tree and JT told her not to (quite amicably, I might add), K burst into tears.  She does still like to run around with a little "Joy" decoration (one my mom stitched), but other than that - I am hoping we're in the clear (he says shaking his head, knowing it's not true and hoping he didn't jinx himself).  JT and I are very glad we put the tree up so early this year, as we only have 2 full weekends together in the house to enjoy it before the New Year - crazy, eh?

I'm conscious this one's been pretty short, but as I've got another one to write in just 48 hours (if I can actually make a Sunday!), that should hold us over for now.  Speak soon!

Love,

Sam and Jenny