Family,
And a good Thursday to you from the Queen City, where the Bull is working on yet another milestone post. This entry will officially conclude Volume 2 of "Raise Kids With the Taylors," which means
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| My girls! Happy Birthday, Munchkin!!!! |
This post in particular has occupied my thoughts quite a bit lately, and I've been desperate to find a chunk of time for sitting down and committing it to "paper." However, between recovering from Vegas and everything else going on, I've been tired this week and just haven't had a good window. However, I'm finally feeling refreshed and up early on a Thursday morning, so I'm hopeful I can do this last entry (for this volume anyway!) justice.
Two years - I really can't believe I'm typing that. I mean, K is no longer an infant, newborn, or baby - none of those descriptors now apply. Our child is a toddler, a youngster, A LITTLE GIRL - and this year's transformation has just been incredible. I still remember a card my mom gave me that said: "Son - you came. You grew up. You defy explanation. Have you been fun to love or what?" That is EXACTLY how I feel about K.
I mean, let's just think about everything that's happened this year (and I'll do the 20 memories later, but these are big enough moments that they deserve a little more air time). The stretch from March 2014 to March 2015 saw K's first surgery (tubes in her ears), Jenny quit work to stay at home with Kaitlyn, us say farewell to Primrose, K's first passport stamp, K's first step, run, and jump, our last Christmas in Tennessee, and K's first broken bone - and that's just a few of the highlights! Plus, with K at the cusp of so many transitions - big girl bed, potty, day care, you name it - Year Three is gonna be one wild ride!The Mac now has almost 21,000 pictures, 99% of which are the Munchkin. The house now sports a toddler basketball hoop, a trampoline (not yet set up for obvious reasons), a little tykes cozy coupe, and a newly opened up bonus room (Good call, Wife muffin!). The Go Pro has almost an hour of footage, a lot of which are just normal, everyday moments with K - laughing, playing, running, etc - which makes those files more precious than gold to me and Jenny.
For my part, 2014 was incredible, and it's not a stretch to call the first 3 months of 2015 the best three of my entire life. The decision to have Jenny stay at home has transformed this house for the better in every way imaginable and more ways than I ever thought possible. In her new role as Director of Operations for Team Taylor, LLC, Jenny has shown time and time again how amazing a mother she is, and the benefits of having her home are easily evident when looking at how quickly K is developing and learning. For my part, I've become a lazy slob when it comes to cleaning and a fat slob as well, as JT IS NOW THE GODDESS OF THE KITCHEN AND SHOULD HOST HER OWN COOKING SHOW. Summary - life is guuuuuuuuuud.That last sentence sums up Team Taylor right now - we just cannot believe how blessed we are. K is healthy (minus the break, but that seems to be healing nicely), we love our home, we've really been lucky to spend a lot more time with family lately, and life has just been great. We've found a church, I've found a happy medium on running (not killing myself by getting up at 5:30 every morning), we're loving experimenting in the kitchen, the weather is getting nicer (which means beautiful flowers and more walks), and I think the goals we set out when we moved to "the burbs" are coming to fruition (truth be told, I think they were always there - it just took me awhile to see them and realize I was living the dream I wanted but hadn't yet acknowledged). And now, as I look back on the year that has closed in K's life, I feel so blessed and realize how my cup truly runneth over. And as I think back to all the laughs, emotions, and memories over these past 12 months, a sense of excitement fills me as I think about what K's next year of life will bring.
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| Tell me that's not the picture of relaxation. |
nd SHE. GOES. CRAZY. She is pretty good at getting her head through the "head hole," but then she wants to put her arms through the head hole as well. On the bottoms, she's getting better, and given that she's got a cast on 1 leg, I'm cutting her a little slack in the interim. :-) She still doesn't always get the legs in the right holes (normally tries to go 2 for 1), but she's close. Genius, I tell ya!
The week was a fun one for her and JT, starting with the monthly Chik-fil-a breakfast on Monday. As an aside, it's been AMAZING to see how much more mobile K's become with the cast - nothing can slow this girl down! She was crawling the first week, but now she's sliding on her butt and moving quite quickly - so much so that we can no longer leave the gates open. Talk about a short reprieve there! And get this - she's even climbing on the furniture! She can actually climb all the couches and her little adirondack chair now (and still tries to jump out of her chair after eating) - incredible!
On the language front, K has started combining words into sentences NON-STOP. It's really incredible to watch not only the vocabulary development, but also the grammar and syntax structure. One really exciting item for me to note was that, when I landed back from Vegas on Sunday, K pulled out the alphabet puzzle and said ALL OF HER LETTERS! Now granted, she didn't do them all in order, but she knows every single one and was MUCH better at putting them into their appropriate slots. That was truly the amazing thing for me, as I'd always felt like it had been a struggle for her. I'm telling you, sports fans, my wife is doing an AMAZING job of teaching our daughter (and pushing her to figure things out on her own. I give JT a TON of credit here, as I've not been as good about that and need to work on pushing her to solve problems in 2015 vs. providing assistance too quickly).On the word front, here are the new additions:
1. Church
2. Playground (this past week she had to walk past it but obviously couldn't do anything with her cast - she was a trooper about it, and I'm happy to report that she's now getting some playground time - stay tuned for the next post :-))
3. Robin - now I know that "bird" was what I thought was her first word, so animals of the aviary persuasion have caused me some embarrassment before, but hear me, people - K CAN IDENTIFY A ROBIN. She can point out any critter with the orange breast and call it a robin, whereas all the other winged critters are just "birds." I saw this first hand on a walk last Sunday - amazing!
4. Headstand - no idea where she learned this word, as JT and I have NEVER said it. However, she's trying to do them nonstop (pushes herself into down dog), and when Jenny asked what on earth she was doing, "headstand" was her response.
5. xylophone
6. bulldozer (Loved that one!)
7. ponytail - she's FINALLY letting us put her hair back now - so cute!
8. birthday (and BELIEVE ME - she knows that equates to presents :-))
9. watermelon - which she is eating a TON of, for the record. This summer could be a watermelon eating spectacle the world has never seen - complete with the full diapers to match...
10. "Two years old" - she started repeating this on her birthday (most likely after we'd said it 1,600 times). I'm not sure she gets it, but if you ask how old she is, she does say "two years old" ...and holds up 4 fingers. Details...
11. "Thank You" - now I might have given her credit for this one before, but she proactively said it for the first time this week. She sometimes signs it as well, and I love hearing her say it. Just like when she repeats "I love you" - it's just about the sweetest thing ever.
On the sentence front, "night moon out" was probably my favorite from the week, but she's probably added 20 new "pidgin English" sentences to the repertoire. Jenny said it best - in times previous, we've been amazed when parents have been able to translate what their kids are saying (as we had no clue). Now, however, we get it, as we know exactly what she's saying even when no one else would have a PRAYER of guessing it. My how times change... :-)As for the rest of the week, K had a successful dentist visit on Tuesday and a visit to the aquarium for her birthday on Wednesday (where she bonded with the Octonauts). The dentist said the everything looked good, but we have now officially been placed on warning that it's time for K to stop sucking her thumb. He said that ideally we need to break her of the habit over the next 2 years, and obviously the sooner the better. Apparently the thumb sucking motion results in the front teeth growing faster, which is why it's important to get them to stop. The instructions for now are simple - just tell her calmly that she shouldn't do it because it will hurt her teeth whenever you see her doing it. For me, it's largely during reading time, Mickey time, and bed time. I haven't yet had the heart to say, "Sweetheart, please stop" - between the birthday and the cast, it's just felt wrong to deprive her of such a comfort. However, I know that the time will soon come, and once April rolls around, I plan to start doing my part (vs. leaving it all to Jenny :-)).
Oh, and the last funny bits of the week? K has really enjoyed "the burping game," this week, whereby she says "Dada burp!" and I have to do it on command. Now, as I can't actually burp on command like Jenny can, I have to just make some ridiculous noise, and when I do K just cackles. In a similar vein, Jenny has taught K how to make "poot" noises, but K can't quite get the tongue and air mixture just right. The result is K trying to make the noise, slobbering or spitting all over Jenny, and then cackling uncontrollably (rinse - repeat). I'm telling - PARENTS OF THE YEAR.So there you have it - thoughts and emotions from a father after another week (and year!) in the books. Honestly, there's so much that I want say that I could write for a hundred years, but the reality is that words will never do justice to the experience of being a parent. As with so many things, you can never appreciate it until you do it. And once you've done it, you are so immensely grateful for the blessings God has given you and the chance to go down this path. Between Jenny and Kaitlyn, I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth, and I only hope that in Year Three I can give them half the joy they've given (and continue to give) me.
I leave you now with the 20 memories of Year Two - Happy Reading:
1. Looking out the window on a June day just in time to see the Munchkin take her first steps - and then to see the look on mine and Jenny's face that said, "Yeah, that's our kid. Not bad, huh?"
2. Holding hands during prayer and eating with my daughter at Grandmother and Granddaddy's on Christmas Eve, knowing full well it would be the last time I'd ever be there on Christmas Eve and being so thankful that I'd have that memory forever.
3. Wondering why JT was three hours late responding to a text asking simply "How's the day going?", only to later receive a response that said "Interesting day..."
4. That first photo on the beach in Jamaica of Team Taylor looking out at the ocean (backs to the camera, taken by C-Web) - so exhausted from what we'd been through, so excited for what was to come, and so naive...
5. The look on JT's face when she realized we could do it - she was going to stay home and raise our daughter.
6. The last photo outside Primrose of K and Jenny with the playground in the background, knowing we were closing a major chapter in our lives and opening an even bigger one.
7. The look on Jenny's face at 5 AM when she walked into the "living room" of the Country Inn and Suites to see me sipping coffee and K surrounded by a mountain of Kleenex - just 2.5 hours before a half marathon.
8. The Smile on K's face as she ran up the beach in Amelia Island - "To infinity, and beyond!"
9. "Eyeball, Dada!" This was the moment I realized how much better K was getting at communicating what was wrong and what she wanted.
10. Changing my daughter's diaper in my Disney Marathon shirt and hearing her say: "Minnie!" Little did I know what that was about to mean...
11. The fear of the unknown when a doctor and five nurses whisked our daughter around a corner to put tubes in her ears.
12. The moment of being "on the knife's edge" as K had a leg out of the crib and was straddling the top of the pack 'n play. It was the moment where we KNEW we had to get in gear and figure out the next stage in her sleeping evolution.
13. Santa Epic Fail 2.0. So much promise. Such similar results.
14. Watching K hugging Rompy and being thrilled that she like it (especially since it was the first Christmas present from her parents). Note - hearing her say his name still makes me smile from ear to ear.
15. Watching in amazement as K went from crawling up steps to walking with parents up steps to holding onto the rails to climb steps to actually taking strides - just amazing to watch will and learning in action.
16. "1 MINNIE!" Cutest. Thing. Ever.
17. Watching the memory and vocabulary progression on an almost hourly basis - and realizing how proud you can be of every new word your child says (and realizing that "the good stuff" in life is most often found in the smallest of moments)
18. Hearing K ask for "Big Girl Bed" and knowing that YES - we as parents are actually capable of ushering in a smooth transition to the next big milestone
19. Watching K with her grandparents and seeing how much she loves each one of them (and now knows their names!) - each brings something totally different to the table, and K is so blessed for how much richer they make her life (and how much richer she makes each of theirs)
20. "Reading dada" - without a doubt the best way to unwind and end each day. :-)
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| So beautiful. So happy. So inquisitive. I love you, kiddo. Can't wait to see what joys, adventures, and surprises year 3 brings. |
Kaitlyn - no doubt scores of years will pass before you ever read this, but when you do find your way to these pages, please know a few things. Your father loves you so much he can't begin to explain it. This year saw a ton of change for you, and you handled it all with a resiliency that people of any age would respect and envy. You have challenged yourself, laughed, hugged, loved, cried, traveled, smiled, and just been a joy to be around. Your laugh is infectious - I want to hear it all the time. I love nothing more than walking into your room in the morning to see that smile, and there is no greater pleasure in life than having your head on my shoulder as I walk you to your crib. You have made mine and Jenny's life complete. You are an angel and a treasure, and I cannot WAIT to see what the future holds for you and the adventures we'll share. Dada and mama love you - don't you ever forget or doubt that.
Family - I hope you enjoyed Volume 2. Volume 3 commences next week! :-) Speak soon.
Love,
Sam and Jenny
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