The bomb drops - Team Taylor 3.2 and rising!!!

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  2 years and 2 months

Age of T2 (now 2.2):  7 weeks and 1 day

Family,

And a good evening to you from the Queen City, where I am happy to inform you that the parents and siblings are now IN THE KNOW!!!!!  And while the "trust tree" is a really small nest at the moment, that's likely to change soon.  But I get ahead of myself - let's get amongst it, shall we?

First off, let's start with the Munchkin, who's development on both the physical and language fronts has been nothing shy of meteoric.  On the speaking front, it is AMAZING how much she's now saying AND how clearly she's pronouncing everything.  Her sentences are daily becoming more complex, and today she even trotted out some prepositions (she put Peppa on a balloon and said "Peppa sitting on top of it" - I'm telling you...GENIUS).  One of my favorite sentences to date is "Dada working from home a day," and her newest one is just about as cute:  "Mommy what are you doing in there?"  The other night she put this one on repeat and must have said it 47 times.  It was TOO FUNNY.

You can never train too much to be an expert
at the sleeping game.  Just sayin'...

This is where I must stop and give SO MUCH CREDIT to Wife Muffin.  I thought I knew how amazing a job she was doing, but lately the results of her patience, love, and instruction have been so evident that my mind has just been BLOWN.  Every day I'm coming home to find Kaitlyn doing something new and lots of things better.  She's practically undressing herself now - she can take off both socks and shoes, as well as her diaper.  She's almost got her pants figured out, and I'm sure the shirt will soon follow.  And then at night, she can almost dress herself in her pajamas - socks, pants, and the shirt (as long as she doesn't confuse the head-hole for the arm-hole, of course).  Add in the fact that she's made HUGE strides at brushing her teeth (she's using real fluoride "Minnie" toothpaste now) and is even starting to spit correctly (she loves it), and you have a well-oiled nighttime ritual.  K's diction is improving daily, and her vocabulary just feels off the charts at this point.  I'm glad I'm no longer tracking the words!

The intensity is palpable.

On the physical side, this has been a SUPER thrill to watch, as K is running full tilt now and seems well and truly back to normal.  Her left foot still turns slightly outward, and I think she dips one shoulder slightly, but daily I'm seeing that dissipate, and I think it's only a matter of time before she is 100%.  If anything, I think she's faster than before, AND I think she's in the midst of another growth spurt (at least if balance and appetite are any indicator).  And should you ask me:  "How strong is she physically?", I'll say "I'm glad you asked" and give you this little nugget.  On Saturday, 2 May, K actually walked ALL THE WAY HOME FROM HIGHLAND CREEK ELEMENTARY (under parental supervision, of course).  Now granted, she was exhausted and in full meltdown by the time she hit the hill at Fairvista (we're talking screaming and crying yet REFUSING to let daddy put her in the crib or carry her), but let's take a moment to reflect on the fact that our 2 year old walked 1.5 MILES!!! Side note - we'd gone to the Highland Creek Community fair but decided to walk home since it wasn't very exciting.  We actually got K to go in the first place by telling her it was "Potato City" from "Peppa Pig."  I mean, at least she got to try shaved ice for the first time...

And this is the part where I'll stop and say that, unless Wife Muffin, I really need to work on my instruction and patience.  Jenny is doing SUCH a great job of teaching her and clearly has the patience
of an oak.  I, on the other hand, need to be smarter about how I handle K's tantrums.  I know that part of it is my finding my way in handling her tantrums (she gets easily frustrated and won't/can't always explain what's wrong - although I will say that she's been really good lately about explaining what she needs or what's bothering her...case in point was last Saturday when she said "Mulch in dipe dipe"), and part of it is the father in me trying to figure out what it means to be consistent when saying no or disciplining her.  I think I'm just a bit too eager to rush in and either fix something or instruct her at something (walking, holding a spoon, etc), when what I need to be is more alert and attune to what Jenny's teaching her so that I can reinforce it.  Case in point on that would be K using a spoon.  She's getting much better at leveling her spoon out - clearly something Jenny's worked on with her.  Had I been paying better attention to this on weekends and in the evenings, I would have realized it and would have let K work through eating soup with a spoon vs. trying to help her (which sent her into a tizzy).  Bottom line - my wife is awesome and is leading by example.  I just need to open my eyes and close my mouth. :-)

In other development areas, K's starting to know her left from her right.  She also is now aware of the difference between the quantities 1 and 2.  Credit to Grandpa on this one, as yesterday (10 May) I watched him ask her to "give me 2 ice cream cones," after which time she handed him the 2 vanilla cones from her toy stock.  Oh, and he's also been a master at improving her hand-eye coordination.  Yesterday he was throwing balloons over to her, and she was catching them practically every time!  This then kicked off  desire to walk with a balloon between her legs a lot - not sure about that one, but details...

We've also started working a bit more on safety, and K now knows (even if she's not happy about it) that she has to hold Mommy and Daddy's hand when she crosses the street.  She's free to run on the sidewalks, but obviously in parking lots and crossings we take her by the hand.  At first she was quite resistant, but now she seems much better about it.  Fingers crossed that trend continues.

She also seems to be continuing with her spatial reasoning and puzzle solving.  JT told me that she was able to put some puzzles together on her own last week, and within the last 3-4 days I've noticed her putting the pieces of the "Jigsaw Pets" book together better (and quicker) than ever.  Sometimes she'll still say "Help, dada - help!", but most of the time she can do it on her own.  If anything, I'm getting a hard lesson in reality as of late, as K's been wanting to sit in the floor to read at bedtime vs. wanting to sit in dada's lap (although the last 2 nights have been blessed exceptions - well, 2 of the last 3, as tonight she blamed me for falling off her step stool and ONLY wanted Mommy for reading).  Furthermore, when I start reading from the chair, she'll often say, "No dada," meaning I am to shut up and sit there silently while she turns the pages if I want to remain in the room.  And while it was a little thing (and I was quite proud watching her recite pages of the books from memory - we actually have a cute duet that we do now to the "Big Book of Beautiful Babies"), it was yet another reminder that children seek and gain independence quickly, and with each little victory you realize you're needed just that much less.

"Spit!"  

Oh, and aside from hide and seek, the favorite game right now is without a doubt "the sleeping game."  How do you play the sleeping game, you ask?  Well, it's quite simple.  You lay on the couch while K says "more sleeping mama...more sleeping dada," and then you pretend to snore.  K then goes over to Baby Bear, pretends to sleep (her snore is really cute), and then she comes and touches you to wake you up.  You jump up like you are startled, and then she says "more sleeping dada, more sleeping mama" - rinse/repeat.  I mean, WHO DOESN'T LOVE A GAME WHERE YOU GET TOPRETEND SLEEP?  LOVE THIS KID!!!!!

The last thing to note is that K has really started saying "Thank you, mama" or "thank you, dada" anytime we do something for her or give her something.  I gotta say - it's pretty darn cute.  LOVE THAT KID!!!!  In fact, here's a good spot to know that Jenny and I really think K is going to be an INCREDIBLE big sister.  She's so sweet - you can tell that she's got a gentleness to her that will translate to a caring and nurturing young lady and adult.  Also, as she's calm and pensive, I definitely think she'll understand quickly the new dynamic in the house.  And that is, my friends, a great lead-in to the title of this blog - how we dropped the bomb on folks!

K at the start of the 1.5 mile sojourn - Kenyans beware.

JT concocted a great plan for the surprise.  For starters, she ordered a t-shirt that said "I'm going to be a big sister" and put it on K the day she visited her folks (May 6).  When K walked into the kitchen, Jenny said, "Kaitlyn has something to show you."  Bob and Jan looked down and, at first, just appropriately doted on the child.  But then, when they started reading the shirt, you apparently could have heard a pin drop (Jenny got it on the GoPro).  I then called mom and, while talking said, "I have to send you this photo of K - too cute!"  And again, when mom saw it she said, "Oh, that's so cute.  I'm going to be a big sis...Sammy Taylor!  WHAT!!!  A big sister!"  I tried for this same trick with my dad - and while it didn't have the same effect (he was driving), it was still cute.  JT told Kimmy and Matt that night as well - talk about a big day!  I will say that telling folks made it feel quite real.  Oh, and in case you're curious - Jenny consulted the Chinese Gender Chart this week, and apparently the Middle Kingdom thinks we're going to have a boy.  And while I did chuckle about it, the chart was correct on Kaitlyn, correct with Kim's baby, and I think at least 1 more person we tried.  Now granted, they've got a 50/50 shot.  But still - pretty crazy!

The quote of the week:  "More TT touching
beer!"  Let's not tell Social Services about
this one, shall we?"

We actually told K this weekend, and now the cute little thing is running around saying "Mommy has a baby in her tummy!"  And while her diction might not be perfect yet, anyone who knows us will likely figure that one out should she rattle it off in public.  But hey, is there really a cuter way to announce it?  NEGATIVE, GHOST RIDER!  And in case you're scoring - T2 was the size of a lentil bean at week 6 and is now the size of a blueberry at week 7.  Apparently the cerebral cortex is splitting into 2 halves, veins and arteries are forming under "parchment thin skin," and if T2's a girl, then all 6 million eggs are already present and accounted for.  There are ear buds and nose buds forming, as well as eye lids. Now seriously - if anyone hears that and does NOT believe kids are a miracle from God, then I don't know what to tell you.  Just absolutely incredible.

This weekend was absolutely fantastic, especially since it was MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!  K loved the whole day, because a) she got a lollipop from church (she's a HUGE fan of church now.  As I told others - who knew the conversion to Christianity only required watermelon flavored dum-dums?), b) got a taste of her mother's red velvet cupcake, and c) FINALLY got to use the trampoline!!!!

So a little backstory on this - Bob, Jan, Kim, and Matt had all pitched in to buy K a trampoline for her

birthday.  We had planned to unveil it on her actual birthday...but that was before she ended up in a cast.  Consequently, we had to wait until after a) she was healed and b) we were mentally prepared to have our daughter bouncing like a jack russell terrier 6 suspended 6 inches of the ground.  The good news?  K LOVES THE TRAMPOLINE.  Seriously - she is WEARING THIS THING OUT RIGHT NOW.  And the even better part - between that and the picnic table we have on the screen porch, K is DESPERATE to spend time on the screened porch, either a) turning Playdoh into pancakes, b) bouncing on the trampoline, or c) playing the sleeping game on the wicker furniture.  Considering that I spent my afternoons drinking NoDa Jam Session and playing the sleeping game under the fan, I think those acquisitions were the best purchases EVER.  :-)

Love my girls!!!!  That's my world right there!

As for Mother's Day, it was quiet but wonderful.  Jenny's folks came over, and we ate like champions (as we had all weekend).  We had some good bonding time with the Munchkin, and all was right with the world.  I alluded to it earlier in this post, but I would be sorely remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to say once again HOW INCREDIBLE AND AMAZING JENNY IS AS A MOTHER.  She is the centerpiece of this Family, and the heart and soul of Team Taylor.   She is the Director of Operations, the center of K's universe (and mine), and is everything any husband or father could ever dream of for their spouse/child's mother.  I cannot say enough how blessed I am to be part of this family and to wake up beside her every day.  I LOVE YOU, WIFE MUFFIN!!!!!  BEST.  WIFE.  AND.  MOMMY.  EVER!!!!!!   KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP!!!!!!

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print for this edition.  Chat with you in about a week and a half, once I'm back from the (finally not so frigid) North!

Love,

Sam and Jenny