Family,
And a good Wednesday afternoon to you all from the Queen City, where the Bull is high on life and
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| Father's Day at Freedom House - Absolutely THE BEST day of my year. |
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| Team Taylor's future 2nd home - NWC. |
So first off - the Munch. WOW. You talk about explosive growth and development that's even more meteoric than when we last chatted: Vocabulary. Sentence construction. Memory. Coordination. Confidence. It seems like every aspect of Kaitlyn is developing and maturing on an almost hourly
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| "I'm a bootifull ballerina!!!!" |
basis, which is INCREDIBLE to watch. A few cases in point:
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| "Shawty got them apple bottom jeans, and the boots with the fuuuuuur..." |
June 12: In a move to make any Tennessean proud, K took off her shoes for the first time ever outside and said, "TT run barefoot!" She then proceeded to run barefoot through the grass in the yard. We've done this a few times since then. That's my tomboy in action!
June 17: Jenny asked Kaitlyn to say her full name. K looks up at me and says, pretty as you please: "Kaitlyn. Elaine. Taylor." I just about fell over. There's another Dr. Knutson milestone down that we don't have to worry about! Seriously - SHE SAID HER FULL NAME FOR THE FIRST TIME. Absolutely incredible.
June 17: K asks to read the "Babies and Doggies" book. I open the first page, and then she launches into reciting the words for each set of pictures. I know she's done that with other books, but the number of books and accuracy of the recitation has gone from cute to strikingly impressive. Seriously - she's celebrating quite the collection of quasi-memorized books at this point - most notably "Peter Loves Penguin" and "Toot." :-)
Side note on Dada and K's nightly reading ritual - for the last week or so (I can remember it dating back to probably 6/15), K has been splitting time between sitting on my lap, laying on the floor (only when we read "I am a little bunny" and she gets to the page where Nicolas the bunny lies in the grass during summer in the strawberry patch - and she does count the strawberries, for the record - and watches the flowers...or birds...or butterflies), and - my favorite - sitting beside me in the chair, snuggled up beside me. Readers, let me tell you that it has always been a dream of mine to just sit somewhere with my child and have them want to snuggle up to me. Don't ask me why, but that's always felt like a pinnacle moment - having your child so excited and happy to be with you that they want to be as close as possible. I have that right now, and knowing that it will only be for a finite time (if for no other reason than we won't be able to fit in that glider together too long!) - you better believe I'm loving it and making every second count.
Second side note on K's memorization: One of the books (one of my old books) is "The puppy who found a home." Well, K has memorized one section in particular where the people who run the puppy off their porch say: "Go away, little stray! Go away, I say!" Well, K repeats that during the reading, but more classic is how she used it at lunch the other day. When K sits down to eat, she always says "Dada sit!" Well, this time Jenny was sitting with her, and K said: "Go away, mama!" and actually tried to push her off the seat by pushing at her knee! Jenny and I were cackling - the serious look on K's face didn't help either... :-)
June 17: A watershed moment (literally) - K no longer minds us "drying her bone head" after bath. If anything, now that she thinks it's "peep eye" (credit to dad on that one) and that she gets to pretend she's sleeping, she LOVES IT. Basically, the second we pull her out of the bath, she sits on my lap and starts snoring (violently, I might add - WOW). We then cover her head and say "where's Kaitlyn? Is this a bone head I feel?" We then pull back the towel (after scrubbing her rather vigorously, I might add), and she just cackles. Adding to it, Jenny's now playing "hide and seek" behind K's feet while we dry her, which is also one of the highlights of K's evening.June 17: We are starting to turn a corner on tooth brushing - most notably in the realm of spitting. :-) K is now (finally) starting to actually brush her teeth a bit (I say "listen for the sound of the bristles on
toupins!), and her spitting is much improved. Compared to previous adventures where she just sucked the toothpaste off the bristles, she's now saving some to spit AND is generating some power!
June 18: HUGE MILESTONE ALERT!!!! HUGE MILESTONE ALERT!!!! K POOPIED ON THE POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!! That's right, sports, fans - K actually ASKED TO GO and then dropped a steamer into Duck Potty for the first time EVER. Coming into this, K had peed (twice I think) on Mickey potty upstairs - always before bath time at night. However, the poopy had remained elusive. Not on the 18th, however, as K actually requested to go! JT said that it did take awhile, but she "did the deed" and got to dump the poopy into the "big girl toilet" herself - which she loved as well.
Update on potty training - K has poopied on Duck Potty twice since the first effort - once on Saturday, 6/20, and another time on 6/23. On 6/23 we actually introduced the "poopy dance" (basically doing the twist) - and K was HILARIOUS! Love this kid! Also - side note to this. On Sunday, while sitting on duck potty, K actually looked down at the bowl and said "Come on pee pee poo poo - get out of there!" She's trying to will herself to use the bathroom - LOVE THIS KID!6/18: One of our other nightly rituals after bath has been "dada carry," where I pick her up after we've dried her and walk her over to the mirrors in the Jack n Jill. I then proceed to go from mirror to mirror (normally 5-6 times), saying "Who is THAT PRETTY GIRL? TT!!!" Previously, K's just responded with the "TT" part. Now, however, she's actually saying the whole thing. And let me tell you - hearing her say "DAT PETTY DURL!!!!" and watching how she moves her mouth is hilarious (picture "DURL" and the sarlac pit - you've pretty much got the image).
6/18: Team Taylor kicked off another first on this day, as it was the day we commenced babysitting a pet fish for the neighbors. The classic part about this - Jenny asks K what they should name the fish. K doesn't miss a beat before saying "Yum Yum." So yes, ladies and gentlemen - twice a day we are now
Side note for 6/18: Let it be noted that another milestone rolled over on this day - JT started back to work with a new potential gig! Jenny is trying out a new company called "Moms on the Run," where she collates and delivers flyers to neighborhoods around town. She did the first run on the 18th (with K in the backseat), and all went great! K must have been an angel, and JT seemed to really enjoy it. The plan is currently to try it once or twice a month (runs are usually 2-3 hours) through the summer and see how it goes. Once K starts pre-school in the fall, we'll then re-evaluate and see if she wants to continue/pick up more shifts. The good news for me is that JT seemed to enjoy it, and that's all I'm concerned about - having my Wife Muffin and Munchkin happy!
6/19: In one of the most classic "what did she just say?" moments, on this day my child proved she was a citizen of the world. Walking into the in-law suite, K pointed at our paintings from Thailand and said, " BUDDHA!!!" I seriously froze in place and looked at Jenny. Jenny was cackling, as apparently she'd just taught her this, but I was still amazed. From the mouth of babes, my friends...
Shifting gears, let me just recount two of THE BEST weekends Team Taylor has had in a long time. The first one was last weekend, when Dad and Alice visited. Friday night was great, as we all got a chance to relax and bond for a bit. Saturday was EVEN BETTER, however, as we showed Dad and Alice a new spot in Charlotte - the National Whitewater Center. The event was the Brewdash 6K and the Brewbash Beer Festival, and I'm pleased to report that neither disappointed. :-)
So first off - to call K an angel during this whole thing would be the understatement of the century. She was a PERFECT child throughout all this - ESPECIALLY in the 95+ degree heat! The entire day was boiling, and the section where the beer festival was held offered exactly ZERO shade. I had the 6K before the festival, but Jenny, Dad, Alice, and K had some free time to walk around. K did some climbing on rocks, but she heated up quickly (she gets very red in a hurry when she's outside: some of this is just being a toddler, and the rest is a skin condition inherited from her father - I expect she'll grow out of both). JT found some shade, and they hung out there while I ran before we all rolled over to the Pump House Beer Garden - which is awesome!!!!! Seriously, I think next year Team Taylor will be out there plenty, and in 2-3 years' time, I think we'll be annual pass holders. We are LUCKY to have a place like that, and I can't wait to avail of more of their activities.
As for the beer festival itself, it was a hoot. JT took K back to the house for her nap late that day, and I stuck around with Dad (Alice was already feeling it). Dad and I got back about 3ish, at which point he passed out (Alice was already down) for 2-3 hours before we went out for dinner and crossed off another first (but one that had been on our list for awhile) - Pippa's! This is a little restaurant just outside of the neighborhood by NOMAD, and I am VERY pleased to report that the food is good, the beer selection is decent, and there are TV's EVERYWHERE. This place, much like Eastfield Grill, is a great spot to have so close.Before I get to the feature of the blog - the highlight of my year to date - let me just comment on a few more observations on the Munchkin.
1. "Mommy, look at me, I'm...": So K has started saying either "Mommy, look at me" or "Daddy, look at me" before announcing what she's doing. It is absolutely HILARIOUS, as you never know what she's going to say. It could be "I'm all wet," "I'm wearing shoes," "I'm eating macaroni" - you name it. What I will say is that the sentence construction continues to be increasingly advanced, as is her verb conjugation and use of pronouns. She's starting to differential between "I" and "me," and you can tell that the pistons are increasingly firing in that little brain case.
2. "TT...jumping on the bed...": No other way to say it - Kaitlyn is singing the "5 little monkeys" song NON-STOP now. Sometimes she substitutes "TT" in place of the monkeys. Other times she substitutes one of her stuffed animals. And last night, she actually substituted her slinky. :-) She's got motions for it - jumping to start, followed by sitting down and touching her head against the floor (and then patting her head), and then finger wagging to state the doctor's orders of "NO MORE (insert being of choice here - carbon based or otherwise) JUMPING ON THE BED!" If you are in a car with her, expect to hear this at least 25 out of every 30 minutes.
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| Don't get me wrong - there are sharing moments as well. :-) |
4. Puzzles - so Team Taylor has started K on puzzles as of last week. We have an 11 piece Mickey Mouse Clubhouse puzzle that we're currently focused on, and it is very interesting to watch K as she thinks about spatial reasoning. I find it fascinating, as this was the section I struggled with the most on the IQ test (I remember it being one of 2 areas I didn't fare well in). As I watch her process the pieces and how they might be incorporated, I can't help but wonder if her strengths will lie in language like mine. If so, I want to identify that early to both help her as she starts school but also to provide her with access to other languages while she's young (since she's a sponge currently and can soak it all up).
5. The new nighttime ritual: K is going to bed between 7:45 and 8 at this point, but she's no longer settling right to sleep. She's actually staying awake for about an hour now (it was over an hour last night - closer to 75 minutes). And while this is surprising, she's an angel while in there. She spends the time singing, playing with her animals, and letting her imagination soar. She doesn't (typically) call out for us, so all in all I think it's just her way of unwinding.
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| A happier moment (when we returned after the bullying incident) - K finally climbs to the mountaintop. |
Simply put - the playground was chaos, and the apparatuses there weren't really designed for someone her age and size. There was one that was appropriate - the kitty - and that was the one K eventually gravitated to (she also liked "the skunk", but it was a bit too big). Well, K tried to get on it, but an older girl (probably 4 - made up to the nines and wearing lipstick) jumped on the apparatus before K could climb up. She then pushed K back off the slide portion, stuck her tongue out, and shouted - "GET OFF MY KITTY!" She then proceeded to kick at K's face. At that point K looked at me and started to cry, and I instantly got up.
Now judge me if you have to, but my view is that a) K is too young for that and b) there are times when you should count on your parents vs. standing up for yourself. This girl was WAY older than her and clearly a completely spoiled bitch (no other way to put it, as she got in a fight with another girl in the play area later), and I wasn't going to stand for it. I went and picked K up and got her away from that, assuring K that its as ok and that some people just didn't have manners. I walked away shaking my head and thinking "where is the mother?" But then I remembered what my friend Debbie said: "One of the hardest parts of parenting is trying to police other people's children."
I was rattled by this, and it has haunted me for the past couple of days. And while I know that realistically bullies exist and this won't be K's last run-in, it infuriated me to no end. It also has set me on a path to think about how I can give her the confidence and skills she needs to stand up to those whom I'm sure she'll meet further down the road.
Now - turning to this past weekend, let me just say WOW. As I have said before: Despite it's hiccups, 2015 has been among if not THE BEST year of my life. Finding Freedom House as our church in January has brought more blessings than I can count with it, and I feel stronger spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically than I have felt in a long time. I now LOVE Sundays and hate the thought of missing church - something I can honestly say I never thought I'd say. So between knowing it was Father's Day, knowing we had a good Church service planned, knowing we had good food on the horizon, and knowing that I had a treat for myself - the Tread Nightly Half Marathon - on Friday night, I was primed for a great weekend. But readers, those 60 hours exceeded all expectations.
It was one of those stretches where everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - went according to plan and then some. For starters, I showed up at Run For Your Life to buy some gel and found out I had a $25 credit. This meant I could get the fuel belt pouch I wanted, as well as some new socks - all free! The afternoon was great, as I was ahead on work and consequently could spend a lot of time with my family. The evening featured the Trail Half marathon, which was hands down the hardest race of my entire life. That being said, 1/2 marathon # 32 is now in the books, and even crazier - I finished 2nd in my age division! Granted, I think there were only 3 of us, but let's not focus on the wrong kind of details...
On Saturday we hit Panera and ate courtesy of a gift card from Mom. We then got confirmation on our Asheville VRBO house. I finished the Gospel of Mark and Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton. One of my friend's was at the race and posted about my finish, which resulted in some very sweet comments from friends. I got a new pair of shoes and played on escalators with K at Northlake Mall (very cute). I even ended the night with Steak and Scallops for dinner, as well as cracking open the most celebrated beer in my collection - Dark Island Reserve. Throughout all this, K was an angel, and the day was just SO MUCH FUN. There were tons of smiles, everything flowed easily, there was no drama, and it was just a perfect happy day. Truly - it was a perfect, happy day.
Sunday was Father's Day, which henceforth will take its place in my Top 10 days all time. I will also remember it as the day the dam broke, as I was an absolute flood of tears and emotions all day. From
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| Cutest. Present. EVER. |
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| What will make K forget about a lollipop? A popsicle, baby! She actually got 2 - well played, Munchkin! |
The rest of the day was great - all the way down to the best massage of my life and Hawthorne's pizza. Talk about living (and eating!) like a king! I even got an hour in the pool with my daughter - and it was just perfect.
