Family,
And a good Wednesday morning to you from the Queen City, where JT is reading her Bible and
Sammy the Bull is desperately trying to stay ahead (translation - not get too far behind) of his blogging on the run-up to K's third birthday. Plenty to roll through, so let's get amongst it, shall we?
2/1: The Baby Bear transition - so for the month of January, K had been sleeping on Alphie as a pillow. That all changed on the first day of the month, however, as K now is using Baby Bear as her pillow. Fret not - Alphie's still around. He's just now at the foot of the bed (and she still loves for me to throw him and so she can catch it). Side note the "animal catching" - it's now part of the evening ritual, and she LOVES it. She's actually gotten really cute at falling backwards when I throw the bigger animals on her (that's Alphie, her Sofia blanket, Baby Bear, and especially Big Bear), and she just cackles as she tumbles backwards. Once day she thumped her head quite loudly against the wall, but it didn't phase her. She just kept on laughing - rough and tumble!
2/6 - This was the day I witnessed K's first unprompted poopy on the potty! It was hilarious how unceremonious the entire affair was. Basically K just walked over to Ducky Potty, dropped her pants, and then let go with a MONSTER steamer (and we are talking epic - you're welcome for that). For me, it was a watershed moment, as to date she'd done great with peeing on the potty but had largely refused to poopy. This moment told me that she now understood the urge and knew what it meant, and more importantly she'd acted on the feeling. 
2/6 was also a big day in the life of Team Taylor and our church family, as it was the date for the Building Dedication! There was snow tubing, and K went down the slide a few times - she loved it! She was shy at first, but by the end she was flying down that slope like an Olympian. She actually wanted to try the bigger slope, but both Jenny and I thought that was a bridge too far. Perhaps next year, Munchkin!Also on this date, K dropped a favorite quote. We had gone to Hawthorne's for dinner after the building dedication, and on the drive back K just said: "Hi, Muffin Bear! Hi, Angel bear!" These are two names I have for JT (and she has for me), and clearly K has heard us say them about 17 basquillion times. Well, to hear her just trot them out was absolutely hilarious! I have no taken to calling her "Munchkin Bear" whenever she utters one of these pet names so that she feels included - quite cute. :-)
2/7 - "Boys have penises. Girls have vaginas." YES. YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY. It was Super Bowl Sunday when K finally dropped that most famous of all anatomical learnings. Now granted, as the month progressed she would occasionally forget which gender had an appendage, meaning that occasionally I would have to remind her that girls did not, in fact, have penises. And I gotta be honest - hearing her say it in that sweet voice (with the mischievous smile, of course) was too cute, and I pretty much cackle every time she says it.
Side note on this day is that K was decked out for the Panthers in the Super Bowl, which we ended up losing to Denver. However, it was a great day and evening, and we're still very proud of our NFC Champs!
Other side note is that on this day she started LOVING to read Peter Rabbit. We read it for about 2 weeks this month, and at one point she even started to quote it. It became our go-to book in the both the Bonus Room and at night. She's also no longer afraid of the Peter Cottontail that Vol Nana bought her for Easter last year. And while that's great, the unfortunate thing is that it's now stopped jumping and dancing - apparently a year's worth of exertions have taken their toll on the young bunny. :-)
2/12 - Vol Nana arrived on this day to look after K while JT and I had an adult weekend in Asheville (where it was FREEZING, for the record!). They had an absolute blast together (Grand Nanny was with them as well), and it gave Jenny and I a perfect little three day break to just relax and re-energize. And we returned to find that K had a new prized possession - a Sofia the 1st blanket! I chuckle thinking about it now, as prior to the "Thanksgiving Outburst" where I went crazy because mom had given her a little teeny blanket (that in retrospect was 100% - I was just an overly protective, out of control parent), I was completely anti-blanket. Now, however, I am totally the other way and LOVE the fact that she's all about blankets, as she can better regulate her own body temperature. What's funnier - this Sofia blanket is super warm, but K wants to sleep under it NO MATTER WHAT. The other night it was 76 in her room, but she STILL wanted it! Also, nightly she's picking the animal that she will sleep with, and that animal gets tucked in beside her (only to the neck, mind you :-)). She's got a good rotation of favorites, and it's a cute ritual. Oh, and did I mention that she is now sleeping in flannel nightgowns vs. PJ's? Honestly - cutest. thing. ever.
2/17 - K's first swim session: Following the schedule we'd laid out for the Munchkin for this year, we enrolled her in swim lessons. We decided to start with private lessons, as we thought she might freak out a bit in a group setting. Our initial plan was to have her with "Ms. Katie," someone she's familiar with from Childwatch. She was unavailable however, so we instead went with Ms. Sarah. And so, all set with $25 in hand, K and JT showed up on the Wednesday for the 10:30 lesson.
Now dear readers, I was not there. However, I heard from a very reliable source (aka my wife) that it didn't start off the best. The word dumpster fire wasn't used, but let's just say it wasn't pretty. Poor K was apparently clinging to Jenny, completely confused as to why she was being asked to swim with a stranger vs. Jenny being in the water. It should be noted that Jenny was exactly 3 feet away from her most of the time, as she was observing and taking photographs. However, that clearly still wasn't a close enough proximity for the Munchkin. After about 5-10 minutes, however, K did seem to warm up, and she did start actively participating. The report from Jenny was that she did some really good kicking and was very brave jumping in - but she still doesn't like putting her face under the water. :-)
Side note - we're now 3 lessons in, with the most recent one being a disaster. The second one was pretty good (Sarah has a little Elsa doll and has some great ideas on how to get kids to kick and such), but this last one was a total meltdown. We think it was dude to a) missing a lesson for Florida and b) the fact that she's still exhausted post-trip, but either way - Jenny said we got about 5 minutes of productive time. We've got two more lessons that we've paid for, but after that we're moving to the group lesson. It's $60 for the month, and we want to at least try it and see how she goes. Jenny is great about getting in the water with her post-lesson to swim and work on the fundamentals, and K's in the water at least twice a week at this point. Once summer comes, I'd say it will be even more frequent, and I'm hoping we can really during the dial during that season.
Taking a break to cover some general February observations:
1. K is doing much, much better at using her imagination and playing on her own. She's really starting to get into her doll houses, and she's also starting to love puzzles. For the wooden block puzzles, I'm noticing that she's now completing them quite fast. I'm not sure if that's repetition or better spacial reasoning than her father, but either way I'll take it. Better than me - that's the goal!
2. Whenever she gets upset, she screams, "I gotta go poopy!" However, the reality is that she doesn't. I have a GREAT story about this I'll post in the March blog, and the other funny line was when she screamed this at the end of the first swim lesson. Sarah looked at Jenny and said, "I think she said she's gotta go poopy!", all the while trying to quickly hand her off to Jenny. Jenny didn't move, however, simply saying, "Nah, she's fine." CLASSIC. I can only imagine the look on Sarah's face in that moment.
We think the genesis of screaming that phrase comes from the fact that, during quiet time, that was the only thing she could say that would make us open the door, as we wanted to ensure she was well trained on "the feeling" and what she needed to do when it was time to poopy. She's FINALLY starting to transition out of saying this now (it's March 11, her 3rd birthday as I type this), replacing it with just the word "Anna." And while that's still quite bizarre, I'll take it vs. the alternative. :-)3. Increased frequency of temper tantrums - we're definitely seeing these on the rise, but they are always a direct correlation to whether or not she's napped during the day. Simple formula - no nap = meltdown and obstinate child at bed time. And while some nights are better than others (and let's face it - she's still a really, really good kid), there is an increased frequency and fervency to the tantrums of late. Also, at the moment K is prone to go into instant whine mode when she wants something vs. first asking politely. Jenny and I find this rather frustrating, and we are working with her on using her "nice words" and just trying to be normal out of the gate. I will say I've seen some measured success here in early March, but given that most of this month was tied to a vacation, the true litmus test will be the rest of the month while we're at home.
4. The most random thing is that K will run up to us, sit on our leg or foot, and then just poot on us! At first she would tell us what she was doing (as if we couldn't figure it out), and then she would just walk up, sit down, and blast one. But now, however, she's much more conniving. She will walk up, say "I love you so much," give you a big hug, sit in your lap, and then crop dust you like there's no tomorrow. Honestly - WHERE DID SHE GET THIS FROM? It's not like I've EVER done this to Jenny (and vice versa), so I have no idea what could have triggered the desire for this little activity. Spectacular...on 2/28 we actually asked her where she learned it, and she said, "Target Man taught me to poot on you." Um...who exactly might that be? Needless to say we won't be shopping there in the future. :-)5. "Siri, set the timer for 4 minutes." So this is pretty cute - K is all about setting the timer right now for most things (for February it was largely as a reminder to try and pee, but we've moved past that now), and she much prefers Siri to the oven timer. In fact, if you set the oven timer, she will speak up and say, "No dada - Siri!" We usually let her try to say it first, and on occasion Siri actually understands her (I've seen it work 2 or 3 times). And for some reason, we always set the timer for 4 minutes. What's cute is that, sometimes in an effort to give her more time to do something, I'll say, "I'm gonna set the timer for 10 minutes," but she'll always come back with "No, dada - 4 minutes!" Ah, kid - if you only knew...
6. K really got into her Bible this month. Not only would she always take it to church, but she spent a lot of time flipping through it and reading it. In fact, she would flip through her entire Bible while on the potty. Her favorite story has been "Jesus on the Foss." She will flip to it, look at Jesus on the Cross with Mary crying and say, "Why is Mary crying for?" When I remind her that Jesus died on the cross, she will say, "Why did Jesus have to die on the cross for our sins?" Try answering that question for a 2 year old minutes before bedtime...
7. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" This ties to the photo above, as we now have a new ritual at bedtime. In addition to "let's go see what that daddy's doing" and "throw all these 'amials' to me dada," K starts the evening bedtime by putting her diaper on her head (over her eyes in fact), singing "Do you want to build a snowman" while slapping her head, and then asking, "Can I have a video?" The videos in question are those on my iPhone, and the good news is that it keeps her catatonic while JT puts lotion on her. So really, it's a win win. The funniest part is that she need actually finishes a video, and she always stops them mid-flight and says, "That was cute." I mean...ADORABLE.
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| Happy Birthday, Avery!!!! |
2/19: "I poopied on the potty, so I can watch the i-Pad!" So the current plan - as long as K has no accidents (peep or poop) during the course of the day, she can play on the i-Pad for 20 min right before bed. She's got 2 options - she can either watch "A Bible Adventure" or play some games that Jenny has downloaded from the app store. Normally K wants a Bible adventure, but lately she's been a bit sneaky and has managed to finagle both a show and some game time. What I will say - it is AMAZING to see how quickly kids get sucked in to playing with the i-Pad. I'm sure I was the exact same way with Atari and then Nintendo, but it is just CRAZY - it's like electronic crack! But what I will also say (and here is the testimony to Steve Jobs) - it is incredible how simple the system is and how intuitively kids pick up on what to do. The interface is pretty amazing, and K has learned it quickly. For my part, I do like the fact that she's getting limited exposure to technology, as it will be a fundamental part of existence in her lifetime (much moreso than mine). However, I do want to be very careful, as right now she really enjoys running and climbing, and I want to foster and encourage those activities much more than any screen time.
2/20 - this was Avery's 3rd birthday party over at Sports Connection, and it was a great day. K was a little shy at first and wanted me within 8 inches of her at all times, but by the end she was running around on her own and happy as a clam. The interesting thing to watch - K was the only kid there who wasn't part of Avery's pre-school class at Primrose, and out of the gate it was a classic "one of these is not like the others." The "host" asked all the kids to make a single file line, and all the kids except K sprinted to her and got in line, with each kid holding the shoulders of the child in front of them. I looked down at K, who just looked at me and took my hand. The meaning was clear - "No way am I joining that little cult."
When we got to the bounce houses, she was a little shell-shocked at the beginning (there were a lot of kids back there). However, soon enough it all loosened up, and there were times she had entire bounce houses to herself. She then started to get comfortable and LOVED playing in there (they were there over an hour). Eventually she was worn out, but we then gave her 2 pieces of cake and some pizza, at which point she was back in full tilt mode! It should be noted that we had an EPIC meltdown that night (we are talking one for the ages), but hey - all in all it was a good day. :-)
It should be noted that this week really saw a dramatic turn for her in terms of consistently pooping on the potty. That was a big sigh of relief for us, as scrubbing panties certainly hadn't been fun! And to that end, on 2/25 we introduced the newest member of the family to Kaitlyn - Froggy Potty! Honestly, we just wanted a second little potty so we didn't have to keep lugging Ducky Potty around everywhere, but we were NOT prepared for the response upon its arrival on our doorstep.
When the door rang and we grabbed the box, she said, "Is that a present for me?" We said yes (as technically it was) and then proceeded to open it, thinking she would just walk away. OH, NO. Instead, what does she do? She screams "I LOVE IT!" She then proceeds to kiss and hug froggy potty and run around the house with it, all the while yelling "I love my froggy potty" (she says foggy potty, but you get the drift). I mean, to put this into perspective, she won't give her dad a hug or a kiss, but she basically made out with a toilet bowl in this moment. Same with her clothes hamper. I never get tired of hearing "I'm wiping your hug off, dada," followed by "I love my hamper." I mean...
Side note as a progress update - Froggy Potty is definitely the "weapon of choice." It made the journey to Orlando, where it was a LIFE SAVER. However, more to come on that later. :-)
2/26 - K learned to play "tag" with the "boy neighbors" on this day. She was really cute and really got into it. She tried to tag Kaelin as well, but Kaelin wasn't nearly as interested as the boys were. I should note here that K's really starting to interact with them and with other kids. It's been a meteoric rise in terms of interaction, really understand the games, and being willing to hold her own when kids bump into her or try to take stuff. Rough and tumble, baby!!!!! Oh, and did I mention that she also rode the joy bay like a ROCKET on this day down their driveway. The kid is becoming fearless!
This day wasn't perfect, however, as K was NOT happy that daddy was feeding her vs. mommy at dinner. How unhappy was she? So unhappy that she PEED IN HER HIGH CHAIR JUST TO SPITE ME. A word to you readers - don't you dare think it was an accident. That kid new EXACTLY what she was doing...
2/27 - "Can you lift me off the potty so mommy can see my poopy?" Not sure that needs any context or explanation, but it was too cute to not include in the list of quotes for the month.
Only other thing to note for the month is that 2/23 marked the start of my new life group, which is focused on being a better parent. We are reading "Boundaries with Kids," and it's been a really great experience so far (3 sessions in). I am learning a lot and incorporating it into the way in which I interact with K, so I feel really good about the decision to be part of this group.
Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat with you very soon, as I've got to punch out the March updates up to the 1 year mark so that I can get volume 3 out the door!
Love,
Sam and Jenny
