21 Months

Little Miss Monkey Pants ~

You've been through quite a lot this month, and you are handling it with all the grace that I could begin to expect from a toddler. Nothing ever seems to steal your joy for too long, you are so happy.

Not only did you go through your first surgery (and experience with anesthesia), but your first canine tooth finally broke through. I don't think you're all too happy with the other three impending canines, but you are surviving. By the time your birthday rolls around, I expect that you will have a full mouth of teeth...finally.

You've been playing with your babies a lot more frequently this month. You love to rock them, singing By-oh By-oh Baby Girl, and feed them with the little bottles we got for you. You are such a good little mommy!

We've been enjoying all the singing that you've been doing lately. Sometimes you just like to sing a few words, prompting us to do the singing so you can dance or play. Sometimes, though, you will sing a song all by yourself. I am absolutely charmed and in love when you sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It is just the cutest thing ever on this planet. I also love it when we hear you singing yourself to sleep up in your bedroom.

We've been doing a lot of counting this month, especially working on pointing to items as you count them. You doing a pretty good job, but counting to two seems tough, because you want to go ahead and add three as well. Practice, practice, practice.

The other day I noticed that you are almost able to play with your shape sorter independently. You still need someone to shake the shapes out for you, and you still need a little helping finding the right spot for those two "agons" (pentagon and hexagon...lol). I'm glad that you pulled the shape sorter out the other day. It reminded me that your daddy and I need to remember to spiral and scaffold and keep going back to practice skills that you've already mastered.

We're already starting to plan for your birthday, and I know it will be here before we know it. Your daddy and I love you so much and are thankful every day for you.

Your Momma

Baby's First Surgery

Kaylee's surgery (her left tear duct was opened with a metal probe and a small silicone tube was placed in the duct) was on Friday morning. We got there at 7:45 as directed (her surgery was supposed to be at 8:15). After about 5 minutes in the waiting room, which had a kids area with toys and books, they took us back to a pre-op room. This room was white walls with a hospital bed and two chairs and nothing at all that Kaylee could play with. How age-inappropriate! We had to wait there for nearly an hour. Mike ended up letting Kaylee play with his phone (she called my phone about 800 times) and then we found a surgical hair net/cap thingy and a surgical mask to play with. During this time, the anesthesiologist and the surgeon came back and talked to us and a nurse took Kaylee's stats. Kaylee was cool with all that, but then the nurse came to take her back to surgery.

I swear, they must have searched for the biggest, burliest male nurse with the most facial hair they could find. Good lord, this dude made me nervous! This was pretty much the worst-case scenario I could have picked for Kaylee. She was terrified and screaming and crying as he took her away from us and down the hall to surgery. My poor baby! After that, it was only about 15 minutes until we were called into the conference room to talk to the surgeon. Everything went well!!! About 10 minutes later, we were taken back to recovery.

Kaylee was already awake and screaming and crying and clawing to get away from the random nurse that was holding her (at least it was a woman this time). She calmed down a little bit when I got to her, but she was still pretty inconsolable. I guess this is pretty common for babies/toddlers coming out of anesthesia...they're just really disoriented and frightened, the nursed likened it to having a night terror. We got her in the car and headed home (about a 40 minute drive). Kaylee finally fell asleep when we were about 10 minutes from home, so we just took her up and put her straight in her bed. When she woke up an hour later, it was as if nothing ever happened. She was happy and ready to go with the rest of her day.

Kaylee's been great ever since then...a little more nervous about strangers than she was before the experience (is there any wonder?), but I assume that will pass. We can already tell a huge difference in her eye, too!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day I've been dreading since Kaylee was a tiny little thing. Tomorrow I will place my daughter in the hands of doctors and nurses (many of which I've never met) and trust them to do what's best for her. They will use medicine put her to sleep, put a small metal probe down through the corner of her eye and place a small piece of rubber tubing into her newly-opened tear duct.

In my head, I know that this is a very common, routine procedure and that it is what's best for Kaylee. My heart, on the other hand, is sad and frightened. At this point, all I can do is love my daughter and send thoughts of steady hands and safety to her doctor.

I can also look forward to not seeing my baby wake up with one eye crusted over. I can look forward to not pissing off my daughter by massaging her poor, swollen eye and clearing the gunk away. I can look forward to not receiving questions and comments from total strangers in the grocery store. I can look forward to knowing that the choices we made were the right ones.

20 Months (Plus a Few Extra Days)

My Little Love ~

Time marches forward while we sit by and watch you grow and change and learn before our eyes. There are days that your daddy and I are simply astounded by the things that you do or say and by the length of your legs. You are just getting so tall!!!

You're still working hard on your alphabet and your letters. You will now sing the ABC song (only leaving out a few letters here and there) all by yourself. You're also beginning to recognize some of the lower-case letters, thanks to many many readings of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. You recognize all of the numbers 1-10 and can count to 14. Yesterday I listened to you counting as we drove home, "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12...13...14...19...20" Really, who even needs 15-18!?

You still love reading and have really enjoyed some of the new books that we've picked up here and there. You have such a good memory and will occasionally reenact your favorite stories for us. I love hearing "Oh No! Boom boom!" coming from the back seat in the car. I know that you are thinking about Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Your memory has also been working overtime storing up some of your favorite songs. It's so much fun to let you fill in little holes when we sing together. You just seem so proud and excited to sing along!

We think that we're starting to see the beginning of your "Terrible Twos" here lately. You can be mischievous and dramatic and will throw the occasional tantrum. Your daddy and I are working hard to set and enforce limits for you and help you identify those tough feelings. Really, though, so far things are not so bad. It's kind of fun to see you show such independence and personality.

There is so much else to say, but I just don't know where to start, or how to stop once I get started. We love you so very much and are so proud of you.

Your Momma

19 Months - 11 Days Later

My Little Love ~

I can't believe how easy it is to lose track of time these days! I was thinking that after 18 months, I would stop writing my monthly letters to you, but looking back, you have changed so much in the space of one month. I feel like I have to record the things that you're doing and learning, even if it is 11 days late.

Right now, you are an absolute sponge for new information. You now recognize all of the letters in the alphabet, and are trying so hard to sing the ABC Song. We sing along and help you out, but I just know you'll have it down on your own in no time. In the last month, you've gotten really interested in numbers as well. At first, you only knew the name for 8 and 9, but now you consistently name 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10. You can count from 1 to 10 with a little bit of help. For some reason, 4 is hard for you. You want to count "1...2...3...2". You've started reading books on your own more often. We love hearing your interpretations of the stories we've read so so many times.

Your absolute favorite thing these days seems to be drawing. We spend lots of time at the table with markers, and we got you a magnetic drawing board. I love it when you draw a squiggle and then see a shape or letter in it. You also like to see me and Daddy write things for you. We've also started playing with blocks a little bit too. You've been able to build a tower 5 blocks high, but you do not like it when the stacks fall down.

You are getting better and better at eating with a spoon and fork. You still use your fingers a fair amount, but as long as you're doing it yourself, you're happy. As with many other things right now, independence is you top priority.

This month, we've also begun some potty training with you. While you've had several successes, we still have a long way to go. You like sitting on the potty and will request to do so from time to time, but you seem freaked out by the end result. We will continue to try and will always celebrate big when you do your job.

I just can't get over what a big girl you are. Sometimes I just look at you and you look so tall...I wonder where my little, snuggly baby has gone. Your daddy and I are so proud of you every single day.

I love you.

Your Momma

Leaps and Bounds

Yesterday Kaylee jumped for the first time. I could not be happier for her. As much as she's been growing and changing in the last (almost) nineteen months, this just seems like a really big deal to me. I think it's because she is so proud of herself.

I can't remember when she started trying to jump, but I know that it started with her Auntie Mir. Miriam would jump and Kaylee would giggle and try to do the same, just ending up in a little squat. The same thing happened at childcare...the big girls would jump and Kaylee would try so so hard to do it too.

I feel like this is the first milestone that Kaylee reached because she wanted it and she worked towards it. She wanted to jump so she tried and she tried and she tried until yesterday, she jumped. I wish I could even begin to describe the look of pure pride and joy on her face as we clapped and cheered for her. What a moment!

Right now I am thrilled for many more years of watching my little girl set and attain her own goals. It's her life and I'm so grateful that I get to watch it unfold.

Updated Vocabulary

I'm amazed at what Kaylee knows at just 18 months...

People/Names - Momma, Dada, Kaylee, Mike, Ma-maw (for grandmas), Papa, Auntie, Dylan (my nephew), Madeline (her bestie at childcare), Manda (her childcare provider), Lance (Amanda's husband), Bella (our dog)
Animals - dog, cat, bird, horse, cow, duck, pig, owl, mouse, goat, baa (sheep), spider, fish, bunny
Foods/Eating - milk, cereal, cracker, cookie, apple, juice, pear, banana, carrot, eat, water, please, more, thank you, spoon, help, cheese
Toys and things - Elmo, Big Bird, book, baby, doll, car, train, boat, girl, bath, ball, bubble, barn, bear, purse, bike
Body parts/Cloths - eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, cheeks, elbow, boobs (lol), feet, toes, head, coat, socks, shoes, pants, diaper, hat
Colors/shapes (she uses these appropriately about 80% of the time) - blue, pink, purple, green, orange, yellow, square, circle, star, moon, ellipse
Letter names (these are the ones that she names appropriately) - A, B, D, E, H, I, K, L, M, O, P, R, S, X, Y, Z
Randoms - up, down, cold, hot, go, stop, yes, okay, no, E I E I O, whoa, I don't know (together as a phrase), hi, bye, wait, jump, hop, day, night, wind, rain, tree, flower, nice

We're working on encouraging Kaylee to use more 2- and 3-word phrases, but she mostly sticks to just one at a time.