New Foods and New Words

Hey everyone!  Another month has flown by!  And its officially spring now.  There's hasn't been too much going on this month.  I enjoyed my month off and am back at work where things are getting busier.  We have a new computer system that is really frustrating to learn.  I just come home and hug my Kaylen and things are all better.  She just makes me smile.  She is really exploring the world now.  She is very curious about the back yard now.  We can't wait to put her in the pool again!   Soon, very soon. 

Her new word is "bye" and "byes"  and "go bye"  She says them all the time.  I believe she knows what she is saying.  Anytime Mike and I go to work, she promptly says bye.  She also likes going "bye bye" now.  We have taken her to the park a few times and she loves it.  She loves running around and interacting with other kids.  She is very social.   She is always waving at everyone.   She enjoys chasing the birds at the park and playing in the sand.  And she loves the swing.  The higher the better.

Kaylen likes to stack cups and tupperware.  She likes to put things into containers.  She is just figuring out how to put her sea creature puzzle pieces in their place.  She gets frustrated if they don't fit just right, so we help her out.  I am trying to teach her to put her toys away at night.  She likes to put them in the basket. 

Kaylen is officially drinking milk out of her sippy cup now.  No more bottles!  She eats pretty much what we eat now.  We have been exploring new foods.  She has two more teeth on the bottom, so that makes 4 on top and 4 on bottom. She loved the watermelon, banana pudding and ribs from Lucille's.  She sucks on lemons from our water and makes some great faces while doing it.  I made spaghetti and she liked that.  She likes fruit for sure.  I am not sure what this kid doesn't like.  I hope she stays like this!  I hear that toddlers become picky eaters.  Oh, and we let her try chocolate.  We went to brunch and they had a chocolate fountain, so we dipped strawberries and marshmellows in it and she loved it! 

We love our little girl so much, if you can't tell!  She brings such joy to our life every day.  She makes us laugh and smile.

And just when you thought you had a bad hair day!

So everyone remembers 2 years ago when Barb won a car on The Price Is Right, right?  Barb won a car!  I finally made her a collage to commemorate the occasion.  She loved it.

Now for some videos......

Kaylen eats a lemon for the first time




Playing in the sand



Playing in the park



Going crazy with the curtains

One Year Old!

I can't believe that our baby girl was one year old yesterday!  Happy Birthday Kaylen!  It has been a fun year!  And yes, the time has just flown by!  We saw Dr Bennett today for her one year checkup.  She weighs 22 lbs 8 oz and is 31 inches long.  She is a tall girl!  She got more shots but only cried for a minute.

Kaylen is mostly walking now.  She is getting faster every day.  She still hasn't figured out to avoid objects in her way, especially our feet.  She gets tripped up very easily.  Yes, we have had a few bumps and bruises.  We did install a gate at the top of the living room.  She doesn't like it if we leave her alone in a room though.  She likes to go exploring in all the rooms so I find myself closing the doors.  She likes to pull the toilet paper off the roll.  She also likes to play hide n seek with us and runs behind the couch to hide.  It's too cute!  Kaylen is talking a lot.  Not that we can really understand her.  She does say Mama and Dada in reference to us, on occasion anyway.  She always sounds like she is saying certain words, like baby and ball.  She has started giving us kisses, which is just too adorable! 

Well Nanna and Mindy were here visiting and we had such a great time.  Kaylen loves her Nanna & Aunt Mindy!  Mindy can just look at KJ, and she just starts giggling!  I love it!  We spent a lot of time with Aunt Barb too.  Lots of girl time since Mike was in New Orleans on business.   We had fun playing with Kaylen and planning her birthday party.

We celebrated Kaylen's first birthday this past Sunday.  We had a great time even though it was windy and cold.  We held her party at a local park in Lakewood.  The guests were:  Nanna, Mindy, Grandpa, Aunt Barb, Uncle Steve, Aunt Cyndi, Sharee, Uncle Don, the Flynns, the Tysons, the Taylors, Nikki Ricker, the Wolters, and us of course.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.
Kaylen wasn't sure what to think of her cake.  I had a blast making and decorating it.  She made some funny faces while eating it.   I just kept waiting for her to head dive into it!

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day!  We just stayed in and enjoyed each other's company.  We made our own dinner and gave Kaylen some too!  I also made us some chocolate covered strawberries.  Yum!



Now for some pics......

 

Shutterfly Valentine's Day Project

So I had a promo for a free Valentine's Day Card, so I made one.  Then if you embed this project into your blog, then you get a $10 credit at Shutterfly.  Just helping to spread the word!  Shutterfly is awesome!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Kaylen is Walking!

Hey everyone!  It's official!  Kaylen has started walking!  At first, she would take 2-4 steps going from the couch to the coffee table.  But now she will take more steps!  She took 15 steps in a row without falling on Jan 20.  My friend Courtney and her daughter Kyla were visiting and got to witness it!  And I even got it on video!  I posted it already on facebook, so some of you have already seen it.  She still likes to crawl everywhere since she is really fast doing that.  She just keeps practicing her steps.  We all were taking bets if she would be walking by her first birthday, and the answer is yes!  We are busy planning her first birthday party.  We are so excited because Nanna is coming to visit on Feb 3rd and Aunt Mindy will be here on Feb 5th!  Yay!  I cannot wait for them to see Kaylen!  We are going to have so much fun! Mike is going on a business trip to New Orleans from Feb 6-9, so us girls are gonna have some fun!

Kaylen turned 11 months on January 15th.......

Here is the video of Kaylen taking her first steps.....there were only three in a row.





Then like a week later, she took 15 steps!

Happy New Year!

Hey loved ones!  2011 just flew by!  We had a nice low key Christmas with Mike's Dad.  I was scheduled to work Christmas night but got to stay home since it wasn't busy.  Lucky me!  Let's see...what's new since I last posted.  Well, Kaylen got sick for the first time.  That wasn't fun.  Up all night with a crying baby who wouldn't sleep more than 30 minutes at a time.  I am sure most of you remember going through this with your children.  It's a little traumatic on mom & dad the first time!  Poor Kaylen.  She had a fever for 5 days, runny nose, and just didn't have her usual energy.  Of course she gave me and Aunt Barb her cold, then I got a stomach bug!  So glad we have a healthy family right now.  Knock on wood.  Enjoy some Christmas pics.  We went to Aunt Barb's on Dec 23rd and enjoyed a family Christmas there.  We got to hang out with Steve, Tiffany, Tony, Taylor, Cyndi & Sharee.


This is a pic from the night of my annual Hoag Anesthesia Christmas Party.

 Kaylen didn't care for the Minnie ears on her head......

Pics from Barb's  Christmas get together

 Here are pics from Christmas.....

 Barb got her a xylophone.....she loves the music!!

 But she would rather just eat the mallot....

 Our happy girl!

Here is Kaylen's 10 month old pic.  She is crawling so fast now.  If you leave the room, she follows you.  She can now crawl up the step and find you!  Her balance is so much better.  She cruises the furniture and can now take one step going from the coffee table to the couch!  Just waiting for her to be brave enough to take more steps!  She will walk if holding your hands.  She can wave goodbye now, or sometimes she just waves at you.  She is such a blessing.  It is so much fun to see her grow!

Here is a video of Kaylen playing.......



And one of her and her new xylophone that Barb gave her......



Here is Kaylen playing



Here is cousin Taylor feeding Kaylen



One more video....this is at Aunt Barb's on Dec 23rd... this is for my family in Texas!