18 months

It seems like these past 3 months have flown by. It feels like we were just at the doctor weighing her and getting shots. Even though the time has flown by, it sure has been a challenging 3 months! These past few months might have to be some of my least favorite months developmental-wise. With all these new milestones and accomplishments comes TOTAL, MAJOR attitude! She's sassy, throws tantrums (in public!), hits (me and/or Ty on occasion) and intentionally pushes our buttons. She will literally walk up to the tv, almost touch the power button (I immediately say "no thank you") and she will turn her head around, look at me, laugh and then push the darn button. Mommy don't play that KK! So timeouts are in full effect.

As you can tell, I don't sugar coat anything. Never have, never will. Yes, my kid has public meltdowns. Yes, I am that person with the screaming child in the grocery store. It happens. I'm told "it's just a phase." I sure hope so! I refuse to be the parent who says their kid is an angel at all times.

BUT...

On the other hand, with all that 'tude comes lots of love and silliness that only a parent could truly appreciate. She runs down the hallway and into the garage to greet me when I get home from work, she randomly comes up to me and give me a kiss, she does Dora's "I did it" dance and yells out "I didet," she points to the cuckoo clock and cuckoos with the bird every hour, she chases Pepper around the house giggling up a storm, she tries to help me put the dishes in the dishwasher, she sits on daddy's lap and watches Dora in the mornings, she impresses me with her signs/words daily, and, overall, she is just a good kid. One of her good days outweighs about 2-3 sassy days. Easily.

This stage is fun, but it is challenging because not only is she testing me, but I feel that she is frustrated that she cannot fully communicate with me.

Finally, on to the stats! She's still our little peanut.

22 lbs (20th %)

30" tall (10th %)

She got one immunization, but I can't remember which one. I'm pretty sure she recognizes the nurse who gives her shots because the minute she walked into the room to measure her and take her temp, KK had a meltdown.

The minute Dr. Campbell walked into the room, KK was at ease and was such a good little girl. She gave KK a flavor stick which KK loved! I need to find some of those online!

Dr. Campbell even said that typical 18 month olds do not sit that still while being checked out. We were surprised she sat still too! We asked Dr. Campbell about KK's cough (that she has had since December!) and Dr. Campbell gave us some Singulair to try. Hopefully it will clear up the cough.

KK officially started daycare this week. Ty starts school next week, so I decided he deserved a week off. So far so good with daycare. I come home with art every single day and KK seems to enjoy interacting with other kids. The carpool lane is another bonus for me!

Up next...18 month pictures. I need to get an appointment scheduled...perhaps next weekend.

KK & Carson

While in Yucca, KK got to play with her boyfriend, Carson. She was very excited to see him and even ran up to him and gave him a kiss!

Carson showed KK his toys...

...and KK tried to share. We are still working on that.

I've been getting a lot of sass from her lately. Here she is proving my point!

I'm determined to get a pic of both of them looking at the camera. Instead, I get a lot of pics of them looking down or away. I thought this one was cute though. They are almost holding hands. :)

I'm so happy that KK will have a friend to play with every time we go to my mom's house. Yay for play dates!

Going Back to Cali

Tyson took his annual trip up the coast of Cali last week with KK. He was actually gone for 9 days which meant 9 days of freedom for me. I got to sleep in, workout, shop, watch tv, stare at walls in silence and do whatever I wanted! It was glorious. Not gonna lie. I did miss the heck out of both of them, but it sure was a nice break.

Tyson really didn't get any good pics while on his trip, but he managed to send me a couple iPhone pics, so that's the best I've got for the blog.

According to Ty, KK really enjoyed exploring the junior high across the street from his dad's house. She wandered around the school, walked up the stairs and played on the tennis court.

Grandma made her a new beanie (because it was chilly and mommy didn't pack accordingly).


Grandpa helped her brush her teeth!

Her favorite toy in grandma and grandpa's house was the foot massager. Go figure.

Tyson and Kaylynn had a great time visiting with friends and family! On the way back to AZ, I met them at my mom's so Ty could break up the 9 hour drive and so I could see my babes sooner than later. Tyson and I got to enjoy a date night, hang out with our friends and we even squeezed in a play date!

While Ty and I were having adult time, grandma taught KK how to put olives on her fingers and eat them. It was the cutest thing!!

Us girls went shopping on Saturday and KK surprised me by eating salad. She really liked the feta, just like mommy. Then I let her dip some bread into the ranch and she went to town! I'm pretty sure all she did was lick the ranch off, but she sure enjoyed dipping.

It was a fun short weekend. Kaylynn even behaved the entire drive back to Phoenix. She literally did not make a peep, she just sat there and watched Dora the whole time. Man, Dora is a lifesaver!

Bath Time Fun

Okay so I have a ton of videos which have been sitting on my computer because I'm too lazy to post them. So I decided it's time to start posting. Even if they aren't that great of videos.

I added a cup to Kaylynn's bath time toys, and she just loves it. She likes to fill it up and try to drink it. Later she ends up pouring the whole cup on her face, but I turned the video off before that happened.

Cuckoo

So growing up, both Ty and I remember having cuckoo clocks, either in our parents house, or grandparents house. One year for Christmas, I ordered one for Ty online. Then it came in the mail and it was battery operated. Kinda defeats the whole purpose, right? Well it doesn't make the best cuckoo, and there is the sound of a running waterfall in the background, but it's so funny, we had to put it up in our house. It's a great inside joke for the both of us.

Kaylynn has taken a liking to it too. She is constantly asking for "cuckoo." Then when it goes off every hour, she rushes into the kitchen and stares at it and cuckoos with the bird.

I'll do it myself!

Daddy taught KK how to feed herself and now that's all she wants to do! I hate messy faces, but it's kinda cute that she's feeding herself cottage cheese. I think this is only something a parent can enjoy.

We've created a monster!

I'm not sure it's normal for a 1 1/2 year old to get THIS excited about Dora! We've created a monster!!!

Rocker Chick

KK's aunt Gigi (my step sister) gave KK a rocking chair that she had when she was a little girl. It wasn't until recently that she began to play on it. KK spends a lot of time in her room playing with toys, and typically, I let her have her "independent play time." She was oddly quiet one day and so I peak in to find this...

Boarding Buddies

Amanda and Vafa have become our new wakeboarding buddies. We went to Pleasant this morning to see if we could get Amanda up on the wakeboard. Sure enough, she was able to get up! Great job Amanda! Tyson, Vafa and I all landed our jumps, so it was a great day!

I got a little confident in my jumping and ended up taking a pretty big spill. Luckily, Amanda got it on film!

KK came along with us, and once again was a trooper.

We put her in the water but she wasn't loving it.

Towards the end of the day she even fell asleep in my arms which she never does!

We made it a short day because I was afraid it would be too hot for KK, but we already have our next trip planned next month!

We are so excited to have wakeboarding buddies! Especially ones that will get up early and go first thing in the morning. :)

BFFs

KK has been spending a lot of time with her BFF Naison this summer. Ty went on a mini trip for 4 days and while I worked, Amanda watched KK. Amanda took them to Stroller Strides, the play area in the mall and the splash pad at Desert Ridge. Since then, Ty and Amanda have gotten the kids together for Wednesday play dates. Last week they went to the splash pad and this week Amanda and Nais came over to swim. At times I'm jealous that I can't play and have fun with them during the day. Then again, the thought of trying to entertain a wild 1 1/2 year old in 110+ temps on a daily basis, does not sound very fun.

Once again, trying to get both kids to look at the camera is quite the challenge. Here are the best takes I could get.

Now if Gemma could just come in town to visit so we could get a picture of the college rooomies and their kids...yes, that's a HINT Robyn!!

"Real" Daycare

Today was KK's first day at daycare (Valley Child Care and Learning Center). It's located somewhat near my work, so I'll be dropping her off and picking her up. Finally, Ty gets a break! He's been doing it for the past year and a half.

We are going to put her in daycare full time once school starts again, but wanted to do a couple trial days this summer to see how she did and to give Ty a break.

Here she is, ready to go!

Everything went smoothly. No crying by KK, mom or dad. No bad reports. No sassiness when she got home. It was a great day! She even seemed extra chatty when she got home.

She had art class today and we now have our very first fridge art. I can't wait for more!

For now, we'll do 1-2 days a week, depending on if there is room in the 1 year old room.

Carson and KK Sitting in a Tree

Ty and I decided to head to Newport for the 4th of July without KK, so we dropped her off at my mom's and headed to the beach for a fun filled weekend.

Before we left for the beach, I arranged a play date. Erin and Coy (who I went to high school with) have a son, Carson, who is 4 months younger than KK. At first the kids were a little shy, but eventually, they warmed up to each other and had a blast playing together. It was hard to get pictures of the munchkins because neither would look at the camera at the same time and KK was being a little sassy (I have no clue where she gets it from), but I'm sure we'll have another opportunity in a few weeks when we go back to Yucca.

While the kids were with their grandmas, the adults went to see the Angels and enjoy the beach.

Yay for adult time!