Keeping Up with Kaylynn

Honestly, I do not know where this year went.  I fee like it was a blur filled mostly with tantrums and lots of playdates.  For the last 3 months of 2011 I had literally every single weekend jam packed with events.  My New Year's Resolution is to stop planning and starting relaxing and enjoying.  I think I said the same thing last year too, but obviously that was an utter failure.  Here's to actually keeping my resolution.  With that in mind...I already know we are going to have a busy year.  A wedding, a week in SLO, visit with the Gentiles and Christmas in Mexico!  Other than those events, I'm going to do my best to try not to plan too much more.

I cheated and looked at my post from last year and will try to give an updated version of Keeping Up with Kaylynn.  The beauty of this post is that I can actually ask her questions and she responds.  Let the interrogation begin.

Favorite Color - Purple.  Although when I just asked her she said "Red.  No...blue.  KK like blue.  Purple?!?!  PURPLE.  WANT PURPLE ONE!!!  Purple.  Purple.  Red.  Want red W."  Yeah...so take that for what it's worth.

Favorite Activity - There is a tie between playing on the playground and blowing bubbles.  Every single day on the way to school we pass a playground and she says "wanna go playground."  She could play for hours.  Same with bubbles.  I can just open up the front door and she'll sit outside and blow bubbles (and taunt Tiko) for a good 30 minutes.

Vocabulary - FINALLY this girl is talking!!  It wasn't until recently that she finally started putting sentences together.  Finally.  I know what she wants!  Even though she is talking she still uses her signs.  Almost daily.  The best part...she sometimes has a French accent when she talks.  Think of Pepe le Pew.  She's constantly saying "What's a' that a' making noise?"

Big Girl Bed - KK finally graduated to a big girl bed after several prison breaks.  She used to stay in her bed and yell for us, but now she's gotten to the point that when she wakes up in the morning she'll play in her room and eventually come out and grab cereal out of the cabinet and snack until I get my lazy butt out of bed.  On the weekends, it's anywhere from 7-8am which seems like an eternity.  Way better than the 5am wake up calls.  With that said, the night time bed process sucks.  Big time.  Go the #$*& to Sleep - if you haven't read that book.  Read it.  It's my life.  I'm so sick of fighting with her at bed time.  I try to put her to bed at 7pm because we have to wake her up during the week at 6:30am (which is another battle that makes me want to pull my hair out).  Once we put her to bed, she used to just play in her room until about 7:30pm and then crash out.  Now we have a hard time getting her to even go in her room without a fight before 7:30pm.  On average though, her bed time ranges from 7-8pm.  Depending on how much of a fight she puts up.  She is still napping pretty well.  From about noon-2/3pm.  She'll give us the occasional 4 hour nap but that's not too often.  She can skip a nap if we have to but I really don't like to do that.  I fear that she won't want to nap anymore if I let her skip one.

Attitude - This girl has some major attitude.  I have NO idea where she gets it from.  She's feisty, like myself.  If she doesn't get what she wants she will literally throw herself on the ground and scream.  I'm stubborn too so I refuse to let her get her way when she acts like that.  I will say though, if she asks nicely and uses her manners, I rarely say no.  That brings me to my next topic.

Lollipop - Oh the dreaded lollipop.  I don't know how this habit started but I often find myself giving her a lollipop as a bribing mechanism.  Also during times of what I call "cuteness."  "Mommy.  I love you so much.  Lollipop please?!?!" (as she gives me the Puss N Boots look).   Sorry.  I can't say no to that.  Just yesterday she woke up from her nap and let herself out of her room (I was in the shower so I didn't realize she was up).  I walk into the kitchen to get something and she's sitting at the table drooling over a plate of (unwrapped) brownies.  She folds her hands and says "Mommy, want one.  Please."  The fact that she didn't automatically eat them and had some sort of self control made me proud.  So I let her have a brownie.  Lately, she is into candy canes.  She can chomp down on a mini candy cane in less than a minute.  She's a big fan of the light green Tic Tacs as well.

Dancing Queen - She still loves dancing.  Her favorite game is Just Dance 3!  Check out her sweet moves.

Potty Training - Not talking about this.  She'll be in diapers until she's 5.  Next topic.

New Addition - Tiko is Kaylynn's best friend.  They wrestle.  Cuddle.  Play. Taunt.  Have SO much fun.  He's her little buddy.

The Pups.

iBaby - She's still our iBaby!  It is scary how well KK can navigate an iPad.  Some of her favorite apps are...Flick Football, RRC HD, Angry Birds, Talking Ben/Gina/Tom/Santa, Putt Putt, Cover Orange, Dora's ABCs, Dora Coloring and Smack Talk.  Last year we got her a Leapster for her birthday and she's just now figuring out how to use it.  She was able to write/trace the word "wiggle"which I thought was pretty cool.

Imagination - I really love Kaylynn's imagination.  She got a dollhouse for Christmas and she just plays and plays and plays and has conversations with all her toys.  It's pretty dang cute.  I love spying on her and watching her play make believe.

TV Obsession - She probably watches too much TV.  Our DVR is filled with an assortment of shows.  She can count to 10 in spanish and say her ABCs and she knows her shapes, including hexagon and pentagon.  I thank Dora for that.  So to me, TV isn't that bad.  Plus it gives me time to do chores around the house.  When she's not watching TV, she's pulling out every single toy she owns.  That's not fun to clean up after.  There is absolutely no mess with TV.  :)

Book Worm - KK still loves her books and is able to recite them while I read them.  But her 2 book limit has turned into reading each book several times and then her asking for another.  I love that she wants me to read to her but I know she's using it as a delay tactic because she doesn't want to go to bed.  Right now she's into Go Dogs Go and The Foot Book.  Both of which I just read FOUR times in order for her to go down for a nap.  Twice in the rocking chair and twice in bed.

Blue Blankie - One day I picked up Kaylynn from school and she was carrying around her lovie (little blanket).  I never (used) to let her take her blankets from her crib/bed but I guess one of Kaylynn's friends from school carries hers around and all of the sudden KK decided she wanted to carry one around too.  She doesn't use it that often at home but its pretty much attached to her hip during the week at school.  I wanted to fight that but decided to give in and let her have it.  If it doesn't bother her teachers then it shouldn't bother me.  I don't let her have it in public.  Just in the car, at school and in her bed.

Tantrums - She's been going strong since 18 months.  I like to think of KK as either an amazing little girl who is so sweet or that little girl from the exorcist.  (Kidding...kinda).  It's so crazy how amazing she can be and then all of the sudden something doesn't go the way she wants and she snaps.  The ONLY way I've learned to deal with her tantrums is to walk away and let her work it out herself.  There is no calming her down.  My friends are starting to see these tantrums and finally believe that I'm NOT exaggerating.  I have a lot of them on video.  I should really put together a montage.  Here is what happens when the butter melts on her waffle.

Football - Kaylynn still likes football and baseball too!  She's anxiously awaiting baseball season.  She loves going to Dbacks games!

All Girl - She's still a girly girl.  As much as I had hoped for a tomboy, she's ALL GIRL.  Yesterday she put on a tutu and was spinning around saying "look mommy, I'm a princess!"

Overall, I think she's a good respectable girl.  She has her moments of feistiness and there is no way to get her to do something she doesn't want to do.  I've learned to trick her into thinking it was her idea, not mine.  I'm anxious for what 3 has to offer.  2 was for the birds.  Although...I hear 3 is worse than 2. Wish us luck!