Kinlee’s 1st birthday went pretty well considering the snags in the planning and schedule that happened in the days prior. Thanks to everyone who made it, and we missed those who were not able to come due to illness or schedules. I learned a lot of mini life lessons, and things will be different for the next birthday party. We didn’t do anything for Braska’s 1st, so we were in new territory. As many of you know, birthdays have never been a big deal in our families growing up, so I don’t really do themes, matchy-matchy decor, etc. Maybe when the girls are old enough to notice…which will be soon.
Here’s a couple little pics of the day and the party. Check out the video below for lots more great pics—including my little pastry chefs at work on the cake—and the famous cake eating. 
Here’s the video…one of the projects I got done this week. Even got it burned on a DVD that can be watched on the TV! Fun for years to come!
She has started to close her eyes every time the camera gets ready to snap. Little booger. I have dozens of closed-eye pictures. 
Still, she’s pretty cute, and sometimes even sweet. 
Highlights this month: She is standing for a second or two by herself, but she’s not too interested in attempting to walk. And that’s ok with me. She’ll get there, no doubt, and I’m fine with her taking her time. Less chasing to do. Our house is going to get even smaller when she starts to walk.
She has a few signs: more, eat, milk, daddy. She does a lot of babbling and has some word approximations: more, mommy, daddy, belle, sissy, shoe, milk.
She loves her straw cup, and she eats almost everything set before her. Unfortunately, she likes to eat about anything she can find, including coins, junk on the floor, dog food, etc. We’ve had no issues yet to cause great concern, but you really gotta watch this girl.
One year down. It sure went fast!
It doesn’t seem like it’s been 12 whole months, and yet, it seems like she’s been hanging out with us for years.
Kinlee is a silly girl. She loves to laugh and make others laugh. She is a drama queen. She is very sensitive, VERY sensitive, especially to reprimands. She adores her sister and her daddy, but she is a Mommy’s girl. She will climb anything and has no fear. Until she gets up there and can’t get down. Then her world crumbles in a second.
She is lots of fun to play with and less fun to take on in a battle of wills. She will be a great sister and a challenging daughter for years to come, I’m quite sure of it. But whining and instant tear-spilling skills aside, she is a pretty good little girl, and we’ll let her hang around a while longer.
Happy Birthday, KiKi!
You see my dilemma.
She is moving more and faster than is easy to deal with, and she made clear very quickly that this photo shoot thing is uncool.
Highlights this month: She’s not all that interested in walking, so cruising is still her thing right now. But she does like walking with a push toy or anything else that she can walk behind…. laundry basket, chair, toy box, Braska’s tricycle. She is very into climbing and has been falling from small heights left and right. She’s a very tough cookie, but you wouldn’t know it from her the-world-has-ended drama cries after she bonks her head even the slightest bit. Heaven forbid someone walk away from her when she wanted their attention. She will throw herself dramatically on the floor and cry as though she has been abandoned forever, never to be cared for again. We are hoping his drama queen thing is a phase, but we’re a bit concerned this may be her way for a while.
She loves to play with her sister, even more than the sister would like. They often tackle each other, Kinlee yanking Braska’s glasses off, while Braska screams “Noooooo!” and swings wildly at her, and Kinlee clings to an arm as she falls over. Sometimes it’s not a violent interaction, and they giggle and roll around on the floor together. Those are fun times. KiKi loves to play with Jack and Braska, especially at Jack’s house where they can run all over like a little train—Jack running, Braska crawling fast behind him, and KiKi bringing up the rear as fast as she can go.
This month brought some new eating experiences. She is loving a straw and prefers it for every drink except formula. She had grilled cheese, cheese pizza, and peanut butter sandwiches this month and loved them all. She loves peas and really hasn’t rejected any foods, vegetables or otherwise, though she definitely prefers finger foods, so she doesn’t have to bother with being fed with a spoon.
She’s very close to 20 lbs, getting within about a pound or possibly even less to Braska’s current weight.
Kinlee is signing more consistently and saying “moh” when she does. She also signs done along with “duh.” Other verbal words are mama, dada, beh-beh (for Belle), and sis-sis for Braska. She says hi and bye along with waving, too.
KiKi is very very busy, never slowing down, and that has included her nights. She sometimes will sleep through the night once or twice in a week, but she is usually waking at night still, rarely putting herself back to sleep. But we’re working on a new plan of tough love this week, so hopefully she’ll get the picture. I need sleep badly.
I can’t believe it’s almost been a year. Guess I better get to thinking about a birthday party!
And then this one is from tonight…she didn’t do her best performance, but she’s pretty good with mama, dada, and sis-sis, and usually belle-belle too.
Stats: 18 lbs 7.5 oz, 28 inches. She’s wearing mostly 12 months, especially for length, though she can swim in the room around her in a 12 month sleeper.
Highlights from this month: This kid is eating everything, and I’m continually amazed. She likes fish, she likes veggies of all kinds. She likes chicken and rice, stroganoff, tortillas, pasta, and a variety of fruits. She can eat a whole multi-grain/fruit bar for breakfast in no time at all. She much prefers to feed herself, but she’s been better lately about taking from a spoon as well. She can drink from a straw like a pro, and she does well with an open cup too.
She is walking with only one hand assistance, and she loves going around with the walking toy or anything else she can push and walk behind…laundry basket, Braska’s tricycle, empty boxes, etc.
She is mostly sleeping through the night, but still has fairly frequent nights of waking at least once, sometimes going to sleep again quickly, sometimes not so much. She’s got 8 teeth now and I think there might be some more on the way soon.
She misses her sister when she’s at school each morning, but she’s adjusting pretty well. They do really love to play together, and if KiKi would stop yanking Braska’s glasses off her face, things would be just about adorable when they interact.
Here’s to month 11! (More posts soon!!! So many pics to share!)
These photo sessions are getting a bit more difficult. Before I could get the first shot, she had a letter in hand. (Don’t mind the diaper that’s a little too big… ran out of our normal kind.) 
Then Mommy took it away in an attempt to get a pretty shot. Yeah, that worked well. 
So I gave up and let her go at them. 
Highlights this month: She’s finally cruising. It seems she took a little break in her speedy development between pulling to stand and cruising. That’s ok with me, but now she’s on the move again. Several people are betting she’ll walk in the next 6 weeks… I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me. She loves to walk with two hands held, but she’s hesitant with just one.
She’s enjoying feeding herself, prefers it BY FAR to being fed with a spoon. She likes all kinds of veggies, bananas and apples, multigrain fruit bars, all kinds of crackers, breads, puffs and cereals. But as for *real* food, we’re struggling because we’re real-food challenged around here. We need to fix food she can eat, but that’s going to be a big change. It’s a process to eat less processed foods.
She’s working on teeth 5 and 6 right now, on either side of her lower front two. Here’s a peek at 5 of them. 
The uppers are through, one more than the other, and the 6th tooth is just finishing cutting through. How painful must teething be?!?
In the last couple days she’s decided she wants to clap, so that’s fun. At first I thought she was trying to sign more, but it’s evolved into a flat-handed clap, so we just chime in with “YAY!” whenever she starts a’clappin’. Here’s a few seconds of her showing her new skill, though a little dark.
Once again, it’s time to mark another month passed and look forward to the next one.
7 months. Time flies.
The photo shoot today went a little less smoothly than the last few.
She giggled and grinned for about one second before she got a little giddy and all kicky-like. 
Then, in her jostling around, she bumped and thereby noticed the letters….and it was over. 
And what in the world??? I think we’re in for a crazy month…again. 
Highlights this month: Gosh, I don’t know if I even remember them all. Army crawling, pulling to stand, crawling, transition to sitting from lying or crawling, lots of veggies and foods eaten (squash, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes with turkey, apples with chicken, lots of oatmeal cereal with pear juice, apple prune juice, and of course lots of milk). She got her first tooth and is working on the next one. She is all about NOT wanting me to leave her in a room without her sister right next to her. She and Braska are having a blast playing together and giggling alot. Kinlee loves to rip Braska’s glasses off her face. Over and over and over and over. It’s wonderful. But not so much. She is obsessed with cords, much like Braska is/was, and she’ll crawl all over the house to find just the cords you don’t want her to have.
I can’t believe how fast she grows. I get it now when everyone always says, “Oh, they just grow up so fast.” Now I get it.
We were in Arkansas for KiKi’s six-month birthday, but I remembered to take a pseudo-matching pic to the rest of the months. But I forgot the letters, so they’re a post-production edit. Maybe I’ll pose one even though it’s not on “the day.” 
Highlights this month: Sitting up!!!! That’s the big one. And she’s progressed so quickly in liking to be on her hands and knees and rocking. It’s just amazing to me every single time… She had her first baby cereal, and she’s a fan! No veggies or fruit yet, but they are right around the corner. She had her first road trip, including a 10-hour driving day, and she was fairly convinced she would NOT survive, I’m sure. Her interactions with Braska get more aggressive and adorable every day, though she will have to learn to defend herself very soon. At last weight, on 8/6 she was 15 lb 8 oz.
Halfway to 1. I can’t hardly believe it!
How can it be, but it is... Kinlee's 5 months old today. For some reason, she felt this was a good time to stand up straight (ok, lie down straight). 
The photo session deteriorated quickly as she is far too curious to just hang around when she could be grabbing letters and things. 
Highlights this month: Kinlee is having so much fun in her exersaucer. She will turn all around and spends much of her time in it standing while she plays. Standing!!! What? I don't know what to do with such a super-hero-strength baby! She is loving playing with her sister, especially pulling Braska's hair whenever she can. Kinlee is very good at squirming and rolling herself into uncomfortable positions on the floor and in her bouncy seat. She's getting close to 15 lbs, and she will have her first cereal today. She loves to put things in her mouth and chew them til they are dripping with slobber! She tells alot of stories that we hope to be able to decipher soon.
All in all, she is a pretty good baby, very rarely difficult (though she does have her moments), and we're ready to see what the next month holds.
Once again, the 9th is here. We celebrate 4 months today.
4 months of cuddles
4 months of (more) diapers
4 months of being a family of 4
4 months of (more) Mommy fatigue
4 months of enjoying one (more) very sweet little girl 
"I'm cute? Yeah, I know!" 
"What do I want for my birthday?
One miiiii-lllllion dollars!" 
Highlights this month: She's rolling whenever she gets the urge. She's a giggling machine, laughing when she's tickled or when she sees a silly face or hears a silly voice. She likes to play with her gym and loves her bunny. She is so aware of Braska and just lights up when she gets "kissies" from her sister. I feel weird not always knowing exactly what she weighs, since we had at least weekly weigh-ins for Braska at this age. But she is eating well, sleeping well, and she's generally pretty happy. We get alot of comments about how "good" a baby she is. She is a very social girl, not a fan of being left alone in a room. She's happy to express her dislike of my leaving her immediate visual space, but she practically kicks herself silly when I return. That's a pretty nice little welcome, I think. Right now, she's working on her bottom front teeth. She's drooling and a bit fussier than normal, chewing on her hands alot, as well as anything else around that she can grab.
It's going so fast with this one. She just DOES things. There's no working on it or practicing or teaching her how to do things. She just does it. I'm still getting used to that. I think this coming month is going to bring alot of fun.
