11 months

I’m a little late with this, but I kept thinking I’d retake the pics.  Why??  Well, this is the best one we got. 

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!

Exploring new heights

 

No it’s not that high, but still…  I was doing dishes and her banging in the drawer got quiet.  And there she was.  I grabbed my phone and snapped the first pic, then she took a moment to figure out how to get in and up she popped. Like “See, I can do it!”

I’m afraid this will mean that we find her in all kinds of places now… any guesses on where might be next?

10 Months

I’ve fallen to a new low in the Kinlee-blogging habit.  I’m missing so much!!!  But today it’s about 10 months.  Amazing. 

 

To help her leave the letters alone next to her, I gave her one to chew on and keep her busy. And it worked…for a little bit.
 

Here’s a couple video clips of the post photo shoot outtakes.  I realized that I don’t take enough simple little videos of KiKi… so these are just that.

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!)

9 months

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.

Little weight bearer

KiKi is all about the standing.  She’s been into standing on laps for a while, but now she wants to stand up everywhere.  And she will only hold on with one hand, crazy girl.  Amazing thing is…she can do it.  She can balance herself holding onto just one hand.  This girl is just bananas!

Sunday evening, ready for the Bears opener. (More on that later.) 


Tuesday, ready for lots of errands and appointments.


And this was today… it blows my mind.

5 months

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.

A little update and more newborn pics

We had an ok night, got some sleep, ate ok, until about 5:00 am when she decided to just be awake and a little whiny for a while. We made it through.

Pediatrician's check this morning was ok...not perfect. There is an issue with her left hip, not unheard of, but something to check out. A definite click/clunk, as they call it. Possible hip dysplasia. We'll have it checked out with an ultrasound to see what's up in the next week or so, sounds like. But that explains why she has really hated being messed with on that leg for diapers. No biggie...we listened and said, "Got it. We can handle that." What a difference life experience makes, huh? We'll be here til tomorrow morning then head home. M may go back to work tomorrow, since my mom is here, to save a few days for when we're on our own next week.

Now, on to the pics, and I'm gonna see if I can catch a little nap after some feeding.

Sleeping beauty. (Anyone see a resemblance in that profile... and you SO better not say her mommy!)





Soft, dark hair, with one little blond patch that you can't see here.


One very wrinkled and VERY long foot!

One nibblin' good ear...again, some of you will recognize this ear.

Snuggling with one very tired (but freshly showered...yay!!) Mommy.

Checking things out on day 2.

Welcome Kinlee!

That's right... finally, she's here.

These are the same pics as what's in the margin on the left, but this way you can click on them and make them bigger if you want. We're doing well at this point. It was a good experience as birth goes, and no we figure out what to do with another little girl!

Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes. We're ready to get on with this next phase and see what's in store!

Here's our first most-of-the-family pic.

Kinlee shaking my hand, introducing herself.

And Kinlee checking out Grammy, with wide eyes.

Never fear, there will be more.