Potty Training???

i wrote in my second post about Kaylee going to the "big girl potty" and "saving diapers." That is how it all started, but i think i have to admit that we have moved beyond the "saving diapers" stage. I still cant believe that we are officially in the potty training stage already. She is keeping a dry pamper almost everyday. Last week she only used 1 pamper each day, except when she was napping. And one day she did not even go during nap time. She tells me by grunting everytime she has to use the bathroom. Even when we are out in public. She has gone at the mall, at restaurants, at stores, at other peoples' houses, at a school, everywhere and anywhere we go. Which brings me to another thought, when she is going in public i think that she is much louder than usual, like she is trying to get someones attention. Needless to say, it is very embarrassing. I cant count how many times she has been on the potty in a public place and we walk out and get absoluetly STARED AT by very confused onlookers. I guess people just cant believe that i just put her on the potty.

she is very proud of her potty too! she claps and looks down to see.

I don't think she has learned how to trick me yet. I mean, almost everytime she says she has to go she actually goes. It is very strange. Only time will tell how long it will be until she is completely potty trained. So until then, i will be responding to each and every grunt with the usual stripping of the clothes and rushing to the bathroom.

I have also taken advantage of her time on the potty to work on teaching her body parts. So far she has learned; eye, ear, nose, and belly-button. We are currently working on mouth and teeth.

Girls vs Boys

So i have been told 3 times in the last couple of days the difference between girls and boys.
This is true - 3 DIFFERENT people at DIFFERENT times and DIFFERENT places told me the EXACT same thing.

When boys learn to walk, they run, and they just keep on going away from you.

When girls learn to walk, they walk, and they stay near you (or at least come back often).

This is mostly true in my expereince. When Kaylee began to walk she was practically running the next day. But she always stays "somewhat" close to me when she is walking around in public. I am eager to find out for myself if boys are the same way.

We were at the Fish Fry last night and Kaylee just has to walk around and "talk" to everyone. If you know her, you know that she STILL is not talking. She wanders around and walks up to perfect strangers tables, looks at them, some times even touches them, she waits until they acknowledge her and admire her, then she walks away. She thinks she has to "talk" to everyone. So the whole time we are there she has to do this...walk around and be noticed by everyone. and there i am close behind her, she looks back every so often to make sure i am still there and if i am not she will come back within a "safe" distance. It is really funny, she seems to know that i want her to stay close to me. I am sure the day is coming where she will just want to take off and leave me in her dust. But for now i am happy that she is content staying close to me. I guess i better start running again, so that i will be able to keep up with her when that happens.

Give me your experience on the differences in girls and boys

1st Dentist Visit

So i mentioned in a previous post that Kaylee had her first dentist appointment this month, well it was today.

She did awesome!

Well up until the dentist tried to touch her.

She was walking around the office like she owned the place, talking to everyone, laughing, and having a good ol time. Then they called us back. She got to sit on my lap and watch other kids and she was still happy. The dentist came up to talk to her and she was still happy. He walked away (which i thought was a good move), and when he came back to actually look at her teeth she completely fell apart! I mean she lost it! So all the dentist did was check her teeth breifly and then we left.

So i think, in Kaylee's eyes, the dentist is in the same boat as Santa Claus. She is not too fond of either of them.

I guess we will just have to try again next time.

Edible Creation

So this past Saturday was Crista's 1st Bridal Shower. I was in charge of the fruit. And I thought since i "royaly" messed up the invitations, i thought that i might do something a little "special" to make up for it. So when i was asked to bring fruit to the shower i took this responsibility VERY seriously. I began researching immediately and this is what i came up with....

I decided that a fruit bouquet would be my new "project."

I began planning what fruits would be included, how i whould include them, and the basic design of the project. I researched fruit until I couldnt read anymore about it. I learned more about fruit than i ever thought i would.

Did you know that thick skined oranges are better for eating, while the thin skined ones are better for juicing?
Did you know that if you boil an orange for 5 minutes before you peel it, the peel and all that white stuff comes off MUCH easier?

Click here for more fruit hints/ tricks

(I dont want to bore you with anymore)

So after all my researching, i decided to plan out 'how' i was going to put this thing together. I made out a list of fruits and then a list of the best stores to buy these fruits, so i could be the most cost-effiecient shopper i could be. then i escaped, leaving marcus in charge of the house (and Kaylee) and i shopped for my fruit; pineapple, oranges, cantaloupe, necterines, green grapes, purple grapes, strawberries, chocolate, and all the ingredients needed for the fruit dip.
It took 2 days to prep and Bethany to come over the morning of the shower to help assemble the arrangement, but here is what the final project looked like from start to finish.

Here is another picture from the shower

If anyone is interested in trying this let me know and i can give you some pointers. Trust me it is not as hard as you would think

Eating us out of house and home!

Some could ask.....How could a 13 month old eat you out of house and home?

Well I'll be the first to tell you that it is COMPLETELY possible! Our little monkey has managed to build up her appetite to rival that of an adult (ok maybe not an adult, but of a child much older than herself).

Here is the proof.....

these are pictures of some of her plates

I mean some people say that we are "feeding her too much," and others say "you are feeding her all nutritious food, so what's the harm?" I just cant believe that she WANTS to eat so much.....ALL THE TIME!!! And we have not found much that the child WON'T eat. I know the time will come when she will be picky, like her mommy, but for now she will eat just about anything you put in front of her, name it......she will eat it!

And in addition to eating anything and everything, she eats like their is a pack of hungry dogs about to raid her plate. I mean it is ridiculous! She hardly breathes while she eats. She eats with both hands at the same time. And as if that weren't enough, she puts 3-4 pieces of food in her mouth at a time. it is truely a sight to see (many people gathered around to watch at my dad's party Saturday night, they were so amazed). And you try to slow her down, but then she just screams for more. So she demolishes her plate before anyone has the chance of stealing even the slightest morsel of food.

She likes to play this game with anyone who is eating with her. She offers them a piece of her food and then right as they are going to take it she puts it in her mouth and laughs. I swear it is the EXACT same thing that Joaquin Phoenix does to Reese Witherspoon in the movie 'Walk the Line.' The scene where they are laying in bed eating peanuts (i think) and he keeps acting like he is going to give her one but never does. That is EXACTLY what she does with her food. (I promise she has never seen that movie) And she laughs about it, like she knows that it is funny! So now the game has moved from people to Tahoe. She does this with him while she is eating too. it is quite a show, cause sometimes she leaves the food down at his level just a second too long and then HE gets the last laugh, not her.

Look at those 8 "pearly whites"

She has a dentist appointment this month, stay tuned to see how that goes...........

How do they know?

Just a thought (inpired by Marcus)......How do babies know when to smile, laugh, cry, etc?

We were playing with Kaylee tonight before dinner, and i just finished giving Marcus the "run-down" on our day, I was telling him that all day for no apparent reason Kaylee would just BUST OUT into laughter. I could not figure it out, what could be so funny to her. Just about the time I told him about this, she did it. She was laughing hystarically. It is so fun to watch a child with that elation! She is so content and happy in her own little world.

I think it is so amazing that babies are so perceptive that they learn even the smallest bits of social behavior in such a short ammount of time!

Mop

So you think you know what a mop is, don’t you?

Well the kind of mop that I am referring to is on my child’s head. She has so much hair..... it is crazy! And it is SOOOOO long! I have been able to bows and clips in her hair since the day she was born. Most mommies would be ecstatic with the thought of putting bows in their "litle girl's" hair, but me, NO i could have cared less to put something in her hair. As most of you know Marcus and I both are VERY selective about what goes in her hair. So most of the time it is just pulled back into a ponytail, like her mommy’s hair. Just to get it out of the way! But recently (well about a month or so ago) she decided that she did not want her hair up like mommy’s anymore. She does not want ANYTHING in her hair! If she “knows” that there is something in her hair she pulls it out immediately. But, there have been times that I am able to sneak something into her hair, just to keep it out of her face, without her knowing. People used to always ask me how I keep her clips and ponytail holder in her hair (when she was 0-11 months old). I would always say “she never messes with it; I don’t think she even knows it is there.” Well she sure as heck figured it out! But I still am not convinced that she likes her hair down, I just think she LOVES the reaction she gets when she pulls it out…..ESPECIALLY the reaction she gets from daddy when he is driving and he sees her beginning to eat whatever she just pulled out of her hair. So now I hardly put her hair up anymore, it is long enough to tuck behind her little ears anyways. I am wondering when she will realize that she can move her hair out of her face all by herself, because if it were up to her she would walk around all day with it all in her eyes. Here is a picture of what I am greeted with when I get her out of her crib……

I mean how can you not smile when you walk into the room and see that?