18 months

Wow - 18 months.

 

18 months has flown by.  We now having a running, happy, chatty little girl with a splash of attitude.  Our little baby isn't so much of a baby anymore. 

fun at the fair

 

cowgirl boots/hat from Grandma and Grandpa

loves to colour

obsessed with her baby

kindergym!

Happy Fall!

Today is the first day of fall.  It's been an unpredictable week of weather with wind, rain, sun, and grey skies.  Here's hoping that the warmth and sun come back to join us as we enter into the first few weeks of this new season.

 

Fall means a new wardrobe for Miss Kennedy.  We had lots of fun shopping with Grandma and Great Grandma picking out some new (bigger) duds.  My (almost) 18 month old girl swims in some of her outfits as she is still a petite little monkey. 

 

Fall means trips to the Pumpkin Patch --- and having to wear a winter toque to go because of the cold, bitter wind. 

 

Fall means picking out Halloween costumes (we got ours second hand this year and it is the cutest thing ever).  We picked out an animal costume this year.  One of the animals that she knows the sound or action for, so when you see her trick or treating, she will be able to show off her animal skills! You'll have to wait for a Halloween post to see what it is. 

 

Fall means lots of new words for K - she is talking up a storm and repeating things that you ask her to.  Her newest word that she says a lot is "no".  But our silly little lady doesn't always know how to use the word.  "Kennedy, do you want a cookie?"  "No" she replies in the sweetest voice ever, not fully realising that she's turning down a treat. 

 

Fall means swimming lessons and kindergym are starting soon!  It also means our 18 month shots at the doctor in a couple of weeks.  Luckily daddy is off that day too :) 

 

Lots of things to look forward to this fall! 

No work all play

Today is my first day of child care leave and I am oh-so-happy to be home today with K.  It's a beautiful day outside and we have had a busy morning already!  After a walk through the market with Grandma, we visited a bunch of our little friends and their mamas at the park, then came home for a nice lunch and it's nap time already.  I'm busy uploading picture to have printed - a job that I have been putting off and off and off since before Christmas!  And our afternoon is going to be topped off with visiting a brand-new baby this afternoon.  A new second cousin for K.  :)

The sun is shinning and it's a great day to not be at work! 

Fast forward

The other day I was talking to a friend whose daughter is a little older than my own.  She had just had her 18 month appointment and the doc asked her how many words M knew.  Apparently, this doc hopes for 10 words by the time they are a year and a half. 

In my head, I started thinking --- 10 words?  K only says Dada (not only to daddy, but to everyone) and had just started to say mama.  I wouldn't say that I had a panic, as I know all children are different (that was what my undergrad degree was in, so sheesh, I should know that no.two.kids.are.the.same) but I did start to wonder when K would start whipping out more words. Then we wondered if her sign language would count as words as she is able to communicate through sign...that surely would add to the list!

So the other night I actually *thought* about it.  How many words does she know and to my amazement, I was able to count 10.  Now to be honest, some of these words may only be understood by mommy and daddy as they are her own version of the word, but when she says it *we* know what she means.

Then bam.  I wake up this morning and she starts out with THREE more new words before lunch!  I was flabbergasted and so excited! I emailed daddy at work to tell him and wanted to get it on video but haven't caught them yet. 

And so it begins.  Her vocabulary is expanding and mommy thinks it's exciting!

Back to the grind

Well, our little family is back to the grind.  Back to the days of waking up to an alarm, the days of making lunches, and the days of school.

 

The first week is behind us and I sit here typing, excited that I have a three day weekend!  With many three day weekends in the near future due to my child care leave that I took from work.  Teaching Tues-Fri is going to be just perfect to establish relationships and routines with my students and still have lots of quality time with K.  We are fortunate to have our great babysitter back this fall, and Kennedy loves going there and playing each day.  We are also lucky to have a shift-working daddy as he gets to have "daddy daughter days" a lot.  In fact this week's schedule only had K going to the sitter for a day and a half.  The rest of the time was spent at home.  We're all signed up for swim and kindergym on Mondays so our "mommy Monday's" will be busy for the next few weeks too.

 

It's been a busy summer and I know that fall will be just as crazy, but we look forward to it!

 

Hopefully with a more structured fall, I'll be able to keep up with these posts a little better. 

 

 

16.5 months

The past few months, it has been amazing watching as Kennedy develops from a little baby into an intelligent little toddler.  It makes me sad to say that T word (toddler), but that is really what she is now. 

She is now surprising us daily with her ability to communicate through sign language.  Telling mommy and daddy "more, all done, please, help" etc has really allowed us to understand some of her needs and reduces her frustration.

She knows a few words (dada and finally mama, duck, uh-oh, tickle) as well as many many animal sounds (and some actions).  Whenever somebody is visiting, Kennedy likes to show off her tricks by doing the sounds for cow, dog, cat, snake, pig, lion, tiger, bear, elephant, and actions for butterfly, fish and lizard.  It is the cutest thing in the world.

She's finally obsessed again with books (we went on a little strike from books for a couple of months and this teacher-mommy was sad as I want her to be a reader!)  She loves to sit with mommy or daddy or by herself and (quickly) read through the pages, looking for animals she knows.  It's adorable when she picks up a familiar book and brings it over to me saying the animal sound that she knows is one one of the pages.  We will flip flip flip through the pages quickly until she recognises the page that she wants and will point and make the animal sound.  Adorable. 

She loves to tickle and be tickled.  She tickles all over the body saying her cute little "ticka ticka" sound and even enjoys tickling inanimate objects.

She has thirteen teeth and uses them well when eating!  She's a fruit eater that's for sure.  Give her a peach, some grapes or blueberries and we have a happy girl!

When she runs she "gallops" like a horse.  Her little legs move so quickly and she still stumbles upon her feet at time as her feet move faster than her body will let her go. 

She loves going to the park.  Up and down the slide, the ladders, and swinging on the swings (she signs swing too!).  We also like our neighbourhood park as it is surrounded by little rocks, which of course she loves to put in her mouth.

She has her babies that she rocks, burbs, and gives bottles to.  When we cover her baby with a blanket she says "shhh" in her own little form.  Adorable. 

She climbs up and down the stairs when minimal assistance (although we are always right by her side as she sometimes gets distracted and wants to look down the stairs).  We still have baby gates up though as we aren't 100% confident on them yet. 

She loves being outside and going for walks.  Less time in the stroller these days and more time walking the streets on her own. 



She still loves the bath tub and really enjoyed time at the cottage in the water this summer.  She splashes like a little fish!

It's all these little things that we see on a daily basis that melt my heart and I'm worried that one day I won't remember all of the cute things she used to do.  Thank goodness for pictures, videos and blogs (well, if they are updated).



slacking

Wow - the middle of August already?  Where has the time gone?  Well... about four weeks of it was spent up at the cottage and the rest has been filled with day trips and quiet home time.  It's been heavenly.

Now, we've got only a couple weeks left of summer to enjoy, before it's back to school for mommy.

And I promise that I will then be back in the blogging world!

Daddy's are away... babies will play

 Last weekend a bunch of the guys were away for the weekend on a bachelor trip.  So the mama's were "single mom's" for awhile.  We realized that when the daddy's are away...the babies will play. 

First activitiy - a nice walk downtown.... ending up at the bar for a drink.  We arrived with 2/3 babies sleeping so enjoyed a refreshing drink on a hot afternoon.

Next adventure - jump in the truck and do the half hour drive so that the mommy's can have a nice sushi dinner.  There was lots of singing by the mother's to keep everyone happy for the drive.

After a nice sushi picnic, we hit the road again to head for home and within a short amount of time, we had three, beautiful sleeping babies :)

Although we missed daddy, it was a fun time with friends!

when you ask....

I had a comment on my last blog post to post more pictures.  Well, if you ask, then I will deliver!

Kennedy's first full ponytail!

Playing outside on a hot day

out little cutie

With daddy on Father's Day



Chillin' on my chair

Getting ready for the Teddy Bear Parade

With mommy

With Grandma Jane

With Grandpa John

She's only little once

I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher.  Ever since I was little, that was my plan.
My dream became reality five years ago when I got my first LTO (which is a fancy acronym for saying that I was covering a mat leave).  This was followed by another, and another, and another, before finally landing a half time (permanent) position.  Throw in a year off on my own maternity leave and then follow it was a 0.8 position (the teaching lingo here --- basically means that I was teaching 80% of the week).  It was an ideal situation for me.  With a one year old toddling around at home, I was fortunate enough to have two afternoon's off a week to come home and play with my little girl.  Two afternoons a week to do all of those other chores that I had been neglecting as well.

But it's finally happened.  After five years of teaching, I have finally gotten full time work.  As exciting as it is is to finally have full time (and only a 7 minute drive from my house), I was a bit sad when offered the job.  I really enjoyed my two afternoon's at home with my little girl. So after some discussion with the hubby, we decided that it would be best for our family for me to take a part-time child care leave.  I put in my letter earlier this week and I'm officially back down to teaching 80% of the week!  Go figure eh!  I am fortunate enough to get Monday's off next year.  Woo-hoo! A whole extra day :) 

I look forward to taking Kennedy to swimming lessons, and to Kindergym, and the library, and all those other fun things.  I know that I will never regret spending an extra day a week at home with our little lady.  I will never regret not having the extra moola in the bank account as it doesn't add up to the memories we will share together.  I'm happy to have made the decision (and for a supportive husband who helped make it happen).

Who knows when I will go back to full time.  It's nice to know the option is there, but I feel so fortunate that we are able to do this for our family at this time. 

And on the days when I may ponder our decision, I will remind myself that she is only little once.  I only get to raise her once.