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. 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful daddy, and my amazing Grandpa's.

Love, Kennedy

A few of the blogs that I read on a regular basis have gone through a bit of a dry spell. My fellow bloggers were starting to slack, and I was disappointed every time I checked online to find that nothing new had been posted. So I sent them a cheeky message and told them to get their butts in gear and get typing. So they did, and I am thankful. However, now I can be the slacker. So I better get to work.

It has been a busy week in our house with lots of fun (sprinkled in with writing report cards for this teacher).  This afternoon, we set up some chairs under the tree for a little quiet time, and daddy and K had a nice little snuggle.  Melts.my.heart.

Tickle Time

It's the second day in June and it's a cold, rainy, miserable looking day. 

What happened to our beautiful May?  I want it back. 

Unfortunately due to the weather, we had to postpone a birthday BBQ for daddy today.  It's not the type of day where we want to be running around the backyard in.  Hopefully the weather cooperates for next weekend though.

This morning, before I put the little lady to bed for her nap, I did a little poking around in her mouth and felt another little staple poking through.  Another tooth will up her number to 9.  She has been such a happy girl the past two days, so it obviously isn't bothering her.  I think that I credit the baltic amber necklace that she has been wearing since she was six months old for that.  Teething has never been an issue for us - knock on wood. 

This morning she has been running all over the house and tickling daddy and I.  She wiggles her fingers against our chest or arm and says "tick-ah, tick-ah" in her own little baby way.  Of course, we pretend to giggle and tickle her back.  It's turned into her new favourite game.  I think that she learnt how to tickle from reading the book "Tickle Time!" by Sandra Boynton.  What a fun little book to read together (same author of some other popular books like Barnyard Dance).  I think we may need to get some more of these fun books. 

Mommy loves to buy books!

First Cottage Trip of the Season!

It was the first trip of the season.  The first long drive up to the cottage.  And what a weekend it was.  I can honestly say that I can not remember such a beautiful May long weekend (heck, I remember one May long weekend when there was flurries in the air).  But this weekend was an absolute gem.  We took along a few friends, including the three little musketeers (seen below having an outdoor "bath" in the pool).  Although K is the oldest by 5 and 7 months, she may just be the tiniest of the three. 

We look forward to spending many more weekends up at the cottage with these great friends (and others) and watching the babes grow up together.  

K's tree

Last year, the year of Kennedy's birth, we decided to plant a tree to celebrate the joyous occasion.  However, we were hesitant to plant it at our house as we just don't know if we will be in this house long term.  So we asked my parents who just moved (literally days before Kennedy was born) into their new home if we could plant a tree at their house.  It was a win-win situation as K got her tree, and Grandma and Grandpa got some much needed landscaping at their new home.

Fast forward to this spring.  Mother's Day.  Here we are standing by her tree.  The goal is to get a picture of Kennedy every year.  We'll watch them both grow together.