Hi Baby

(This will be in both my blogs)

Kira lays down with me every night to read a few books and drink her milk before bedtime. A few nights ago, my belly started moving all over the place and kicking her. She was very amused and began to stare at my wiggling belly button. Her face got closer and closer...she looked up at my questioningly. I said "Baby Alayna is in mommas belly growing." She looked right at my belly button again and started waving and smiling and saying "hi!" It was hilarious! I asked her if she wanted to give her a kiss and she started kissing my belly and laughing. It has become a nightly routine. Baby A starts to kick her, she says hi and kisses my belly. Very cute. Now if she only REALLY knew what was going on in there...

NO, mommy, DON'T GO!

It was the most dramatic get away I have had to make yet. Maybe it was the shortness of it, as I was running late. Or maybe she was tired and cranky. In any case, as I dropped her off last night at Grandma's house, I looked (regretfully) at the front door as I drove away. Knowing she would be there, since she had attempted to keep me from leaving by wrapping her arms and legs around me like a serpant during the "pass off," I still did not expect to see her face smushed into the the glass with her mouth wide open, tears rolling down her face. Both arms were clinging to the door and even one leg was up as if she could climb through the glass.
It was horrible. I felt terrible...
But, of course, they said 10 minutes later she was playing with Oliver, the dog. Whew!

Hey, little builder, don't boil the little people!

Kira has discovered what all her toys can do. She has really taken to playing with her blocks (the mega lego blocks are her favorites!) and will spend hours sitting on the floor in her room building towers. I am loving the break from pulling her off the tops of tables, and she has not been "building" with the cans in my pantry as much any more, either. Some of her masterpieces have really been taller than her! Her regular blocks get some use, too, but she gets frustrated since they don't lock together and she can't build them as tall.
Her Mr. Potato Head sets have also been getting a lot of play lately. Of course, the poor things end up with eyes on top of their heads and their feet where their arms should be!
My favorite thing to watch her play with is her little kitchen set. It has a small "stove" that makes sounds when you set the pots, pans, and tea kettle in them. At first, I would put the play food in the pots for her and show her how to "stir" them with her play spoons. She would just laugh, dump out the food and start searching for better things to cook. Most of the time it is stacks of blocks. With every new height, the sound gets louder! But, the little people from her school bus keep ending up in the sizzle pan...and then she thinks it is hilarious to pretend to feed them to Brittany (the dog). Brittany, of course, now thinks the little people are her chew toys and spends most of her time waiting in Kira's room for the delicacies.

words she says!

(note: some of the pronunciation has changed from last posting!)

doggie
daddy
hi
bye-bye
goo-bye
ga-gone (all gone)
di (down)
jus (juice)
cooookie (cookie)
uh-oh
ba-wal (ball)
cat
eee-ow (meow)
mamee (mommy)-we don't hear much of this, usually I'm daddy, too!
ba-bee (baby)
was-tis (what's this?)
this (means this or that)
wow
quack-quack (duck)
tight (light)
mit-me (Brittany)
nana (banana)
shooz (shoes)
shees (cheese)
uh (up)
wheee....
cup
bid (bird)
buk (book)
Naw (no)
Ewww.... (ewwwww...every time she picks up a diaper, dirty OR clean!)
Po (hippo)
sissy (Cici)
haute (hot)...and she blows on her food! even when it is cold!
ess (yes)
nit-nit (night-night)
baubble (bubble)
gwin-gwin (wink-wink, the name for her Baby Einstein videos!)
goo-coo (Blue's Clues)
moe (more...which really means hungry)
ucksy (yucky)
popple (apple)
moe (moon)
spiece (space...as said during her Baby Galileo gwin-gwin)
boo-boo (the nickname for Oliver the dog)
oh, mow (pronounced like NOW) means "oh, man!" it sounds hilarious when she says it!
whatisthat (all run together like typed)
where did he go?
voval (oval)
square
soicle (circle)
po-pal (purple)

note: she can repeat*most* words that she hears now, but the above list is just what she says on her own!

We also know the sign language for:
more
all done
milk
shoes
hat
down
up
eat
hat
airplane
bath

4th of July

Kira had a festive, but exhausting day. We woke up early after another, increasingly common, sleepless night (for me...she tosses and turns, but seems to wake rested). We began with a walk up and down the block waving her little flag. Then, momma heading in to make potato salad and fruit salad for the neighborhood cookout. Kira had a blast, but hardly ate any of the food. She was more interested in all the flys...and the little neice of the girl across the street. They played hopscotch (sort of) and ran all around.
We finally got in out of the heat to take a nap...
Waking up about the time that granddaddy stopped by to visit. Which was also the same time that a HUGE storm hit our neighborhood, making the power flash on and off and sending torrents of rainwater down the street.
We worried for a bit that we would not be able to take her to see fireworks. Well, mommy worried...daddy may have been relieved since he was busy building a desk all day! But, the rain cleared up and we headed out about an hour AFTER Kira's bedtime to try and find a good spot. We were headed for the park, but pulled over just short to perch on chairs with several other families. The couple in front of us was in our birthing class 2 years ago! It would have been great, except that the display was about 30 minutes late and Kira got mighty cranky. She wandered up and down the rows of people and down the block a few times while we wandered after her. Finally, just as everyone was packing up in disappointment, they started. And so did the rain. Kira loved the first few minutes and said "wow" a few times before getting bored and annoyed with the rain. Her "wows" turned into "bye, bye" at the top of her lungs. She was done for the day.
I had the foresight, at least, to change her into pjs before buckling her in the car. She fell fast asleep and barely woke up to go in the house. And she slept until almost 9:45!

Apricots in the cart

I usually reserve my shopping for days when Jeremy can watch Kira while I run to the Buy For Less and do a mad shopping dash. Today, though, I really wanted to finish that guacamole our neighbors left for me to eat and we had no chips. So, off we went. I suppose pushing her own cart around the house with Ratchet or Monkey Toes in the "seat" has helped her to like sitting in the seat herself. NO complaints today! OR maybe it was the apricot? We buzzed through the fresh produce section in search of fruits and veggies and I packed up a few apricots to try. Kira reached over, grabbed one out of the bin and popped it right in her mouth! She bit off a big piece, and with juice running off her chin, looked at the fruit like it was manna from heaven. She's had the canned stuff before, but she is my little fresh fruit munchkin. She could eat her way through the fresh fruit section if I let her! I am so glad that fruit is so good this summer! Trying to ignore the nagging voice in my head that insisted the fruit needed to be washed before eaten, I watched her eat the whole thing in less time than it took to navigate our way over to the chips. I did manage to fish the seed out of her mouth, but the rest of the evidence was gone! Yum!

Mit-me!

This of course, means "Brittany" in Kira speak. It's her new favorite word. She gets up first thing in the morning to find mit-me. Comes racing in the house after going on an errand to find mit-me. Chases poor mit-me all around the house all day.
Here is what I don't understand: she can say Ball, Bye-Bye, Baby, Boo...and can't say Mama. So why does she then change the B in Brittany to an M? Kira speak. Always a mystery!

Her other new game is to play "where is your..." Fill in eyes, ears, nose, mouth, head, toes, belly. Daddy is working on shoulders and knees so she can play the song "head, shoulders, knees and toes" to which she currently cracks up laughing while daddy demonstrates.

Latest functional skill? Eating with a fork! She tries to spear everything on her plate now and get it to her mouth with her utensils. It has made for much less mess after dinner, but half the food is usually in the pocket of her bib! She is so proud of her new skill, though, and works hard at it every meal!

Best manners? Definately sharing. She tries to share everything. Our old puppy, Oliver, has her paci at her last visit to grandmas. Kira just stuck it right in his mouth! SHe loves to give her babies drinks from her cups, and tries to feed mommy and brush her teeth, too! Of course, when she tries to share toys it is usually because she wants what the other kid has!

Mommy's latest challenge: Besides keeping her off the table tops...keeping her shoes in the closet. Kira LOVES to get out mommy's shoes and try them all on, carry them about the house, hide them all around.

New favorite toy: Her shopping cart. She loves to go from room to room shopping. Today her cart has in it: some cans from the pantry, mommy's purple strappy heels, daddy's shampoo and toothbrush, some styrofoam from daddy's computer desk project, and ratchet. One of her animals is always along for the ride.

That's quite an update, but when mommy only has time to update once a month it seems, you get a lot at once!