Kylie May and Her Cancer Awareness Day 213

Did she pay her entrance fee? No. Did she know what the 5th annual "Believe" walk was all about? No. Did she do it anyway and have a good time? You better believe it.  10,000+ people came out this year to participate in a cancer awareness walk that takes place in downtown Redlands, and Kylie was one of them.  She thought it was great fun listening to music, watching people, and walking (actually...being carried) through the showers of confetti that were falling from the sky.  It's a good thing she liked it, because she wasn't too thrilled about being woken up this morning at 6:45 to get ready for the big event.  She was a tad bit perturbed, however, that we didn't let her dye her hair hot pink for the occasion (Ah...the challenges of raising a 6.9 month old).

The walk did have to get cut a little short this morning, and by short I mean we walked roughly 0.3 Km of the 5Km walk, (ok maybe we cut it a little more than just short), so that we could meet up with the family for some breakfast before church.  We had to reiterate to the wee one that, really, once you walk through the falling confetti everything else is downhill.  She seemed to understand.

The rest of her day was relaxation and hanging out with Grandpa David and Grandma Didi before they had to hit the long lonely road back to Porterville.  Tonight, we are fending for ourselves, as Nat is off bringing new babies into the world.  Fortunately, the only mess Kylie and I got ourselves into (so far) was some post bath, naked (her not me), watermelon rhine eating (It made her happy, OK.).  And, if that's the most trouble we get into, it was a pretty good evening.

more to come soon,

Craig

* The Current Sleep Method: 7:30p Hold Kylie and bounce her on my shoulder until she falls asleep (she usually complains for about 5-10 minutes, but no real crying).  Then, sit in the rocking chair and rock with her for about an hour or so.  After that, start the "try to lay Kylie down" process. I lay her down, 10-30 minutes later she wakes up fussing, I put her back on my shoulder and bounce with her (within 2 minutes she is back to sleep), then we try the lay down thing again...and again...and again, until about 11:00 when she usually seems to fall asleep or a good stretch of time.  That's the plan I've used the last few nights. So far (I'm not holding my breath), it has worked tonight. 

She said Where's Kylie is more fun than Where's Waldo.

Apparently, one person in the group is sure that looking at cameras is over rated.

feats of strength have just become the latest hobby of this little mini muscle.

 

Kylie May and her first football game 212

Kylie had a busy day (which means we had a busy day too) and since we (Craig and I) didn't get much sleep, I am going to make this short and sweet.
Today we...
-Walked to Olive Market and had coffee with Grandma Carol, Auntie Caroline, Penny (my moms friend) and baby Jax.
-Went to my parents and watched my dads band practice, Kylie really enjoyed the live music.
-Took a nap
-Went shopping at Trader Joes
-Played
-Took a nap
-Took a bath and got pj's on
-Attended a football game the University of Redlands vs. Cal Lutheran (family friends the Worthley's son plays for Cal Lutheran)
-Came home and went to sleep

The most exciting part of Kylie's day (night) was getting to see her Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and Auntie Quin. We have not seen the Johnson group since Beach Week in July. Kylie had a good time showing off all her new skills. We are looking forward to another fun day tomorrow, hope you enjoy the photos.

More to come soon,
Natalie

Kylie May went to a crab bake today 211

Kylie had a pretty busy day today (would you expect anything else?). It started with waking up and getting a little play time in with Grandpa. Both he and Grandma have been coming over in the morning to help Craig until I get home. This morning she did well for both of them and was a happy camper when I arrived home. While I slept, Craig did a great job as "Mr. Mom", he got Kylie dressed (in a cute outfit that actually goes together and a bow in her hair to match!) fed her a delicious lunch and packed up the diaper bag for a nice walk downtown. They had a great little father-daughter afternoon together.

This evening we went to my parents house for a crab bake. My dad ordered some crabs (I don't remember what kind, or where they were from) and had my grandparents over to enjoy them. It was an experience, we all had a good time trying to learn how to get to the meat of the crab (my dad instructed us after watching a "how-to" video online. Kylie got to enjoy her brown rice and sweet potatoes and don't forget a little more avocado! Kylie had a good day and we are looking forward to another one tomorrow. Craig's parents will be coming to town tomorrow for just one night, we are so excited to see them and I know they are excited to see Kylie.

More to come soon,
Natalie

These next few photos were taken yesterday (we just forgot to post them)

Big girl with her piggy tails (I love that they are making the same face)

We don't know if it's the pig tails, the cute outfit or her standing that makes her look SO big! She is growing up too fast.

Another photo from yesterdays adventure.

A lot of work, but they sure were yummy.

Kylie May and the Unleashed Avocado Day 210

When Mom's away, Kylie and I play. And, anyone who knows Kylie (or me for that matter), could rightfully assume that mischievous was afoot.  It started out innocently enough. Here is a timeline of the progression of events.

2:15pm: Nat gets ready to go teach at Fox Dance
2:30pm: Kylie shows that she's tired
2:40pm: Nat leaves for work (leaving specific instructions about how to get Kylie down for a nap)
3:00pm: I walk/bounce/rock/sway/pat the little insomniac in an effort to get her down for a nap
3:15pm: She stays awake and I get tired of trying to get her to sleep
3:30pm: I get hungry and put her in the back pack to make some lunch
3:35pm: I give Kylie a spatula to play with
3:36pm: I decide to eat an avocado
3:38pm: The light bulb goes on (or off depending on how you look at it) and spatula out a tiny bit       of avocado from the shell
3:40pm: Kylie eats the avocado off the spatula
3:41pm: She searches for more avocado, and to her delight (huge smile) I give her more
3:45pm: I sit monkey May down on the floor next to me and start eating my food
3:50pm: We are both siting on the floor squishing avocado slices in our hands, scooping out the remains of the empty avocado shells, rubbing avocado all over our face/clothes/hair, and having a great time.
4:00pm: BUSTED! Melissa comes home from school and we are caught (Kylie tried sitting on the avocado to hide the evidence).
4:05pm: Back to avocado smoosh and smash fun, while Melissa takes photos
4:15pm: Bath time (only for her, but I'm sure I could have used one too)
4:30pm: Clean baby laying in the front yard as Natalie pulls into the driveway from work (If only we'd hid the evidence faster we might have never got caught) :-)

Some might say, "all in a days work". I choose to say, "all in an hours worth of play".  I don't know if Kylie and I will get left home alone with avocado again anytime soon (at least not until we pick all the smashed pieces out of the carpet), but I do know that our little Mayflower sure loved her avocado this afternoon.  And that makes it all worth it.

More to come soon,

Craig

(sorry about picture coloring....I'm not quite a pro at Nat's camera yet)

"If I get my hands on that avocado it will be the last time you ever see it"

trying to look innocent is so hard when you're guilty

At least we tried to keep it contained to the picnic blanket

"I just wanted to say hi to all my friends watching back home"

(Me): "Kylie? You just got caught with avocado all over your face. How does that make you feel?"

(Kylie): "Hungry"

Doesn't avocado do wonders for our hair?

"Ssshhh! Don't tell mom anything."

Kylie wanted to reenact what she did with the avocado....but with a slightly less messy prop.

Kylie May's Beach Day 209

When we woke up this morning we didn't know what adventures the day would hold. Turns out it held an adventure to Seal Beach. My mom's cousin Caroline wanted to see the California Beaches and today seemed like the perfect day, anytime it is still 100 degrees in October, the 1.5 hour drive to the beach seems well worth it. So we played at the beach, Kylie enjoyed the sand and watching the birds. The last time we were at the beach was during our family beach week vacation, almost 3 months ago. At that time Kylie was not sitting up by herself and not nearly as active as she is now. It was so fun to see her enjoy siting with her hands and feet in the sand. I kept expecting her to start eating the sand, but she didn't try to sneak a bit, not even once.

We had a great time and the 2.5 hours at the really wore our little one out. She was asleep in about 3 min and slept the whole drive home (and even for about another 10 min once we got home). I wish she would sleep on every long car ride, it was great!

More to come soon,
Natalie 

"I'm sorry, what did you say about my hat?"

A moment of reflection with her hat blowing in the wind.

"Here mom, I found the orange one!"

Add caption

"Hi Auntie Caroline!"

Right before we left Kylie leaned forward and put her face in the sand, she didn't fuss one bit while I tried to clean her off without getting sand in her eyes, she is truly becoming a beach baby!

Kylie May meets Caroline Day 208

Today was a pretty normal day for our little May Flower; slept in late (after waking up around 8am and playing in bed for an hour, she decided it was sleepy time again, so we all fell back to sleep until 11, ahhh) played with Uncle Kyle, watched mommy and daddy clean the house, took a nap and played a little more. This afternoon, however, things got a little more interesting...Kylie got to meet Mimi's cousin from Germany, Caroline. My mother visited Caroline last year and this time Caroline came to us. She will be here for about 3 weeks and we are excited to show her around Redlands and California. We all had a delicious dinner together, Craig left for work and Melissa, Kylie and I headed home to say good bye to Kyle who drove back to SD tonight (in his new car, yea).

We added brown rice to Kylie's new food list today, she seemed to like it. It doesn't have much flavor, but we plan to use it to mix with fruit (hopefully bananas are next on the list) and veggies that she might not be so fond of. She is so eager to eat, it is so much fun sitting with her at the table.

Over the past few days Kylie has become very good at waving, not only does she stick her hand in the air, she moves her wrist and fingers, it is soooo cute. She waves at just about anyone passing by, at the baseball game last night she was on a roll smiling and waving everyone. In the past three days she has also been sticking out her tongue quite a bit. I think she is still getting used to those two little teeth, or maybe working on a few more.
Sorry no photos today,
more to come soon,
Natalie

Kylie May and Another Baseball Game Day 207

Kylie's favorite song? "Open Shut Them". Second favorite? "Take Me Out To The Ball Game".  She just jumps in and always seems to get the tune right. hmmm.  Unfortunately (more for us than her), she had to experience a game at Dodger Stadium, before she had a chance to go to the Giant's stadium in SF.  Another unfortunately is that both live Giants games Kylie has watched so far have ended with the other team getting a walk-off hit.  At least she is seeing some excitement, right?  Nonetheless, our little spider monkey loved every minute of the muggy evening at Chavez Ravine (that's where Dodger Stadium is).  Of course, she didn't sleep, was mesmerized by every person and face, ate way too much cotton candy (oops. That was actually Nat and I), didn't see a single baseball play, and cheered her little heart out (at least we call it cheering).  I think if Nat and I could encourage about 50 people to all stand around and act interested in something (anything), Kylie would be in hog heaven.  It's really funny how energized she gets by large groups.  It just gets her motor running and sleep becomes an impossibility.  Fortunately, there was the car ride home (she zonked out the entire way.


Today was another pea and sweet potato day. She still loves them.  Maybe banana tomorrow. who knows.  We just read this article on Babycenter.com (yes. there's an app for that) and it gave us some interesting insight on foods some dieticians and pediatricians are giving to their children (salmon, turnips, stewed meats, brusell sprouts, quinoa, and that's all I remember).  The wheels are turning (the car isn't moving yet though), and in the next couple months we might just try and see if we can turn Monkey May (and ourselves I guess), into a foodie.  I just don't know if we have the creativity...or energy.

Uncle Kyle is spending the night tonight (Kylie was happy to see him), and hanging out for some of the day tomorrow.  We'll see just how much fun we have.

more to come soon,

Craig

Don't tell her, but she thinks she's invisible.

Decked out and ready to go

Her head is off the growth charts.  This hat will fit soon.

"Ok Kylie. Make the face that best represents how you feel about the Dodgers."

"How'd I do? Was it a good one?"

She must have just seen the cotton candy man walk by

"Can someone get the big girl in seat 3 some peanuts and a hot dog?" 

It's not golden, but little miss Kylie sure is happy to be holding this ticket.