Yes, Yeah, Ya'll

KK's speech development continues to amaze and entertain. She talks non-stop now. I am glad she can make her wants known, but she has become extremely demanding. We are working a lot these days with "please", "thank you", and waiting patiently for things.

It is amazing how kids can pick up all the nuances of language. Tonight she told me: "My towel is soft, kind of like my blanket." Somehow she learned about similes without me even consciously teaching that to her!

She has also changed her "yes" to "yeah", and it is usually said in a Texas drawl with lots of emphasis. I wonder when she will say her first "ya'll"?

Scary Grasshoppers

A few days ago, I needed to put laundry away in my bedroom. Katelynn, as usual, was following me around looking to be entertained. It has been a long time since I have tried to show her any of the Disney Pixar movies. She just isn't super interested in TV, but with her continued development I thought it was time for another try. I went and got the movie "A Bug's Life" and put it in the DVD player in my bedroom.

She was transfixed - success! I got busy with my chores while she watched the ants prepare their annual offering of food. I was in the closet hanging clothes when I heard her start crying. At first I thought that she must have bumped her head, but then I realized it was not her typical cry.

I came out of the closet and the poor thing was crying because Hopper and his clan of bullies had made their first appearance of the movie - I did not expect that and felt terrible! (Nanna has since reminded me that her expression of empathy is also an important and positive milestone.) I explained to her that they were grasshoppers and that they were a little mean and scary. Ever since, she has been talking about the "scary grasshoppers". Usually when she wants to watch TV now she exclaims "Snoopy - NOT scary grasshoppers!"

Embarrassing Moment of the Year

This past Saturday, we had our fireplace going and it was a lovely, cozy morning in the Kim household. After about 45 minutes, I went upstairs and noticed that it smelled like gas. We turned off the fireplace and started to open windows, but the smell was not going away and we were getting pretty worried. So, we decided to call the fire department, worried that there was an unknown gas leak somewhere. We sent Katelynn in the backyard into her sandbox.

Then Gene noticed something rather important: I had never opened the flue.

Right after he noticed this, we heard the sirens blaring. Three fireman in their full suits, wearing oxygen tanks, came into our house to a very embarrassed Katie. They were very nice about the whole thing, and made sure our house was not full of dangerous carbon monoxide, then went on their way. Katelynn was very excited by their big suits and the huge red fire truck. She stood on the front lawn in her PJ's, waving good-bye.

I haven't used the fireplace since...

Whacked

Today Katelynn was in church childcare for awhile while I attended a ladies' devotional. When I went to pick her up, she was screaming and I could see the knot on her head from across the room! :-( Apparently she had just been hit by a plastic drumstick thanks to one of the wild little boys in the room.

I felt very badly for her, and immediately caved in when she whimpered for her pacifier. She snuggled into my shoulder and cried her little head off. I showed several other moms the bump and relayed what had happened. Apparently at some point I must have stated that she was "whacked on the head"... because as we left the church, KK looked at me and sniffled "Mommy, I got WHACKED!"

Do It Again

Recently we have made a more concerted effort to pray with Katelynn, at dinner time and before bed time. We are trying to be better role models for this little one! Beforehand, we tell her "we are going to talk to God now, KK". We tell her to close her eyes, which she ignores, because she is so fascinated that everyone else is closing theirs.

At night time, I hold her like a little baby in my arms. She is all wrapped up in her blankets, ready to go to her crib. She is in a very calm state. Immediately after I say the prayer, she looks at me with eyes wide and says, very sweetly: "Do it AGAIN!"

Talk about melting my heart...

Play Time

It has been fun to watch KK's development lately. Her ability to "play" is changing and improving all the time. Pre-parenthood, I never realized how much I would enjoy something as simple as watching my daughter play.

The other night, she took a coaster from an end table and took it to the kitchen table. She set it down in front of her booster seat. Then she went to the laundry room and found a can of coke. She went and set it down on her coaster. Then she got her Elmo Live doll and strapped him in her booster seat. She must have pressed a button on Elmo because he launched into a lengthy story. She strapped him into the seat and pushed his chair in, telling him to drink his coke. All the while Elmo continued on with his story. It was so funny to look over and see the whole "set up", especially with Elmo's head peeking over the table while he gabbed away to no one in particular.

The tantrums have become more sophisticated too! But at least there are fun moments like these to offset the bad ones.

Hobbies

As a parent, one must choose hobbies carefully - there just isn't room for more than one at a time! For example, lately I have ignored this little blog because I re-discovered my long lost hobby of reading on our vacation. I am so addicted to it (again), and have a stack of great books sitting in my room right now. (Thank goodness for the library!) During my rare evening free time, I find myself gravitating toward the books.

But, my blog suffers... My scrapbook is collecting dust... My scuba equipment has been sold... Sigh....

Then I remember: Upstairs in her crib is a precious little girl worth a million times more than any of those hobbies!

The Mommy Blanket

Gene has his soft, cotton comforter that he purchased for his freshman year of college. We both love it and fight over it, but Gene usually wins since he was the original owner. "What's yours is mine" does not seem to apply to blankets.

We did have two great, super soft thin fleece blankets, though. Until Katelynn took them over. They are now six small blankets, and KK refuses to share so much as a 1 inch square of them.

I recently decided I was sick of being the person without a fabulous snuggly blanket and made a trip to the department store. Luckily for me, there was a big white sale. I got an amazing, queen size, fluffy fleece blanket. Every night, I get wrapped up in it and luxuriate in its coziness.

And I gloat to Gene.

Let's Go Surfin' Now

What do you do on the largest cruise ship in the world? How about surfing?! The "FlowRider" became the object of Gene's affection during our family cruise. He got really good. By the last day, he could get started by himself and do a little bit of carving and leaning down to swipe the water. He also "dropped in" from the top one time.

The water pressure was pretty powerful. I tried it twice and experienced major wipeouts within 2 seconds of letting go of the instructor's hands. I decided to leave the Flow Riding to my hubby after that... Gene has much more natural athletic ability than me and I think I would have been wiping out all week long.

Gene has been spoiled by taking his first cruise on such a magnificent ship. He now says he cannot go on another cruise unless it has a Flow Rider onboard!