PLEASE?

I don't know if it is all the Calliou or if mommy's constant reminders are sinking in. KK has had a major breakthrough with her requests lately though. She has started using full sentences and ending her requests with an emphatic "PLEASE?"

Mommy, may I have a popsicle PLEASE?
Mommy, can I watch Caillour PLEASE?
Mommy, can I go in the sandbox PLEASE?
Mommy, can I play in the sink PLEASE?

It has been a nice change. There is still plenty of whining most days, too, mixed in with the pleasantries. But I'll take what I can get.

The Unique Prayers of a Toddler

Every night I say prayers with Katelynn before bed. We usually pray for Daddy, Nanna, PopPop, Aunt Jen, Uncle Griff, Grandma, and various other friends. She usually also requests to pray for God and Jesus.

Last night she had a new request though.

Me: "KK, what do you want to pray for?"

KK: "CAKE."

Me: "Cake???"

KK: "Yeah, CAKE."

So we prayed for cake. I think that is one prayer request that will come true for her, at least eventually!

Escape Artist

It looks like the time has come to consider the switch to the "big girl bed." I was in no rush for that to happen, but now it is upon me.

Three times now we have heard Katelynn begin squawking loudly for us in the morning. When we show up in her room she is perched up on the corner of her crib like a little parrot. We have no clue how she is able to get herself into this precarious position. But once she does, she is scared to jump back into her crib or onto her bedroom floor. So she balances there and yells for us!

It is only a matter of time before she tumbles to the ground, which is a bit scary if she were to land the wrong way. So it appears it is time for yet another "toddler transition" here at the Kim household.

The Category 5 Tantrum

There has been a disturbing and marked change to KK's tantrums over the past couple of weeks. They have become much more intense, much more manipulative, and literally make mommy want to bang her head against the wall. I honestly do not even know how to describe these "advanced tantrums." I feel waves of fear coming over me when I sense them coming! Yesterday KK laid on her Aunt Jen's tile kitchen floor for an hour, writhing around and screaming her head off at full blast. The original source of the tantrum was that she wanted to play in the backyard with the back door wide open. The fact that I wanted to partially close the door was, apparently, completely unacceptable to her.

Thank goodness for my favorite reference book, Toddler 411. At least it gives me a little encouragement that I am not utterly alone. Here is what the author has to say about "The Category 5 Tantrum":

Just for fun, as parents of a toddler, we rated our son's temper tantrums using the Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricanes. Hence, there were minor episodes at toy stores when he didn't want to leave... these were your tropcial storms and Category 1 tantrums. And yes, there were the more rare, yet far more intensive Category 5 melt-downs-you know, like Hurricane Katrina.

So here's a true Fields story of a Cat 5 tantrum: we took our oldest son to a model train show when he was 18 months old. He loved Thomas the Tank Engine, so we knew the show would be right up his alley... until it was time to leave. We figured we'd visit the show in the afternoon about an hour or so before it closed. That way, we'd have an excuse to lave. And dutifully, after an hour of non-stop train fun, we reported to our toddler that it was time to go.

That's when it happened. The Category 5. Our wonderful angel started screaming from the time we walked out the front door and didn't stop for an hour. Yes, a whole hour. As we sat there in a parked car, we realized we needed to leave the vehicle and let him scream it out. So there we were, standing outside our care as our child wailed and wailed.

So how did it end? He exhuasted himself and fell asleep. His mom and dad, however, needed some serious cocktails.

Kiddie Music

Pre-Katelynn, I had many pre-conceived notions about parenthood, many of which have been blown away. For example, I did not understand how in the world parents could sit around and talk about their kids non-stop. Now that seems to be the main thing that my girlfriends and I do, and it doesn't bother me in the least!

I also always dreaded the day I would have to listen to "kid music" in the car all the time. That day is here... and it's just as bad as I anticipated.

Don't get me wrong. I thorougly enjoy hearing Katelynn learn new words and sing songs. And I even enjoy the kid CD's for a time - at least the first few times I hear them. But a mommy can only hear Five Little Ducks for so long before she starts to get a little crazy. And I would say my limit is well under KK's personal limit of approximately 50 times in one car outing.

In all seriousness, thanks to Aunt Doris for the Raffi CD, as my little girl certainly does love, love, love it. Her favorite songs are "Deo", "Knees Up", and of course "Five Little Ducks." I think it may be time for me to expand the Raffi collection now!

KK's Book Light

A little while back, KK figured out that she could reach the light switch to her closet door while in her crib. Now she has also figured out how to open the door itself. So lately when I go to get her in the morning, I often find her huddled in the corner of her crib, reading it via closet light. Pretty cute, and resourceful too!

Now if only she would apply that same logic all the time instead of throwing tantrums...

Onto the Next TV Addiction

I have noticed something with KK that I believe is common to most toddlers. She develops a deep infatuation for one TV show and wants nothing else for a period of time. Then she suddenly gets very sick of it and we have to find something new to capture her attention.

Recently she has become hooked on Caillou. I have to say that I am pretty pleased with the quality of most of the toddler TV I have encountered thus far. Caillou is a gentle cartoon that I don't mind having on at all, about a cute little four year old boy who loves to explore and imagine. (I haven't figured out why he is bald, but I guess Charlie Brown is bald too. His name is French and can mean "bald head"... but I digress.) The 30 minute show is broken into three 10 minute segments, which is good for a two-year-old. It is narrated by a lovely older woman and I like how she talks about the little guy's feelings: "Caillou was annoyed with Jeremy for stepping on his foot." "Caillou was upset with Gilbert because he didn't listen to him." Of course, he always seems to come around by the end of the episode and figure out why he shouldn't be upset or annoyed anymore.

For some reason Katelynn has also decided that it is fun to lay on top of mommy or daddy and be our "snuggler" while watching this show. We eat up the hugs from our girl, so that works for both of us!

The Hospital - Through the Eyes of a Two Year Old

Lately we have been visiting the hospital a lot to see my sister-in-law. I won't go into the details of that here on the world wide web, but let's just say we have all been pretty worried about her. We adults associate the hospital with yucky medical procedures, feelings of fear for loved ones, concerns about infections, etc.

Well, the last couple of visits I have brought KK along with me. I have discovered that a two-year-old's view is much different from the adult view. Here are some of the things she associates with the hospital:

-Seeing many of the people she loves all at once - Uncle Griff, Aunt Jen, Nanna, PopPop

-Lots of friends and family in one little room... plenty of people to charm

-Fountains shaped like mushrooms

-Throwing pennies in the fountain and yelling "splash"

-Going up and down the escalator; she determines it is "scary" but wants to "do it again"

-Getting a warm treat from the friendly popcorn vendor

-Being quiet because people are sleeping - which she reminds us about very loudly in the halls

-Lots of buttons to try to touch on elevators and hospital beds

Thank-you little one for reminding me that there is always a silver lining - sometimes several of them!

Mind Your Manners

Lately we have been working with KK a lot to learn about being polite. As noted in multiple recent posts, the kid spends most of her time making demands. Most of the time she is not very patient or polite. Of course, this has to be taught. So lately I spend much of my day asking her to convert rude demands to polite requests:

"KK, you need to say mommy's name first."

"KK, please ask again without whining and crying."

"KK, you will not get that if you throw a tantrum. Stop crying and ask nicely."

"KK, that is not how we ask for things in this house."

"KK, say please."

"KK, say thank you."

She has started to say "thank you" a lot more often when I give her something, so at least that is a start. Someday maybe all of it will sink in...

KK's First Haircut

Katelynn finally had her first haircut today. I took her to one of the kiddie "salons" for her first trim. Her hair is baby fine, just like mine was when I was a toddler. There wasn't much to be done, but it really needed to be cleaned up and I was too scared to do it myself.

As soon as the nice lady informed KK that she would receive a lollipop if she sat still in the chair, KK was 100% cooperative! She sat and sucked her lollipop contently and watched the Disney movie that was showing on the flat screen TV. (Flat screen TV's for a two-year-old's haircut - oh my!) She was quiet as a mouse.

In the meantime I snapped a few pictures, and also watched exactly what the technician did. I am glad that I did, because it was $16 plus tip for a five minute trim! Next time I will buy my own lollipop and try it myself in her kitchen booster seat...

For My Mom

My mom has been lamenting the fact that my blog posts have died off lately. She enjoys reading her daily snippets about the kiddo and her latest antics.

I just haven't felt as creative lately. Maybe it is how Katelynn has changed. She is talking so much lately it is unbelievable - full sentences all the time. She says funny things every day. But she says so many of them, and yaks my ear off so incessantly, that I forget them all by the end of each day. I need to do a better job of jotting them down.

Today I tried to pay better attention to her funnies, and noticed that primarily she is just demanding these days - everything is definitely all about her! Maybe that is another reason I have been out of material... The entire day with her seems to go something like this: "I want to go to Wal-Mart." "I don't want to go to Wal-Mart." "I want milk." "I want a pop-sicle." "I want to watch Caillou on the couch with my pacifier, for a little bit." "I want to watch Snoopy with mommy on the couch." "I don't want to take a nap." "I don't want to get in the cart." And on, and on, and on....

And lots of mini-tantrums when she doesn't get her demand met! This girl is definitely two...

Gene's Man Crush

Gene has a "man crush" on Dat Nguyen. Who?? He played for the Aggie football team back in the glory days of the late 90's. Then he also had a six year career with the Dallas Cowboys. He has also written a great book called Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL that we both really enjoyed reading that chronicles his very unlikely journey into the world of college and professional football.

Well, Gene got to meet Dat today at a luncheon. He immediately sent me an email and I could tell he was excited about it. Then he took the time to create a long post on an Aggie board online. I enjoyed it so I thought I would post it here as well; it summarizes a lot of what it means to be an Aggie to Gene and me.

I asked Gene if he told Dat that he had his picture up in his office (a framed pencil sketch I gave to him as a gift), and Gene said no.

Gene's Post:
I generally don't care about meeting celebrities, sports figures, etc. Even when I have an opportunity, it doesn't strike my fancy to do so. Often times I appreciate the celebs ability to act in movies, perform on the field, etc, but their character and integrity leave a lot to be desired.

Well today was a different story. At a luncheon, I met Dat Nguyen. Dat brings me back to a time when we were good at football and we won our Big 12 championship. It's been 10 years, and my memories are fading, but I do remember countless times when he came up with the big play. He was always clutch and made the play -- he was money.

However, more important than his on field performance is his life story. If you guys get a chance to read his book, it's amazing. Everything that he has been through makes most of our lives pale in comparison. His character, faith, living the Aggie spirit, and representing Texas A&M well is what makes him special to me. A&M was founded on guys that don't have a silver spoon in their mouth and fight and claw for everything they have. Work ethic, diligence, and just going out there and getting it done. That's why I'm proud to be an Aggie and to have followed the footsteps of people before me.

Many Aggies, despite not being dealt the best hand, have done great things for our country, our neighbors, and our fellow Aggies. Dat Nguyen started with nothing and has represented us well. Hopefully you and I can do the same.

Gig 'em Ags...