Corn!

I don't know if there is too much better in life than the delirious laughter of your little girl - over nothing! The other day she decided that the word "corn" was very funny. She cracked up laughing every time I said it. Then, I varied the intonation of my voice which got her going even more. The suspense of waiting for mommy to say "corn" in some new and different way was killing her!

It was very reminiscent of the famous YouTube baby.

Little Helper

Like all toddlers, KK loves to do the things that mommy and daddy and other adults know how to do. She will work so hard to get a battery into a clock, or put her shoes and shorts on herself. I have read that giving toddlers their own little "chores" to do is a good idea, but I don't think I have been too great with execution on that one. I tend to just do things myself rather than risk the potential disaster of allowing a 20 month old to do it.

The other day I needed to get all the groceries inside and actually remembered to let her help. I gave Katelynn a small bag to carry inside. She ran inside with the bag, put it up on the high kitchen counter by herself, then ran back to the garage for another bag. The whole time she chanted "Helping... helping.... helping." Then she cried when there were no more bags.

It was pretty cute. And I will try to find more ways to let her be a little helper.

Potty Logic (Or Lack Thereof)

I am getting a glimpse of the frustration of potty training. KK has decided that she is very interested in the potty. But, she obviously doesn't "get" everything about it yet. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that she will announce "pooping", then request to go to the potty with a diaper full of poop.

But I digress. I want her to like the potty so I have to be the little mommy cheerleader. This is what all the books say, yet I frequently find myself wanting to yell....things like:

- Don't touch the pee!

- Don't touch yourself while you pee!

- No more toilet paper! 3 feet is enough!

- Don't remove the potty bucket yourself!

- Don't pee on the floor immediately after getting off the potty!

And the official training has not yet begun. Oh my!

Scary Parent Moments

Last week, I went in Katelynn's room to get her up for the day. When I turned on the light, I saw a large puddle of dried blood in the corner. My heart immediately started to pound as I yanked KK from the crib to check her our. No injuries anywhere...nothing scary inside her diaper. After a thorough inspection, I decided she had been chewing on the crib rail (again) and injured her mouth. There was never so much as a peep from her, though!

I wonder how many people would move forward with becoming parents... if they knew beforehand the sheer terror they would feel anytime they think their child is in the most remote pain or danger? (Not that I would ever change anything... but I just got to thinking about that concept.)

I am often shocked by my instinctive reaction of sheer terror to my daughter's real or imagined ailments!

Return to Scrapbooking!

I have been creating scrapbooks since freshman year of college. Pre-KK, I used to work in long spurts. I would get into a groove and scrapbook six months worth of pictures over the course of a couple of marathon scrapbook weekends.

Enter Katelynn. Many more pictures, much less time. She is nearly two and I had spent the grand total of 4 hours working on my scrapbooks! So, I signed up for a scrapbook marathon at someone else's house. (As all mommies know, the KEY to successful alone time = leave the house). For $35 I got a big table and 3 meals provided - and about 10 hours of uninterrupted time. And KK got a nice day with her daddy.

Sorting, cropping and pasting down all those infant pictures has made me so sentimental. I wish she could turn into a 3 month old baby just for a day so I could remember what it was like to hold my tiny baby girl at 12 pounds! Sniff, sniff.

Since I only made it through approximately month 4, I will have to make time for more of these events in the future. I forgot how much I enjoyed this creative outlet. I like to blog, but I love to scrapbook!

The Saga of Broccoli

When Katelynn was 13 months old, my parents kept her while we were in Hawaii and offered her broccoli with her meal. She did not care for it and had a rather dramatic reaction. She was so distraught and offended by the vegetable that my parents had to put her in the crib to cry it out! Needless to say, my mom swore to never offer broccoli again.

Fast forward a few months. We were eating dinner at our house, and my mom happened to be in attendance. We were eating broccoli with our meal (my mom and I, that is - not Gene of course), and Katelynn was actually showing interest in it. My mom told her that "Elmo eats broccoli." I gave her a tiny piece of mine. To our shock, the broccoli was eaten with no weeping or gnashing of teeth.

Since then, KK has grown to love this green vitamin-packed veggie. Today I watched her eat all her broccoli before anything else. This has taught me that what you read in the parenting books is actually true - just keep offering foods over and over. Eventually, they might actually try it and like it!

Daddy's Hug Tactics

Katelynn is not always the most cuddly kid. She wants to be carried around, but doesn't snuggle or hug too much. She has learned that mommy loves hugs and will say "Hug" in order just to get picked up - tricky girl!

Gene is a very affectionate person who loves to hug. He has been trying to figure out ways to get KK to hug him. Begging and pleading has not worked. Bribery has not worked. But recently he found something that worked.

Gene has many funny t-shirts, but his favorite is his Curious George shirt (pictured to the left). Katelynn pointed at his shirt and said "Monkey." Gene asked her if she wanted to hug the monkey, and she took the bait. She decided it was a pretty neat game, and showered her daddy with repeated hugs -much to his delight.

Now Gene wants more monkey t-shirts!