3/4 of a year! Kyla is 9 months old (plus stats)

Big sissy can hardly believe it! Her beloved baby sister is already 9 months old (as of 2-19-10, yes, I'm late as always......).

Getting weighed in and measured at the doctor check up. Things are looking awesome for our preemie girl. She is kicking preemie-hood BUTT, as she is in the 75%ile for both height and weight, and 90%ile for her HEAD! The SOUPY head! LOL.

Just imagine if she was full term- she'd no doubt be another BAB (big ass baby) just like Keifer is and was!

Here she is, getting weighed by Nurse Judy. Nurse Judy kept raving about what a great, happy, mellow baby she appeared to be. She is! She is just such an easy baby,she makes me want more! (did I say that?????)

Weight: 19 lbs, 12 oz = 75%ile

Length: 28 1/4 inches = 75%ile

Head: 18 cm which is 90%ile

Look Mom, I'm on the scale!

Kyla had a great check up. She is right on with all her developmental milestones. She should be starting to crawl or creep or even pull herself up at this point,but right now, she's just a little ball, rolling all over the place. However, the past few days she has been attempting to figure out how in the world to get up on her knees. You can just see her mentally debating with herself on the best way to go about it. I have no doubt that crawling is not far off in the future!

She has 3 teeth coming in at one time- the bottom 2 have been poking through for weeks now,and last weekend, low and behold, her top right tooth started coming through as well. We're not sure if she's been fussier than usual at bedtime because of her teeth or not, but we think that might be why. During the day, you would never know the child is teething, other than she is always chomping on things and will try to pull your finger to her mouth to bite on!

Kyla is an eating machine.The girl loves to eat. She loves most of her veggies, except peas, and loves all the fruit and fruit mixes we've given her. She is hit or miss when it comes to the dinners in a jar, but she loves the freeze dried strawberries and bananas I've recently found. It's a joy to watch her shake with delight as she scoops the pieces to her mouth and makes her eating sounds ("mmmmmm"). She also loves her Puffs, and is getting very adept at using her pincer grasp to scoop up those Puffs to gobble up. I love to watch her little jaws mushing up the food in her mouth! Hard to imagine our girl was being fed through her nose by a tube only 8 1/2 months ago! Wow. Kyla is also still proving to be very temperature sensitive. She's never liked when her bottles get cold,or even luke warm, and prefers her food to be warmer, if possible. I wonder if this will prove to be a disaster in the future? We shall see. Textures are definitely somewhat of an issue, as introducing new foods such as mashed potatoes, real sweet potatoes, and mashed up spaghetti has proven to be quite comical. She makes the silliest face, as if she is eating the most sour thing we've ever given her! If we aren't feeding her fast enough, she will clench her fists and "yell" at us, no kidding! And....she is just starting to sign "more" for us, with little help! YAY, Kyla! We are all so proud of you!

Kyla will be the sleeper of our girls. She take 3 short naps a day and will go to bed around 6:45. Any later, and she is out like a light on your shoulder. Her little eyelids get beet red and you KNOW when she is getting sleepy- as those hands start rubbing the eyes and she sticks her left thumb into her mouth! Yep, she's a thumb sucker, but I'm fine with that! How easy it is to travel! She usually sleeps all night until around 5:30 or so. I'm not happy about how early it is, but I'm thrilled that she's sleeping that long. The past few nights have been difficult, as she appears to be battling a cold and her teeth coming in.

Join us now for Kyla's annual 9 month photo shoot, with an introduction from Miss Keifer! "Ok, Kyla, here you go....get ready for that damn camera to flash in your eyes again!"Ohhh, sissy was right, here we go!

That's our silly girl

"Mommy, I've got a ball in my bum!" K1 told me last night as I was prepping dinner.

Um, OK? What do you say to THAT?
Oh well, at least she has a creative imagination, right? Hee hee.

*eye roll*

Open up and say "awwwwwwwwww"

Over Valentine's weekend, CJ and I packed up our SUV and headed up North to my parent's house. We had a great long, extended weekend, as I had Monday off for President's Day. Although we were lucky enough to see some of our family, I wasn't able to squeeze in my friends this visit. It sucks not having enough time in a day to see everyone you really want to -but I guess that's the price you pay for expanding your family and moving away 3 hours South!

Anyhoo, I have another post to get ready for sharing pictures and stories from the visit. It was a fun time, and CJ and I were lucky enough to enjoy a Valentine's Day lunch alone (!) at the newly built Texas Roadhouse. It was yummy and so relaxing to be away alone for some good food (and a beer with lunch!).

The previous night, we dressed the girls up for Valentine's Day and joined my parents, my Auntie Barbara, my brother Darren, and his girlfriend Steph out to eat at our favorite restaurant. It is a mainstay whenever we go home, and it was Kyla's first visit there (if you exclude the MANY times she visited there inside my belly!). She loved it- BOTH girls were so well behaved that night, we were very fortunate. We even got a compliment from the table next to us as we left, on how well-behaved our babies were for the 2 hours we were there. Believe me, when they (the diners) are over 65, getting a compliment means alot to me, as they have been around to see a LOT when it comes to dining out and children!).

Anyhoo, here are the pictures from dinner that night. It was a momentous occasion not only because it was Kyla's first visit there, but she also tried soda crackers (Saltines) for the first time, and loved them. The poor bus boy- I apologized as we left for the pile of half-gnawed on crackers underneath her high chair. It was also Kyla's first time dining out in a high chair (big girl! *sniff*)

Perhaps the funniest part of the evening was when Kyla was being passed around from relative to relative. She seems to have a crush on Steph, and when Steph got a hold of her, Kyla started practicing her jumping bean skills on her and wouldn't stop! It was hilarious! She also opened up her mouth super wide and kept it that way for quite some time. I have to say, my stomach hurt from all the laughing we did at Kyla that night. I will also add that big sissy was NOT happy with all that attention being taken away from her, so she loudly announced to us (and most of the tables around us) that she had to go POOP! LOL. Well, at least she did go each of the 3-4 times she had us take her to visit the bathrooms, and kept dry the whole way!

Posing with the menu

Kyla thinks the menu itself looks pretty tasty! Flashback to May of 2007- Keifer's first visit there!
Sitting in her own high chair (Mama forgot the high chair cover, eww))

Gnawing on a cracker, YUMMY! (when she wasn't choking and I wasn't digging cracker bits from the back of her throat!)

Big sissy enjoyed her meal!

Open up and say, "awww!"

"Awwww"ing to Auntie Barb

Crazy, jumping girl! Poor Steph! LOL

AWWWW

I'm not sure if the video is showing- it comes and goes, so if not, click HERE FOR VIDEO!


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Wordless Wednesday: A Cousin Mash-up pile

Sundance: a mommy-cation

"Mama, I not happy. I was so sad when you was going to the airport"

This is what I heard from my angel girl after I took a much-needed Mommy vacation away to Park City, Utah last month. Did I feel some guilt when Keifer said this to me? Yep. Did I feel like my heart would break when I left her and her baby sister that morning of my departure, knowing I wouldn't see them for another 3 days? Yep. But we all survived and it was a very joyous reunion when I got home.

What an amazing time I had, visiting my friend Michelle and her family. It was a month ago, the first weekend of the Sundance film festival. I originally visited Michelle and the festival 5 years ago -which seems like a blink of an eye ago. At that time, I was still trying for a baby with CJ, and we had miles to go before we'd have our two angel girls. Michelle had just had her baby, Mia, and now Mia is 5 years old, and a big sister to Lila, age 3! My, how times have changed.

I left on a Thursday afternoon, and came home on a Sunday. The festival opened the weekend I visited, and Michelle had a hard time getting tickets to many of the movies we wanted to see. She did, however, manage to get some tickets to a Shorts premiere, and on Friday morning, we were lucky enough to watch a Documentary called The Fence by Rory Kennedy, and observe her do a Question and Answer session after the premiere. She was really a cool chick, and I highly recommend her movie, which will be out this summer on HBO. Watch it! It is a must see!

It was a shorts documentary that was shown in conjunction with a Spike Jonze short, called I'm Here, about Robot Love. That one was a hard one to explain, other than it has to do with giving yourself to the person you love until you are nothing but a shell of yourself. There were two other, um, odd shorts, that were also shown, called LogoRama and Seeds of the Fall.

Rory Kennedy answering questions after her documentary The Fence was shown

Michelle and I were so excited to see the Spike Jonze short, but alas, he didn't show for the Question and Answer session after. Poop. Oh well, it was fun just to get out at a film premiere at SUNDANCE! and be in the company of a beautiful friend that I rarely get to see.

We picked up Mia from school, and then I spent the afternoon lazing around: reading and napping. Heaven. My favorite things: sleeping and reading. Michelle and I went out for a nice dinner that night at a really cool place, and then hit a nearby bar, hoping to see some celebrities. Again, we didn't see anyone, but it would've been pretty difficult to see anyone while traipsing along the sidewalks in downtown Park City. The snow was falling heavily, it was dark out and literally everyone was covered from head to toe in warm winter gear. We *think* we may have seen Charlotte Gainsbourg, who may have been playing guitar and singing inside an art shop that had been converted into a private party. We received a free CD of hers outside the said art shop, which makes it more likely it could've been her (we could see inside the windows). Michelle and I enjoyed our drinks together at the bar, talking and giggling away. What a fun night. We cabbed it home in the white out snow conditions, and I slept like a baby that night.

Saturday morning. Michelle had booked massages for us to enjoy. We did so, ahhhh heavenly, and then we putzed around a local TJ Maxx and grabbed a Starbux (chai tea for me!). We hung out with her girls in the afternoon, and then we traveled back over to the Eccles Theater,w here we had seen the shorts movies the day before. We went to pick up some insanely overpriced Sundance merchandise (I got my standard hat which I buy on every vacation, and I also picked up a long sleeve Tshirt). I later read, in People magazine, that we literally had just missed Bradley Cooper arriving at the same theater we had just been at, for a movie that he was starring in. Oh MY! Had I seen Bradley Cooper, I probably would've keeled over in shock! LOL.

Michelle and I then picked up some Chinese food to bring home for dinner. Afterwards, Michelle and boogied our bodies with her girls to the many songs of Laurie Berkner and laughed until our stomachs hurt. This was good times.

Lila & Mia dancing to I know a Chicken (and laying their eggs!)

Me, Michelle, Lila, Mia and their doggie, Lucy. A sad note: poor Lucy had a something wrong with her leg while I was there, and ended up having some serious medical complications that week. Only 3 days after I left, poor Lucy, 7 years old, passed away at their vets. I was devastated to hear the news, and I feel so bad for Michelle and her family! Hugs- RIP, Lucylulu- the sweetest Bull Terrier around! :(

Me loving on those beautiful girls! (and Lucy!)

Of course, the entire time I was there, I was phoning home and CJ was phoning me, about our girls. We were able to Skype each other on Friday afternoon, so Keifer could see me. She had a difficult time with Mommy not being home, and was so confused that I was gone. She kept talking about me and how I was visiting my friend's house, and CJ told me she even made my friend a "present" (essentially wrapping pair in a ball!). The first night I was gone, when CJ arrived home with the girls, and Keifer saw my car in the garage, she asked him, "did mommy walk to the airport?". Because really, how else did I get there? Makes sense to me. The whole weekend, every time they saw an airplane, Keifer thought I might be on it, and she also told her Daddy that she too, could fly up in the air on a plane, and that she would "hold on tight" up in the air.

I departed for home on Sunday morning, sad to leave a mommy vacation, sad to leave my good friends, but excited beyond belief to be reunited with my love bug girls and my CJ. And my fur kids, of course! I traveled safely through 2 plane rides, and even arrived on time back in my city of residence! It was a wonderful weekend,and one I hope to share again in the future with my family even! The dads and kids can ski, while the moms hang out and enjoy movies!! Or, me and bloggy buddy, Kir, have agreed that someday, we will be visiting Sundance together- soaking up the atmosphere :)

I also have to add, having an IPod touch was so perfect for me! I was able to watch 2 movies on it while traveling, as well as play my beloved games (I have to say I'm addicted to Uno these days!). (*and this was a product endorsement entirely on my own- I have not been paid to say this. I LOVE this thing!!*)

Little Miss Smarty Pants

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Jumping bean!

Our jumping bean! She loves to jump and if you want to see something really funny, watch her big sissy at this same age! The saucer has been mistaken for a jumper before, too! :)
Another thing I love about this clip is Keifer's voice commenting on Kyla's jumping! It is so sweet to me!



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A big night in our house!

No pictures - because when you get a camera out, things don't happen,right? It's inevitable.
Kyla signed "more" last night on her own! YAY! And, Keifer was drawing on the bathtub wall with her tub crayons, and she wrote a "T"! I'm so proud of my girls- mommy bragging rights here!

A sibling/sissy story, in pictures

Keifer had just gotten dressed for our trip to Sam's Club, when she raced downstairs and greeted Kyla with a huge "HI!". Kyla was thrilled, as usual, and bubbled over with laughter. A big hello hug to my baby sister, while Sager sniffs out Kyla, deciding if she's tasty enough to lick

Sage decides Kyla is yummy, and goes in for the french kiss, while Keifer scolds her (notice her lips in movement?)

Keifer sternly tells me that Sage is not allowed to kiss Kyla

A nearby toy grabs Keifer's attention, so she shoves it into Kyla's face in her attempts to share

Kyla explores the toy while Keifer takes a break from spinning the wheel to make the music play

Big hugs for the camera

Miss Blue Eyes - who, by the way, says BLUE is her favorite color, because blue is "like my pretty eyes" (hence her reasoning for picking blue cups or blue plates, or anything blue

when there is an option for the color) Pretty baby with the chapped lower face

Keifer taking up her hobby again (of snapping pictures)