Since it’s been forever since I blogged I am having a little bit of a hard time figuring out where to start. We had a busy summer, but not because we were so busy, just because life got in the way (does that even make sense?!). I fear I don’t have a ton of photos to prove we did anything this summer but we will just wait and see what I can come up with. So since it might take me some time to get myself together, I’ll start with what you all really come here to read anyway, right? (and don’t worry…and update on Jenna is next!)
Kylie is really doing well. I’ll admit, at the beginning of the summer, I wasn’t sure Steve was going to survive. Kylie was going through the things most 2 year olds go through…namely temper tantrums. She seems to be coming out of that phase now, thank goodness, but you can still hurt her feelings pretty easily and her bottom lip pops out the instant you mention the spanking spoon.
A word about the spanking spoon…we used cheap wooden spoons and we had one in each diaper bag, each vehicle and the house. We actually used them rarely, but we did use them. Since Kylie isn’t potty-trained, popping her on the bottom very lightly made a pretty loud pop and she really didn’t like it. I’m not here to debate whether spanking, time out etc. is right or wrong. It’s what worked for us. In fact, I could count on two hands the number of times we actually used it…after about 3 times, all we had to do was bring it out and she would start to straighten up. The first few times we’d pop her bottom (I highly doubt she even felt it…her feelings were hurt more than anything and the way she cried she was just downright mad) she’d start crying harder and screaming and then we’d put her in time out which really ticked her off. However, after just a few minutes, she’d decide she was over it and she’d straighten up. Our biggest and most frequent battle was meal times. Coming to the table would almost always result in a meltdown. We pretty much stopped eating out because of her behavior. But anyway, she seems to be improving on that front. Thankfully.
In general, Kylie is happy and is quite the ham.
She talks up a storm. Unfortunately, she’s probably about 20% intelligible. She will attempt to repeat almost every word you ask her to. And there are some words that she says that we can understand. Milk is one and sounds a lot like “Meeelk” with her sweet, southern drawl. But so much of the time she babbles off a whole story and I can tell she is trying to tell me something but I have no idea. Shortly she will start her testing to see if she qualifies for services in the public school system since she ages out of Tennessee Early Intervention on her 3rd birthday at the end of January.
Physically, she is still on the small side, but is making great strides. She is in about the 25%ile (or less) on both height and weight. At her 30 month check up, she weighed 26lbs 7 oz and was 36 inches tall. To give you some perspective, last year at this time, she weighed 22lbs, 4 oz and was about 30 inches tall. She has shot up like a weed but the weight isn’t keeping up with her, so she’s still in 2T clothes. She is still somewhat of a picky eater and doesn’t eat much meat, but the doctor isn’t concerned, so we aren’t either.
Kylie had her first dental appointment. I started paying for her to be on my dental insurance this year so I figured we might as well have her teeth looked at since it’s free.
I gotta tell you, I was worried about the visit, but the little sweetie did SO well! It wasn’t a long visit and Jenna had hers too so Kylie got to see her. We are happy to report, she has 10 teeth on top and bottom. The bottom teeth are a little crooked, but all in the right spots. But because of her cleft, the top is a little bit of a mess. There are 2 teeth there that appear to be out of the gum line and in the roof of her mouth. But again, the dentist doesn’t seem too concerned…we just wait and see what happens with her cleft repairs and when the baby teeth fall out and go from there. Another milestone.
We had took our first vacation this summer since we went to China and I was in desperate need of the beach (lots more to come on this). We were very concerned that Kylie might not like the beach/waves/sand. She does love the water though. I needn’t have worried.
This is our last meal at the beach…at a Greek restaurant no less. This was the way we kept her happy at the table (recall eating out was a challenge at this time and vacation was no exception). She literally ate her meal just like this. I kid you not. Again, the kid is a ham and she really gets going if she knows you are laughing at her.
Finally, Kylie loves her jie jie. I have never seen a love like these girls have for each other. Jenna aggravates her just like you would expect and for some reason, it doesn’t bother her to hear her whining or crying because she is the cause of it many times, but when the rubber hits the road, this love runs deep
Y’all. I die. Jenna prayed so long for a little sister. I thought the “new” would wear off pretty soon after returning from China, and honestly, there are times where Jenna is selfish and doesn’t want to be bothered, but hey, I’m that way too sometimes. But in general, I can count on Jenna to take care of and watch Kylie anytime. And not only does she watch her, but she has the best of time with her. Having kids who are 10 years apart in age isn’t always easy, but for us, it hasn’t made their relationship any more difficult. In fact, I think they love each other more because of it. Several times, Jenna will come in from telling Kylie goodnight (she sneaks in after Kylie is in bed every night because Kylie whispers “jie jie! Jie Jie!” from the bedroom) holding her heart and with tears in her eyes because she just can’t contain the love. She told me one night, “I don’t know how you do it. I just love her SO much!”
Yeah, I know, baby. I know.
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