Adjusting

Kylee seems to be adjusting to life as a big sister. She still gets jealous at times, but overall things are going fairly smoothly (at least a lot more so than the 1st 2 weeks). The meltdowns have pretty much stopped and the fits are getting fewer and fewer. We still need to work out the kinks in our bedtime routine, but we have pretty good morning routine down. Kylee comes to my bed when she wakes up. If I'm lucky, she goes back to sleep for another hour or so. She waits for Makenna to wake up so that she can hold her before Makenna eats. Makenna usually goes back to sleep for another hour or 2, which works out great because it gives Kylee and I some alone time. She has been doing pretty good about occupying herself after that, until lunch time. Afternoons are still a little rough. Yesterday, like most days, she didn't take a nap. Consequently, many fits ensued. Today I got lucky. Both girls are napping.

Say Cheese!

I have lots more pictures from this month posted in our April 2010 online album. http://amandapuccino.myphotoalbum.com

Big Sister Blues

Kylee has a hard time adjusting to life as a big sister. As expected, she's shown many of the classic signs of jealousy and regression. Her first week as a big sister was filled with fits and meltdowns. Luckily, she's done a lot better the past few days. Last Saturday Rikki took her to Mia's birthday party for me. She's been so much happier ever since. I think seeing all her friends really helped. Things are calming down at home as I'm getting used to having a newborn around again, and we are starting to get back into some of our usual routines. I think that, along with having some of our friends over to visit , has also helped. Its been rough, but I think Kylee is slowly adjusting. Bedtime is definitely the biggest challenge for us right now.
Despite giving me such a hard time, its obvious that Kylee is proud of her sister. The first thing she does when anyone comes over is show them Makenna. "Look! I have a baby sister!" she says. Every morning as soon as she wakes up she asks where Makenna is and asks to hold her.

Baby Sister is Born

April 12, 2010 at 5:58pm Kylee officially became a big sister. Aunt Michelle picked her up from Nathan's around 4:30, bought her dinner, took her shopping, and then brought her to the
hospital to meet her baby sister. She wore a special big sister outfit for the occasion (tutu, 'big sister' shirt, matching bracelet, & necklace). Unfortunately, I don't think anyone got any pictures of her in the outfit. I asked Kylee what she thought of baby Makenna. She said "she's beautiful!"

Grandma stayed with Kylee the 2 days we were in the hospital and kept her pretty busy. Kylee seemed to really enjoy her time with grandma and reportedly did very well without me. She asked to visit us in the hospital quite a bit, and each time she came she went straight to baby Makenna. She would ask to hold her for a few minutes and then would be ready to head off on another adventure with grandma. Several times she hardly even said goodbye. It was a little sad watching her leave me so easily, but I was relieved that she was happy and doing well.

Last Day As An Only Child

Last Monday morning Rikki came over with Charli and Zaylee. It was Rikki's birthday. So, we had cupcakes for breakfast. The girls sung Rikki happy birthday and helped her blow out candles. Kylee wore a breast cancer awareness shirt that we made in honor of her birthday.
After playing with Charli and Zaylee for about an hour, we went to Christina's house for a group playdate. While we were there, I started having contractions. Christina graciously offered to watch Kylee for me. So, Kylee stayed and played with Nate while I went to the hospital to have baby Makenna. From what I hear, Kylee had a blast and did great without me.

Interpretive dance

Random Update Time

It's been a little bit since I rambled about how fast Kylee is growing up and all the new things she is doing. So, I figured now would be a good time to brag and ramble before baby comes and time escapes me completely. The past few months have flown by faster than any. On one hand, its gone by so fast I've hardly had time to sit back and notice how much Kylee is growing and changing. On the other, I find myself constantly impressed by things she does and the ideas she comes up with. She knows a ton of songs that she can sing from beginning to end (with adorable toddler rewrites of course). She'll randomly start singing songs that she's only heard a few times or that she hasn't heard in months. She has also started making up songs of her own. She'll sing about what she is doing to a tune of a classic.
She often uses full, complex 5 to 10 word sentences complete with contractions, conjunctions, and pronouns. She can count to 14 on her own and can count backwards from 5.
Potty training is coming along slowly but surely. If I let her go bare bottomed she pees on the potty pretty much every time and does so all on her own. Without warning, she'll go into the bathroom, scoot her step stool up to the potty, put her Elmo potty set on the toilet, and complete the whole potty routine. However, she is very inconsistent about using the toilet (even with reminders) if she has on either diapers or panties. Despite bribes and promises of surprises and parties, she refuses to poop on the potty and will ask for a diaper if she needs to go.
She is very into pretend play, especially with her dolls. Her imaginary scenarios are getting more and more complex. Most are based on familiar routines, such as making dinner and changing diapers, but she also likes make believing she's a dragon or monster. My favorite thing about the dragon/monster game is that she plays the role of both the villain and the hero.
On the subject of updates, I've been updating the online photo albums and should have them completely up to date by tomorrow.

**I almost forgot....when asked, Kylee can state her full name, age, and the fact that she lives in Lawton, Ok. She also knows that she's a girl.

Easter Weekend

We kicked off our Easter weekend at the polo field with Vickie. Kylee went on a egg hunt, rode a pony for the first time, watched a magic show, and visited the petting zoo. I was surprised by how much she enjoyed the magic show. She mimicked all the magician's hand movements and had a great time repeating the magic words and clapping with the rest of the audience. The petting zoo was her favorite part of the morning. No surprise there. The chickens seemed to be her favorite. She also loved the duck and baby goat. She gave them both a kiss and cried when it was time go.

After that we went to Tamara's baby shower; then came home for dinner and a wardrobe change (she got BBQ all over her shirt at the shower) before heading off to another egg hunt with daddy and his boss's church. It was an after dark flashlight egg hunt. Kylee was excited about being outside after dark and getting to use a flashlight but was more excited about being near a playground with daddy than anything else. She collected 17 Easter eggs (out of the 100 that we brought) and a baseball and then spent the majority of the time going down the slide with daddy. She sung the clean up song as she picked up the eggs on her way up to the slide.

Kylee loved her "tutu dress" from Charli. She proudly showed everyone we came across and insisted on wearing it to bed with her pj pants.

First thing Easter morning, Kylee went looking for her Easter basket. Per her request, the Easter bunny brought her meatsticks and Scooby Doo. He also brought Leapfrog frig phonics magnets, a couple 'Spot' books, and art supplies.

The weather was gorgeous, and Kylee actually liked wearing her Easter dress (another "tutu dress). She played outside in the front yard in her dress for a little while. Then we headed to grandma's house.

Kylee got to open an Easter present from grandma (a book, a bunny, bubbles, and a necklace & bracelet set). Then Terry, Laci, and Ayrianna joined us for lunch. After lunch Kylee; her cousin, Ayrianna; and 2 of Ayrianna's cousins had an Easter hunt in grandma's front yard. Kylee had a blast playing outside with the other kids.

I have more pictures posted in our online Easter album at: http://amandapuccino.myphotoalbum.com/albums