Airbus Picnic 2008

Yesterday we spent the day at the Bealeton Flying Circus for Grandpa's annual company picnic. Kelly was a very good girl the whole time we were there. Her daddy's and my favorite part was taking a flight on a vintage biplane.

18 Months Old!

Now that Kelly is one and a half (!), she is right on the verge of crashing into the terrible twos. Yes, it's 6 months early, but my own mother will tell anyone who listens that I too began the terrible twos at the age of 18 months. For some foolish reason, I was looking forward to Kelly's 18-month checkup yesterday, because it is always fun to find out how nicely Kelly is growing/developing. Silly me. My only consolation was that poor Dr. Caplan kindly explained, over Kelly's hysterical screams, that it is perfectly normal for a 18-month-old to behave that way at a checkup... lack of control, confusion, etc., etc. My mom had joined us and asked later that night if Kelly was suffering from PTSD. No -- but I was. It was a bit of a shock to see my generally amiable daughter throw such a violent tantrum at the thought of being measured and examined.

On the bright side, she's moving beautifully along the ~20th percentile curve for height and weight (30.25 inches and 22 lbs 6 oz, although I think both were a bit skewed due to the thrashing on the scale) and a whopping 75th percentile for head (18.5 inches!). Wonder where she gets that from?

Don't get me wrong, Kelly can be a delightful child. But she can also be very strong willed. Plus, I think it is really hard on her to not be able to clearly vocalize her needs/desires/feelings. Hopefully, things will get a little easier soon.

Kelly and Granddaddy

One of the nicest things (as a stay-at-home mom) about having parents that live so close by is that we always have somewhere to go during the day when we need a little change of scenery and good company.

A week or two ago we took a sweltering hike to the playground in a nearby neighborhood. Can you tell that Kelly loves swinging?

This week we took a couple of nice shady walks (initated by Kelly trotting down the driveway) along my parents' private road.

They make a cute couple, don't they?

There's no telling how far Kelly would have wandered if Granddad hadn't scooped her up and carried her home.

A Few More

Her daddy likes her "big green eyes" in this one.

Kelly always has something to say.

This is what she does if she wants you to tickle her neck (it's also her reaction if you say "Ticky-ticky").

A Couple o' Cute Ones

Too Cool for the Costco

Sometimes, you just have to wear sunglasses in the Costco. What more can I say?

Gramma Dot's Playhouse

Gramma Dot now has a bona fide playzone in her house for Kelly. It's truly impressive, and I hesitate to say this (no one hit me, please), but it's a shame there aren't any cousins on the horizon to help Kelly make use of all the great stuff.

There's even a slide! Kelly had a blast over there, as usual.

Zoboomafoo

I hesitate to type the title of this post because just thinking the word makes me nervous... you see, that is the title of Kelly's one and only favorite TV show and if we so much as whisper the word she goes crazy asking us to turn it on. G-d help us, we unleashed the beast that is the minivan DVD player yesterday on the way to Gramma and Grampa's house and played it for her. I fear that we will never be able to travel anywhere again with out her plaintive requests for "'Boo."

That being said, I do think it's a great show; educational, with catchy tunes and (mostly) likeable characters. It is just scary how attached a toddler can become... ;)

You can see how much she loves Zoboo as she clutches this one in the car. They are very hard to find and have to be commandeered on eBay due to their rarity. Thanks so much, Grampa!!

Happy Fourth of July!

Kelly had a wonderful time when we took her to the local July 4th parade. She really enjoyed waving her flag,

watching the festivities from my shoulder,
and trying her first lollipop
so much that she fell asleep on the two-minute ride back to the car (she kept clutching the flag though!)
She was still waving the flag later at dinner:

Big Girl Bed!

I recently came to the conclusion that the crib just wasn't working for us. Kelly definitely prefers our softer bed, and the crib was doing nothing more than serving as a post-bathtime playpen. So, we sold the crib (I don't anticipate it working for any of our future children either) and upgraded.

At risk of being "ghetto" (we did have that conversation), the temporary mattress-on-the-floor effect is perfect for a tiny person like Kelly -- she can safely get on and off the bed all by herself. Fortunately, she adores it (as do the cats, who can often be found there whenever Kelly is not).

Today she napped on her bed for the second time. :)

Logan's Bling

I had to include this picture because it's typical Kelly. She's always snagging everyone else's stuff and putting it on herself, as in this case with Logan's gigantic collar.

Kitchen Helper

We recently acquired a wonderful invention called the "kitchen helper tower" (we got the idea here). Kelly has spent large amounts of time in it every day since we got it. She loves it!

Helping Daddy make lunch.

Mmmmm, tomato!