Hello out there!

I have a huge list of stuff to update about, so here's the least detailed version, with a ton of pics:

Christmas
Kaylee had an awesome Christmas! She was totally spoiled with nice and fun things.  :-)
She was very good at ripping paper off the gifts this year, and when everything was unwrapped and the paper was all over the floor, she was more interested in the paper than her new things! I didn't expect that. The worst part of Christmas was the terrible cold she (and I) had.

 

 

                                     (above) "Hello, Santa? This is Kaylee.
                                        Just makin' sure I'm on the 'good' list!"

 

                                       (above, Contents of Kaylee's stocking)

 

Winter Fun
My parents had a baby sled from when Rayden and I were kids, and Kaylee has gone for a couple rides in it now! It has a back on it and a seatbelt thing so she can't jump overboard. She hasn't tried yet either! She's been very content to ride along in it. Sadly, there haven't been many days where there was enough snow for it AND the weather was okay for Kaylee to be outside for any length of time. Winter really seems to have not happened this year...

 

Food

• She's now on whole milk instead of formula and doing just fine
• She loves loves LOVES tomatoes and bananas! And recently apples, when given to her peeled and whole... cut up apples don't get eaten. Oh, and beans - she loves beans too.
• Kaylee's getting pickier. There are things she used to have no problem with that now she won't eat, and most entirely new foods don't go over well. She's very good at spitting food out :-P

                                            Eating red pepper....

                               I made this for her this morning. Gonna try to give her
                             some heart-shaped food every day until Valentine's day!

                                                          Ravioli is MESSY!

                                                   Hiding out, eating an apple.


Teeth
No new teeth yet - she's still at 12 teeth. However, I'm pretty sure she's teething again, and it's on her top right side back molars. She loves to brush her teeth! We haven't been doing it as often as we should be, but she enjoys moving the toothbrush around in her mouth when she gets the chance! Tonight she even was trying to brush my teeth. It was cute :)

Other Development

• Kaylee's a really good climber! She would go right over the back of the couch if I let her, and she has no problem getting up onto any upholstered chair.
• She's really good at climbing up the stairs, but she's not sure how to get down them yet
• She's testing her boundaries - as in, she looks right at me when she's about to do something she knows she isn't supposed to, to see what my reaction will be. Will I stop her this time? Can she get away with it? Sometimes its frustrating because it seems like she's being purposefully 'bad', but most of the time I try to stop myself from laughing. If she sees me laugh, then she'll want to do the bad thing all the time!
• Down to one nap per day
• She's made her first scribbles, using markers. 
• Kaylee has started giving lots of yes/no answers! It's amazing to hear, because most of the time she gives the answer I would expect someone who understands all my questions to give. (Did that even make sense?) Basically, I get the feeling that she understands the majority of what I'm saying/asking... or else there are a lot of coincidences!! She's a really good conversationalist.

                                    Kaylee artwork: Left, scribbling with marker.
                                   Right, finger scribbling on Grammy's tablet!

 

                                             Kaylee sure loves a cell phone!

 

Other Updates

• Kaylee kind-of counts/sings along with Disney channel's 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates'. When they count their gold doubloons, she makes a noise for each one but it's not number words yet... and I've heard her say 'Yo ho' before!
• I got an Xbox Kinect for Christmas, and when she watches me try Kinect Adventures or Dance Central, she thinks my movements are HI-larious! Big belly laughs. :-) That's good encouragement for me to keep going!
• Sometimes when she gets up in the morning, she makes a point of grabbing each of the 4 owls in her crib and giving them a good-morning hug. It's completely adorable!
• She's started lounging on the living room floor sometimes. I'm either going to make or buy her a big floor cushion so we can cuddle together... we don't get many other cuddle opportunities since she never sleeps with me in my bed anymore!
• I got her some cute new sunglasses. This normally wouldn't be update-worthy, but she's just so cute in them!! Also, she really likes playing with glasses.

More Pictures!
Kaylee with 'kittycat!'

 

 

 Kaylee's new thing with computers is to sit on them or try to use them with her feet.

 

                                                     ("Am I even awake yet?")

Loving the glasses look!

 

 Random play:

                              (Trying to put a Kaylee-sized sock on Grammy's foot)

                                          (Making masterpieces!)

                              (Trying to plug both ends of a USB cable in to each other)

                                     (Pulling around a little owl on a pony)

                                                                    (Sticky notes!!!)

                       (above, visiting Brandi outside
       below, trying on Grampa's boot over her shoes!)

 

 (Playing block games on Grammy's tablet - she's getting pretty good with hand-eye coordination!)

       (left, playing with her reading turtle - right, lounging with Grampa!)

New Ideas

• Project Noah - iPhone app that uses the camera to take pictures of plant/animal life. I'm looking forward to going for nature walks with Kaylee this summer!
• Cool resource - 10 Ways To Play. Here's the website, which has a PDF file of 10 play ideas each month. You know... god forbid the kid ever gets bored ;-)