Friday, September 25, 2009

18 month checkup

Happy 18 month birthday to Kaylee! We celebrated by taking her to get shots. :-)

She survived yet another doctor's visit this morning. She only got 2 shots today, the flu vaccination being one of them. She's now 34.5" tall (still 99th percentile) and 26.75 lbs (83rd %). She doesn't have to go back for 6 months (for her 2 year visit), and then just once/year from then on. I don't think she's scheduled for any more shots until she's 4 (other than an annual flu shot), but will get her finger pricked next time for some blood tests.

The doctor still said she's super smart (today she even said, "I see a lot of kids and I don't say that to everyone."), so I think Kaylee's setting the bar pretty high for any future siblings... Rather than just pointing to body parts when asked, she named a few of the ones she can say - nose, ear, eye (we didn't think to have her say "heiney," though, hehe) - and when the doctor was leaving she said, "bye, Doctor."

She only cried right after her shots and for less than a minute total, so that wasn't too traumatic. Though she did cry when we first went into the room and the nurse was taking her measurements...guess she knew what was coming!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Giving Thanks

Kaylee now says the blessing with us each night (well, she usually just sits quietly while we say it and she says "A-wah" (Amen) when we're done. But today I had her repeat it after I said it, and she did pretty well!

She currently has an Elmo tattoo on her left arm and a Thomas the Train one on her right. We put them on Sunday afternoon and she's been pointing them out ever since: "tah-too! Ah-mo (Elmo) tah-too!" She got them at Ryker's birthday parties - the Thomas ones have been stuck in a drawer for the past year! She also got a pair of Sesame Street socks in her goody bag on Saturday. She saw them Monday morning and insisted on wearing them, then wore them all day, calling them Ryker socks. :-)

Monday, September 21, 2009

18 month portraits

Went to Portrait Innovations again on Saturday morning and had photos taken, since Kaylee will be 18 months this Friday - yikes, where has the time gone?!?? These are our favorites of the 80 taken (we didn't do any outfit changes this time; much less hassle!!)






By the way, she never keeps anything in her hair or on her head (other than hats), but she was distracted enough to keep her little headband on for most of the photos.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Princess Kaylee!

A friend of Kaylee's turned 3 on Sunday and we went to her Princess Party b-day party yesterday. I got this dress for Kaylee at a consignment shop. $5 for the dress, scepter and two tiaras (the ones in the first few photos...she didn't wear either long, but did wear the little headband tiara she was given at the party). I had to cut and hem the dress - it was about 10" too long! Also added the ribbon at the bottom and around the neck/arms.

Here's Kaylee in all her royal glory...

"Daddy, fetch me my milk or it's off with your head!"


A few of the princesses (Hope, Caroline, B-day gal Olivia, Katie, Kaylee & Annika). Then...princess disco?


Birthday Princess Olivia!


More Kaylee...


She grabbed this camera and kept saying "cheese" (more like "ehzzzzz") while holding it backwards. I will say, the colorful designs were on the side facing her - why would she want to look at the plain old back? Later she put on sunglasses (upside down, even when given to her the right way - she'd turn them over!)...blinded by too many flashes right in the eyes?? ;-)


17.5 mo Kaylee with 3.5 month Kendall (Olivia & big sis Katie's baby sister)


Kaylee enjoyed the watermelon and goldfish, but wanted nothing to do with the cupcake!


Hmm - that playroom was clean when we arrived...wonder what happened??


Kaylee had a fabulous time at the party! Thanks, Olivia!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Dress update

(See previous post if you haven't already read it.)

I tried the dress on Kaylee and it's too big for now. As in, I can pinch about 5-6" of fabric around the middle! I'm hoping it'll fit her in the spring - it's supposedly a 3T size, but of course 3T varies from brand to brand and I didn't know what this pattern would be closer to. And it's hard to tell until it's made (there were approximate size measurements other than what to cut the pattern). Holding it up to a couple other dresses she has that are size 4, this looks a little smaller, so like I said hopefully for spring (sort of a spring/summer dress anyway). If it does fit in the winter, I'll just put her in a long sleeve shirt and tights with it!

I have the pink retro dot fabric cut to make another dress (same pattern/size), but I think I'm going to get a zipper and attempt the pattern I bought at the store for the other (ladybug) fabric. Also a little sundress type dress, but would be cute in the winter with a little sweater over it (doesn't have bulky ties at the top like the one I already made).

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Sew Cute!!

After hemming and sewing ribbon onto Kaylee's princess dress late last week, I got the idea that I could make some dresses for her, too...how hard could it be, right? And maybe save some money at the same time? Sure! Thursday morning I impulsively went with Kaylee to Joann Fabric Store and bought a dress pattern and 3 different fabrics. Of course I stupidly went with her just before lunch, so she was getting cranky and wasn't happy to sit in the shopping cart. Oops. I bought what I had, but didn't get zippers or anything else (ribbon, etc) to go with the fabrics. I looked at the pattern again once I got home and decided to see if there was an even easier one (i.e. no zippers, elastic, buttons, etc. needed) online. Score! The pattern said it was about a 3T size...of course Kaylee fits into outfits/dresses that are anywhere from 12 months to 3T (mostly 24mo/2T) at the moment, so I wasn't sure how big it would actually be, but figured if she can't wear it now, maybe by the spring (it is more of a spring/summer dress anyway). So I started it last night and finished it tonight. Not bad if I do say so myself!! I still have the other two fabrics, too, and I think I will probably just use this pattern for those as well. The dress does look a bit big for Kaylee for right now, but I'll try it on her tomorrow and see for sure -- a lot of times lately I'll see a dress/outfit and think it'll be way too big, then it either fits now or is too small! Yikes - she's growing so fast I can't keep up.

Here's the dress, and a closeup of the fabric's pattern if you're really interested. :)


As for the saving money part of this project...not so much! I mean, it's a cute pattern and I'm not sorry I'm making them, but I usually shop at consignment sales/shops, discount stores or sales - in general $10 for an outfit is usually pushing it for me! I usually spend more like $2-3 on outfits and $5 or so on dresses for Kaylee. Sure they're used, but how many times do kids really wear clothes when they're this young? So as far as the cost aspect, I'm spending more than I usually do, but probably less than a dress like this would go for in a retail shop. (I could have hunted for cheaper fabrics, but these were $3.99 to 8.99/yard - so not super cheap!) Timewise...obviously way more time and effort!

I just got her some bloomers to go with dresses she already has, but also just for whatever she might have in the near future, too - they're all white and I had stuff put on them. There are 4: a red K, her monogram (KCJ) in pink, Kaylee in black with a gold/yellow bee, and Merry Christmas in red with a green tree. The red K bloomers will be cute with this dress (why I chose a red and white fabric). The other fabrics are a ladybug pattern and pink/red/brown retro dot pattern.

These are from breakfast the other day. Breakfast! And she smeared yogurt all in her hair!! She got to take a quick shower later that morning... By the way, as you can sort of tell, she sits at the table with us now and seems to enjoy it more. (She did sit by the table before, but with the tray attached, so her food was not on the table.) She really loves climbing up into the non-highchair/booster chairs and sitting at the table all on her own for snacks, but she often bonks her head on the table because she doesn't always pull the chair far enough away before climbing up.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Try again, Daddy!

Kaylee and I were reading books on the couch yesterday when Jamie got home. As soon as we heard the garage door start to open, Kaylee looked at me and said, "Daddy!" then ran to the garage door to wait for him. He didn't come in right away, so I opened the door and he was sitting in the car - not even pulled into the garage yet - talking on the phone. I told Kaylee he would be a few minutes and we went back to reading. He did come in about 5 minutes later, but was still on the phone - he headed to the basement, whispering that he'd be up soon. Kaylee did not like this - she was so excited to see him, then he just disappeared. She whined about it for a minute, but then we went back to the books again.

When Jamie did come back upstairs 10-15 minutes later Kaylee pretty much completely ignored him!! She looked up, but then went right back to the book. He came over and said, "hi, Kaylee," and she barely looked up. He then said, "do I have to go back outside and come in through the garage door for you to want to see me?" to which Kaylee looked up at him and said, "yes," then went back to her book!!! So Jamie walked back into the garage (Kaylee watched and said, "bye, Daddy."), then came back in and said, "hi, Kaylee, I'm home!" and she jumped off the couch and ran to him, screaming, "Daddy!" very excitedly again. It was hilarious. The best part was her just looking up and saying yes to him needing to leave and try again. Jamie and I were cracking up.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Halloween preview -?

We have a Halloween costume for Kaylee! If it still fits in 2 months... There seems to be a little room to grow, and she tolerates it well, so we're hopeful. It was Erin's costume last year! We didn't know what to do for Kaylee, then Lora offered this and the price was right. :) If Kaylee is a black cat next year, you'll know who she got her costume from again.

She really likes the costume. I tried it on her the morning that Lora/Erin brought it over and she played in it for a few minutes (got hot very quickly!), then that evening she asked to put it on to play in for a while. I put it on her and we went to see Jamie, who'd been working in the basement, and on the way down I was trying to get Kaylee to growl like a bear (which she does - "grrrrr"). She only did it once near the top, then not anymore, so I figured she'd just run to the toys down there and play. I put her down outside Jamie's office and she ran in and growled at him twice - it was very cute!

So here's a sneak preview of Halloween: