Everything is a toy....in Kylie's world

Kylie loves playing with everything in the house even things that are not her toys....here she is playing with Mia's ball. She usually chases with Mia and if she gets it first she will try to put it in Mia's mouth and if Mia doesn't take it, Kylie puts it in her own mouth as if she is showing Mia what she is supposed to be doing with the ball.

Kylie has one drawer that she can get into, the only thing in it is a few spoons of hers, here she is showing me that she found them, usually after this she walks around the house banging them on everything like the house is all drums and her spoons are her drumsticks.

Here is her favorite cupboard to get into, it is in the island. Usually all my pots are out around the kitchen, I usually have to remove the coffee pot so she doesn't break it, one day I even found her cup in the coffee pots place.
After her bath the other night she went back to her room and got her towel and her brush and brought them out to the living room. She treated the towel like a blankie and actually was snuggling with it.
Oopps....she fell down, but thought it was the funniest thing.
Here she is watching a little bit of the Olympics with her towel blankie and the picture after she started playing again and found Todd's soccer ball and was covering it up with her towel and then pushing it out from under the towel, she did this for about 5 minutes and thought it was the best game ever.
Kylie is playing with paper, actually she was helping daddy with his draft. Todd asked me to get him a piece of paper so he could make a list of his team and Kylie followed me to the office for the paper and then I handed it to her and told her to take it to daddy and she did, waving the paper all over the place as she walked proudly to her daddy.
Kylie again went to the island cupboard and this time she pulled out one of my beaters from my stand mixer, she carried it around the house for a long time and used it as a drumstick and then hid it in her room, I didn't find it until later that night. She looks like she just got caught doing something wrong, all I said, was "Kylie what do you have?" and she looked up at me.


Mel and Todd

Shop til you Drop

On Friday my mom, Kylie, and Hillary and I went to Birch Run. We left my house just before 9 a.m. and I assumed Kylie would fall asleep in the car.....boy was I wrong. Kylie decided that sleeping was not what she wanted to do, all day. She was so good though. We got to the mall and went into about 5 stores and then decided that we should have eaten lunch before we got started so we went across the street and grabbed some food and everyone was way happier, then we went back to the mall and started to shop, shop, shop. Kylie was so good, she hung out in her stroller for a little while and then we let her walk around a little and we would each take turns carrying her. Finally around 5 or so she decided that she was over tired and got a little cranky, so my mom took her out of the store we were in and walked her around and she finally decided to fall asleep. She only slept for about 20-25 minutes because a motorcycle drove by and it woke her up. She wasn't too happy being awake for about 5 minutes and then I let her walk around and she was fine. We were able to snap a couple pictures of her napping, notice the bags falling out of the basket of the stroller....yeah we did a little shopping.
On the way home Kylie was being so goofy, because that she was so tired. She kept laughing and kicking her legs up....I had my mom take the following pictures while I was driving.
Here is a picture of her laughing and smiling at Nana....look at those beautiful blue eyes...she is too sweet!
She was also playing with her bib, we had stopped and got her some milk, because she always has some before bed and I hoped she would fall asleep. After about an hour of being in the car and her being goofy she finally gave in and let herself go to sleep. When we got in the garage at home she woke up just a little, my mom and Hillary stayed still in their seats and I got out and left my door open and ran around to her side of the car and then I scooped her and Todd met us in the doorway and he carried her to her bed and she went right back to sleep. I was so proud of her, she did such a great job all day, I couldn't believe she didn't fall asleep while we were shopping, but she actually was not crabby very much. She seems to impress me every day with something new.

Mel and Todd

Playing at home

Kylie loves to find different things in her room that she can put on and "dress-up" in. The other day I was going through her stuff and separating the too big stuff from the too little stuff and came across the apron the my grandma made for her. Grandma made them for all the girls and decided to make Kylie one even though we knew it would be too big for awhile, but that is O.K. it is so cute. Kylie found the apron with her clothes and brought it to me and grunted at me so I would put it on her. She wandered around wearing it for awhile. I thought she was cute from the front and the back, it is so big she was walking funny, because it was hanging between her legs.
Here is another shot of Kylie with apron on...her shirt says, "I'm a keeper" and yes she is, she is such a joy every day, I never know what she is going to do next.
Here is another, "This is my life" moment. Actually though, my mom took this picture while I was tutoring. Kylie found her shoes and insisted Nana put them on her, then she found her hat and put it on, and then she found my headband and carried it around. What a goof ball.
Kylie loves wearing shoes and is always bringing them to us to put on her, no matter what she is wearing.
Kylie loves watching, "Little Einstein's" and we let her watch it a couple of times a week, after her nap and after she got dressed, she insisted again to have her crocs on and then sat and watched her show. She pats her legs and will raise her arms in the air and babble something that sounds close to "blast off," just like they do in the show. It really is too cute. Mia loves to go to the window next to the front door and bark, on this day, she had done it so many times, that Kylie got up from watching "Einstein's" and went to the front door and said, "Woof woof," as if she was Mia and saw something outside. They really are a pair these days and have been getting along so well.

Mel and Todd

The Cabin

This first picture is from the cabin looking down at Beautiful Lake Cecelia, but it is from 2006, this year we were down by the water around this time watching fireworks.
Every year we go to the Buday cabin in Baldwin on beautiful Lake Cecelia. It is a weekend usually full of sun and beer and a little "canoing". This year it was cold, but there was still sun, and a lot of wind. Todd went up Friday night and then Kylie and I joined him on Sunday. Todd was able to enjoy a nice day canoing on Saturday while Kylie and I hung out with Grandma and Grandpa here in Grand Rapids. When we got to the cabin on Sunday we tried to go in the water, even though it was cold by the cabin, it was a little warmer by the water, but Kylie really didn't like it. The picture above is from when Todd tried to let Kylie stand in the water, and is the only one I got when we were at the water because shortly after I took the picture Kylie saw me and whined and reached for me, we tried to get her wet a few more times, but she wanted nothing to do with the water.
Later in the afternoon Todd and Kylie walked on the dock, but she wanted nothing to do with the water after her first try. Peyton and Sofia when swimming and Kylie looked a little interested so we took off her socks and shoes and pants and dipped her toes in and she pulled her feet right back up.
These are the only pictures I was able to get because after having a fun day on Saturday and loading the pictures onto my computer I forgot to take the memory card out so my camera would only hold about 6 pictures. I think the two of Todd and Kylie walking together are priceless and precious though, so they are the best! We were supposed to stay Sunday night, but after Kylie refused to nap at the cabin earlier in the day and knowing that she doesn't sleep well when there is someone else around, we decided to drive home and sleep in our own beds. Todd hadn't been home since Tuesday morning, so he was ready to sleep in his bed. Our friend Chris always buys fireworks and puts on a show for the kids, so we left shortly after that and got home around midnight. Kylie fell asleep right away on the way home and stayed sleeping when we got home and Todd was able to scoop her up and put her in her bed. Monday was kind of a wash because we were all tired. We did some laundry and ran a few errands and then Kylie and I went to pick up Mia and Todd mowed the lawn. When we got back from getting Mia I dropped the girls off at home and then drove to Plainwell to pick up my bridesmaid dress for Barb's wedding, which is in about 38 days, now I have to find shoes and get my dress altered just a little bit. Nothing else new to report about today, Todd went back to work and Kylie and I had a quiet day at home. She really was tormenting Mia today and chasing after her all over the house, sorry no pictures. I was too busy chasing Kylie and trying to get her to stop.
Mel and Todd

Today was a busy day

Looking in her mirror and holding her pink bat
At Hopscotch on the duck, showing off her new hat
Checking out Grandma's necklace while walking around the market
"Woofing" at Gracie
"Hi, Everyone"
This morning, Kylie found her extra car mirror in her toy box and she was giving the baby in the mirror kisses and singing and talking to the baby, it was too cute...of course I took video and pictures. She also had to carry around her pink baseball bat, while only wearing a diaper....this is my life :)
After I got her dressed and away from the cute baby in the mirror, we were off on another adventure. We started by hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Sheldon. They had been on vacation last week and missed Kylie, so we met them at Josh and Amy's, where they are dog sitting, and went to breakfast, we went to The Cherie Inn, and it was very good. There was a big mirror on the wall and Kylie discovered herself in the mirror all over again. Of course she couldn't kiss the baby this time, because she was in her high chair, but she kept looking and waving and saying "hi" and then she would look away and look back really fast, it was very comical! After breakfast we went to Hopscotch Children's store and found a really cute hat and bib. I have pictures of Kylie with the hat, but unfortunately I do not have pictures of the bib. Hopefully I will get some soon. Then we went to the Farmer's Market and walked around and then we went back to Josh and Amy's and hung out with the dogs.
Kylie is so funny, when she sees any animal she says, "woof, woof." It started with dogs, but now it is any animal, including fish. Yesterday we were at Steve and Erin's and she went to the fish tank and said, "woof, woof" so today when she saw the dogs,(Gracie, Tia, Lucy, and Ethel) she got all excited and bent down and hopped her top half up and down while "barking" back at the dogs.
We missed nap, but she was so good, she fell asleep on the way home, I wish I would have been able to get a picture, but I decided that it wasn't safe while driving on the highway. :) She woke up when we got home, but I was able to get her to go back to sleep for a little while. After she woke up, we hung out with with Erin, Peyton, Sophia, Liz, and Jacob. Tomorrow we are off to the Buday cabin....it should be interesting, but at least we get to see Todd. He left Tuesday and was in Philly for work, he came home briefly last night, and he unpacked one bag and packed another for the cabin, I had a spa at Hilary's house, and he had a softball game, my dad took Kylie to the game with Todd, and then Todd left before I was home from the spa. It will be nice to see him again! Kylie and I have both missed him!

With Todd out of town we went to my parents house and spent the night. It was nice, we just hung out with Nana and Papa, but was a little sad because Jake was not there. We were able to go out on the boat twice. The first time out we were just going for a quick ride and we found a cockatoo floating in the lake. We scooped it up in a net and I held it to warm it up and then went back to my parents house and my mom took Kylie in to get her ready for a nap and my dad and I went across the lake to start asking people if they knew where it belonged and we were able to find them. I hope the little birdie is O.K., it was in its cage just shaking like crazy.
We went back out later and we actually let Kylie get in the lake, my mom and I got in the water and put life jackets on and then my dad lowered her into the water to us! I didn't get any good pictures of this, but I did get a few before we got wet when she was walking Mia around on her leash on the boat, Mia loved sitting on the bench letting the wind hit her face. Kylie loves taking rides on her boat and loves watching the waves and driving the boat with Nana or Papa's help also and letting the wind hit her face. Nana and Papa said they are actually going to name this boat, it will be "The Kylie Rose."

August 5, 2008

This is my life......is something I have been finding myself saying daily. Especially while I am cleaning up crushed cheerios with a dog attacking the broom and a baby trying to eat the cheerios that didn't get crushed, or when Kylie brings me her sunglasses or three pair of socks when she is only wearing a diaper and her pajama shirt and insists that I put them on her, or when I find myself babbling back to a 13 month old and laughing at both of us and then looking at the car next to me and having them look at me like I am crazy because it looks like I am talking and laughing at myself. Kylie and I have been spending a lot of time together this summer and loving every minute of it!