Kayleigh is now one year old, having already reached toddler status three weeks ago. Joy hit upon the perfect word for her when she & Brian were here on their spring visit--she is a little scallywag. She is also a marauder and a rascal! And so extremely adorable that we smile every time we look at her. She has sunshine in her every action, it seems. Both Dale and I got some great pictures of her (she had exceptional bedhead this morning, hair sticking out in all directions), her and Magda, and her & Jennifer & Magda, who came over to celebrate her birthday with us this evening. It is so nice to have family in town for these important events, as well as for the totally unimportant ones like when we just need some company that speaks in complete sentences. I have been waiting for years for Jennifer to have a baby to keep me company, visit parks with me during the week, etc.--it's wonderful that it's finally happened.
Jonathan was very sweet for his sister on her first birthday. We talked this morning about the day she was born, and I asked if he remembered meeting her for the first time. He said yes--I commented that he was quite shy around her for a little while--and he said that he was always loving his baby sister. We are so delighted that things have gone so well with their relationship; he adores her, and she just lights up for him.
Many thanks also to my lovely husband. We just spent ten minutes reliving the evening that led up to her birth and thinking about her first few minutes with us. It was quite something to have her born in the water and I think it was very helpful for me (and Dale) as well. The only time she was upset was when the nurse started the vigorous rubbing that they like to do--and then she calmed down immediately once we got the rubbing stopped but most importantly once Dale started talking to her over my shoulder. She knew his voice and looked at him as soon as he said something; it was very touching.
Happy Birthday, Kayleigh!
Little Kayleigh Marie will be one year old tomorrow. Where has that year gone? She is now walking everywhere and has been for 2-1/2 weeks. It's been very fun to watch her getting stronger every single day and progress from requiring one of us to help her stand up to doing it all by herself, without even needing a wall to help her. Somewhere in her must be some feline genes, as she likes to sit on top of things that are slightly smaller than she is. She loves to position herself in the middle of the Boppy pillow (horseshoe-shaped for nursing) and did finally manage, after months of trying, to sit right on top of Magda yesterday. Magda didn't seem to mind. Kayleigh has also climbed on top of a small plastic box and sat on it, she'll sit on folded blankets, really anything, and she's trying to teach herself how to climb up on the table between our two Relax the Back chairs. She did manage to give herself a lovely bruise for her first birthday by crawling into the leg of the piano bench. She has signs for drink/food/nurse and for more, and she says, "Mum mum mum" for me.
Jonathan's last day of kindergarten is a week from today. Again, when did that happen? He's going to have a busy summer with his trip to England, and then a week after he comes home from that, I am whisking him off to Kansas along with Kayleigh for a 2-1/2 week stay. When we return to Austin, we will immediately have Dale's birthday, the wedding shower for Matt & Annie, Jonathan's birthday, and then it will be less than a month until 1st grade starts up (unless the stupid Tx Leg mandates no school starts prior to Labor Day). I see the next 15 years of my life blurring before my eyes already.
So tonight in the space of about an hour, Kayleigh did the following things:
--picked up my large glass of water that I had foolishly left on the table by the loveseat and dumped it all over the table & carpet
--got into the DVD cases multiple times, despite being clearly told "no"
--pulled one of my cookbooks off of my shelf at the end of the island, which she is fully aware is mine and not hers (her shelf is below mine)
--when my back was turned putting away the silverware, climbed all the way onto the dishwasher lid in order to reach things better
--got quite annoyed when she found that I had tightened up the highchair seat belt so that she could no longer get out of it and stand up in it; I did this to prevent her standing up and then climbing onto the kitchen table as she did yesterday
I'm sure there were other things but I can't recall them at the moment. Two days ago she taught herself to climb into the hall bathtub and then did it again--with much more composure and aplomb--the next morning. She also supplemented her diet today with dirt from the back garden, sand from the park, and magnets from Jonathan's calendar.
For heaven's sake!!