rhythm {in} chaos: January 2010

Spaghetti Face

Kaydence *loves* spaghetti! I made Pasta al Cavolfiore (a favorite of ours) for dinner last night and I was thrilled that she gobbled it up last night and today for leftovers. I also gave her the Safe Sippy for the first time today using the straw attachment and she did great with it. So I guess she can officially drink from a straw now. What a big girl I have!

Here are some pictures from today.

New Accomplishments

Kaydence is beginning to show her age in more ways than one. I'm a basket of emotions when I think about all the fun new things she is doing...it is bitter sweet. My baby is growing up!

Confession: I was that mom who vowed she would not allow her child to watch tv until the age of 2, as recommended by the AAP. Well, I've officially failed. Explaination: I always wanted to teach Kaydence sign language to be able to communicate with us before she could talk. When she was 6 1/2 months old, I was searching youtube for signs, but then remembered a friend telling me about the "Baby Signing Time" dvds. I picked one up from the library and Kaydence was instantly hooked. Not to mention, her mama had fun learning the signs and singing the songs with her. Her favorite song on the first dvd is the "Diaper Dance" -- she gets a huge smile on her face and dances all around...it's so cute. She has volumes 1 and 2 and she has worn.them.out...she loves them! I failed I tell you, I failed!!! ::sigh:: More confessions: She watched Seasame Street for the first time today while I got ready. Yep, no tv until 2 is officially out the window.

All that to say, since Kaydence was 7 months old, we've been working on teaching her sign language (and using the Baby Signing Time dvds as a tool) and she is starting to catch on. She has been signing "dog," "more," and "all done" for a couple months now. Well, yesterday and today she did two new signs, "signing" and "milk." Yesterday, I was singing/signing the theme song to Baby Signing Time and she did the sign for "signing" -- it was so cute! Then today, I usually nurse her after her nap and when I got her up from her nap today, she was doing the sign for milk. I was sooo excited! My baby is growing up! We're trying to work on "water," "eat," "please," and "thank you" right now. She has done the sign for thank you already, but I don't think she knows what it means yet. It's so exciting seeing her learning how to communicate with us.

On that note, she is also communicating in another way. Temper tantrums. They aren't bad yet, but they are starting. Whenever we take something away that she shouldn't have, or if we tell her not to touch something, she gets very dramatic and starts to cry crocodile tears and stiffens her entire body and sometimes she'll just crumble to the ground. I think we're going to have some challenges ahead of us.

I'm sure there are some other fun things she has been doing lately that I'm missing, but it's late and I need to go to bed. So I leave you with a video I took today. It's not a great video, but it's something. I was hoping she would show everyone how she signs "Baby Signing Time" but of course she didn't...mama had the camera. ;-) I'll try to get it on video soon. Another thing she has been doing more of is talking. She does it a little in the video.

Oh, almost forgot, she is walking around really well now (which you'll see in the video) and she is also talking a lot more. She actually said "shoe" today. :-)

More Birthday Fun

As hard as it may be to believe, there is a certain someone's birthday quickly approaching. It hasn't really hit me yet, but it's truly hard to believe Kaydence will be turning 1 in a little over a month. Where does the time go?

In preparation for her birthday party, I've started a little sewing project. I'm not sure how it will turn out since I haven't touched a sewing machine in...uh...15 or so years??? So needless to say, I'm a little nervous about it. I can take no credit whatsoever for the idea of this project. My dear friend, Natalie (whom I've never met, but follow her blog religiously), constantly inspires me with all her gorgeous creations, so I give all the credit to her and thank her for the pattern. I leave you in suspense for now, but if it turns out okay, I'll post pictures of what I made once it's completed. Until then, here is a little glimpse of the fabric.

Evolution of Birthday Pie

Teirney's birthday was yesterday, so I made him the apple pie that he always requests. It was a pretty low-key evening. He went out to dinner with a couple friends and then they all came to the house for pie. The three of us went out to dinner tonight to celebrate.

Giggles

Teirney took this picture of Kaydence and I the other night that I posted to my Project 365 blog. I decided I would post it on my 365 blog, even though I didn't take it, because (sadly) there are very few pictures of KK and I together, plus it was a perfect depiction of the mood she was in last night.

Kaydence is definitely on the mend, she has been much happier and eating more too, which is a relief. I'm beginning to think my mellow and content baby has returned (knock on wood). ;-) Here are a few pictures I took today (or yesterday since it's so late or early).

Happy 101 Award & Lemonade Stand Award

I was honored (and flattered) to receive my very first blog award last week. I'm just now having a chance to post about it. Thank you to the gorgeous Mrs.F @ Baby Foreste! for making my day! :-)

Happy 101 award:

List 10 things that make me happy.

Try to do at least one of them today.

Tag 10 bloggers that brighten my day.

For those 10 bloggers that get the award, you then link back to my blog and create your own "makes you happy" list.

Lemonade Stand award:

Put the lemonade logo in your blog or in your post.

Nominate 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.

Link the nominees within your post.

Let them know they've received this award by commenting on their blog.

Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

10 things that make me happy:

1. kaydence (all day everyday, but I *love* seeing her face light up when she hears her daddy come home)
2. my sweet hubby
3. coffee with a dear friend
4. photography
5. playdates
6. road trips/vacations
7. the sun
8. a clean house
9. clean sheets (love, love, love clean sheets)
10. last and certainly not least, time spent with family, and dates with my hubby

I know I'm missing some things, but these were things I thought of off the top of my head.

Ok, now 10 (plus a bonus blog, since I couldn't just pick 10) bloggers that brighten my day!

Natalie @ the malan family
Alicia @ Alicia en el pais de las maravillas
Jodi @ ericandjodi.com
Kathy @ capturing life's blessings
Amanda @ one day at a time!
Barb @ 365 days of ryan
sweet birdie @ sweetbirdie
Becca @ the paro post
Dorie @ winks and daisies
Bonny @ a life crocheted

Jessie @ sweet jessie

Quick Update

KK is starting to feel better I think. The last two days she has been eating a little more too, which is comforting to me. She just recently started playing peek-a-boo with us -- it's so cute!

Here are some recent pictures.

Be My Valentine?

Before Kaydence got sick, I had taken some Valentine pictures of her and I'm just now getting the chance to post them. I had the hardest time getting her to look at me (as always). I even tried to redo them when Teirney was home to try and get her to look, but still not much luck. Oh well, these will have to do. I would really like to take a Photoshop class because I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to edits. I just play around with it, but by the time I'm done, I feel like I've looked at the picture(s) so much that I have no idea if any of it looks right and then I go back and tweak, but then it just gets worse...lol. I felt like maybe her shirt was too bright in these photos, but I couldn't figure out a way to tone it down in order to make it look right. It's a learning process. :-)

And for those of you who are wondering, the background is just two sheets of tile board (I think that's what it's called -- one against the wall and one on the floor), plexi glass (which is what gave the reflection), and a removeable wall decal. Voila. :-) I got the tile board and plexi at Home Depot.

Reorganizing = Disorganizing

This morning when I was looking for what to put on Kaydence for the day, she decided it was time to reorganize her drawers (i.e., empty the drawer and throw all her clothes on the floor). Ahhh, gotta love pictures to freeze the memory in time. :-)

KK fell and hurt herself today...it was so sad. I posted the story and picture here.

Sweet and Shiny Things

KK said mama for the *first* time today (1/8/09)!!! My heart skipped a beat! The only problem was, I had to pick her up every time she was chanting it while whining because I felt so guilty. lol Yeah, that can't happen every day.
Today I let KK have run of the house while I followed her around with my camera. It was the first time she really roamed the house on her own, without me moving her from room to room. It was really fun for us both (or at least for me - lol). It was so fascinating to watch her in her own little world trying to figure everything out. I got several really cute pictures of her in the kitchen. She *loves* shiny things. For months now, she has been immediately attracted to anything shiny. Hmmm...I wonder what that means as she gets older. ;-)