i have a surprise for you...

So, if you haven’t figured this out yet, we have the sweetest daughter! I know everyone probably thinks that…but we really do! Last night, Kailyn and I were eating dinner, just the two of us because Tony teaches class three nights a week. She came bounding into the kitchen and settled quickly in her seat. As she started eating, I asked her if she liked it and she said, “Yes!” Then she got up came over and gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek and said, “This is so yummy, thank you mommy!” Now I’ve been cooking dinner for roughly four years and never gotten that reaction…ever! (I’m not counting the first year we were married because we mostly ate at my parents and out…I know it’s hard to believe but I didn’t really know how to cook…haha!)

Earlier this month she did something similar. I told her we were going to do something she really liked and she smiled happily and said, “I have a surprise for you.” She then proceeded to give me a big hug and kiss followed by, “You’re the best mommy ever!” Like I said, I am sure most people think there child is the sweetest, but these random “I love yous” and “you’re the best mommy ever” paired with big hugs and kisses make me believe she really is the sweetest!

Princesses, Ponies, Pet shop…Star Wars, Indiana Jones!

As Kailyn and I sat on the couch playing Lego Indiana Jones yesterday I started thinking of all the phases she has gone through and how different each could be. We’ve gone from flowers and butterflies to dirt and animals, from princesses and ponies to Star Wars and Indiana Jones and a bit of Littlest Pet Shop scattered in there. Sometimes she almost seems girly, but then she usually busts out some Kung Fu moves or pretends to be Indiana Jones and the girlyness vanishes. At the least, she is very diverse in her likings…a little of everything. One moment she is prancing about the house dancing in her ballerina tutu and the next she is swinging from her bed post pretending to be Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom…in her tutu. She loves to have tea parties and also loves to practice her intense Kung Fu moves. She likes to believe she has not only mastered all the names of her ponies and pet shops, but the art of Kung Fu and the light saber too. I have to admit it makes me rather happy that she is so diversified. When she started forging her way into princesses and ponies I was a little worried, as I previously stated…it was uncharted territory, but as we entered the Star Wars and Indy phase I felt a little more comfortable…I knew all about these guys! So here we are now, smack dab in the middle of her newest phase, Indiana Jones. She loves to play the Lego Indy game and daddy actually let her watch one! As I have stated almost every time I write, she is ever-changing. And as she grows she opens up so much for Tony and I; we are continually amused and taken aback by her creativeness and enthusiasm!

Running

So, it’s that time of year again…Glory Run! This year, Tony and I decided to take Kailyn up to the place where she was going to race and let her run it a few times, just so she could be familiar with it. Now I’ve been telling her about it and she helped me prepare the letters asking for people to sponsor her a few months back…so she knows all about it. Actually, she has become rather excited about it. So when we told her we were going to walk down and practice, she was so excited we ran the entire way down! She then went on to run the short route twice back to back and wanted to run it more, but we made her rest. I was blown away, could this be the same girl that begged me to hold her last year and told me this was just “too much work?!” Crazy!

Now the course was all marked with a start and finish and a little yellow line to just let you know where to go, Kailyn thought this was awesome. We started heading home and before we knew it we were running again! When we got home, she told me “Mom, I like running. Can I have a racing track?” I told her she would have to talk to her daddy about that. (We all know the answer to anything Kailyn asks daddy… “Of course baby!”) Needless to say Tony said yes, and he would make one the next day. That following day after Tony got home from work he and Kailyn talked about what kind of “track” she wanted. After a moment it was decided she would have a diamond. After a few minutes it appeared. A bright orange diamond with an S at the starting line and an F at the finish! I didn’t think something so simple could make someone so happy…she was ecstatic! We raced around it a few times…even Cole jumped in. Let me tell you, she is faster than I thought…that’s my girl! After a bit of running, Tony and I decided to teach her kick ball…since the shape of the track was the perfect shape for a kick ball field. This was so much fun! We spent the next hour in the back yard playing three man kick ball and just having fun. Like I said it’s amazing how a simple can of paint can bring about so much fun…and wonderful family time.

In regards to the race Kailyn did amazing! She finished second, but just by a few feet. It was adorable to see her so focused! Her head straight and her eyes set on that finish line! When she was done, Tony and I couldn’t stop telling her how proud of her we were. Beaming she replied, “I didn’t look at all the people just at my race.”

Mockingbird

When Kailyn was two and three, we used to call her “our little mockingbird.” We called her this because she would literally repeat everything we said. Anything from a simple word to sometimes whole sentences. Now that was almost two year ago, and a phase that I thought was long gone and just a sweet, distant memory. I was wrong. We were at dinner a few nights ago and Tony started telling me this story about something that happened at his job. All of a sudden Kailyn burst out saying the exact thing Tony had just said. She didn’t stop there either, she continued on to make up the rest and finish the story herself. I thought this was just a one time thing, but I was wrong…again. I was working and knocked something over the other day, out of frustration I said “aww, crap!” Kailyn looked up and proceeded to say, “aww, crap!” The only thing I could think of was, thank God I didn’t say the other word I was thinking! I told her I was sorry and that I shouldn’t have said “crap” and neither should she. It seems now, more than ever Kailyn is like a little sponge soaking up everything. I guess we could call her Sponge Bird Mocking Pants (Sponge Bob Square Pants)! Needless to say the mimicking is still going on and Tony and I have decided to be more selective about what we talk about around our little bird.

Our everchanging, little wonder

About November of this past year, Kailyn decided she didn’t want to grow anymore, for fear that she would no longer be our daughter. After our heart to heart talk and an explanation that no matter how big she got she would always be our daughter things were a bit better. Now it is February and her whole outlook on “growing bigger” has completely changed! We were just having a little chat one day and she looked at me and said, “Mom, when I grow up will I be just like you?” I asked her what she meant and she said, “Will I be your size?” I told her that everyday you grow a little and that one day she would be as big as mommy (probably taller though). She seemed very happy about this! Ever since out little talk, she is constantly asking when she will be mommy’s size and is she really growing. It seems that in a mere four months she went from wanting to stay little forever to wanting to grow bigger immediately. Now I don’t like this at all, because if it were up to me I would freeze time and keep her little forever! I explained to her that she can’t really see herself grow everyday, but it is happening. In addition to wanting to grow up faster, she wants to do everything I do! I find this totally cute and simply sweet. The other day we were getting ready to go somewhere and I told her that I had to get a shower, blow dry my hair and get ready. She stopped playing and said, “Oh yeah, me too! I want to do everything you do.” Since we had ample time to get ready I decided to humor her. I let her take a shower, blew dry her hair and she picked out her clothes (something she has started doing A LOT). When I was putting on some make-up before we headed out the door she said, “Oh, I need some of that too. The sparkly kind.” Now this is a really touchy area for me, because I think girls now a day wear make-up WAY too young! I know I was the exception, because I didn’t start wearing make-up until my sophomore year of high school, and even then it was only mascara, but I still object to starting make-up too young. So, this was my dilemma…what to do, what to do. Then I realized my daughter was only four and the only reason she wanted make-up was to be like mommy, not to impress the four and five year old boys at her pre-school! So yes, I gave in. For those few moments we played with make-up, I let her help me with mine and I proceeded to put a few “sparkles” on her eyes. So we have started yet another chapter of life and changes are coming along faster than I can process them! It seems everyday she changes and grows and I am sure before we know it she will be wanting to wear make-up to impress those boys I wasn’t so worried about years before!

I LOVE MY DADDY

As I previously stated around May of last year, Kailyn hit the “daddy” phase. Things no longer were “I just want mommy”, but “where is my daddy”… “I need my daddy!” Kailyn is still like that. She knows Tony has to work and still asks for him every morning, rejoices on the mornings he gets to stay home and is anxiously awaiting his return when he does have to work. Lately, Kailyn has become especially attached to Tony. I don’t know if it was because she was able to spend so much time over Christmas break with him or because he is just the best dad ever! The other night we were getting Kailyn ready for bed and she insisted that Tony do everything. Then when it was time for goodnight kisses, she calmly told me, “Mommy, you don’t kiss daddy…he is my daddy.” I was a little taken aback and wanted to say, “I can kiss him whenever I want…he’s my husband!” However, I then remembered this was our four year old daughter I was talking to. Instead I simply said I would give daddy a kiss later. Then a few days after, Kailyn came to me with this light up necklace and told me, “Mom, I am going to wear this for my wedding.” I chuckled softly and said I thought that would be a great idea, I would definitely save it for her. That night, she told Tony the same thing. Tony’s response was a little different. “Wedding, your never getting married…right!” She only responded with, “Yes I am daddy. I am going to marry you.” Tony and I looked at each other not sure what to say. Then we told her that I was married to daddy and she insisted that both she and I could be married to him. Obviously she doesn’t have the same idea of marriage that most people have. I do believe to her it is the idea of loving someone and just spending time together. When I think of it, it is rather beautiful to see how much Kailyn loves and looks up to her daddy. As I stated before, she not only thinks Tony hung the moon, but the stars as well!

Another new year

I can’t believe that it is 2009 already! My how time flies! This New Year, we decided to spend with my family celebrating Christmas because we were gone for most of the Christmas break. It would be fun night with a big dinner, presents to open, games to play and fireworks to watch! Now since we were gone so much, we had decided to save most of Kailyn’s gifts for when we got home. We wanted to have a Christmas at our house with our gifts to her, stockings and all our usual Christmas traditions. So New Year’s Eve wasn’t just going to be a fun night, but a fun day too! Kailyn woke up that morning not really knowing what to expect and was totally blown away! There were presents under the tree, stockings stuffed with goodies, homemade cookies to eat for breakfast (my favorite part), and a new swing set waiting outside for her! She was so happy…and so were we. We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon playing with all our new “toys” and enjoying yet another Christmas. Now if I were Kailyn, I would think, “Man what a great day,” but there was more! Around lunchtime we reminded her about the party that night at my sister’s house and it goes without saying that she was rather excited! Since we had been out of town for about two weeks, she hadn’t seen her cousins at all…she was dying to see them! Not only did she want to see them, but almost as soon as we walked in the door she wanted them to open her presents that we had gotten them. It was so cute to see her handing each of them their gifts and saying, “I got that for you” and then excitedly wait while they opened it. After eating and opening the many gifts, we decided it was firework time! Sparklers twinkled in the darkness as the “pyrotechnic crew”…my dad and brothers set up the big fireworks! Now for the past few years we have had mediocre fireworks…nothing much but still good. This year my brother in law went to South Carolina to get us some good one (they are illegal in GA). We actually had to stop doing them because they were so big and so loud! One in particular was gigantic…and beautiful! It literally made us all jump it was so loud! After that one, in fear of the police we headed inside for the quieter part of the evening. We played games and watched football until midnight. Then we toasted in the New Year with champagne and sparking grape juice for the little ones. It was a long and wonderful day that finally ended around 3am. What a great way to bring in the New Year!