birthdays

Parties, parties, parties!! It seems like all we do lately is go from one party to the next!! For me, it is something I don’t really mind. I love the fellowship and good food. However, for Kailyn each party starts out a little disappointing. Since the beginning of the year, I have been explaining to Kailyn that her birthday is in July. She does not like this one bit! She doesn’t like it simply for the fact that July is taking its good old time getting here…according to her! In January, a friend from school had a birthday party. Thinking it would be a great idea for Kailyn to pick out the present we went shopping together. She was very excited and even helped me wrap the present; however, when it came time for her friend to open her glorious gift Kailyn literally had an emotional breakdown! Somehow she got dreadfully confused and thought we wrapped the present for her to open at some else’s party! Once that happened, we had a big talk about when her birthday was and that we will not be getting presents at every party we go to! Apparently this is a really hard concept for a three year old to grasp! Each time we have a party she asks, “Is it my party? Is it Kailyn’s birthday?” Each time I have to say no and then I ask her when her birthday is. She usually replies in a sulky and highly disappointed voice, “July…I don’t like July.” Then if she is really disappointed, she will say, “It can be my birthday today and they can have their birthday in July!” She is forever trying to change her birthday and even went up to her friend the other day and was trying to convince her to “switch” birthdays by saying, “It can be my birthday now…you like July. You can have a birthday in July!” Again, I had to explain to her that a birthday is something that cannot be traded or swapped. She wasn’t too happy with that! Needless to say, we are anxiously awaiting July…so I can finally say, “Yes, Kailyn it is your birthday…finally!”

Turning corners

Looking back on this past year, I realized Kailyn has turned A LOT of corners! She sprung from diapers to panties…in fact, on this very day one year ago!!! She actually “ran” in the road race this year, rather than saunter across the finish line. She no longer takes her daily nap, although on occasion she does take a bit of a rest. She upgraded from baby toothpaste to Daddy and Mommy toothpaste…very fun! But, the most recent and, honestly next to potty training my very favorite, is her new found love for the doctor! When Kailyn was young, she had numerous ear infections and we were constantly at the doctors…it is my belief that this is why she developed a deep hatred for the dreaded doctor’s office. I took Kailyn to the doctor this month and instead of screaming, fussing and fidgeting, she was happy, peaceful and obedient! She did so well, I didn’t know what to do! A big turn in our life!!! I could probably go on for the next hour or so and list the many changes that have taken place in just this last year; however, I have come to the realization that Kailyn is a completely different child! She is no longer solely dependent on Tony and me; in fact she is highly independent and tries to do all she can on her own. Gone are the days of our little darling baby girl…here are the days of, “I can do it. I don’t need help. I am big enough!” She is officially our darling big girl now! I didn’t think this would come so soon! So, despite the constant turning of corners in our sweet “big” girl’s life, I find myself a bit melancholy! Yes, these achievement and “upgrades” are marvelous, wonderful and truthfully helpful…but is it terrible that I wish I could make them stop for a bit and we could just keep her as she is…just for awhile! She is our ever changing flower, blossoming into something quit beautiful and magnificent!

pictures

Since it is getting close to Kailyn’s birthday, I decided we would try and get her picture taken once more. Despite the fact I knew it would be a grueling and hard endeavor, it needed to be done.

Let me first give you some background info on Kailyn and her history of getting her picture professionally taken. Around our house it wouldn’t be anything out the ordinary for me to be taking random pictures of Kailyn or having her pose in some funny outfit she picked out…she honestly loves to have Mommy take her picture (probably due to the fact that for the first two years of her life that is the only way she saw me…behind a camera, happily snapping away). However, put her in a room with plenty of props, beautiful backgrounds, beaming lights, and high-tech camera equipment and the tears will begin to flow! Kailyn has dreaded getting her picture taken ever since she was one! So, in all the lovely portraits we or our relatives have she may seem happy…but that is far from the truth! Usually, I schedule her appointments so that both Tony and I will be there…yes it requires two of us to get just one smile! So let me play it out for you. We walk in, Kailyn clinching Tony and/or my hand for dear life. She looks around, and then it begins, “Hold me, please! I don’t like this place!” Usually we get her to sit down with Tony and I mere inches away from her and inevitably she has at least two massive meltdowns and her face turns bright red. By the end not only are Tony and I exhausted but the poor camera person who had to deal with us for the past hour or so is ready to kick us to the curb! I am sure every professional photographer that has taken Kailyn’s picture, watches us as we leave and wonders why in the world pictures mean so much to us and why on earth it is so hard to get our little girl to crack a smile! One time we had not only the photographer but two other people who worked there trying to make Kailyn smile just once! It is always a patient trying, totally exhausting, emotion filled visit!

Having said all that, I wasn’t really looking forward to getting her picture taken today…by myself! So, Tonyless and a bit worried we headed to our appointment. As soon as we walked in, Kailyn remembered where we were. “Oh, I don’t like to get my picture taken here! It’s not fun.” As she said this, all I could do was take a deep breath and continue to pray for a miracle…I wasn’t really in the mood for a physically and emotionally exhausting morning. So, I signed us in and we waited for about five minutes. I must insert here that this particular photographer was excellent, we have gone to her before but this time she did awesome! Anyway, she came out and introduced herself to Kailyn and asked if she was ready. A bit hesitant Kailyn followed, not holding my hand, but the photographers instead. She walked into the room and followed every direction the photographer gave her, looking at me after each picture and saying, “Look…cheese!” In a mere twenty minutes we were done! Not one tear, one bit of hesitation, or one insecurity…she loved it! Not only did she enjoy it, but her pictures were truly precious! So, we have turned a corner! No longer is she deathly afraid of her photographer, but she actually likes getting her picture taken…at least for the time being:)

Lunch with my Godmom

Kailyn’s Godmother is a very good friend of mine, Lisa. Lisa’s birthday is at the beginning of May and this year, we took her out for lunch on her birthday. Before I go on, I want to give just a little background here about how Kailyn slightly believes Lisa is not only her Godmother…but her fairy Godmother!

Recently, I was talking to Kailyn about her Godmother and explaining to her that Aunt Lisa’s birthday was coming up. While I was telling her that we were going to take her out to lunch, Kailyn’s eyes got unusually large and a big smile appeared on her face. I asked her what she was so excited about and she replied, “I have a Godmother?” I stated that of course she had a Godmother and reminded her that it was Lisa. I think the misunderstanding here lied in the fact that Kailyn usually called Lisa Godmom. Anyhow, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal that she was so excited. I guess that I should have put two and two together and realized that with this newfound name for Lisa, Kailyn thought she had become something greater…her fairy Godmother! You know, Cinderella really is to blame for my child’s simple misconception! The idea of a fairy godmother showing up and giving you all sorts of cool things like a sweet pumpkin to ride in and a really beautiful gown is amazing and at Kailyn’s age totally believable! So as I walked off as apparently visions of mice, pumpkins and gowns began filling Kailyn’s head!

All throughout lunch, Kailyn seemed to be engrossed in Lisa…she wanted to sit by her and every once in a while she would look at me with a big smile and then look back at Lisa. Honestly, I thought she was just really happy to see her. It wasn’t until I was buckling Kailyn in her car seat that she said, “That was my Godmother…like Cinderella!” “Yes,” I replied, “she is your Godmother…just like Cinderella.” My mistake! On our way home I thought about it and when we arrived home I told her that despite the fact Lisa is her Godmother, she doesn’t have a magicwond. “But she is my fairly Godmother!” Like so many things at this age I tried to explain the difference to her, but I felt as if she didn’t grasp a word of what I said! So to this day, when Kailyn see her dear Godmother at any time she gets rather excited and reminds me with a big smile, “That is MY Godmother!”

Men

I think when a baby is born you can tell within the first year if they prefer men to women or women to men. For example, we often used to call my nephew a ladies man…because he simply preferred women to hold him. For Kailyn, that seemed to be the case for her. She would always drift into the arms of a loving and nurturing woman…or just back to mommy. She honestly was a Mama’s girl!
As the years have past, I am a bit sad to say I think that is all changing. Gone are the days of, “Mommy will you hold me. Mommy will you read me my bedtime story. Mommy, mommy, mommy.” No, we are experiencing a new stage; I like to call this stage the “Daddy Rock’s” stage! I am a bit sad to say, I think the “Mommy” days are over…at least for a bit. So, yes Kailyn has truly become the epitome of a “Daddy’s girl.” She wakes up each morning and asks where Daddy is, and throughout the day will say, “You know…I really need my Dad.” She is usually on the steps waiting for Tony to come home and on the weekends RARELY ever leaves his side! She thinks her Daddy not only hung the moon, but the stars as well!
With this ever growing love for her father came another change. Kailyn now loves men…not just men actually, baby boys, toddler boys, elementary school boys, middle school boys, high school guys and even older men! If we go to a playground, Kailyn immediately finds some random boy playing in the dirt or trying some daring acrobatic move on the monkey bars and follows him around for the duration of our time there. She has three cousins who are all boys and she thinks they are simply awesome…I do believe sometimes she wishes she could be a boy just like them. My sister, her husband and there boys recently visited Georgia. It was on this visit that Kailyn told me, “I like my Uncle Mikey…he can take care of me!” Mike is my sister’s husband and the father of Kailyn’s three crazy cousins. Not only that, but at a party we had last weekend Kailyn found herself another gentleman. We were getting ready and Kailyn was playing in the living room and an older gentleman, who is like a grandpa to me. He sat down and started playing Zoo with Kailyn. After a bit of playing it was time for her to go to sleep and she said, “He is my friend.” Whether it be the fact that guys don’t mind sitting on the floor and playing with animals or the fact that they actually don’t mind getting dirty (something Kailyn LOVES to do), Kailyn is fascinated with the men and boys of all ages! I don’t think this newfound love of the male species is anything to be too worried about…well at least not until she’s a bit older!

Glory Run

As previously stated, each April I am part of a committee that put on a run. This event is known as the Glory Run. There is a 5k run/walk, a 1mile fun run, and a tot-trot. Last year, Kailyn and I both participated in the runs. I ran the 5k and she well sort of ran the tot-trot. Actually, last year she more like sauntered along the course holding Tony and my hand. She was also the last person to cross the finish line! Determined that this year would be different, I decided to take her and a few of her little girl friends to the course to “practice” running it. Now, let me first say that the distance they run for the tot-trot is not that long at all. It is probably about four house lengths long. Apparently to Kailyn this is too long! The first time I just wanted to have them walk it, so that they would know where they were going. They all did this fairly well. On our second attempt, I decided it would be fun to have them race a bit and try and run as fast as they could. Kailyn ran about two house lengths and stopped. I asked her what was wrong and all she said was, “This is too much work. It’s too hard. I don’t like running!” I stood there for a minute amazed, my daughter not like running! Whose child was this!! Meanwhile, the other two little girls had passed the finish line and were trying to cheer Kailyn on to keep going. Upset that I wouldn’t carry her the remaining two house lengths to the end, she just walked begrudgingly to the finish line. Rather discouraged by this, I attempted one other time to get her to run the course, but again she stopped even further from the end and said, “It’s too long!” So, when race day finally did arrive, I figured again she would probably finish up the race last…if she finished at all! To my shocking amazement, she actually was really excited and did fairly well! Now, she didn’t win first by any means, but she did finish!!! Yeah!! And she got a medal for finishing the race…so to her that was an enormous win!!

The Master

Instead of having a spring break earlier in the year, we in the Augusta area have ours the second week of April. This time is known as Master’s Week. This is often a time when native Augustans either flee the crowds, craziness, and horrid traffic that surround Master’s Week or succumb to all the hub-bub and seek employment at one of the many catering, driving or golfing venues. This year since Tony was off for Master’s Week, he decided he would take a job working as a driver for an event’s company. I wasn’t too happy to see him work his week off, but God really blessed his sacrifice. Tony was given a really laid back group and he was able to go into the Master’s several times. In fact, I was even able to spend one afternoon inside the Master’s with Tony. In addition to that, Kailyn and I were also able to meet Tony for lunch several times…something we never get to do during the school year. On one of Tony’s visits inside the golf course, he decided to purchase a pink golf shirt with the Master’s logo in the corner for Kailyn. The night he gave her the shirt she wasn’t too excited, however, the next morning she awoke and immediately asked, “Mom can I wear my master shirt today?” I told her of course, Daddy would love to see her in it. That day her friend Carrie came over, and as I walked by Kailyn’s room I heard her telling Carrie all about her shirt. “Carrie, my daddy gave this to me. He said I am a master. Are you a master? Do you have a master shirt?” Apparently, Kailyn believes, and still does to this day, that she is a master of something and that her shirt proudly tells people this! Needless to say she now loves the shirt and asks to wear it all the time. And on the off chance that Daddy is wearing the shirt too, you will find her beaming with pride…because of course Daddy and her are the “masters.”