My work

This summer I watched my aunt’s children for a few days each week, while she worked. There are three of them, two boys, Joseph and Andrew and their sister Beatrice, Kailyn’s favorite cousin. Since Beatrice was going to start kindergarten that year, my aunt asked that I work with her on her letters and sounds. Little did I know what I was getting into! That first week, we started slow with just some simple flashcards of capital letters. Beatrice wasn’t too excited, but for some reason Kailyn was. I totally did not expect Kailyn to pay attention, much less participate. However, after only a few minutes I had the two of them facing off to try and guess all the letters. I was amazed…when did Kailyn become so intrigued by learning? Throughout the previous school year, I had been working with the girls just a bit on letter recognition, but nothing to serious. We usually just played a bit of game to try and find the capital letters. Anyway, I went home that night and decided that if Kailyn was willing to learn, then I was ready to take full advantage of that! The next few days I went to the store and bought little apples and busses to make upper and lower case flashcards as well as numbers. I also found several workbooks for pre-k children. After making the flashcards, I laminated them so that they could withstand bending and anything else that might try and destroy them. I also bought some stickers, for a bit of motivation if Kailyn ever got tired of learning. So that next week, I pulled out the flashcards and the girls went crazy! I have never seen two little girls so excited to start learning! At the beginning, Kailyn knew almost all of her uppercase letters, but really struggled with the lowercase letters, simply because she didn’t see them much. To my complete amazement, within less than a month she knew all her uppercase letters and almost all the lowercase. She could pair the uppercase and lowercase together and had begun the workbooks and was doing fabulous! Well, needless to say summer ended and Beatrice went off to school. One morning shortly after the school year had started, Kailyn came up and asked me if she could do her work. I looked at her a bit baffled and asked her if she meant her letters. Sure enough, she did and since then, at least three times a week (the days that she doesn’t go to her mother’s day out program) we have “school.” We go through both the letter and number flashcards and then do a page or two in her workbook and then if she still wants to do more, we practice her name and writing numbers. One of our latest and funniest endeavors is to get shaving cream and smear it all over the kitchen table and write letters in it, she absolutely loves this! Now, I know that this sounds like kind of a lot of work for a four year old to do almost everyday, but it is something Kailyn takes very seriously! One morning, I had a lot to do and we were running around a bit. Suddenly, Kailyn stopped me and said very earnestly, “Mom, I have to do my work. I haven’t done it today!!” I was so taken aback. Here our darling girl was asking to learn her letters and how to write them and do things I certainly looked at as work, but not fun work. It was clear, to Kailyn this was fun. She loved being able to show Tony what she did or point out letters and know what words started with what letters and what sound each letter makes. She was and still is thirsty for knowledge! So I have decided, as long as she is willing to learn I am willing to teach her! Maybe by the time she starts kindergarten next year, we can have her reading War and Peace…ha-ha!

That's not where it goes...I love Starbucks!!

As our children grow up I begin we start to see little glimpses of ourselves developing in them. Certain quirks or habits that they pick up from us…some good and some not so great. One of these little quirks that I have begun to notice in Kailyn is her organization. A few weeks ago, she was cleaning up her room and Tony, being the great dad that he is, asked if she wanted some help. They began putting all the toys away and suddenly, Kailyn looked at Tony and very seriously said, “Ummm…Daddy. That is not where that toy belongs.” Tony looked at her a bit shocked and simply said, “Well, excuse me. Where does it go.” She picked the toy up and put it in its proper place. Tony looked up at me and all he said was, “What have you done to our daughter!” Meanwhile I was whelling with pride and almost to tears because of how excited I was that she liked things organized! Needless to say, Kailyn does like order. Everything in its place!

Another thing that Kailyn has started to love is Starbucks. Like I said earlier, some of the things our children pick up are wonderful and some of them aren’t so great…like addictions to coffee! I am by no means saying Kailyn is “addicted” she just loves her Starbucks! Our special visits to the bookstore to get a “pink coffee” as Kailyn calls her Strawberry Frappicino (which actually has no coffee in it at all) have now become less and less and when we do go, she often asks if we can go the coffee shop and sit and have a drink. So grown up!

So, as Kailyn continues to grow at record speed, I realize that I am continually amazed. Amazed by her ability to do all that she does and amazed at how much fun and joy it is to watch her grow into something so wonderful and beautiful.

Girls and boys are most definitely different!

Last week, I asked three of my younger cousins (Kathryn, Hannah and Katrina) to come over and play with Kailyn for a bit. They have been asking for months to come over and play. Often Kailyn will look up at Hannah (who is only 9) and say, “Hi, second mommy.” She loves them all, but especially Hannah…she will do whatever she says!

As I stated in the title, it wasn’t until I had just girls at my house that I realized the difference! In recent visits from my three nephews I was used to the opening and the dumping of essentially every toy of Kailyn’s onto the floor making it inevitably invisible. However, when I went in to check on the girls, all I found was a beautifully set pony village and peace and quiet! They were all off in pony world peacefully playing…no arguing! Bizarre!

My birthday...finally!

Finally it’s here, thank God!!! The day Kailyn has been waiting for over six months to get here…her birthday!! As I previously wrote, it has been really hard for Kailyn to go to parties and it seems like she is the last of all her friends to have a birthday! So on this fateful morning I awoke, excitement overflowing, ready to finally say, “Yes sweetheart, today is your birthday…I told you July would come!” Now on this particular day, we had planned to spend it doing exactly what Kailyn wanted, we wanted today to feel like her day. We had planned to let her open her presents whenever she wanted, go to the movie theatre and see Wall-E, a movie she has been wanting to see for quite some time now, and then finish up with a party at my parents (for both Tony and Kailyn, seeing as Tony’s birthday was the day before). So in we traipsed to relay the glorious news that her birthday had finally come and she was now a big four year old! Her reaction was priceless! Her eyes lit up with so much joy and across her face was the biggest smile I do believe I have ever seen! “It’s July twenty, my birthday!!! Yippee!” Needless to say the day was a big hit. She loved the movie and had a blast at her party! She was showered with endless gifts and treated like a princess! She loved it! As she was drifting off to sleep that night, gently snuggling the Wall-E she got from Tony she smiled and said, “I like July.”

Now, you may think that was it…but no. That next morning we woke up and imagine her surprise when I reminded her that she had yet another party! Today she would have a party at her favorite place, besides Baba’s house, Chuck-E-Cheese with all her little friends! This was actually Kailyn’s very first “friend” party! Let me tell you it was wonderful! They actually had a little show put on for Kailyn and gave her balloons, extra tokens and tickets, cake and a giant lollipop! It was worth every penny we spent to see how excited she was and how happy she was to finally be able to say, “This is my party. It’s July! I like July!”

Poem for my Daddio

When you think of a Daddy, what comes to mind?

Is your daddy gently, loving and kind?

Is your daddy someone who will always be there,

Whether it be hundreds of miles or simply right here?

Is he the sort of daddy, who will come to your aide,

When the scary monster in your closet will not go away?

When you’ve fallen down and got a boo-boo,

Will he mend your cut and kiss it, too?

Will he tell you everything will be fine and alright,

When you and your best friend have had quite a fight?

Can your daddy cheer you up when you are ever so sad.

And make all the world better when you are feeling mad?

Is he the kind of daddy who likes to have fun,

Who will play ponies with you…even if he has to be one?

Can your daddy play tag and soccer, too?

Will he run through the sprinkler and color with you?

Does your daddy help you learn your ABCs?

Will he even help you could to one hundred and three?

Will your daddy read you bedtime stores, as you slowly close your eyes?

Will he read one, two, maybe three…or even five?

Is your daddy your hero, who can save the day,

The one you look up to, in more than one way?

My Daddy is such; he is ALL of these things!

And I know he will be there for me, whatever life brings!

So, with a hug and a kiss, I will say adieu,

To the bestest daddy in the world…that’s you!

I love you, Daddi-o!

Happy Father’s Day!

xoxo

My new treefort!

This summer, Tony decided that he wanted to build a tree fort for Kailyn…something he has wanted to do for a very long time! We had been trying to explain what it was to Kailyn and that it would be her very own little space. She took this to mean it would be her very own house! A few days before we were going to start, Tony and I went to Lowe’s and bought all the wood, nail, screws, and everything else we would need for Tony’s little creation. After two trips to and from Lowe’s, because there was so much wood, we were done. We brought Kailyn out into the back yard to show her what her tree fort started out as. Now I have to say, we did get a bit of lumber and supplies, so the corner of our back yard resembled that of a lumber yard! She ran around the wood, climbed over and it and decided it was good. So the groundbreaking took place in mid June. Kailyn’s godfather, Larry, came over to help Tony with the framing. By lunchtime, they had completed almost all of the framing! They made great progress and over the next few weeks, Tony continued to work on the fort and finish it up. Kailyn even helped quite a bit! As work progressed, it was amazing to see her face and how excited she was! Finally it was all finished and we all climbed up in it. As Kailyn surveyed her very own space, she said very satisfied, “I like my house daddy, it is cool! Thank you!!” Since then, she has had numerous picnic lunches and dinners inside her happy little “house.” I have to also say that I know Kailyn was blown away by all that Tony did, but so was I! It’s amazing! So Tony, I have to say thank you…for all you do and for how happy you make your girls!! We love you!!!

Uncle Billy's at Chili's?!

This particular little story came about from a simple misunderstanding Kailyn had about her Uncle…it is rather cute and really showed how much kids pick up on the little things!

Alright, so this May my not so little brother Billy headed to Chile to teach English in a small city called . Despite the fact that I was very sad to see Billy go, I was excited for the experience he had ahead of him. Now, Billy had been spending a bit of time at our house lately and by doing such has formed a rather beautiful bond with Kailyn. She truly loves and looks up to her dear Uncle Billy. When he left, we wanted to make sure we explained to her why he wouldn’t be coming over for a bit…well six months to be exact. We told Kailyn that Uncle Billy was going to Chile to be a teacher. She seemed to kind of get it…I think. About a month later, we decided to go to Chili’s, the restaurant, to pick up so food. Before I left, I asked Kailyn if she wanted to stay home with Daddy or come with Mommy to Chili’s. Instantly, she dropped the toy she had been playing with and said rather exuberantly, “I can go with you Mommy!!” I was a little shocked about how excited she was to go, but I just figured she wanted to spend time with me…ha-ha! The whole way there she kept saying, “We are going to Chili…yeah!” Like I said, I just thought she was happy to be coming with me…I was wrong. As soon as we pulled up she said, “We are here! We can see Uncle Billy now!!!” I turned around a bit astonished and tried to explain that Uncle Billy was in Chile, not at Chili’s…a bit too much for her I think! So, we headed inside and I placed our order. As soon as I was done, Kailyn said, “Come on we have to find him. Where is he?” At this moment I wanted so bad to make Billy appear. There was Kailyn, simply heartbroken that she couldn’t find her Uncle and totally confused! We sat down, and again I tried to explain it to her. Her simple response was, “But you said he was at Chili’s!” I told her that he was in the country of Chili and attempted once more to explain the difference, but in the end, I just held her in my lap and told her that today we would not be able to see him. With a little tear in her eye, she said, “We can see him later…right?” I reassured her that yes in a while we would see him again. This simple errand to run and pick up food showed me so much about our darling girl. She really does love her dear Uncle and that whatever we say she will remember! Until Billy returns in December, I do believe she still thinks he is there!