Happy 17 month birthday, Kaia-bear.
She's getting the true second child treatment here as I didn't post an update at the 15 or 16 month mark. I'm sorry, Kaia, I love you more than you can ever know, but girl, you keep me
busy!!
I get these little email updates from Baby Center that tell me about the usual milestone for a child of similar age to mine. The one I got today said this:
"By now your toddler may be able to climb up stairs, turn around and sit at the top, then scoot her way back down. Some more cautious toddlers may climb the stairs but call for help to get back down."
I laughed. Actually laughed. Climb the stairs? Yes, she can do that. Scurry up, is more like it. And what is this "sit" word of which you speak? I don't think I understand. Kaia will go up, turn around, and walk back down, forward, holding on to the railing "like a big girl." She runs around and around the house saying "GO!" or pushing the doll stroller round and round. She loves for me to chase her, growling and yelling "TICKLE MONSTER!"
She doesn't speak many words, but she does manage to get her point across, and even within the last week, I'm noticing more attempts. She has, of course, been saying "mama" and "dada" for ages. Sierra come out kind of like "Ya-ya" but *almost* 3 syllables as it should be, so it's more like "Ya-ee-ya." I find this interesting as "ya-ya" is how Sierra's buddy Sophia said her name a couple years ago when they were Kaia-sized. And speaking of "ya-ee-ya," oh how Kaia adores that big sister. Much to Sierra's chagrin, Kaia always (always!) wants to be doing what she's doing, to have what she has, to play her games and follow her around. For the most part, Sierra does really great as a big sister and she really tries to include Kaia as much as a 3-year-old can. It's been really wonderful to actually see my two girls playing together sometimes. I truly wish for them to be friends as much as they are sisters.
Other words include "kitty," "nana" (which means Grandma or banana, depending on the context), "uh-oh," "woo! woo!" (that's the sound a dog makes), "Ta-key" (that's the dog, Casey). And recently, "FO!", which is throw, and which she says as she throws her fork or her cup on the floor or a stuffed animal across the room. And then she laughs. Har har. Hi-larious. Tonight, I put her in her crib, and she lay down, then stood up again, and reached across the room making that "unh! unh!" noise that indicated she wanted something. I asked her what she wanted and she said, "Bo." I wasn't sure what that was, so I handed her a book, she took it, and lay back down. Then I said good-night and left. And she didn't cry and cry. For the first time ever I left the room while she was still awake and she didn't throw a big stink. Yay!
Sleeping continues to be a struggle, but we deal with it, and I survive as best I can on a lot of coffee. Kaia's typical night means going to sleep around 8:30, waking up about midnight, I usually try to put her back down in her crib, waking up somewhere between 2-4am, at which point, I will bring her back to our bed for the night. If it was a 2am night, there's usually also a 4am wake-up, if it was a 4am night, she'll wake up for the 3rd time between 5:30 and 6, at which point I nurse her so I can eke out another hour before she's up for good at 7am. Blah. That makes me tired just writing it. Last night, however, Kaia's first wake-up wasn't until 3:30am. Yay again! Perhaps we are turning a corner? I'm hopeful but doubtful.
Speaking of turning a corner, it looks like we may finally be coming out of the "cling-on" stage, thank goodness!! For a (long) while, Kaia was just so sad when we left her with someone else. She was fine with Jason (or my mom, when we were there) but that was it. Which was really terrible because I left her in the day care at my MOPS meeting and I heard her crying all the way out in the meeting room and missed 45 minutes of my first meeting. Or I would leave her with a friend when I had to work at Sierra's preschool and I would get a report that she cried on and off for the entire three hours. Awful. However, I worked at preschool last week, and came back to the report that she was smiles for nearly the entire time I was gone. Ah! That's more like it. That's the Kaia-bear I know and love.
She really is such a happy, love-y baby (barely a baby, actually, as we see more and more "girl" in her every day). Sometimes, when you pick her up, she will snuggle into your neck and pat you on the back. She's funny and it's crazy to see a sense of humor in a 1-year-old, but this one's got it (see the "FO!" comment above).
There is much more that I could say, but it's getting late, so for now I'll sign off with this: Kaia has a great big personality, usually happy, and sometimes a little sneaky, and I can't wait to see her continue to grow.
