Yep, I am embracing this classic mantra! "But KK is too young for any kind of steps, even baby ones!" you say. Well the baby steps are not for her (yet), but for me! If you had tried to tell me that I would be spending ANY amount of time away from Kynzie already, I would have laughed at you and called you crazy! And yet I have been baby-stepping my way along!
Baby Step number 1:
Ever since Kynzie has begun to grab hold of things and keep hold for a very extended period of time, I have found it essential to get my hair cut. My hair was well down my back and I couldn't seem to keep it out of her hands, no matter where it was! SO, off with the hair! You would think that making a hair appointment would be easy for me since I don't really have any sort of schedule during the week, but I was terrified of sitting down in the chair and then not being able to hold Kynzie if/when she started crying! I made an appointment for a late Saturday afternoon and convinced James that it would be fun to come with me and hold the baby whilst my hair was being cut. (he's awesome, btw) But when it finally came time for me to leave, KK was asleep and James was so comfy on the couch, and I decided to go WITHOUT them. That's right! I put Kynzie in his arms and left the house sans baby, diaper bag, and baby bjorn! It was really hard at first, but by the time I was at Miss Suzy's Salon in Round Rock (let me know if you want a card...Tracy is AWESOME) I had rolled the windows down and was singing Jason Mraz at the top of my lungs! I kept my phone in my hands the whole time, but made it back home without an emergency call from James! When I arrived they were having a great time! Success!!
Baby Step number 2:
So the haircutting appointment was a week ago, and as much as I had enjoyed the time away, I was NOT planning on stepping any more in the near future. Then my parents and sister came into town this weekend (YAY!!!!). They hadn't seen Kynzie in almost a month, and so it was wonderful for them to come to town! On Saturday the men had planned on going golfing and I wanted to take the ladies to Duetchen Pfest at Pfluger Park. However, just as before, when we were going to get ready to go, she fell fast asleep! Turns out my dad didn't really want to go golfing anyway, and so the boys offered to stay home with Kynzie. So Mom, April, and I went to DP all by ourselves! I made it almost 2 hours before calling, and everything was fine! I ran into several Park Crest folks and felt a little guilty that I was out without her. I tried not to, but I wanted to explain to everyone that I still loved her and that I would be going back home to her very soon to hug and kiss her!
Baby Step number 3: (the BIG one)
And yes, I know that a big baby step is an oxymoron, but it's true! See, the first two baby steps allowed James to stay with her while I was out. It's not like I don't trust other people with her, but it made me feel better knowing that one of her two parents was with her! You see, Pirates of the Caribbean #4 came out this last weekend. James and I both enjoyed the first one, and saw the other two even though they got progressively worse. We had already decided that we wouldn't be seeing the fourth one until it came out in netflix because you can't take a 2 month old to the movie theater! And then Dad came through again! He had gone to see it on Friday and since Mom didn't want to see it, they offered to keep Kynzie and let us go! I said, "Yes!" and then promptly freaked out. James and I were going to leave KK? Both of us? At the same time? Oh no. no no no. I tried to back out that afternoon, but then again I really wanted to go out to a movie with my husband and my sister! So in the end, we went :) I spent the half hour before we left going over everything I could think of with my parents: "Here is how she likes to take a bath.", "This is what she should wear to bed." "Here's the milk, here's the bowl, here's the hot water; this is how you warm up a bottle of milk.", etc. It was like I thought my parents had never taken care of a baby! (clearly not true...) But I left, kept my phone in my hand, only texted once to see how she was, and thoroughly enjoyed an evening with James and April. I even got to have a HUGE guilt-free Dr. Pepper since she was drinking a bottle at home and the most amazing pretzel M&Ms. **sidebar: if you haven't had the new pretzel M&Ms you haven't LIVED** When we got home Kynzie was sleeping in her bassinet and Grammy and PopT were watching TV! It was wonderful!
In the end, I still want to spend all of my time with her in my arms, but turns out I don't HAVE to! It was a wonderful weekend full of fun and love and an extremely happy baby! Now I feel like this:
Kynzie has been starting to make some pretty awesome noises lately. When she is awake and alert, which is more and more of the time, James or I will sit her down facing us and start talking to her. And sure enough, KK will start talking back to us! She is probably the cutest thing in the whole world when she does this. We will sit there for as long as she will stand it and listen to her make her little coos and snorts. A-DORABLE!
And for your viewing pleasure, here's a short video of her talking to Daddy tonight :)
p.s. cheers to James for being amazing and patient. i might have gone a little crazy trying to save and post this video...he's awesome for putting up with me :)
So James and I are getting pretty good at this whole "baby" thing. We know when she's tired and when she's hungry; we can tell when she is mad or hurting or just whiny; we can identify the times when nothing but the vacuum will make her smile. But we have one area that is still a major question mark for us.
Yep, the car. Poor little Heidi! I had been talking to her about the arrival of Kynzie for months! I got a professional carseat installer (that's right, they have those...) to install the carseat and make sure it was perfect for KK. I put several baby einstein cd's (and my beatles lullaby cd - totally awesome) on my phone so I would have wonderful, inspiring music for her to listen to while riding in the Jeep. I bought sunglasses that velcro around her head so they would stay on and prevent the sun from getting in her eyes when she was enjoying the drive. And I got a mirror so I could look back at her smiling face while I drove. Then Kynzie came and it was time to put all of my preparation to the test!!
And she hates it. Absolutely LOATHES the car. What?! First of all, little Heidi is one of my all time favorite things. James and I bought her with our children in mind! The Jeep was purchased with thoughts of road trips with our kids! And she screams the entire time she's in it. Awesome. I shouldn't have been surprised...she is soo much like her mother. Here are two examples:
1. The Seatbelt. James is always yelling at me to put my seatbelt on. I hate seatbelts. They don't let you get comfortable! I am always putting the shoulder strap behind my back or sticking it somewhere so it will hold the waist strap so far away from me that I could fit two of me in the seat. I guess I should have known that KK would be the same way. As soon as the straps go down around her she is grabbing at them and straining to see if she can push them away from her. Hates hates hates the seatbelt.
2. The Rear-facing Seat. If you know me AT ALL then you know that I am a rather social being. I thrive off of social interactions. I am pretty sure that if you look up extrovert in the dictionary, there is a picture of me next to it. I am not so good by myself. (which might be why I asked the DirectTV guy at best buy to stand there and talk to me even though I didn't want to buy what he was selling...it's a little sad) Well, shockingly enough, Kynzie is the same way. I don't know for sure, but I think she dislikes being back there by herself with only the back of the seat to look at. When James is with us, I normally sit back there with her so she will have someone to talk to and she won't feel so abandoned. But when it's just the two of us, she has to sit back there all alone and sad...it's no fun.
My mom says that once she can face forward it will be better, so just another 11 months or so to go...
Luckily James found me a white noise cd that I put on my iPhone, so now we have something that calms her down on my long drives to Target and HEB :)
So since the last post had no pictures in it, how about a whole post of just pictures?! OK!
Here's a great shot of the mo-hawk discussed in the previous post! She hasn't lost any more hair, but it's not growing back in yet either... Luckily she is super cute sans hair!
Look Look!! KK loves her bumbo! She just started sitting in it yesterday, and we are both loving how comfy it is! Plus, it's a great place to play with her favorite toy frog :) She just loves sitting up. Before yesterday, we would just sit her on our lap, but the bumbo is much more stable for her back and neck, and it leaves both of my hands free to play! The frog has huge eyes that she loves to look at and his webby feet have some material inside that makes them crinkle when you bend them. She loves the sound!
Side story about the frog: This was the first toy that KK and I started to play with. She liked it because it has huge eyes that she can stare at; I liked it because it was green. One evening my nephew, Bauer, came over and decided to take out all of her toys, play with them, and then line them up on the nursery floor in order of "funness". As he picked up the frog, I opened my mouth to tell him all about the eyes and the crinkly feet...and froze. Immediately upon grasping the toy, Bauer grabbed the yellow ring under the frog and pulled it. The whole frog erupted in vibrations! What?! I have been playing with this thing for a MONTH and I never knew it vibrated! For crying out loud, I never even pondered why there was a yellow ring at the bottom of the frog. And turns out it makes the toy like 100 times more fun! It bummed me out a little that a 3 year old knows more about my baby's toys than I do! So I made him play with all of the toys again and I took notes. Ok, maybe I didn't, but I probably should have...
Plus also, doesn't she look flipping adorable in purple??
Kynzie is one month old! Yay! One of my assistant principals gave me the idea to have a special onesie for each month of her first year. Then I talked to James about it and he made a different picture for each month! They are all Pooh and super cute! I can't wait for you all to see the other months!
Last but not least...THE SMILE! This is the first picture of her beautiful smile! It has taken us countless pictures and over 2 weeks to capture this elusive expression, but we got it in the end! She is smiling all the time now -- not just when she has gas :) It's so wonderful! She is so beautiful and it makes me feel like maybe I'm not too bad as a mother if I have a daughter that is THAT happy!
Now I am just waiting for her to laugh for the first time :)
