This is sad to say, but this will be the last post to Kinley's blog.
Kinley's story is far from over, but due to the upcoming addition of our second child we thought it would be best if we started a family blog. Don't worry though, we will keep this blog active and continue to blog about Kinley on our family blog. Our family blog is www.themelcherfamily.blogspot.com. We are still working on getting the web page set up, but posts will start going up very soon. (SPOILER ALERT: Kinley's baby brother was born October 7th. Yes, we are already behind on posting about it.)
We would like to thank everyone who has followed and shared in Kinley's life to this point. Please feel free to follow her on our family blog. Her story has been an absolutely amazing one so far and we know that it will continue along that same path.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Bounce House
FYI - This is going to be a picture heavy post.
To help Kinley with the upcoming transition of adding our second child to the family, we bought her an early Christmas gift. It is a bounce house. The plan is that the bounce house will give her something to do while we are overwhelmed taking care of her little brother. We got the idea from our close friends who bought their 2 year old a bounce house for his birthday. It is an indoor/outdoor bounce house, but our main intention is to use it indoors since it will be winter soon. The bounce house is made by "little tikes" and we ended up ordering it online since not too many retailers carry them in stock. I believe we bought it through babyage.com because it had free delivery and we found an online coupon for 10% off. Little Tikes has many different styles of bounce houses. We ended up going with a triangle bounce house that has a slide on one side. We felt it was the best option to fit in our house. Below are a bunch of pictures from the first day Kinley was able to play in it.
To help Kinley with the upcoming transition of adding our second child to the family, we bought her an early Christmas gift. It is a bounce house. The plan is that the bounce house will give her something to do while we are overwhelmed taking care of her little brother. We got the idea from our close friends who bought their 2 year old a bounce house for his birthday. It is an indoor/outdoor bounce house, but our main intention is to use it indoors since it will be winter soon. The bounce house is made by "little tikes" and we ended up ordering it online since not too many retailers carry them in stock. I believe we bought it through babyage.com because it had free delivery and we found an online coupon for 10% off. Little Tikes has many different styles of bounce houses. We ended up going with a triangle bounce house that has a slide on one side. We felt it was the best option to fit in our house. Below are a bunch of pictures from the first day Kinley was able to play in it.
Please let me play!
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Your Baby Can Read
To help with Kinley's speech development we have purchased the Your Baby Can Read box set from Bed, Bath & Beyond. One of our main motivations for purchasing and trying Your Baby Can Read is that one of the boys in Kinley's playgroup is using it and he has a very extensive vocabulary. Our second reason is that we are willing to try anything to help Kinley increase her vocabulary and hopefully catch up in her speech development. Buying the entire set from the Your Baby Can Read website was too expensive for us, but we were comfortable purchasing the smaller set using one, of our many, 20% off coupons to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Our set came with 4 DVDs, 4 word flap books and 4 sets of flash cards.
Kinley enjoys all 3 parts (DVDs, books and flash cards) of her box set. The DVDs are pretty short and not very fancy, but they work really well in the car. Her pronunciation still needs a lot of work, but she makes attempts to say most every word. She especially likes the songs on the DVDs. She attempts to do the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She touches her head during "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes". She might do more body parts, but the song simply goes too fast for her to keep up. And she claps, stomps and yells hooray to "If You're Happy And You Know It." She likes the books also, but the flaps go all different directions depending on the page and sometimes Kinley gets frustrated. The flash cards are especially nice because they have inserts that slide out to reveal a picture of the word on the card. Kinley has fun sliding the cards.
Overall we are very happy with our purchase of Your Baby Can Read. Kinley still has a long way to go with pronunciation and verbal communication, but it has gotten her vocalizing more and has also greatly increased her vocabulary. Now when we read books to Kinley she loves to point to, and say all of the objects she knows.
Kinley enjoys all 3 parts (DVDs, books and flash cards) of her box set. The DVDs are pretty short and not very fancy, but they work really well in the car. Her pronunciation still needs a lot of work, but she makes attempts to say most every word. She especially likes the songs on the DVDs. She attempts to do the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She touches her head during "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes". She might do more body parts, but the song simply goes too fast for her to keep up. And she claps, stomps and yells hooray to "If You're Happy And You Know It." She likes the books also, but the flaps go all different directions depending on the page and sometimes Kinley gets frustrated. The flash cards are especially nice because they have inserts that slide out to reveal a picture of the word on the card. Kinley has fun sliding the cards.
Overall we are very happy with our purchase of Your Baby Can Read. Kinley still has a long way to go with pronunciation and verbal communication, but it has gotten her vocalizing more and has also greatly increased her vocabulary. Now when we read books to Kinley she loves to point to, and say all of the objects she knows.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Lake House
While we were vacationing at Tan-Tar-A earlier this year, Grandma and Grandpa Seep were doing some searching for a lake house. Luckily, for everyone, they found one that met all their requirements and they were able to close on it. Now, thanks completely to Grandma and Grandpa Seep, Kinley and her soon to be younger brother will have a fun vacation home that is not too far away. I guess mom and dad will simply have to suck it up and tag along. I'm completely kidding. I think we might be more excited about the lake house than Grandma and Grandpa.
After the closing was finalized we all (Kathy, Kevin, Kinley, Grandpa and Grandma Seep) took a family trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart. There Kinley helped us pick out beds and couches for the lake house.
We have been down to the lake house a couple of times with Kinley, but unfortunately we have not taken any pictures. Below is a pic that Grandpa Seep took of Grandma Seep, with the lake house in the background.
Kinley really enjoys the water and she loves it when we go swimming off the dock. We do not have a boat yet, but Grandma and Grandpa Seep hope to have one by next summer. We also have plans to help out by getting a wave runner for the house, but need to do some researching and money saving first. Especially with baby #2 coming.
After the closing was finalized we all (Kathy, Kevin, Kinley, Grandpa and Grandma Seep) took a family trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart. There Kinley helped us pick out beds and couches for the lake house.
We have been down to the lake house a couple of times with Kinley, but unfortunately we have not taken any pictures. Below is a pic that Grandpa Seep took of Grandma Seep, with the lake house in the background.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
2 Year Update
OK, well I guess Kinley has been two for awhile now, but I have been meaning to post a two year update since she turned two, so that is what we are going with.
Kinley is still sleeping very well. Her bedtime is typically between 8-8:30 PM and she usually sleeps until at least 7 or 8 AM the next morning. She also takes an afternoon nap which usually starts around 1 PM and lasts until 4 PM. She doesn't always sleep the entire naptime, but she is content to rest in her crib.
We don't really worry about Kinley's eating patterns anymore, which is great considering how focused we were on her nutrition status and weight at first. Kinley has really come a long way from the feeding tube, supplements and thickener that she used to require. Now Kinley eats breakfast when she wakes up, lunch around noon, a cup of milk as a snack when she wakes up from her nap, and dinner around 7 PM. Breakfast is usually french toast sticks or cereal with some type of fruit, usually a banana. Kinley will also get a cup of 2% milk with a 1/4 capful of Miralax mixed in. All of Kinley's cups are now cups with straws. She has outgrown the traditional sippy cup. Lunch and dinner varies from day to day, but Kinley's favorite foods recently are mac and cheese, grilled cheese, Dora yogurt, muffins, crackers and cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza and almost any type of fruit. Kinley is not big into vegetables or meat other than chicken nuggets, but we are working on it. Kinley gets water in her cup with lunch and dinner. I am sure Kinley would prefer milk, but we were told Kinley was getting too much milk, plus her appetite seems to be better for lunch and dinner when we give her water to drink. We have tried letting Kinley have some juice as a little treat, but she doesn't really like it. Kinley has recently learned to use a fork and spoon and actually prefers using utensils to her hands to eat since her hands get less messy that way.
When Kinley turned 2 years old we started giving her a chewy multi-vitamin to help with her nutrition. She is not on any meds, but we do give her a 1/4 capful of Miralax a day.
As of Kinley's last check up on 6/2/10, her weight was 25 lbs (30th percentile). Her height was 34.5 inches (75th percentile). And her head circumference was 19.5 inches (95th percentile). She does not need to go back for a check up until her 3rd birthday. As of Kinley's 2nd birthday, she was wearing size 18 month clothes, size 3 diapers and size 6 shoes. Currently (October 2010) Kinley is wearing size 2T clothes, size 4 diapers and size 7 shoes.
Kinley continues to be seen by Infant and Toddler Services of Johnson County (ITSJC). Her gross motor skills are up to date, but her fine motor skills still need a little more work. Kinley's biggest developmental delay, and ITSJC's main focus, is language/speech skills. In fact, her ITSJC appointments have been increased from every 2 weeks to every week to work more with her speech. Kinley is roughly behind by about 3 months in her speech development, but she has been able to keep pace to not fall any further behind. Hopefully the increase in ITSJC visits will help her to catch up on her language skills. Along with speech therapy from ITSJC, Kinley is seen by an Occupational Therapist (OT) every other week. Kinley's OT works with her on some sensory issues.
Kinley is still sleeping very well. Her bedtime is typically between 8-8:30 PM and she usually sleeps until at least 7 or 8 AM the next morning. She also takes an afternoon nap which usually starts around 1 PM and lasts until 4 PM. She doesn't always sleep the entire naptime, but she is content to rest in her crib.
We don't really worry about Kinley's eating patterns anymore, which is great considering how focused we were on her nutrition status and weight at first. Kinley has really come a long way from the feeding tube, supplements and thickener that she used to require. Now Kinley eats breakfast when she wakes up, lunch around noon, a cup of milk as a snack when she wakes up from her nap, and dinner around 7 PM. Breakfast is usually french toast sticks or cereal with some type of fruit, usually a banana. Kinley will also get a cup of 2% milk with a 1/4 capful of Miralax mixed in. All of Kinley's cups are now cups with straws. She has outgrown the traditional sippy cup. Lunch and dinner varies from day to day, but Kinley's favorite foods recently are mac and cheese, grilled cheese, Dora yogurt, muffins, crackers and cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza and almost any type of fruit. Kinley is not big into vegetables or meat other than chicken nuggets, but we are working on it. Kinley gets water in her cup with lunch and dinner. I am sure Kinley would prefer milk, but we were told Kinley was getting too much milk, plus her appetite seems to be better for lunch and dinner when we give her water to drink. We have tried letting Kinley have some juice as a little treat, but she doesn't really like it. Kinley has recently learned to use a fork and spoon and actually prefers using utensils to her hands to eat since her hands get less messy that way.
When Kinley turned 2 years old we started giving her a chewy multi-vitamin to help with her nutrition. She is not on any meds, but we do give her a 1/4 capful of Miralax a day.
As of Kinley's last check up on 6/2/10, her weight was 25 lbs (30th percentile). Her height was 34.5 inches (75th percentile). And her head circumference was 19.5 inches (95th percentile). She does not need to go back for a check up until her 3rd birthday. As of Kinley's 2nd birthday, she was wearing size 18 month clothes, size 3 diapers and size 6 shoes. Currently (October 2010) Kinley is wearing size 2T clothes, size 4 diapers and size 7 shoes.
Kinley continues to be seen by Infant and Toddler Services of Johnson County (ITSJC). Her gross motor skills are up to date, but her fine motor skills still need a little more work. Kinley's biggest developmental delay, and ITSJC's main focus, is language/speech skills. In fact, her ITSJC appointments have been increased from every 2 weeks to every week to work more with her speech. Kinley is roughly behind by about 3 months in her speech development, but she has been able to keep pace to not fall any further behind. Hopefully the increase in ITSJC visits will help her to catch up on her language skills. Along with speech therapy from ITSJC, Kinley is seen by an Occupational Therapist (OT) every other week. Kinley's OT works with her on some sensory issues.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tan-Tar-A
In July, we took a family vacation to Tan-Tar-A Resort at Lake of the Ozarks. Kevin, Kinley and I, along with my parents, went last year for a long weekend and had so much fun that we decided to go for a whole week this year. Aunt Mary was also able to make the trip this year, so that was really nice.
I say "make the trip" like it is pretty far away, but really it is just a 3 hour drive. It is the perfect length for a car trip with a 2 year old and the atmosphere at the lake is much more relaxing than at home. It was really nice to get away for a little while, and we are already planning our next trip back to the lake.
We spent most days at the various pools the resort had. Kinley is getting to be quite the little water baby. She loves the pool and being outside! The resort had a baby pool that Kinley loved last year, but seemed a little too big for it this year. We spent most of the time divided between the toddler pool and the adult pool. Kinley liked playing with all her water toys in the toddler pool, but towards the end of the week she figured out how to get out of the toddler pool all by herself and go over to the adult pool.
I am sure she would just jump into the adult pool if we were not right there to stop her. She has no fear! In the adult pool Kinley likes to swim with mommy and daddy. Grandma and Grandpa Seep bought her a noodle and she would hold onto the noodle and kick her little feet behind. We really need to get this girl into some swim lessons. On the last day of vacation daddy let Kinley jump into the pool and into his arms as he was standing in the pool and Kinley thought that was really fun. Kevin also had Kinley put her face underwater to get her used to it and she didn't even mind that. Like I said before, total water baby. Watch out mommy and daddy, we have to keep a close eye on her while at the pool.
We also rented a pontoon boat one day and took it out on the lake. Just like at Big Cedar, Kinley's favorite spot on the boat was front and center. She was content to stand there and watch the water and other boats go by. It got pretty hot on the boat, so we did stop in a little cove, put the anchor down and took a quick swim in the lake to cool off a bit. As with everything else water related, Kinley seemed to enjoy the quick swim, but was ready to get back on the boat when it was time to head back.
Overall Kinley did really well on vacation for a whole week. Of course she enjoyed all the attention from being the only child on vacation, but she also ate really well and slept pretty good too.
I say "make the trip" like it is pretty far away, but really it is just a 3 hour drive. It is the perfect length for a car trip with a 2 year old and the atmosphere at the lake is much more relaxing than at home. It was really nice to get away for a little while, and we are already planning our next trip back to the lake.
We spent most days at the various pools the resort had. Kinley is getting to be quite the little water baby. She loves the pool and being outside! The resort had a baby pool that Kinley loved last year, but seemed a little too big for it this year. We spent most of the time divided between the toddler pool and the adult pool. Kinley liked playing with all her water toys in the toddler pool, but towards the end of the week she figured out how to get out of the toddler pool all by herself and go over to the adult pool.
I am sure she would just jump into the adult pool if we were not right there to stop her. She has no fear! In the adult pool Kinley likes to swim with mommy and daddy. Grandma and Grandpa Seep bought her a noodle and she would hold onto the noodle and kick her little feet behind. We really need to get this girl into some swim lessons. On the last day of vacation daddy let Kinley jump into the pool and into his arms as he was standing in the pool and Kinley thought that was really fun. Kevin also had Kinley put her face underwater to get her used to it and she didn't even mind that. Like I said before, total water baby. Watch out mommy and daddy, we have to keep a close eye on her while at the pool.
We also rented a pontoon boat one day and took it out on the lake. Just like at Big Cedar, Kinley's favorite spot on the boat was front and center. She was content to stand there and watch the water and other boats go by. It got pretty hot on the boat, so we did stop in a little cove, put the anchor down and took a quick swim in the lake to cool off a bit. As with everything else water related, Kinley seemed to enjoy the quick swim, but was ready to get back on the boat when it was time to head back.
Overall Kinley did really well on vacation for a whole week. Of course she enjoyed all the attention from being the only child on vacation, but she also ate really well and slept pretty good too.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Lenexa BBQ
Wow, June was a pretty busy month for us. Each year some good friends of ours compete in the Lenexa BBQ and we try to make it out to the event to support them and taste the delicious BBQ! This year we were lucky enough to be able to make it out again. It was pretty hot out, even for being the evening, but that didn't stop us from having a good time and eating some great BBQ.
Kinley liked to try out all the different chairs.
Finally we got a couple of pics of Chase and Kinley together and both looking at the camera!
Kinley liked to try out all the different chairs.
Finally we got a couple of pics of Chase and Kinley together and both looking at the camera!
Shatto Dairy Farm
Also back in June, our playgroup took a little field trip to the Shatto Dairy Farm just north of Kansas City. Shatto is a family run farm and we credit them with helping Kinley learn to drink out of a sippy cup. When Kinley was transitioning from the bottle to a sippy cup we let her drink the various yummy flavors of Shatto milk in her sippy cup. I think banana was her favorite, but they also have orange, chocolate, root beer and strawberry. Shatto was having a family fun day at the farm, so there were lots of people visiting and it was pretty crowded, but Kinley still got to see the cows up close and personal. Turns out Kinley was not a big fan of the cows, but oh well. We stayed just long enough to see all the exhibits and then a huge storm rolled in, so we left in a little rush. We made it to the car before the big downpour started, so that was good. Wasn't able to get many pics from that day, but here are just a few.
Hearing Update
Back on June 14th, Kinley had a follow up visit with the audiology department at Children's Mercy Hospital. Her previous appointment showed a slight, low frequency hearing loss, but nothing that should be interfering with her speech. We were told to try and get her used to using ear buds or headphones so that they could do a more thorough exam at this visit.
Kinley did great during this exam. They were able to do the more extensive hearing test and found that Kinley does not have any hearing issues at this time. She passed with flying colors and we do not need another follow up appointment until next year! We will still need to have her hearing monitored since children born with CDH are at greater risk for progressive hearing loss, but at this time everything looks great!
Kinley did great during this exam. They were able to do the more extensive hearing test and found that Kinley does not have any hearing issues at this time. She passed with flying colors and we do not need another follow up appointment until next year! We will still need to have her hearing monitored since children born with CDH are at greater risk for progressive hearing loss, but at this time everything looks great!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Kinley 2nd Birthday Party
For Kinley's 2nd birthday, Kevin and I bought her a new swing set for the backyard. We decided to have her birthday party be a backyard BBQ so that she and all the other kids could play on her new swing set. Looks like everyone had a fun time!
Kinley climbing up the ladder. She needed some help at first, but now she can go all the way up by herself and down the slide. She is getting so big, so fast!
Now what mom?
Trying out the different swings.
Opening up presents!
Look Dad, barrettes! (Now all we have to do is convince Kinley to keep the barrettes in her hair. She hates hair in her face, but won't keep any barrettes, hair ties or headbands on.)
Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Dear Kinley, Happy Birthday to you!! We love you!!!
Kinley climbing up the ladder. She needed some help at first, but now she can go all the way up by herself and down the slide. She is getting so big, so fast!
Now what mom?
Trying out the different swings.
Opening up presents!
Look Dad, barrettes! (Now all we have to do is convince Kinley to keep the barrettes in her hair. She hates hair in her face, but won't keep any barrettes, hair ties or headbands on.)
Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Dear Kinley, Happy Birthday to you!! We love you!!!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
A Big Sister
One of the reasons that I am so far behind on blog posts is because of some exciting news. Kinley is going to be a BIG SISTER!! Her little brother is due October 13th. So far the little guy is growing well and looks healthy! We don't have a name picked out yet, no furniture has been ordered yet, and I can't find any bedding that I like so we haven't even started decorating the new nursery. Lots to do and time is flying by.
I keep trying to explain what is happening to Kinley, but I don't think she will understand until he is here. I hope she adjusts alright. I worry since she is used to being the center of attention being an only child for now, and the only grandchild on both my side of the family and Kevin's. Also, given all that Kinley went through after she was born, well, lets just say she might be a little spoiled.
For the most part Kinley seems to take everything in stride though, and I am sure she will be a great Big Sister once she warms up to the idea.
I keep trying to explain what is happening to Kinley, but I don't think she will understand until he is here. I hope she adjusts alright. I worry since she is used to being the center of attention being an only child for now, and the only grandchild on both my side of the family and Kevin's. Also, given all that Kinley went through after she was born, well, lets just say she might be a little spoiled.
For the most part Kinley seems to take everything in stride though, and I am sure she will be a great Big Sister once she warms up to the idea.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Big Cedar
I feel like every time I am about to get caught up with the blog, things happen and then I fall even more behind. So, I am back to playing catch-up.
The weekend of May 7th we took a family vacation with my parents to Big Cedar Lodge at Table Rock Lake. The resort was beautiful and we had pretty good weather. It was a little cool, but at least it didn't rain on us.
Kinley is getting so independent and wants to walk everywhere by herself these days. She loved all the bridges at the lodge.
Kinley wasn't used to all the hills and did fall a couple of times on her walks, but for the most part she did really well and had a great time exploring her new environment.
There was lots of fun stuff for Kinley to do at the lodge. One of the first things we did was take her horse back riding.
Kinley wasn't too sure about this, but we gave it a try anyway.
She did great petting her horse.
But not so great when it came to actually riding the horse.
She was happy again once we let her run around on her own. At least she tried something new and cheers up quickly after it is over!
The lodge also had a little turtle pond with tons of turtles. Here is Kinley getting her chance to see the turtles with grandma.
Later on that weekend we rented a pontoon boat and hit the lake. Kinley is such a water baby. At the back of the boat helping grandpa drive.
Hanging out with grandma at the front of the boat and enjoying the view.
It was a little chilly on the boat, so we tried to hang out on the front of the boat where the sun was. Luckily we put sunscreen on Kinley's face, but since I was just trying to warm up in the sun (not tan) I didn't even think about putting sunscreen on me. Bad move. My pale skin was not used to any amount of sun and I got burned. Oh well, at least it was near the end of the trip anyway. Lesson learned.
Even with her sunscreen, Kinley ended up hurting worse than me after the boat ride. While we were on the boat Kinley took a spill and gave herself a pretty good fat lip. We were able to get her all cleaned up, gave her some ibuprofen and iced her lip. She was a trooper and daddy knew just how to make her feel better, Phineas and Ferb on the ipod until she fell asleep and took a nap on daddy's lap.
Overall a fun weekend. It is always nice to get away, even if it is just for a long weekend.
The weekend of May 7th we took a family vacation with my parents to Big Cedar Lodge at Table Rock Lake. The resort was beautiful and we had pretty good weather. It was a little cool, but at least it didn't rain on us.
Kinley is getting so independent and wants to walk everywhere by herself these days. She loved all the bridges at the lodge.
Kinley wasn't used to all the hills and did fall a couple of times on her walks, but for the most part she did really well and had a great time exploring her new environment.
There was lots of fun stuff for Kinley to do at the lodge. One of the first things we did was take her horse back riding.
Kinley wasn't too sure about this, but we gave it a try anyway.
She did great petting her horse.
But not so great when it came to actually riding the horse.
She was happy again once we let her run around on her own. At least she tried something new and cheers up quickly after it is over!
The lodge also had a little turtle pond with tons of turtles. Here is Kinley getting her chance to see the turtles with grandma.
Later on that weekend we rented a pontoon boat and hit the lake. Kinley is such a water baby. At the back of the boat helping grandpa drive.
Hanging out with grandma at the front of the boat and enjoying the view.
It was a little chilly on the boat, so we tried to hang out on the front of the boat where the sun was. Luckily we put sunscreen on Kinley's face, but since I was just trying to warm up in the sun (not tan) I didn't even think about putting sunscreen on me. Bad move. My pale skin was not used to any amount of sun and I got burned. Oh well, at least it was near the end of the trip anyway. Lesson learned.
Even with her sunscreen, Kinley ended up hurting worse than me after the boat ride. While we were on the boat Kinley took a spill and gave herself a pretty good fat lip. We were able to get her all cleaned up, gave her some ibuprofen and iced her lip. She was a trooper and daddy knew just how to make her feel better, Phineas and Ferb on the ipod until she fell asleep and took a nap on daddy's lap.
Overall a fun weekend. It is always nice to get away, even if it is just for a long weekend.
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