Little By Little

Well, little by little we are getting caught back up on the blog, and little by little Kinley is making progress as far as language development goes.

At one of Kinley's Infant and Toddler therapy sessions back at the beginning of October we decided that it would be beneficial for Kinley to be seen by Debbie, the Early Childhood Development/Speech Language Pathologist on a weekly basis. Prior to this all her therapy sessions had been every other week. I guess Kinley got the clue because she started to make more progress since she has been getting weekly sessions with Debbie.

Kinley is now just over 17 months and has recently started to point (on occasion) to items that she wants, she has also started to wave hello & goodbye, she can clap her hands when we say "yeah, Kinley", she can give a high five, give a hug, and on a couple of occasions she has used the sign for "more" correctly. This is a huge improvement from where we started out just a few months ago when we were concerned that she may have hearing issues because her language skills were taking a little longer than expected to develop. Debbie had said she thought Kinley was focused on gross motor skills and that as soon as she started walking, language development would be next and that seems to be the case for Kinley.

In addition to all the hand signs that were mentioned already, Kinley is also starting to babble a little more and there have been a few occasions where it looks like she is really trying hard to communicate with us, but of course all we hear is babbling, a good sign none the less. Kinley's new favorite thing to say is ba-ba. This works out great and she fools a lot of people because she will play with her ball, baby and bottle and everybody just thinks she is saying the object that she is playing with. She will also say ba-ba when waving and it sounds like she is saying bye-bye. Finally, she has been playing with her lamb a lot recently and we will say, "Kinley, what does your lamb say?" ba-ba (ie bah-bah). It is pretty cute even if she doesn't totally understand what she is saying.

Kinley is also getting a better attention span. Just recently we have been able to read books to her and she will sit and listen/turn pages for a whole book at a time. Previously we had been able to get a couple of pages out of a book and that was about all. Kinley also recently got a new craft table and she can sit and color for several minutes at a time. She actually has just as much fun coloring with the cap on her marker as she does with it off. I think she likes the sound it makes on her table. She played with play-dough for an extended period of time when her friend from Parents as Teachers came by for a visit. Kinley really liked the play-dough when it was rolled up into balls and she had a blast putting it in a little container and then dumping all the balls of play-dough out. Kinley did not like the play-dough when it was in the shape of a snake. Go figure. At least she know what she likes. Speaking of knowing what she likes, Kinley has also started to shake her head "no". We don't think she knows what it means yet because she will shake her head and have a huge smile on her face, but once she figures out how to communicate "no" we will be in trouble.

Other new developments for Kinley are that she can feed her baby a bottle, walk just about everywhere including outside on hills and up and down stairs (with some hand holding assistance from mommy and daddy of course), she has even tried to run on a couple of occasions and does pretty well with that. She will walk backwards when she has her little toy stroller to pull and she is trying more and more new foods each day. She has several toys that make noise and if she hears a song she likes she will start to dance. Unfortunately for Kinley, we think she inherited her mommy and daddy's dancing skills. It is still really cute to watch her move to sound and know that she is having fun.

Kinley is getting more comfortable around others which has made traveling with her easier. It is also a lot nicer for grandmas and grandpas, as well as aunts, and all Kinley's other relatives who want to spend time with her. It was also really great on Halloween. We didn't take Kinley out trick-or-treating, but Kinley had just as much fun watching all the dressed up kids in the neighborhood come to her door.

We really can't believe how Kinley is transforming into a little girl so quickly and is no longer our fragile little baby. Each day she amazes us and it is so much fun to watch her develop into our little girl.

In addition to strengthening Kinley's new developing skills, Debbie (and mommy and daddy) are working with Kinley to learn body parts, especially nose, mouth and eyes. We are also working on the sign for "all done".

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We have fallen a little behind in our posts, but wanted to get some Halloween pics up, so as soon as we get a chance to catch up on the blog we will have to back track a little. Oh, the life of a parent...too much to do and too little time. Anyway, enjoy the Halloween pics. Kinley was a doctor this year. She got a really cute pair of scrubs from her Great Aunt Jody for her birthday and we couldn't pass up this chance for her to wear them. Thanks Jody!

Dr. Melcher with her cup of coffee getting ready for her shift.
Did someone say "code blue"? I'm on my way!

Dr. Melcher at the scene of a car wreck.

Not to worry, no one was hurt and I can go back to my coffee.

This was the best pic we could get showing Kinley in her scrubs. She even has Dr. Melcher embroidered on them. So cute.

Whew, rough day at work. Time to unwind and watch some TV.

Relaxing.

On a side note, Kinley has learned how to give Kobi a treat after she goes outside.

Kobi is great with Kinley and so patient.

Tailgating At The KU Game!

Yesterday we were lucky enough to be able to take Kinley to the KU game and do some tailgating on the hill. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. To top things off KU won! We met Chase and his family at the game so Kinley had a buddy to help her cheer on the Jayhawks.

Kinley sportin' her Reesing jersey.

Kinley was everywhere during the game. Chase's parents set up a cool tent and play area for the kids, but Kinley preferred to roam around and visit all the other tailgaters. She walked up and down the hill at times and other times she crawled. She barely sat still the whole time we were there. She had fun though, and that is the important part. Mom and Dad were worn out by the end.

Mommy and daughter on the hill.


We were able to get a few pics of Kinley and Chase playing together. (On the rare occasions when Kinley was sitting still.)

This was the best pic I could get showing Kinley and Chase both wearing their #5 jersey. Looks like we need to get Kinley a little basketball and Chase's parents need to get him a little pink elephant. Haha.

Group picture. Rock Chalk!

Here is a picture I took after we got back home. Kinley practicing getting drinks out of the cooler for the next time we go tailgating.

Kinley Is Walking!

Just before we left for Colorado Kinley started taking more than just a step here and there. Her primary means of transportation was still crawling though. I was hoping that Kinley would try to walk more in Colorado being around Jasmin, but Jasmin ended up crawling with Kinley more than Kinley ended up walking with her. Jasmin was such a good host and made her guests feel at home. Oh well, Kinley must have been taking notes on walking because she has really taken off since we got home. See for yourself in this little clip.

Kinley still crawls about 50% of the time, but as you can see she is getting pretty good at walking now.

Trip Home From Colorado

NO BOTTLES IN THE CAR was our motto for the trip home. So, about 3 hours into our drive home we stopped at a Wendy's and got out to eat a late dinner. I ate while Kevin fed Kinley her bottle of Pediasure and Kevin was able to get Kinley to take all 8 oz. Then it was my turn to watch Kinley as Kevin ate. Well, before Kevin was even able to order his dinner Kinley sent all 8 oz of Pediasure back up, right in the dining room of the Wendy's. Kevin and I felt bad for Kinley and also for the people around who had to witness the ordeal. The other guests were really nice and brought several napkins over to us to try and help, but there was a lot to clean up. I took Kinley to the bathroom and undressed her, washed her off as best I could, then changed her clothes while Kevin attended to the mess that Kinley left on the floor. We just tossed her outfit, bib and burp cloth and left Wendy's as soon as we could. We later went through the drive thru because in our hast to clean up and get out of there we forgot that Kevin still had not gotten a chance to eat. I decided to try and give Kinley a few Goldfish crackers in the car a little later since she basically missed dinner, but stayed away from any other bottles for the rest of the trip. I felt bad not giving her anything else to drink, but we had a long drive ahead of us still and we could not keep stopping to feed her just to have her throw it all up again. Luckily Kinley cooperated and slept for most of the drive that we had left. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful.

When we did arrive home the next morning Kinley was starving. She ate better than we had seen her eat in a long time and drank more than 8 oz of milk from her sippy cup. (Kinley's sippy cups are 8 oz and we had to refill the cup during her feeding.) Anyway, from that point on Kinley has really taken off with her table foods and sippy cups. We haven't touched a bottle since we got home because Kinley is drinking so well out of her sippy cups during the day!! She has also been trying new foods or accepting old foods that we haven't been able to get her to eat in a while. Some of those old foods include applesauce, cheese, freeze dried fruit, french toast sticks and yogurt. Some of the new foods Kinley has tried include grilled cheese sandwich, sliced chicken deli meat sandwich, animal crackers, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The trick to getting Kinley to eat any sandwich is to cut it up and feed it to her, one bite at a time, on a fork. She is also getting better at feeding herself with a spoon.

Kevin and I are thrilled with Kinley's progress. We are a lot happier now that she is eating better and she seems to be a lot happier also. We don't dread mealtimes anymore and that is really nice for a change.

Pics From Colorado

Kevin and I love visiting Arin. It is such a different atmosphere compared to where we live, so it is a nice change of pace. Arin and her husband live on a ranch in the northwest corner of Colorado along with their daughter, who happened to be celebrating her birthday while we were there.

View from Arin's house down the driveway.

This is the river that runs near the house.
Picture of their garden. We ate fresh sweet corn, zucchini, carrots and tomatoes while we were there. Delicious!
We were able to be there for Jasmin's birthday party. While Kevin and I were happy about that, Kinley was not too sure about all the extra guests. Kinley was fine when she was playing in the playroom, but as soon as Kevin or I took her out in the living room/kitchen area she freaked out and started screaming. We finally gave up on having her attend the party and dressed her up in her warm clothes so Kevin could take her for a walk. Funny thing is, when she was all bundled up and in her stroller she didn't mind being in the kitchen or living room with all the other guests. Kevin never ended up going for that walk with her, we just left her all bundled up, in her stroller inside and she was content.

Jasmin getting ready to blow out her candles.

Opening gifts.

Look who finally made it out of her stroller to get a better view of all Jasmin's gifts. Still bundled up, but making progress.
Even more progress as Kinley shed her hood and hat. She doesn't seem to sure about it though.

Kinley was able to see pigs up close and personal for the first time. She was fearless with that fence between her and the pigs.

Kinley's first time riding a real horse. Thanks for sharing Jasmin!

On the very last day of our vacation, as we were about to leave, Kinley finally let Arin hold her for the first time.

Thanks so much for a wonderful vacation. We had a great time!!

P.S. If you are wondering how Kinley ate on vacation I would have to say medium. We fed her at the table in her Bumbo with Phineas and Ferb on for most meals. She ate pretty much the same on vacation as she had been eating at home before we left. We tried a bottle a couple of times while there and she did OK. She would take most of the bottle, but then spit up just a little once in a while. Kinley did try a couple of new foods on vacation with her favorite being sausage from a breakfast burrito. Overall I would say she did pretty good for being away from home.

Trip To Colorado

Since Kinley did pretty well on the previous vacation to Tan-Tar-A, we decided it would be nice to take a trip to Colorado and visit my college roommate from TCU. (Before I went to KU for pharmacy school I went to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX and got my undergrad degree in Nutrition.) Anyway, from our house to Arin's house should have been a 13 hour road trip.

Kevin and I decided the easiest way to make the trip with a 15 month old was to drive through the night. We ended up leaving our house at 10 am on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago and drove to Topeka to visit my parents for the day before leaving there at 7 pm. From Topeka the trip should have taken only 12 hours, plus there was a time change so we expected to arrive at Arin's around 6 am on Wednesday.

The trip started off great. Kinley had gotten used to her new car seat and traveled pretty well in it. Around 8:30 pm I gave Kinley her night time bottle in her car seat as we were traveling so that we could stay on pace to arrive on time. I have given Kinley bottles in her car seat before and she does just fine. In fact, sometimes she eats better in the car. I was able to get Kinley to take her whole 8 oz bottle of Pediasure (woohoo). We kept traveling and just before we hit Hays, KS all 8 oz of Pediasure came back up. There was Pediasure on Kinley, in her car seat and on the seat of the car. It was everywhere, and so was the smell! I was ready to turn around, cancel the trip and head home. Lucky for me, Kevin is good at staying calm and rational in these situations. He used the GPS to find a hotel in Hays with laundry services and saved the day. (He is so smart!)

We ended up stopping at the Ramada in Hays and I was fully willing, and expecting to pay for a room for the night just to give Kinley a bath and do a load of laundry. I was shocked when Kevin came back from the front desk and said they were going to let us use a room for free! The laundry services were coin operated, so we paid for that, but that was pretty cheap. When Kevin explained to the gentleman at the desk what had happened he said they had a whole wing where the air was broke, so they could not rent out any of those rooms anyway. He said we could just use one of those rooms. Kevin and I didn't care about the air not working, we just needed to clean up, so it worked out great. They were really nice at the Ramada. Here are a couple of pics of Kinley (after her bath) crawling up and down the hall as we waited for the washer/dryer to end. Keep in mind it is around midnight and she is wide awake.

I was able to get Kinley to take another whole 8 oz bottle of Pediasure while we were at the hotel, and that one stayed down!

After our fun little stop in Hays we were back on the road again. We made it past Denver and just about an hour and a half shy of our destination without any problems. That is when Kinley woke up and I had the bright idea to give her another bottle for breakfast instead of stopping and letting her eat table food. We didn't plan on our stop in Hays though, so I thought a bottle would be better so that we could keep traveling. It was 8 am by this time and if we didn't have to stop earlier we would have arrived at our destination 2 hours ago. Just about 2 oz into the bottle Kinley sent it right back up. Again all over her and her car seat. At least this time in was only 2 oz and it didn't get on the seat of the car. We were in the middle of nowhere Colorado, so we didn't have much of a choice but to keep going. Needless to say, I didn't try feeding Kinley a bottle in the car again. I don't think the problem was car sickness, because she has eaten just fine in the car in the past. I think she was still getting over her cold and that made it hard for her to take a bottle.

We finally ended up arriving around 9:30 am and the first thing we did when we got there was to give Kinley a bath and do another load of laundry. Kevin is an expert at taking the new car seat out of the car and taking it apart to wash.