Fuffum

A few of my favorite Kennedy words:

Fuffum - muffin

Osheen - orange

Sa-shas - paci

Yion - lion

Eh-fant - elephant

Pearly Whites

I took Kennedy to her first dentist appointment this morning. I had no expectations for this appointment. At most, I figured she would walk around the office, meet the dentist and we would be on our way. She is wiggly, squirmy and going through a Mommy-Hold-Me-All-The-Time phase. I had no idea how they would get her to sit still long enough to have her little teeth looked at. I assumed there would be TV screens and prizes involved. At this appointment, the dentist just looks at her teeth and applies a fluoride treatment.

First of all - the waiting room was amazing. It was modern, cheery and very cool inside. It was a playground. Literally. There was a massive play structure that took Kennedy's breath away. There were also touch screen computer games and a movie playing. Once Kennedy's name was called we were led to  a massive DVD library to select something to keep her attention. I froze. I've never seen so many kids DVDs. I fumbled around and grabbed a Barney DVD. Barney? Really? Anyway, it did the trick and Kennedy laid completely still while the dentist counted her teeth and examined her mouth. She even said "mmm, thanks" after her put the flouride treatment on (it was strawberry flavored).

The dentist talked to me about toddler oral health while the hygienist took Kennedy to the toy chest to select a prize. Its already time to start flossing. That should be interesting. He also gave me some tips for breaking the night-time paci, which we hope to do in the next few months.

Anyway, her exam was great. We are doing everything we should be doing and not eating/drinking the things we shouldn't be eating/drinking. She will go back every 6 months, just like a grown up!

 Can we stay and play in the waiting room all afternoon?

 Checking out the chair. She actually sat in my lap for the exam.

P.S. The dentist told me they are about to release a cartoon and an iPhone app to teach kids about going to the dentist. It should be up on their website in a few weeks!

Don't Eat That

A few weeks ago a friend of mine was talking about how her toddler puts everything in sight in her mouth. I cursed myself by saying, luckily Kennedy isn't too interested with eating everything in sight. Eating. My. Words.

Now I use the phrase, Please don't eat ____, no less than 50 times per day. Or some variation of it.

Please don't eat the crayons. Dirt is not food. No, no eating Mommy's phone. That's Olive's food, not Kennedy's food. Your shoes are dirty, don't eat them. Stop drinking the bathwater. Those rocks are yucky.

I have to have a whole arsenal of edibles on my person (as well as hand sanitizing wipes and gel) any time we leave the house. Or else she will find her own snacks.

No ma'am. No eating the dirt. 

The Hunters

While we were in Midland over the Christmas holiday, we met up with a photographer and did a little photo sesh with the entire Hunter gang. Grammyflash had sent all 3 girls matching dresses and the rest of the grown ups coordinated colors. Although, I'd be lying if I said I didn't kind of want one of these dresses in my size. At least a skirt. Thankfully, Jennifer had the foresight to toss a little container of candy briberies into her bag - mini M&M's. The older girls knew what they were even before the container was opened. Kennedy caught on rather quickly that if she let mommy hold her for a minute she got a sweet treat. The photographer, Barbara, is as sweet as can be and made it a really fun outing. She does beautiful work, and you can check it out on her blog, The Hidden Blog.

 

18 Month Stats

We had a pretty easy 18 month appointment this morning. Here are her stats:

Weight: 20.9 lbs, 8%

Height: 32.2 in, 71%

Only 2 shots today and she didn't even flinch when she got them. Her doctor thinks she might be ready for potty training soon since she signs and alerts you when she is about to or has just gone potty. I am not ready to start this for a while though! She turned to her doctor today and said "poop" while doing the sign. Sure enough, there was a very stinky diaper that immediately followed.

Its dreary and raining today (perfect napping conditions) but here are a couple pictures from the weekend, we had fun with our new pink basketball goal.  

'Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball.'

Cheeto stained mouth. 

Digging.

New game. We put a ball in the swing, push and yell 'wheeeeee!'

Another new game. Pretend sleeping. She does this when she walks and now in her high chair or swing. She will say 'shhh, sleeping' and close her little eyes. 

Mouskersnack. 

One And A Half

I can't believe Kennedy is 18 months old today! We go to the dr for her official check up next week, so I will posts stats then.

What is she up to at 18 months? Well, she is becoming a great little communicator. She is using sign language a lot right now and a few of my favorites are please, story, friend, share, play, pig, dirty, poop, potty, and cookie. We are currently working on sorry. Her vocabulary is growing every day and she is starting to string words together to form little sentences. 

Her favorite TV friends are still Mickey and Elmo. But she also likes Little Einstein and Small Potatoes. Oh wait, Small Potatoes are my favorite. We also watch Kai-Lan and Fresh Beat Band every now and then to mix things up.

She is a very active little girl and needs her outdoor exercise every day. We try to go to the park every afternoon, but we at least play in the backyard if we don't make it over to the park (or we both will go stir crazy). She loves to climb, slide, run and spin. And repeat. 

When we are inside, she likes to play with the pretend food in her kitchen, rock the babydolls and color. A favorite activity right now consists of me/Greg drawing a picture and asking her to identify it. It amazes us that she can see a picture of a real car, a cartoon toy car and a crude line drawing of a car and know they are all cars. We play this game a lot - especially when we are on the go.

She is still a little picky when it comes to meat - but I can at least hide it in her food now and she doesn't make herself gag. Small steps. She does love her some broccoli and green beans. Actually, most vegetables, fruits and noodles she will willingly eat. Dairy is a home run - cheese, milk, yogurt, etc., she loves it all. If she is reluctant to eat something I just hand her a fork. Her pronunciation of fork will turn heads as it sounds a lot like a very naughty 4-letter word. But she is good at using her utensils and will pretty much eat anything (meat on occasion) with a spoon or fork.

We are definitely in the "terrible twos" which no one tells you starts at roughly 16 months. Or at least for us it did. She is generally very sweet natured, but can throw quite a tantrum when she wants/doesn't want something. Kennedy is learning how to make choices and form her own opinions. For example, if I put a DVD on and she wants to watch something else, she will let me know. "No mama, no Mickey. Einstein. Einstein, EINSTEIN." Its been a challenge as of late, but most of my friends are going through the same thing with their littles, so I feel better knowing I'm not alone!

Kennedy at 18 Months 

"Kennedy, lets put on our shoes." 

"Boots, boots, boots" 

She has taken a real liking to her pink Uggs. 

Time For Fresh Air

When Kennedy started trying to use our TV as a touchscreen device, I knew she had spent a little too much time with an iPhone/iPad/Kindle over the holiday break. We passed the zoo when we were coming into town and decided after New Years we would take her to see the animals.

The Dallas Zoo is nice. Its easy to manage with out a stroller, which is good because 10 minutes in Kennedy decided she was "all done" with riding in her stroller. The animal habitats are easily viewed by toddlers and there are lots of interactive exhibits. For $5 you can stand on a ledge overlooking the giraffe habitat and feed them. I won't even pretend we did this for Kennedy. I was so excited to feed and pet them. They are quite used to getting food from humans and get right up in your face. I kind of can't wait to go back and "let Kennedy" feed them again.

There is also a children's zoo within the zoo complete with pony rides, a petting zoo, playground and splash park (for the summer). If there is a slide nearby - Kennedy will find it. We went with some friends of ours that have a little boy one month older than Kennedy. The kids got along great and had a lot of fun chasing each other around and pointing out animals.

Kennedy had a great time and walked/ran/played for 2 straight hours (then napped for the better part of the day). We are looking into a family membership because I have a feeling we will be back often to see the "raffes" "efants" and "ions" (giraffe, elephant and lion).

The TV is not a touchscreen. Yet.  

"Efant" 

Feeding the "raffes" 

As I was taking a picture of Greg feeding a giraffe, I turned to find this inches away from my face.  

Kennedy and her friend Charlie looking for monkeys.  

She loves a good slide.