Kylie @ 2

We took Kylie to the Doctor this last week, so I have all her new stats to report.

Height: 36 inches (95%)- She has always been tall for her age

Weight 26.2 lbs (45%)

Favorite Foods: Yogurt, Oatmeal (brown sugar or strawberry), string cheese, cottage cheese, milk (she can drink up to 5 galsses a day!), peanut butter sandwiches, plain bread right out of the bag, hot dogs, spaghetti, corn on the cob. Believe it or not this kid can eat when she really wants to. I don't know where it all goes!

Dislikes: broccoli, red meat (we do a lot of ground turkey instead), lunch meat.

Accomplishments: Throw a ball (pretty far), kick a ball, jump with both feet, Do tae kwon do with daddy and mommy (kick & punch while saying 'hiya'), do simple shape puzzles, talk in simple sentences, use her utensils when eating, clean up her table after eating (putting everything in the sink), count to three (five with help), calls everything either the color green or pick, and loves to sing songs and dance.

Activities: Kylie does swimming every week and has even been bumped up to the preschool level with kids who are all three and up. She does great and loves to put her goggles on and put her head underwater and blow her bubbles. She also does gymnastics once a week, she loves to jump on the trampoline and swing on the rings.

Side notes: Kylie loves to play with her cousins and they are so great with her. She is such a tom-boy and loves to get in there and wrestle, run, and kick with them. Luckily they take it a little easier on her since she is a girl. Lately she has taken an interest in helping Mike with projects. She will pick up his tools and say "I help too, daddy". He was surprised to find that she figured out how to work a socket wrench and helped him tighten the bolts on my license plate. She thought it was funny that she was all dirty afterwards. What happened to my girl?

Happy Birthday Kylie!

Kylie turned two on Wednesday and we celebrated by taking her to the Field Museum in Chicago. The museum has a kids discovery area that she loves, so we thought it would be a great choice and it was. Kylie had a wonderful time. We left after her gymnastics class and were at the museum around 1:00. Kylie played in the kids area for about two hours! Then we were finally able to drag her away with promises of dinosaurs. I swear our daughter acts more like a boy than any other girl I've met!! We went through the evolution exhibit and then the pacific coast exhibit. Mike really wanted to see the traveling weather exhibit but we didn't realize it required a special ticket,maybe we will have to go back before it leaves. On our way out of the pacific coast exhibit, Kylie turned to Mike and said "Daddy, all done. I wannna go home" So with that we left. It was probably a good thing since it was close to 4 and if we stayed any longer traffic would have been worse than it already was. Once we got home, Kylie had presents from Grandma and the Biggs Bunch waiting for her. She opened them and we had her blow out candles on a brownie for her dessert. It was a nice day. Her birthday party will be on Saturday and she is very much looking forward to her "Monkey Birthday" as she says.

Vacations galore

In the last two months we have done a lot of traveling. First we spent a week in October at Amelia Island, FL (about twenty minutes northeast of Jacksonville). We spent a week there in a condo which we won in an auction last year at the Schroeder's Benefit. It is a gorgeous place and we lucked out with wonderful weather. It was 80's and sunny the whole week, with the exception of a few hours of rain the first day. We just spent our time relaxing on the beach or walking around enjoying the island. It was Kylie's first encounter with sand and ocean and she LOVED it! We would have to drag her away at the end of everyday. She thought it was so funny to run up to the water and then run away as the waves came in. Mike loved swimming out and jumping into the waves. There were times when we couldn't see him come back up, only to find out that he drifted farther to one side or the other. I was content to sit back and relax in my chair or wade in the water with Kylie.

Then, the first week in November, we spent in the Southern Caribbean. We cruised to St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Kitts. We had originally booked the cruise for our anniversary week (February) but they have a rule that you cannot cruise past your 16th week of pregnancy...so we had to move it up. It was a blast though. I would definitely recommend a cruise that stops everyday if you have kids with you as there is not much for them to do on board, unless they are older. It worked well for us. We cruised overnight and in the morning we were in our next destination. We would get off the ship, go see the island, do an excursion, shop a little, then get back on board in time for dinner and set off for the next place. By day 6 of the cruise Kylie was asking to go home... I think it was a little too long for her. But she had a good time swimming and exploring each new place. To our surprise, she sat still long enough for a local lady to braid her hair (about 20 minutes)! She saw a little girl getting it done and said, "I want that!" So, we attempted it and were successful. She won't sit still for pigtails at home. But, she looked so cute in the braids. All the workers on the boat just adored Kylie. She really warmed up to our room stewards and the last night, her hardest on the ship because she was ready to go home, he knocked on the door and came in to make her a special towel animal. Kylie requested a monkey from him, so he made her one and hung it from the ceiling. It was so sweet of him! He said she reminded him of his three kids back home. They work for up to 8 months on the boat before they get to go home for a month or two. That has to be difficult! It was a wonderful week away and then we came home to 30 degrees and snow flurries.. Sweet home Chicago!

Halloween... a little late

So, I know I am about two weeks behind on this, but I wanted to write about our Halloween festivities. We started Halloween week the Sunday before with a costume party with our families. It's something we started last year in order for everyone to see all the kids dressed in their costumes without having the parents drive all over to show them off. It's also fun to see what the adults come up with for costumes! If you don't wear a costume, you can't come in the door. We had loads of fun. The kids decorated treat bags, we ate yummy, scary food, and even had a pinata to break.

Then on Halloween, we dressed Kylie up in her Chinese costume (My dad brought it back from a business trip in China...what better use for it?) and took her out trick or treating. We only went up and down our short street but that was enough for her. We came back home and carved our pumpkins. It was a lot of fun since Kylie got into it this year. Last year, she wasn't to thrilled with the gooey insides. Kylie's favorite part of the night? Handing our candy to all the children who came to our house. She would stand at the door, waiting, saying, " People...Where are you?" What a wonderful way to spend Halloween!