Grassland Liberation

Today I met up with Barb and her ADORABLE kids Naveen and Prachetas. It took us weeks, and weeks, and weeks to finally get together (damn sick kids) but it was worth the wait. We grabbed a coffee at 'Bucks and fed the kids some brunch. After a while all 3 kids got a bit squirmy so we walked over to Sapperton Park. I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the park before, but It kind of grew on me today. I usually walk the extra 10 blocks to Hume Park (which I adore, this park has everything) but we were on a tight schedule, and Sapperton Park was right next door. So we walked over and put the kids on the swings. An adorable photo op... but I forgot. Prachetas giggled away, Miss K watched him with a smirk, and Naveen ran wild. Then we went over to the big swings, another great photo op, but I forgot. I watched Prachetas walk around, occasionally sitting and playing with the grass and I laughed at how uptight I am. I wouldn't let K sit/crawl on the grass in case she got wet/dirty. How stupid am I? She is a kid right? So I let go. I let her crawl, and sit, and fall in love with the grass. She ripped it, tossed it, and I think even sampled a few blades. She was adorable, and I fell even more in love with her. 

(she looks a little unsure... but seconds later she was all smiles)

Kahlen LOVED having Naveen there, and I think Naveen was enjoying having another little girl around. Kahlen and she sat, sometimes snuggling side-by-side, enjoying the sun and the grass. As soon as I picked up the camera Naveen played shy, lay down and covered her eyes. SO cute! Kahlen, was totally oblivious to me and the camera... "can't smile mom, eating grass."

And finally we walked (yes all of us walked... K with some help though) over to a grassy area and the kids helped themselves to an impromptu picnic. Kahlen clutched her new snack cup (a wonderful invention) and Naveen sprinkled the contents of a second snack cup (which I had no idea was in the stroller basket) on the grass for her and her brother to share. They sat snacking, and I stood watching, dumbfounded by how big our little premies have become (P was a 26 weeker). 

I find it so exciting and heart wrenching when I watch her grow up, or more accurately, when I turn around and realize she has grown up without me noticing. I am hoping the weather is nice tomorrow, I am in the mood for another park day!

Where is the Pink Pig, oink oink oink.

Its amazing how the smallest things can make your day. My darling daughter, my smart, tenacious, wild little 25 weeker found the pig today. I know you must be thinking "Found the pig? What the hell does that mean?" She has a pig. Its part of a set (chick, pig, sheep, cow) that stack on top of one another. In our house nothing stays stacked for long though. Hurricane Kahlen (I say hurricane and not tornado, because hurricanes are wet just like the river of drool that runs from Miss Ks mouth!) blows though the toys and instantly they are scattered from corner-to-corner and wall-to-wall. I have been making an effort to name everything in the hopes it helps her language development. "This is a yellow chick, cheep cheep cheep". "This is a pink pig, oink oink oink." This is a _______, and so on. Well today, just for kicks I said "Kahlen, where is the pink pig, oink oink oink?" and she stopped throwing things, looked around, located and then crawled to the pink pig. She picked it up triumphantly, crawled it over to me and handed it to me. "Eeeeeeee, you SMART girl!" I exclaimed. "You smart smart girl. This IS the pink pig!" And so my day started. This was the first time (other than her wailing when I tell her 'NO") that I think she really understood what I was saying and interacted with me like this. I mean, she must know what Im talking about some days, she understands 'up' and 'hungry' and 'milk' among others, but this was the first time I felt like she was not only listening but REALLY understanding me. It was so small, and yet I feel so inflated with pride. "Where is the pink pig?" I wonder how long it will take for that one to get old... ha ha ha.

Birthday Pancake Breakfast

A birthday tradition. PANCAKE BREAKFAST! Yum!

Miss K thoroughly enjoyed her pancakes, as you can see in the photos below...

Looming First Birthday

My baby is nearly a year old. A year old! A whole freaking year old! My baby is nearly a year old! This, by default, makes me old. Im old. She is old and I am old. OLD! And it only took 365 days. My god!

I can hardly wrap my brain around it. I weep remembering back to the day she was born. I weep when I watch her sleep tonight, taking up a larger and larger portion of her crib as the days pass. I weep because Im a crier (see Just one of those nights...) and my baby is growing up so quickly. I never imagined being this emotional over the milestone. I don't know why this surprises me, I have squealed with delight and cried over all the other milestones. I have posted pictures and praised and bragged about my kid to the moon and back. And yet... I am surprised how much this birthday overwhelms me. My amazing little girl; my tiny little 25 weeker; my ass kicking, smirk wearing, hostage taking (of hearts of course!), cat crushing, 'dada' loving, little girl is growing up too fast!

I spent days, and weeks, and months begging Kahlen to get bigger and stronger... and now she is big and strong and I want to beg her to slow down. Ironic, no? I want to slow time for a few days. I want to take the time to remember how she feels in my arms, as I have forgotten how it felt to hold her when she was a mere 2, 4, and even 6 pounds. I want to take the time to commit her toothless grin to memory before her two new teeth take over her mouth. I really want to take the time to commit her attention seeking laugh, her infatuation with Steve's running shoes, and the way she nuzzles into my neck when we cuddle, to memory. I don't want to wish away another moment. I made a promise tonight, to Kahlen, that I would never wish away another second with her. I am resolved, I am committed, I am in love.

And with her wicked sense of timing she calls out to me "mom mom mom"... duty calls. I guess my baby is still a baby after all :)

Finger Paintin s'cool, m'kay?

My baby is growing up. This week she started clapping, started waving hello and goodbye, and started understanding me when I talk (well Im pretty sure, since she seems to do what I ask her to now). She is quickly changing from a baby to a toddler before my eyes. It makes me a bit weepy, I wont lie, but it also fills me with immeasurable pride. I am a proud momma when I watch her solve problems, learn new skills, and communicate more and more with me. She is my life's hugest joy, which is cliche, but what can I say... its true!

Today I decided that we should try finger painting. Her hand/eye coordination, her finger dexterity, and fine motor skills are so much improved that I thought it might be something she would not only enjoy but also be quite good at. So I searched online for some 'eddible finger paints' (which believe me is a MUST with an 11 1/2 month old) and decided that some vanilla pudding (Jello brand of course) and a few drops of food colouring was the easiest and most palatable choice (most of the other had flour and cornstarch. ICK!)  

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I rounded up the necessary supplies. A package of vanilla pudding, some food colouring, a few containers to mix different colours in, some paper, and some tape to keep the paper in place.

I put a little pudding in each of the cups and added some food colouring.

 

I put Miss K in her chair and attached the paper to the tray 

(this alone was FUN FUN FUN for her, she laughed her butt off)

I put some puddin' on the page and just left her to her own devices. She was cautious at first...

 

... but quickly realized that the paint was not only fun... it was DELICIOUS!

 

and so began the eating, more than the painting. Ha ha ha!

She did manage to make some beeeeeutiful artwork though. Well beautiful by 'mom standards'.

In case you are desperate for a one-of-a-kind Miss K Original finger painting, we are accepting orders until the end of the week :)

First Trip to the Park

We have been having unseasonable warm (and DRY) weather as of late, so Miss K and I headed to the park with good friends of ours Candace, Kayla, and Hayley! This was Miss Ks first trip to the park and I think I was more excited than she was! When we got there Miss K took her first trip on the swings. At first she wasn't too keen about the whole thing, but she warmed up the the idea after watching pseudo big sister Hayley show her how fun it can be!

After some time on the little kid swings we headed over to the big kid swings. Miss K and I shared a swing and Hayley sat beside us, chatting with us and making Miss K smile.

When we had all had enough swinging, we headed over the the quasi elephant shaped bouncy see saw thing and took a ride (much less kinky than it sounds... ha ha ha).

It was a great day, and Miss K sure enjoyed the park and some time with BFFs Kayla and Hayley. Miss K and Kayla go way back to the NICU days, and Hayley is Kayla's big sister. The 3 girls are too cute together. I think, in the not so far future, Hayley might find herself being the object of a little hero worship from the 2 younger girls.

Hayley and Kayla

Candace and I had fun too, and I have Candace to thank for all the pictures (I forgot my camera).

GOOD MORNING!

I walked into K's room today to say good morning and get her out of her crib (after listening to what I though was her chatting with herself in the crib mirror for about 20 minutes) and when I walked in this is what I saw... what a cleaver girl!

I was so excited and astonished I grabbed the camera to document just how please she was with herself. I mean talk about pride. And I was proud too... and thankful we decided dropped the crib mattress one more 'notch' earlier this week. Crisis averted, thank goodness!

I just can't believe my tiny little 25 weeker is so freaking grown up!!! Okay enough gushing... sorry, its just a preprogramed mom thing to do...comes in a package with 'eyes on the back of your head' and being able to yell your child's entire name with you jaw clenched tight. HA!

My BIG GIRL

I know the cliche "they grow up so fast" is.. well... cliche, but its true!

A week ago K was my sweet little girl, and this week she is sitting, moving, talking, and getting into everything. Its just wild. I can't wrap my brain around how much she has change in the past week, and how well she is doing in general. When she was born, I never EVER imagined that this is where she would be 9 months later. She turns 9 months old next week, which in itself is just wild, and is 5.5 months corrected (or months past her due date). Wow. WOW!

So... I give you... the one, the only, the amazing... MISS K!

Rollin' Rollin' Rolling on the Carpet

Today I watched Miss K meet another milestone.... She rolled over for the first time! The best part (other than the actual rolling) was that I managed to capture it on video. I was watching her, and realized she was getting VERY close, and grabbed the camera... and TA DA, 30 seconds later she rolled over. I've become paranoid about missing these firsts so it was particularly exciting, and it will be nice that even though Steve was at work, he wont miss it! If you told me that Kahlen would be meeting milestones, and doing so wonderfully in June I would have told you that you were nuts. Instead, Im nuts about my wonderful little girl!

Way to go kiddo! I love you!

Kahlen's first solids... YUM!

Today our little girl grew up a bit more

 (*sigh* where does the time go)

She tried her first taste of 'solid' food this evening. A delicious menu of rice cereal which closely resembled gruel, and which sparked a number of mildly comedic comments from her father

(Yeesh, Steve has those corny 'dad jokes' down to a fine art already)

To be honest, I think she was more interested in the bag than the food... but look how pretty the bag is

'BACK OFF' get your own solids!

Mommy mixing the rice cereal with some 'momma milk'.

(a practice that other, non-first-time-moms, have teased me about...'who measures?')

Miss K...apparently mom and dad have very poor aim!

OH MOM THIS STUFF IS GREEEEAAAAT!

I think all in all, she probably wore more than she ate but it was a fun experience for us all. When Kahlen arrived 15 weeks early I never imagined that only 200 days later she would be starting solids, belly laughing, reaching for toys, sitting up, 'talking' and so much more....

I LOVE THIS KIDDO!

Smiley Girl

This is my favourite part of the day!

Hopefully Kahlen's smile helps you look past the mess

in the background. TOO CUTE!

I will continue to try and catch her laughing on 'film

...but in the meam time...

watch this one a few more times. Are you smiling along yet?

Kahlen's Home Coming!

Okay, I am a bit late but...

due to popular demand here are the home coming pictures!

I had planned to get all dressed up (hair and make-up) and get K all dolled up but when day 12o finally arrived and we were told we could finally take K home from the hospital I didn't care what any of us looked like... I just wanted to get home and be a family! We decided to walk home rather than take the car because we live right next door.

Looking back it was a nice warm day, sunny, and full of promise.

Thanks for the close-up mom... NOT!

Wow. She is so small here. This picture was taken about 6 weeks ago

and K is now 3 lbs heavier and 8cm longer.

Dad and Miss K standing outside the hospital doors!

Dad walking through the parking lot on our way home.

Almost home...

I know I went a bit overboard with the pictures but

its not every day my amazing 25 weeker babe comes home!

Walking in to the complex... almost home...

At the front door of the building... almost home...

Walking through the front door...

WE ARE HOME! A FAMILY! UNDER ONE ROOF!

Snuggling my girl. Honestly I couldn't believe we were at home.

No nurses, not doctors, no monitors... just the three of us at home!

Miss K about to go in her crib for the first time.

It took some time to really believe we had her home, and that we didn't need to take her back to the hospital. A dream come true. Brining her home was amazing. Simply amazing!

We are VERY luck parents. We have a VERY special little girl!