Bailey's First School Program

Tonight was Bailey's first Christmas school program. The Yellow (Pre-school) Room sang...or shouted...two songs; Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Both songs Bailey has been practicing a lot at home. It sure is funny to listen to her sing and miss some words here and there. Or even her interpretation. In Coming to Town, she sings "...good for Chris-sas sake" instead of "...good for goodness sake." We have caught some of these songs on our phone's voice recorder. And TJ had the big camcorder to get video of the class singing. The pictures are pretty much exactly how she looked the whole time. She didn't sing and just looked out in the audience, twiddling her sweater strings. It was quite a production and I was in tears from laughing at how some of them were shouting as well as seeing our baby girl up on stage! Even if she was just standing there. There will be many more to come...

Three Ring Circus

Today is Saturday and we had a great day. TJ didn't have to go in and round so he has a true weekend off. Bailey sure made us laugh today. Besides her almost constant singing, and going from one song to the next without pause, she said a few things that made us laugh out loud.

She asked for some milk her usual first way (until we ask her to say please and ask nicely): "I need some milk." She came over to me, sitting on the couch, and noticed my belly. Eighteen-weeks pregnant and I'm sticking out now. She came over, pulled up my shirt and said, "Cookie wants some milk," and then "Please, Cookie have some milk?" She nuzzled right up to my belly and said, "You want some milk, Cookie?" She was working us pretty good.

Tonight TJ was reading B her books at bedtime. The last one was called Three Ring Circus. He got to just about the second page, and in disgust, tossed it off the bed...and it hit the wall. He said the book didn't rhyme and was stupid...or something to that effect. B looked at the book on the floor, looked at TJ and said, "That book pissing you off, Daddy?" We were dying. Where did she learn that? We don't know. She said it a few more times and we were trying not to laugh in front of her. After Daddy went downstairs, she kept asking me, "Why Daddy throw that one book?" She is a nut, that Bailey. And we love her so very much.

Sledding on Corral Trail

The first major snowfall of the year made for a perfect opportunity to go test out the new skis on the Chariot Carrier. They worked really well. TJ pulled Bailey for about a mile up Corral Trail in the Boise Foothills. We brought a sled as well. TJ and Bailey found the perfect sledding spot just off the trail. She kept saying, "Let's go fast!" and, "That was fun....Let's do it again Daddy!" TJ carried Bailey up that hill about ten times. Then Bailey decided that she wanted to walk down the the trail back to the car. She walked for about 20 minutes and was pretty pooped when we got back to the car. A fun little family adventure.

Lighting of the Tree

We went downtown to the Grove where the city lights the annual Christmas Tree. It had been snowing/raining all day but we still bundled up and went outside. There were a lot of people packed in there, but with a view on Daddy's shoulders, Bailey could see just fine. We joined in on the countdown from 10, and the moment it was lit, B didn't really have an expression on her face. It wasn't until the crowd started cheering that she grinned from ear-to-ear. We enjoyed some mini donuts and some cinnamon-glazed almonds while we sang with the band various Christmas songs. In the car on the way home, Bailey kept saying, "That was fuuunnn!"

Fall Leaves

It is our first fall at our new house. We have some big trees in the back yard that have a lot of leaves. They have been putting on a color show this past week, but are now all on the ground. We spent about 2 hours raking yesterday. About half of the time was spent making piles and playing in them though. Bailey played very hard and loved jumping in the leaves.

Toby

Bailey met the newest member of the Kemp Family today. His name is Toby. Bailey's Uncle Ryan just got a new dog and brought it over to play for a while. I think Bailey liked it. She thought he was soft. They chased each other around for a bit in our back yard.

"Trick or Treat"

Bailey's second Halloween. She was much more excited and involved this year. She was a lady bug. It took her a couple of houses to realize what was happening, but when she realized that all she had to do was knock on the door and say trick or treat, then someone would give her candy, she turned into a pro. Her cousins were great role models as well. They had a lot of fun together. She walked her little legs off until finally, she went up to Nana and said, "Nana, carry me....my legs are broken."

We also went to Trick or Treat Grandpa Kemp and Uncle Jason.

Now she has lots of "treats" to eat for the next few months!

Bailey Quotes

Bailey has been talking so much lately. And singing. She loves to shout the ABC's from the top of her lungs while riding in the car. She does great and only skips over a few letters. The Bumblebee song, Itsy Bitsy Spider. She sings songs from school, which TJ and I haven't heard of but we can piece together it pretty closely. "sophie sophie get in the middle....your turn to wiggle wiggle wiggle....turn around, sit back down."

While TJ was flipping through the TV channels, Bailey looked at him with a furrowed brow and said "What you lookin' for?"

When playing with Play-Doh Daddy rolled out a color like a pizza crust. She took it and pretended to eat it, then cocked her head to one side and said, "You want a bite?" with her voice getting higher as the tone of her inflection indicated a question.

While sititng on the toilet and pooping, "My poop fall down!!"

While being carried in a parking lot and seeing another car backing up, "Don't wreck my car!"

And her favorite right now, "You want a haircut?" with her voice going up and head cocked to one side. She sits me or TJ down in front of the couch. She gives us a blanket to put around our necks. She gives us one of her bears. Then she gets her yellow notepad of paper and a pen, lays on her belly in front of us, and squiggles a couple of lines. That, on the paper, is our haircut. TJ and I love it! We just look at each other and think "What will she say next?"

1st Vomit

This morning Bailey threw-up for the first time. Well, the first time as a "kid." She threw-up/spit-up for the first 6 months of her life.

She had woken up early this Saturday morning and we weren't eating breakfast right away so she had about a half cup of milk while we watched a video and cuddled with Daddy. Forty minutes later we fed her some oatmeal - which she usually eats in 6 bites - and after just one bite, it all came back up, curdled milk and all. She was kneeling on a chair at the breakfast table and up and out it came. Three times. Then out of her nose. TJ and I just sat there for a second and stared, then rushed up and got a towel. It's really hard to watch your kid vomit, knowing there really is nothing that you can do. She started crying afterwards, as I'm sure it scared her. We got her cleaned up and changed and she was running around like nothing happened. Later, I told her that she "puked! and it came out your nose!" She started giggling and said "Came out nose!"

Hot Air Balloons

Bailey woke up at 5:10 AM this morning. We were up already, so we took Bailey to Ann Morrison Park to see the hot air balloons at 7:15 AM. This weekend is the balloon festival. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw all of those balloons fill with hot air and float away. Her reactions were, "Fire!," "That's tall!," "There goes 'nother one!" "That's B's balloon," "That's Momma's balloon," "That's Daddy's balloon." She had a great time and couldn't stop talking about it the rest of the day.

I am glad she woke up so early!

Cute Pictures

I just really like these two pictures of Bailey. In the first one, Bailey had gotten ahold of her "butt cream" (Vitamin A & D ointment) and rubbed it in her hair. Greasy!! In the second one, she is sitting in her chair opening a soccer ball gift for her 2-year-old birthday. Mama took lots of pictures to get this cute one.

Will Bailey ski this year?

Fall is in the air and Winter is just around the corner. Susie and I are excited for another great ski season at Bogus Basin. Is this the year that Bailey will strap on some sticks and swoosh down the mountain? If her excitement over trying on ski boots is any indication, then it will be. She saw me pick them up off the shelf and couldn't get out of her crocks quick enough to try the boots on. She was able to stumble around pretty well in them. I hope we can get her on skis toward the end of the ski season.

Two Year Checkup

Today we went to the doctor for Bailey's 2-year-old checkup. She happened to be the first patient of the day, and the first patient of the office using the electronic medical records. She had her blood pressure taken for the first time, but did great as the cuff was put on tightly. She weighed 25 pounds (25 percentile) and was 33 inches (23 percentile) tall. She checked out perfect and got a good bill of health.

First Haircut

Bailey's hair was getting long and wispy after not being cut for almost the first two years of her life. It definitely needed a trim. Bailey went with Mom and Nana to their haircuts and after watching us get our haircut, she was ready to get up there in the chair. No fussing, no crying. She did absolutely wonderful. Afterwards, she got a Dum-Dum sucker for being so good!

72 Hours of Binki Withdrawal

We decided to get rid of the binki, rather abruptly this week. Last week she had a fever and had been sick, so we were a little more lax on letting her have the binki more often than just nap/bedtime. I found this Bronco Binki in the drawer and for some reason, she got really attached to it. She would cry for it, saying "Bronchi Binki!" anytime she wasn't happy. Bailey was addicted.

Bailey had been real good at brushing her teeth at night, but lately, due to the Bronco Binki, she wouldn't even want to brush. TJ took Bronco Binki and the two others out of the crib that night on the First and that was it. She wailed for about 20 minutes that first night. It was torture to listen to her as she tried to fall asleep without the comfort she has only known in her life of 23 months. We quickly told her that Bronco Binki was broken and left it at that. The next morning, she was up at 5:15am. She had probably woken up and after not finding her binki to pop back in her mouth, she freaked.

The second night was tough, but a little better. She only cried for about 15 minutes. And she slept until 6:30. The third night was only 5 minutes before she realized that Bronco Binki was still gone. The next few days, she asked for it only occasionally and each day has gotten better. She now sleeps to her normal average wake-up time of 8am.

The binki had to go and it had to be done at some point, and some point soon. With moving into our new house in 10 days and already preparing Bailey to switch from the crib to the "big girl bed," the timing ended up being perfect. We didn't want to conquer both of those transitions at the same time.

All in all, it was one long week that we'll look back on and say, "that wasn't so bad!"

Nana and Bailey's Merry-Go-Round Disaster

Nana picked Bailey up from school today. TJ is in Philadelphia for a Foot & Ankle conference and Friday's are my late day. We had decided to go over to Scott's after work and gather for pizza. Nana was there early so she and Bailey went down the street to Borah Park, where they have a wonderful playground. They have a merry-go-rounds similar to the one pictured. No grass around it though, just a nice hearty layer of those bark chips. After checking out a few slides and the swings, Bailey wanted to go on the merry-go-round. She has been on it before and enjoyed standing in the center and holding onto the bars. Nana held Bailey facing her, while she got on and kneeled down, facing the center, and not holding onto to anything. In addition to Nana and B, there were three Mom's pushing it while their kids were riding. The Mom's asked Nana if Bailey was ok and started pushing slowly. Suddenly, and without warning, they sped up very quickly. Within milliseconds and one revolution, Nana tried to grab onto a bar, but it was too late. She instantly knew she and Bailey were going to fly off this thing, and her first thought was of getting Bailey away from the merry-go-round so she wouldn't end up underneath it. As she was in flight, she pushed Bailey out and away from the spinning disc. After the tumble, Nana lay flat on her back and wondered if any bones were broken, as Bailey began to wail. The Mom's who were pushing the merry-go-round were mortified at what had just happened. They apologized, but Nana wondered if they would have just given her the opportunity to get off or hold on if they were going to speed up. Nana and B got up and went over to a park bench to take a breather. Turns out B was ok, since she really can't tell us too much, and Nana feels like she got whiplashed in a car. Her lower back, neck, arms, shoulders, and knees are all sore. She will be medicating with some anti-inflammatories tonight! Thanks Nana for thinking of Bailey first! It certainly was instinct as she had no time to react.

In a Funk

Bailey's in a funk! She had a low-grade fever last week for about a day and a half, then woke up the next morning with a fever of 103.5! I took her into the doctor (as she had suggested from last week's appt) and they looked her over. Her lungs were clear, even though she had a cough. Her one ear had a lot of fluid inside, but it was not red and inflamed. Her throat, however, was bright red and "juicy," as they described it. Dr. O definitely thought it was a bacterial infection and that antibiotics would be needed. She said it was a sinus infection! We got her started on antibiotics that morning and 5 days later she still seems to be in a funk. Only eating a few bites per meal and happy one night, and the next morning whining about anything and everything. It has been quite taxing for TJ and me. Perhaps her teeth are still coming in too. Alas, it is only a phase, and will soon pass.

Bailey's 18-month-old checkup

Well...she actually was 19 months, by the time we got in.

Bailey came into her checkup with a runny nose and little cough for the previous week. Even so, she had a great checkup today. She did have some fluid in one of her ears, but didn't seem to bother her. She weighs 22 pounds (15th percentile) and is 32 and 1/4 inches tall (70th percentile). Tall and skinny! The doctor and the nurse practitioner-in-training were amazed at all the words she was saying. Not so much jabbering on her own, but repeating a lot of words that an adult would say. She would say Doctor, outside, light, teeth, hair, belly, etc. She was a good girl and stayed very calm while the doctor felt her head, pushed on her belly, and listened to her heart and lungs.

X-Country Skiing

Today we took Bailey up to the mountains-Bogus Basin- to do some cross-country skiing. It was her first trip to Bogus, and Nana and Papa met us at the Nordic Lodge. We rented skis from REI and a Chariot with skis for Bailey to ride in. We were quite bundled up as it was cold and windy when got out of the car. We got our boots on and got Bailey situated in the Chariot. Bogus Basin has a great new Nordic Center lodge, and we departed on the Nordic Expressway. It is the main trail and the one where others branch off from. We skied about 2 miles out--with a couple of downhill parts-- and stopped at the bottom of Chair 3, the Superior Chair. We got Bailey out and let her walk around. She didn't venture too far. Only to the side of the trail to say "uh-oh," where Nana took a tumble, and to the other side of the track to get some fresh snow to eat. We took a group picture and decided to head back. We got her bundled back up, and she just wasn't too happy. She had some snacks and water, but those didn't interest her. She pretty much cried and whined off and on the whole way back. TJ was pulling her--with two uphill sections-- and racing as fast as he could to get back to the lodge to get her out of the Chariot. We brought lunches and ate upstairs in the lodge and warmed up. Bailey was hopefully going to nap on the car ride down. Luckily, she fell asleep about 15 minutes in, and TJ got her up to her crib once we arrived home and she slept all afternoon!

Overall it was a great day, but in hindsight, we should have gone a shorter distance out-and-back with it being Bailey's first time cross country skiing. Thanks Nana and Papa for joining us to and to TJ for dealing with my packing heavily. :)

By: Susie