Weary Travelers

We made it to Chicago for a friend's wedding! It's our first trip as a family since we decided on a travel ban for February. We thought it would be an easy little trip. Our home airport is so small that it hardly takes any time to get through it. I should have known better. Nothing is easy in Chicago! Don't get me wrong; I totally love the city and sometimes wish we lived somewhere a little more... active. :) I sure don't miss the hassles though! So, almost 3 hours later than we'd hoped, we're finally on the way to my BIL's... I expect it'll take a couple hours to get from O'Hare to their place on the Southside. It is rush hour... and Friday... and raining... and Chicago!

-- A Mobile Post

18 Beautiful Months

Today, my little girl is 18 months old!

The months have flown by. It doesn't seem long ago that she was just a tiny little peanut.

In no time, she became a jet-setting baby flying here and there when she was just 6 months old. She's been in 14 states so far!

Before I knew it, Fall was here and we were celebrating her first birthday.

Now, Spring has come again and my Kumquat is definitely more little girl than baby.

So, here's what going on with my sweet girl these days...

She and Pink Kitty are still BFF's, but she has added some new folks to her entourage.

She's such a funny little collector. She always wants to make sure she has as many buddies & toys with her as possible. In the mornings, it takes a long time to get her out of the crib because she checks out all of the 4,325 buddies sleeping in her bed and tries to figure out how many she can hold long enough to get out of the crib with her. She's recently started handing me some guys to carry. It's funny how behaviors change, but are the same over time. Before she could walk, Baby K would crawl on her wrists so she could carry one toy in each hand. Just before she started walking, she tried also carrying something between her feet. I think that's when she finally gave it up and started walking. :)

We're finally starting to get some consistent words out of the little girl! Not too many, but we'll take what we can get. Baby girl loves to climb, so her favorite word now is "Up!"

And by "up," she means any vertical motion - up OR down. She also says, "Go!" Especially if you set her up with a good, "Ready! Set!" Just in the last few days, she started saying "Eat." She also sometimes says "Dada" and "Hi" and sometimes both together for a very precious, "Hi, Dada!" Even though she just has a handful of words, she is extremely communicative. She uses 51 signs! I counted today. God Bless Baby Signing Time... and God Bless my good friend, Sarah, for telling me about it! Today at brunch, K asked for "more drink please." I told DKG I can't imagine how different things would be for us right now if we weren't signing.

She actually has made up a few of her own signs. My favorite is her sign for "glasses." She makes a fist and taps the back of her hand on her eye. She also has her own signs for "walk" (the sign for "shoes" moving up and down), "spider" (so she can play the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" game on my iPhone), and swing (basically the same as "wind.")

Glasses and shoes are two of her favorite things right now. She can put her sunglasses on her face correctly on her own, although she does sometimes still prefer to wear them upside down or around her neck. Most of the time she gets it right, though! She also desperately wants to get her shoes on her feet all by herself. She can almost get some of them, but she can totally get her rain boots on alone, which may be why she loves them so. She's been dying to wear them, so she was thrilled to do some official puddle stomping last week.

Some of her favorite activities now are swimming at the YMCA, going to My Gym and walking to the playground. Even though the playground is just down the street, it usually takes us at least 45 minutes to get there and usually about an hour to get back. That might have a little something to do with all the awesome neighbors we meet along the way.

She has become so independent and adventurous. I just love that about her. She is so focused and determined and doesn't give up on trying any big girl thing... even if it's scary to her at first.

And once she can do it, she is just SO proud of herself.

And that makes me such a proud Mama.

Writer's Block

I swear I haven't disappeared. I'm having a serious case of writer's block lately. Well, it's actually more like editor's block. It feels like I've written a bazillion posts lately, but never posted them because I didn't really feel happy with them. When I'm not trying to write a post, I have a lot of what seem like clever ideas... which all fly right out of my head the second I sit down to write them.

I do have one in the works that I'll post soon that should be fun for all. Or at least there may be a little something in it for you... ;) Until then, enjoy some pictures of a birthday party we went to last weekend for my Kumquat's friend, Sassy.

Please try to overlook my sobbing child ruining the group shot and causing the birthday girl some concern! Believe it or not, this was the best group shot I took. :)

My girl is such a funny mix of bold and cautious. She is not keen on brand new situations. She really prefers to sit back and figure it all out before she's required to engage in any way. It's true even if some of her best buddies are there.

That makes birthday parties a little tricky. She was really not at all interested in leaving my side for most of the time...

until we went in to have cake and she ran laps around the room while the bigger kids sat at the table and ate.

Unfortunately, it means that this mama didn't have much time for picture taking. Good thing the birthday girl's mama is quite the experienced photo pro!

Not Me! Monday

It's been a while since I've done a "Not Me! Monday" post, but this weekend, I found myself mentally writing a post and figured it was probably a good time to do one.

First, I did NOT arranged to have some folks over for dinner just a couple days after getting from being out of town for a week. I know that it always takes me about a week to get my bearings after traveling like that, so it would just be silly to say that would be a good day to do it. Certainly not something I could do! Oh - and the dinner AND the date definitely were NOT my ideas. Really.

I also did NOT schedule this dinner for a date when I knew DKG was on general surgery call for his group and then totally expect that he would be home to help me get everything together. I mean, come on... We've been doing this for 8 years. I know better than to assume a call night would be quiet. Really I do. So, I totally would NOT have been completely counting on him and waiting for him to get home and attend to our unusually clingy cuddly Kumquat.

I then did NOT call my dear neighbor in a bit of a panic to see if she could come over to stay with K while I ran to the grocery store to get the food for dinner about 2 hours before my guests were due to arrive - especially not when I'd just given up "scrambling around at the last minute" for Lent and was so proud of myself for doing so much better in this area.

I then did NOT let my 17-MONTH-OLD child stay awake until the guests left just after 10 pm because I couldn't figure out a way to put her down for the night while also being a good host. That would just be irresponsible and not anything this 5-star Mama would do. Of course.

Finally, I did NOT have another glass of wine after cleaning up from dinner and get all choked up thinking about our Wichita friends (and amazing neighbor-friends, especially!) while I waited up for DKG, who didn't get home from operating until about 2 am... long after I'd given up and gone to bed. Poor guy.

But that's just me! Wonder what else folks have NOT been doing this week? Hope on over to MckMama's and see what others are talking about today.

Blurgh

Remember how I mentioned the heating pad on my aching knee? Well, it's still killing me. I really think I hurt it a bit on Monday. :( Not horribly, but I skipped Turbo Kick tonight because it really just isn't well. I'm really frustrated!! I tend to get injured a lot. Well, that's not exactly right. I had a car accident about 6 years ago and still have some problems with my neck & shoulder from that. Any sort of regular exercise I've tried has caused it to flare up. I had a great round of PT last summer, though, & really learned some skills for managing it. So, for the first time in SIX YEARS, I've been able to start working out without messing up my neck. And then? I gank up my knee. Grrrrr. I really, really want to be able to commit to this new lifestyle and follow through on my lovely plans for once. A month ago, I never would have guessed that today I'd be so sad not to be able to go to the gym. But I am. Sigh. So, I'm going to try taking it easy on the knee this week and - hopefully! - start again next week. BOO. :(

-- A Mobile Post

My Top 5

My sweet, inspiring friend, Mandy, recently did this post on her top 5 items she can't lose weight without. Now that I've gone to Turbo Kick at the Y 3 times and I am, therefore, an exercise and weight loss expert, I thought I'd share my top 5 with you.

(A small disclaimer... please don't take anything I may say here too, too seriously. Sarcastic humor is kinda my style of thinking about things. And I'm a whiner. Really.) :)

The Top Five Things I Couldn't Turbo Kick Butt Without...

1. Clinical Strength Secret - Believe me, an hour of jumping, kicking, punching & whatever else it is we do is not conducive to using regular deodorant.
2. Super Extra-Strength Pain Reliever - Apparently, I'm getting old. After my first week of Turbo Kick, my back was so sore! Well, along with every other part of my body. A quick dose of some pain killer is a vital component of my post-workout routine!
3. Heating Pad - As I mentioned in #2, I'm old. After a solid week of an aching back (and a stomach virus & a sick kid), I was doing better and went back for more. Now, I'm currently sitting on the sofa with a heating pad on my knee. The weird thing is that I'm really, really hoping it's fine - just sore - so I can go back to Turbo Kick on Wednesday. Nuts.
4. Daddy KG - Since my little Kumquat's PBR (personal best record) in the Y's Kid Zone is a whopping 16 minutes, it would be impossible to be working out at all if not for an awesome hubby who is very supportive of me doing this... and who is willing to fetch a screaming child from the Kid Zone in the middle of his workout and teach the kid some important life skills.
5. Awesome Girlfriends - So, I'm great at developing elaborate plans to get in shape. Unfortunately, I'm not so great at following through on my fabulous plans. I've really needed some kind of kick in the pants to get me started. Thankfully, I have some amazing, inspiring friends who have given me the kick start I needed to actually get going on this. I never really gave the group exercise classes much thought before, since I do like my alone time. BUT, it truly is making such a difference to know there are people (besides DKG) who know if I skip a class. It doesn't even matter if they understand why I missed or not. It's just the fact that I don't want to have to tell anyone I quit, or didn't feel like it that day or whatever the case may be. I've been so thankful to these ladies for all of the support they've given me as a new mama. Now, I'm so thankful for how they're helping me to become a new me!

Not Me! Monday

Haven't done one of these for a while, but I thought I'd join in on MckMama's blog carnival today. It's been one of those weeks! But let's keep it limited to this weekend, eh?

First, we had some fun plans for Saturday night, so I absolutely did not completely forget to ask our babysitter if she was available. Especially not since I'd given up scrambling around at the last minute for Lent. DKG & I then did not try a couple other options, but end up deciding we couldn't make it to the party. We then did not start out on a crazy West-side adventure that caused my sweet Kumquat not to get a nap all day and ended with us driving home on local roads with a mattress strapped to the roof of the car. In the middle of this, our sweet neighbors also did not find a sitter for us because they were sad we wouldn't be able to go!

So, as I was getting ready, DKG did NOT make arrangements to exchange is sad iPhone at our nearest* Apple store the following day... which certainly would not happen to be in Tulsa. That's a quick little 182-mile jaunt each way.

*By "nearest" I mean the nearest store where he would be able to exchange his phone for a working one that day. Unfortunately, that did not include the stores in KC or OKC.

I absolutely did not agree to go with him on the trip with our little Kumquat. Six hours in a car with a 16-month-old for a there-and-back trip? That would be crazy!

While we were there, we did not stop for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...especially not since I've really been trying hard to watch my calories. I also did not even take one tiny little bite of a super-yummylicious "slice" of wild blueberry white chocolate cheesecake. I mean, I'm guessing it would have been super-yummylicious if I had totally eaten half of it taken a teensy bite. I also would not have given the Kumquat some of the cheesecake or pounds of whipped cream with it. Certainly not when she would follow that massive dose of sugar by being strapped into her carseat for 3 hours. Surely that wouldn't be a good idea! Good thing I didn't do it.

Oh, and I am also not the luckiest mama ever whose sweet girl was a silly, giggly angel for the entire trip!

Nope, not me!!

Humbling

I went to my first ever Turbo Kick class tonight. O.M.G. My dear, sweet friends kept telling me it's lots of fun and not that bad. Silly me. I listened to friends who are weight loss rock stars and/or basically live at the Y. Genius, Mama. Especially since this is the first workout I've done in about a thousand years. It was basically awesome. Besides Turbo Kicking my butt, it taught me a few things.

1. I need more slacker friends. :)
2. You really can't hide your chub when you're jumping up and down in workout clothes in a room full of mirrors.
3. I'm way more out of shape than I thought... and I'd have guessed the Pillsbury Dough Boy and I were pretty even in that category.
4. I really need a pedicure. And a tan. I think that if I had a tan, my embarrassingly beet-red face wouldn't be quite as noticeable. Seriously, I looked like Mario Batali after an extra-intense episode of Iron Chef where the secret ingredient is habanero peppers.

So, now after a lot of water, a long hot shower, a handful of Tylenol and some quality time with my BFF, the massaging Tempur-Pedic bed, I'm off to sleep. DKG has an early start tomorrow and I'm betting he'll need to roll me out of bed before he leaves. I'm sure not going to be getting out on my own. And after that? I'll have the great fun of donning a swimsuit for the first time in nearly a year to take my little Fish Kumquat to her very first swimming lesson! And I thought today was humbling...

Oh, and I'm going back for more torture Turbo Kicking on Wednesday. Hey, I never said I was smart!

Dear Papa -

(a letter to my father who passed away in 2004... This picture was taken just about a week before he passed. Growing up, we called my dad "Pop" or "Papa" and I like to imagine that my Kumquat would have, too.)

Hey, Pop. You've been on my mind - and heart - so much lately. I miss you so much. I so wish that you could meet the little girl. I like to imagine that you met in Heaven before she was born. I wish you were here to play with her and watch her grow. She's such a funny kid. I kinda think that if you were to meet her today, she'd seem very familiar to you. She's such an interesting mix of me and [DKG]. A lot of the time, she's so easy-going just like him. But don't be fooled. Little girl has plenty of Irish fire in her, too. She doesn't have many words just yet, but one she does have - and uses all the time - is "Nay." She was saying "Nein" and we joked that our girl was really German. She has some strong opinions and does not hesitate to express them. BUT, most of the time, she is the sweetest, funniest, happiest little girl ever.

When she was first born, everyone said how she looked exactly like [DKG]. Yesterday, one of his sisters said she looked like a mini-me. What do you think?

Well, I guess like an Asian mini-me, anyway. :) It's fun to see how much she's like her cousins, too. There are some things she does, like the way she runs or scrunches up her nose to say "cheese!" to the camera that remind me so much of Em.

Knowing that both of these little girls do them makes me think that maybe I did, too. Who knows? Oh, you would. :) I really wish that she would know you as she grows up. She does have the best uncles in the world, though, and I think she'll know you that way... even if she doesn't realize it. I started singing "Sippin' Cider" to her when she was itty bitty. For a long time, it was her very favorite. Now, she really loves "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She lives to play "Ride A Pony," too. And, of course, "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra" is our favorite lullaby.

She's really just amazing. She's able to unzip things now. The other morning, I went into her room and found her with her jammies mostly unzipped and one arm out. I think it's just a matter of time before she manages to get them (and her diaper, sigh) off! I also think it's just a matter of time before the little girl is talking up a storm. She has quite an elaborate vocabulary now... unfortunately, it doesn't resemble English very much yet. :) There are lots of different sounds and inflections, though! It really does seem like she's on the verge of saying a lot of words. She does say "dada" well and says "baba" for "mama." Just in the past couple days, she started asking for "wawa" (water) and yesterday said "nigh nigh" when it was time for bed. I'd swear she also said her name the other day! I'm really excited to see (hear!) what the next few weeks will bring. She does use sign language and is a real signing machine. It may sound funny to you, but teaching babies to sign is the thing to do these days. She amazes me all the time. We went to the zoo yesterday and signed "horse" when we saw the zebras!

She has more than 20 signs that she uses really well. "Please" is her new staple. She's a smart girl; she knows that's the one that'll get her what she wants. Her most sophisticated sentence so far has been "more banana, please." She blows kisses for "thank you." (The sign is very similar!) Every morning when her daddy goes to work, she blows him kisses and waves bye-bye. Kumquat kisses are the best. :) We look up new signs all the time. It used to drive me crazy that I'd ask you a question and you'd always say, "I don't know. Let's look it up." Why not just tell me??! Now, I love looking things up for her. She'll try a sign for something that's close but not exactly right. Initially, I'd just tell her it was close, but now we try to look up the real sign... like for zebra. You'd really be amazed at all the technology we have now and how easy it is to look things up! No more heavy dictionaries and encyclopedias necessary!

We're starting a couple classes with K this week... partly because we have an underused Y membership and I need some schedule where I have to get us there. I also keep thinking about when you'd coach us in soccer and you telling me not to be scared of the ball. I don't know how it happened that I was so scared of it, but I really do hope K will be bolder than I was. (Speaking of soccer... you should see her kick her soccer ball around! You'd be so proud!) So, we're doing a toddler gymnastics class & swim lessons. I think it'll be fun for both of us.

Well, those are all the big things she's doing right now. We're doing lots of planning for Joe & Jill's baby shower coming up and can't wait to welcome your first grandsons to the family. I wonder if they'll look like you. :) I guess it won't be too much longer before we find out!

I do miss you a ton, but every day, I'm so thankful for you and all the things you taught me. I know I'm the mom I am because of you. I love you, Papa!

Hanging at Home

Have you gotten the impression that our little family hasn't spent nearly enough time in our Kumquat Garden? I'd have to agree with you. For that reason, I put a travel moratorium into place. I decreed that none of us are allowed to leave the state for the entire month of February. It may not sound like much, but it's a big step for us. I looked back at our calendar and discovered that the last time all three of us were in the state for the entire month was December of 2008... the month after our Kumquat was born! Actually, you'd have to go back to July of 2008 to find a time that we were "all" in the state (Baby K didn't go anywhere without her mama then!) AND we had no out-of-town guests staying with us. Kinda long time, eh?

So, we've really been enjoying being homebodies lately. We've gotten to spend lots of time with our neighbors, which has been just wonderful. I remember when I was in college how wonderful it was to live in the middle of friends. It was a real sense of living in community... sharing meals with people, running into friends as I was going about my day, living on my own, but not feeling like I was alone. When I left college, I thought it was sad that I probably wouldn't have a chance to live in community like that again. DKG & I had a fun taste of it again in Houston, when our dear friends (and wedding party members) moved into our apartment complex and lived down the (long & winding) hall from us. It was so great! We could pop over to each other's places whenever, work out together, ride the bus to work together... It was such a good time. We were just sad they moved in shortly before we moved away. When we left Houston, I thought that really, really would be the last time of having such a community feeling. Thankfully, I was wrong again. Have I mentioned how much I ♥ my neighbors? Somehow, I think it may have come up once or twice... ;) I love that I can just call someone up and we'll take a walk or have dinner or whatever. No serious planning required. I truly feel so blessed that I can live in a true community again.

OK, so other than having a big neighborhood love-fest, I've been spending most of my days marveling at how big my Little Kumquat (can I even call her Baby K anymore?! sniff) has gotten. In fact, when I tried to take her 15-month picture a few weeks ago, I decided Phil the Elephant may not be the best comparison friend for her anymore. So, I'd like to introduce you to Ted the Tiger.

I'm going to try to continue taking monthly pictures of K, but we'll see how that goes. She's getting pretty great at exerting her opinion on things... for better or for worse. :) I did manage to take this picture, in spite of her protestations. Poor girl. It's a rough life.

Other than forced photo-shoots, we've been reading lots and lots of books lately.

K has just started reading books to me, which I think is SO stinkin' adorable. Goodnight Moon is her fave.

She still doesn't have many words (really, it's still all about Da Da), but she's doing some sophisticated babbling. :) She has also been working on her mad stacking & matching skills lately. It's so cool so see little ones learn so many things. Last week, she gathered up giraffe puzzle pieces from different puzzles and brought them all to me. Nice grouping, K! She's doing so many funny things like that lately. For example, she noticed DKG put on his pj pants when he came home from work one day. Obviously, it was time for jammies (she did have hers on already), so she went into my room, got a pair of my pj pants and brought them to me in the kitchen. Adorable, no?

This is another cute example of her super grouping skills. During our Super Bowl party (more neighborhood love!), she saw all of the drinks in the ice bowl. Naturally, her drink should go there, too! She does make her mama proud! :)