Author Archive

We are visiting the pet store to see the hamsters and the puppies and the birds.

At the park, Kivrin likes to walk around but mostly she likes to sit and pick up pieces of mulch and throw them.

Kivrin discovered the tunnel at the park. She can’t crawl through it without help, since it goes uphill, but she sure likes to try!

Kivrin and Mama sometimes take a walk together in a baby carrier when Kivrin has trouble falling asleep for her nap.

Dan sent me this picture at work today. Apparently Kivrin fought taking a nap all day, until she was overpowered by the stroller!

I’m been frantically skimming some books on toddlers from the library to prepare for Kivrin’s new toddler attitude. Today she was all about pushing buttons. Not pushing my buttons, exactly, but pushing the buttons on the fan, the dishwasher, reaching for the buttons on the computer keyboard and the garage door opener, and of course her toys.

“Look mama, I can reach this junk on the table now. I’m pulling it down onto my head.”

“I can’t believe you let me sleep through my first Perseid meteor shower. It was only 2 in the morning, I could have stayed up for it!”

(Dan and Lissa put the baby in the car seat and drove outside the city limits to see the Perseids at their peak. She didn’t wake up.)

Kivrin eating (or picking at) the vegetables from the Sutton farm.

Kivrin has been crawling in and out of this chair all week.

She likes to combine tasks, like climbing in the chair with the baby and a cloth, or in this photo, she climbed in the chair and then put on her hat.

I’m not sure that *I’m* ready for this, but Kivrin has started feeding herself with a spoon sometimes at dinner. She is pretty good with cottage cheese, if I put it on the spoon for her.

Kivrin loves to climb on and off of her car. This week I started gently pushing her back and forth on it in the living room. She likes it, but insists on getting on and off each time we change directions, so it is slow going.

Kivrin was fussy in the car but then I gave her this travel mirror and she was enthralled with the baby in the mirror. Several times here she is kissing the baby she sees in the mirror.

Since she is getting good at walking, Kivrin wants to do it all of the time now. Some evenings I get her out of the house by taking her to a store where she can run around for a while. Here she is running toward me in J. C. Penney’s. She shrieked and squealed with glee and ran all over the store for over 20 minutes — she finally settled down when I carried her out into the mall for a quick walk to help her calm down before we drove home again.

Nothing like a good wrestle and some giggling.

Kivrin has started the cutest little dancing thing when her toys make music. I love it! Plus she is very independent now that she is toddling around and she loves to climb in and out of her chairs.

Since most of the “green” clothes I see in stores are horrid, I made Kivrin her very own sustainable library shirt.  “Read – Renew – Return” that’s the way the library sustains the community with great books!

Kivrin has been cracking up lately with laughter. Here she is playing with a silky scarf, a dirty sock, her first and favorite baby doll and her new blue bracelet, all at the same time!

Kivrin loves to take my phone and walk around with it. Apparently Dan and I have used our phones a little bit too much in front of her over the last year because she has defininte ideas of what she wants to do with the iPhone. (Although mostly she likes for me to play music, or to help her with the “Wheels on the Bus” interactive song app.)

Little Miss Independence wants to run like the wind, or at least walk freely as much as possible. We’ve been going out almost every day to places Kivirn can walk in wide open spaces — the zoo, the mall, the library, Target, etc. She doesn’t want to hold our hands, just walk on her own wherever she wants to go!

Kivrin was showing off at the zoo with her new walking skills and a zookeeper even stopped to notice!

This video isn’t super exciting unless you want to see Kivrin feeding herself dinner, and then it is delightful!

Kivrin has a hilarious laugh, especially when Mama is “getting” her. This one minute video is guaranteed to make you smile, and will probably make you laugh!

Our dear friend Laurel came to visit us from California for the past week and we were so happy to have her with us! Kivrin loved her, of course and we spent time catching up, doing crafts, hanging out with the baby, and visiting Laurel’s favorite spots around Topeka.

Laurel and Lissa were matched through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Topeka program back in November of 2001 (when Laurel was a spunky 8 year old and Lissa was a spry young 23 year old!) and Laurel will always be a special member of our family.

Laurel and Kivrin hamming it up for the camera!

Kivrin showing us the orangutan at the zoo.

Kivrin taking a ride in the cart at Target during an impromptu shopping spree.

This is Kivrin’s first bite of  a Jimmy John’s sandwich. She didn’t get much, but she liked trying. Jimmy John’s doesn’t have any booster seats or high chairs, so Kivrin got to sit on my lap at the booth while we ate.

Laurel had fond memories of hangin gout at the local roller skating rink, the Sk8away, so we went for an open skating session on Saturday afternoon. Laurel roller skated around and Kivrin and I watched from the little snack bar area. Kivrin was enthralled with the skaters and the flashing lights. (and I got nachos from the snack bar, so everyone was happy!)

Laurel is passionate about rainbows. Enough said. 🙂 Her purple hair wasn’t much of a surprise – I remember the very first week I hung out with her 8 years ago. When I picked her up, parts of her hair were bright pink. When I asked about it, she said the babysitter had done it, and it was supposed to wash out but it didn’t! This purple isn’t supposed to wash out, but it does, and so Laurel has to redo the dye periodically.

Laurel is becoming quite the artist and is sketching and drawing constantly. She used markers to make Kivrin a personalized shirt that says “I love unicorns.”

Kivrin and Laurel making music together — Kivrin on the rattle and Laurel on the Ocarina iPhone app!

Laurel brought homework along with her — she worked on it while Kivrin entertained herself in the living room.  

Lissa and Laurel posing for a nice “sisters” picture on Laurel’s last day in Topeka…and then being silly to entertain the baby….

We miss you already Laurel — we hope you can come visit again soon!

Kivrin loves lounging — in bed, in her chair, on the floor. It’s adorable to see her enjoying her newfound abilities to move around how she wants, and to relax how she wants too! She will stand up and sit down and slouch around in the chair over and over.

We have usually tried to vacuum while Kivrin is at school or not at home, but we discovered after a very messy muffin-eating session that she doesn’t mind if we vacuum when she is awake to watch!

A photo of Kivrin sleeping in her mama’s arms that I edited using my iphone.

Kivrin and mama sleeping in the morning. Kivrin has been consistently staying up to almost 9pm and sleeping past 7 am the past few weeks (though still nursing several times in the night).

I made Kivrin a little space with pillows and a blanket on the living room floor. She used a blanket to wrap up her baby doll.

Messiest face ever — Kivrin seems to know when it is bath night and she gets extra messy with her dinner. I think this was beets and baby food…I can’t remember what else is smeared all over her face though! She is obviously pretty happy while messy!

Kivrin is a climber, although she doesn’t have much to climb on at our house. Here she is using her chair to try to reach the picture frames high on the wall above her, with little success. She has been very interested in looking at pictures/photos lately. She loves looking at the photos of when her Mama and Aunt Leigh Anne were little girls, and also of her family photos on the bulletin board at day care. And any photo of an animal is great, especially if she can get someone to make animal noises for her if she keeps pointing at the picture! (She has us well trained.)

Kivrin and Mama pose for a quick picture while playing in the kitchen.

Kivrin got some play time with her Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Steve  when they came from Kansas City to bring our friend Laurel from the airport. Kivrin is showing off for Grandma with both her baby doll and her car.

Kivrin crashed out on the couch for a nap — she is a lounger and loves to spread out in every direction.

Kivrin likes when we blow bubbles, although she doesn’t chase them too much. She likes to watch them float in the air, and she likes when *we* chase them.

This is the rocking chair where I sit to nurse Kivrin every day at her school. I put her up on it so that she could rock her baby doll. She likes to use old soft burp cloths to wrap up her baby dolls and fusses if her teachers try to substitute a baby blanket instead.

Now you see why Kivrin loves to try to climb the stairs — at the top is our little cat, Ella, trying to escape from Kivrin! We have a gate in the hallway so that Kivrin can’t get to the stairs on her own.