Another "Then and Now"

Kayli has always loved "helping" me load and unload the dishwasher. She loves the whole process of having to bang things around getting them where they need to go, opening and closing/slamming doors and drawers, and she always seems to get sidetracked while putting away the silverware, as she spots a utensil she is curious about, and then another, and then another..."What's this mom?" "What's this mom?" "What's this mom?" as she pulls out a turkey baster, then a whisk, then a garlic press, and attempts to "try out" each item, only the turkey baster is a horn, the whisk whips at the curtains, the garlic press becomes an instrument as she pumps it like an accordion and blows raspberries and laughs hysterically at herself. It's no wonder it takes us so long to get the dishes done!
Below is one video clip of "dishwasher duty" from a year ago, followed by one taken just recently. It's pretty amazing to see how much Kayli has changed, and continues to ENTERTAIN me!

The Ants Go Marching...

It all started with a seemingly innocent milk-filled sippy cup on Kayli's bedside table. We had a nice winter routine going with bath, jammies, teethbrushing, followed by milk in a sippy cup while bedtime stories were read. Kayli would insist that the cup remain on the bedside table throughout the night, (you know, in case of a thirst emergency) She would nod off nicely and look like an angel as she slept, that is, until her usual twice-a-night visit to check on me to make sure I was still in my bed and now needed to carry her back to her bed while she hugged me and gave me "re-assuring" pats on the back and another "luv you too" as she quickly nodded off to dreamland again. Well, I knew that Spring had officially arrived when I went into Kayli's room to wake her in the morning and saw the small army of ants that had ambushed the sippy cup overnight! Generally, Kayli is slow to wake up, as she stretches, rubs her eyes, and reaches for me to pick her up. Well, today she sprang into action after I said "Kayli, look at the ants that came to drink your milk." She said "What?" and she was out of bed in a flash, ready to snatch up that cup and do what was necessary to "save her milk!" She glanced at me trying to "sweep up" the little pests with a wet washcloth and ran to get her own washcloth. She stood there looking at the ants, shaking her head in disgust, and muttering "This nooot good!"
It also just so happened that I had previously told Kayli if she didn't brush her teeth, she would end up with bugs in them like we saw on the Grinch movie. I reminded her of this on a sporadic basis, when she balked about brushing. When it came time for Kayli to go to bed later that night, I was telling her that most of the ants were gone, and if she sees one, she should just smash it. She stood there looking up at me with puzzlement, and pointing to her teeth she said "Bugs come Tayli's teeth." Ok, this kid's really thinking. And now that I'm standing here, with the night lamp on, I'm noticing more than a few stray ants, so I tell her that ants don't like teeth and that after finding that good milk to drink, now they're looking for more, so we'll just sleep in my room tonight and then when the ants find out that we're not leaving our sippy cups out anymore, they'll go back to their home. Sheesh, I'm exhausted from all this creative thinking... And... the saga continues as I baited those ants for a week until they decided to abandon Kayli's bedroom in lieu of a place more reliably stocked with sticky spills and crumbs, our kitchen!

Once Upon a Potty

As reported by daycare staff, the following scenario took place yesterday: Kayli’s little friend, Elena, had wet her pants and needed to change. The teacher got her a change of clothes and sent her into the toddler bathroom to begin the process. When she came to check on her, she found Kayli in there with her, helping her and apparently trying to change her own clothes. Miss Jennifer said “Kayli, you don’t need to change your clothes, you’re not wet. Only Elena wet her pants.” Kayli turned to Elena and said “Lena, why you wet? Next time, you tell Tayli, otay?” The teacher “split a gut” laughing! Pretty soon everyone knew the story of “that little character” Kayli. The next morning, Elena’s daddy greeted us and said “I guess we owe Kayli a thank-you for being Elena’s good buddy.” I said “You know how teenage girls all go to the bathroom together, well, it all starts here, in the toddler bathroom.” He laughed and said “I always wondered about that!”

Dark, Dark, Light, Light

Kayli loves to help with the laundry! Today I asked her to empty her hamper so we could wash the clothes. I had the hamper right outside the laundry room, lying on the floor, so she could reach the clothes. As I stood in the laundry room, I heard this little voice behind me saying “Dark, dark, light, dark, light” as she pulled out each clothing item. She wasn’t necessarily accurate but it was pretty funny that she’s obviously been paying attention to the procedure. What she really LOVES to do is to spray the stains with Spray and Wash! See attached video and you'll know why it takes me soooo long to get the laundry done!

Rain Rain DON"T Go Away!

Let the rain fall! Kayli just can't get enough opportunities to use her new matching ladybug "squishy" raincoat and "brella". She was so excited when we woke up yesterday and she heard the raindrops falling. She came running into my room, "Mama, c'mere,follow me" as she ran to open the window blinds and point out the pouring rain. First, she said "Mama, look, flowers growing", then, she said "I need brella today,otay?" Kayli is not so fond of the thunder, as she gets that panicked look on her face and doesn't know what to do. I've given her all the traditional analogies and then some, but she's not buying it! Last night, as we sat on the couch, snuggled together, watching Dora, we heard a long rumble that shook the house. I said "That was fun. We love thunder, don't we Kayli?" She responded "Mama love thunder...pause... I don't!" Oh well, I tried.

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Now, with more words at her disposal, Kayli is surprising me every day with the things she says. For example, the other night Kayli was finishing her bath when I asked her to let the water out. Of course she "didn't hear me" the first couple of times. Then, on my third request, I said "Kayli, can you let the water out?" She replied: "Yeah...(pause) Happy to mama...(pause) you say pleeease." I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I realized what she had just said.


This weekend, we had to go to the hardware store to get a part for her Fisher Price 4-wheeler battery pack. There were about 5 guys behind the counter intermittently waiting on customers as a couple of them tried to figure out what kind of adaptor we needed on the battery. I had Kayli sitting on the counter, watching them, when she apparently spotted something more interesting. A whole wall was covered with various sizes of drip pans for stove burners. Kayli exclaimed in her most awestruck tone "Mama, lookit aaaaalll doze potty seats!" That got everyone's attention and they all had a good laugh for the day!


We are so happy to finally see some nice weather so we can get out and enjoy the outdoors! I've posted a video of a recent surprisingly nice weather evening that we took advantage of and took a "leisurely" stroll down the block with Kayli's baby bunny. I also posted a video of Kayli's "test drive" in the new sling swing we bought on Saturday at the toy store and hung in our tree. This weekend we also got a chance to play in the sandbox, and don our gardening gloves to clean out the garden (yes, Kayli has her own pair and she really wants a pruner so she can "snip" like I do!) Hanging out in the backyard just gave me a taste of how much fun we are going to have again this summer. I can't wait!