Blog + Video = VLOG

You are now entering month four

Kaylee was a little tired for her photo shoot this morning.

I'm on the fence about this. I can't decide if it's harder to believe that Kaylee is four months old already – or that she's only been around for four months. It seems like only yesterday that we brought her home – but it's really difficult to imagine life without her.

She's got a whole new wardrobe, because she's officially outgrown everything she's been wearing for the last month (including going up a diaper size). And she's wiggling like you wouldn't believe. She'll be crawling around the house and getting into trouble before we know it.

Talking? Not so much. Every now and then she "blah, blah, blahs" about something, but for the most part she's still pretty quiet. Right now the only thing coming out of her mouth on a regular basis is drool.

She's taken a real interest in the animals – watching them and reaching out for them whenever they get close enough. I don't think the animals are too fond of it – just wait until she's mobile.

Monday afternoon is her check up with the Doctor of Babies. We'll find out how she's doing and get some questions answered. (Like when does she get to start cereal? That should give my camera a workout.)

More as it develops. Film at 11.

The Knack

Remember the blocks? That cursed engineer block?
My daughter is doomed to a life of "utter social ineptitude."
I blame my father.

Bailey & Kaylee

Bailey likes to help Kaylee with her bink. Even when Kaylee doesn't want it. (Actually – I think that's Bailey's bink. They look the same. So either she like to share or she's just confused. I'm going with the latter.)

She really seems to like the kid. Unless ...

... Mom is holding the wrong kid. If Bailey has anything to say about it – there will NOT be another baby on Mommy's lap. (Heck, she gets jealous of the dog.)

Luckily, there is enough room for two.
(Though that really only makes her happy for a moment.)

Tax time ...

Wasn't nearly as painful this year. In fact, it was really good.
Thanks a bunch kid!

It's all happening at the zoo ...

Rae's favorite sister is visiting – no not that favorite sister, the other one – and she brought little Bailey along with her. (And she's not so little anymore. Quite the opposite in fact.) So what do you do with two kids in tow? You do what every other parent does – go to the zoo.

Kaylee's bib wasn't an advertisement, despite what some of the carnivores may have thought. (And yes, I know the albino peacock in the background posed no real threat.)

But these jaguars? And see the sign? It's to prevent people from getting confused by bibs exactly like Kaylee's. (I heard that happened in London once. Except it was a rather snotty eight-year-old.)

At not even four-months-old, much of the wonder and magic of the zoo was lost on Kaylee. She's not really checking out the rhino – we just caught her the one time her head was turned.

Bailey wasn't too impressed with the zoo either.
She totally ignored the brand new baby zeebra …

And the giraffes …

But anything with wings was pretty damn cool.

Llama.
(Extra specially for Aunt Maggie)

Visitors ...

Sister-in-law is coming tomorrow.

She's bringing the baby.

(And her husband.)

Baby likes to run and grab things.

(Don't know if the husband does.)

So the dog got shaved.

Poor dog.

Under the weather

Rae thought the outfit said it all today.

Kaylee was sent home from day care today. A quick trip to the doctor of babies (actually one of his minions) tells us she's running a slight fever. DOBM says it could be viral or, based on the amount of drool coming out of her face, it might be early teething.

Either way, she's had a bath and she seems to be in much better spirits this evening. Hopefully we'll have an uneventful evening and she can go infect all the other babies tomorrow.

Kiss me, I'm Irish*

It's not a Guinness, but it'll do in a pinch. Happy St. Paddys Day.

* There's bound to be a little Irish in there somewhere, right?

How to start and end the day

Kaylee and I get about a half hour every morning to hang out.
I drink coffee. She drools.

And this is how pretty much every night wraps up.
I'm on the computer – and they crash out on the couch.

Second post of the day

This is a bonus picture.
Why? Because my daughter is just too damn cute.
Consider yourself blessed.

Being this cute is a chore

Kaylee often gets tired helping Rae and I around the house.

On a side note – do you know how hard it is to sweep the floor with a sleeping baby strapped to your chest? You can't see what you're doing. You can't bend over to sweep under stuff. And you keep smacking the kid in the head with the broom handle.

I'm surprised she came through the event well-rested and unbruised.

Hard to believe ...

... but we've managed to keep Kaylee in relatively good health for the past 100 days. What were the Vegas odds on that?

But that's not why we're here. We're here to discuss blocks. Yes, blocks.


My Aunt Mary sent us a set of blocks for Christmas this year. (By "us" I mean Kaylee, but I play with her toys more than she does.) Now these blocks are cooler than I first thought. (But trust me, I was pretty excited about the blocks already. Toys that don't make noise or eat batteries? Awesome.) These are special blocks.

Magic blocks.

Here's what the card that came with the blocks has to say about it all:

GOOD FORTUNE WOODEN BLOCKS
In Korea, on a baby's 100th day, family and friends get a peek into the child's future. During the celebration, parents place objects representing different professions on a table and whatever the baby touches is said to fortell their destiny.

See? Magic blocks. So we laid the blocks all out and she touched one ...

But we didn't get a picture of it.

So we decided we wanted to throw out the rules.* We're not content with her just TOUCHING a block – we need more concrete proof than that. Kaylee needs to pick up a block ...

So we let her peruse the blocks. Taking her time to choose the perfect one ...

And she grabbed "e." I was excited, because I always wanted to have an elephant trainer in the family. That's job security. Everyone, everywhere will always need a trained elephant. They're great in the circus – or to help you get a stranded cat out of a tall tree.

But then Rae showed me that "e" stands for engineer. I was a little worried about that – trains went out of style decades ago. How will she ever make a living driving them?

Then I saw the picture on the block – it's some math tool thing. So it's not even a cool engineer. It's one of those physical / chemical / environmental / margarine-making / poly-hydrogenated engineers. It's the kind of job no kid wants - it's the kind of job for old men. Real old. Like Grandpa Charlie old ...

Poor kid.**



* Actually, we never had the rules. Rae, in her infinite wisdom, removed the card back in December to put away in a baby book or something. So we were just winging it. I didn't really know the rules until I looked them up on my sister's site so I could steal them for this. So if Kaylee grows up to be a "T stands for teacher" and not an elephant trainer, that's why.***
** There are many fine engineers out there. And I'm sure many kids aspire to grow up to be them. One happens to be my father, hence the ribbing. And I'm sure he'd rather be an elephant trainer too.
*** Nothing to see here. I just wanted to see what it looked like when a footnote got a footnote.

Random photos

Kaylee showing off what will likely be her summer outfit.
(If we can get her to wear that much.)

My aunt bought Kaylee this thing that lights up and plays music when you kick it. Rather, when Kaylee kicks it.
When I got tired of hearing it, I kicked it and it stopped working.

Kaylee has finally noticed those fuzzy things running around our house. It's only a matter of time before she starts chasing them now.

Pooh shoes.

Saturday morning photo shoot!

A camera??!! But I'm still in my pajamas! This will never do!

Much better.
Lose "Old Smeller," a change of clothes and a change of location. This dark couch makes my skin look great!

Isn't this dress fabulous? And check out these socks!

You're right. I do look awesome from that angle.

But THIS is my good side.

All right, who invited her? Get out of my shot! You're ruining it!
Fine. Lose the shirt woman, it's time for lunch.