Dog bone

Keeley just finished "helping" me unload the dishwasher. I couldn't get it to close and was very confused because I didn't see what the problem was. Upon closer inspection, I discovered she had decided that one of the dogs white chew bones needed to be washed and had put it in the bottom of the dishwasher. Such the helper.

Beauty of "dada"

As annoying as it is that I spend 12 straight hours with Keeley by myself and she still prefers to say "dada," "dog," "out," and is working on "bell," "ball," "bath," and "book" instead of "MAMA," I discovered the beauty in it last night. Just as Kelly and I were getting in bed, I heard the following from Keeley's room.

"aaahhhrremmmm DA aaahheremmm DA aaahhmrem"

And then she drifted back to sleep peacefully. We then had this conversation:

Me: If she asks for you, that means you have to get up and I get to stay in bed!
Kelly: She really wants you though.
Me: If she wants me, she should figure out how to say it!

Side note: I know that we are not far from "MAMA" being shouted at a regular basis from bed instead of "dada." When that becomes a common occurrence, you can bet that mama will not be getting up every time - even if that is who she wants!

On the move!

Last night, Keeley officially started walking! She's been going full steam ahead for awhile now if she has something to hold on to - even if it is just your pinky. Last night, however, she decided to start doing it on her own. The best part is that I was afraid she'd cry every time she fell down but she doesn't. True to her performer's heart, she pushes herself right back up, claps for herself, and says "aaahhhh!" with her tongue hanging out. She also decided that she should wear a dishtowel as a cape for most of her adventure last night. After awhile she took it off and simply carried it, but for a good ten minutes it was a cape. Do other people's children dress up so much? I have no idea why she thinks it is such fun!

Wearing her cape while she decides whether she will walk or play with Carbo

Deciding that walking sounded like more fun than playing with the dog

Fuzzy, I know, but do you see her clapping for herself?

"aaaahhhh"

You will all be happy to know that she is no longer applauding her own efforts today! (And, she is now saying "ball" and "bell" sometimes to add to the "dog" and "out" conversations we have!)

Dog Out

Keeley is talking now. Unfortunately, this is a conversation that we have at least 15 times an hour (sometimes more).

Keeley: Dog
Me: Yes, that is your dog. Your dogs are out.
Keeley: Out
Me: Yes, your dogs are out. Dog out.
Keeley: Dog. Out.
Me: Yes, your dogs are out.
Keeley: Out (brow very furrowed, lips very pursed)
Me: Yes, both of your dogs are outside.
Keeley: Dog
Me: Yes
Keeley: Out

The first, oh I don't know, million times she said it, I found it adorable. It was even cuter and more amazing when she started saying "dog out" together because that's almost a sentence. However, I am now ready for her to learn another word. I'm not sure exactly what else I can say when she says "dog," "out," or "dog out."

and the winner is....

After much consideration, Kelly and I have decided that "the bean" will be named Kayden Stephanie. Thanks for all your help in picking K names! I suppose this is subject to change in the next 14 weeks, but I kind of doubt it will - we've had a hard enough time picking this name!

Sleep Cycle

Keeley doesn't sleep. I think this has been well established. This morning she started the day at 5:30. At 9:20 (after 15 minutes of crying in her crib), she finally surrendered to her first nap. This nap last an entire 40 minutes. We then went to lunch and the mall and returned home at 1:40. She was not interested in sleeping and cried and fussed for 30 minutes before surrendering to sleep. This nap also lasted 40 minutes.

Needless to say, an 11 month old needs more than 80 minutes of sleep to make it to a reasonable bedtime. She can't be napping any later than 4 or she puts up a huge fight to go to bed. So we were left to power through the afternoon. Finally, at about 6, she rubbed her eyes and face planted into the carpet so we started getting ready for bed. She didn't even want to play in her bath. I laid her in her crib at 6:22 and haven't heard a peep since. In all fairness to Keeley, her day was 13 hours long and that is a long day for a baby (especially when she got less than 11 hours of sleep the night before). It would just be nice if the 13 hours of daytime ended later than dinner!

There is something that just feels wrong about putting her to sleep so early. In my head, I know that she only needs about 12 hours of sleep at night so this will mean she is awake at around 6:30 tomorrow morning...only to make tomorrow's bedtime early again. But, I also know that if kids are too tired they don't sleep well during the night and will wake up tired. What's a mom to do? She's simply too busy for sleep so much of the time. I don't know how to fix it (and goodness knows I've read everything I can about "good" sleep habits - she is simply not falling for it).

I guess I should just be grateful that my husband is home early enough to see her before she goes to bed at 6:30 and that I have the entire evening to spend with him (at home since Keeley is sleeping...)

Carousel Fun

One of Keeley's friends had a birthday party on Friday at the mall. We ate pizza and cupcakes and then went for a ride on the carousel. Keeley had so much fun that we went back today so that Dad could watch and take some pictures.

An action shot

Trying to smile for the camera - until she noticed other kids.

Separation Anxiety!!!!

Keeley has been exceptionally clingy the last several days. This mainly applies to me. It is not enough to be close to me or in my lap, she insists on being in my arms ALL THE TIME. At first, it was kind of sweet because she hasn't ever been a big cuddle kid, however, it grew tiresome rather quickly. I do have to do things on my own occasionally (like take a shower...). It was pretty bad yesterday when we went for my baby check (the bean is doing just fine). Keeley insisted on being in my arms or we had serious crying. This made for a rather humorous site as I laid on the table with Keeley in my arms and the nurse tried to listen to the heart rate and measure my tummy. To further complicate matters, Keeley has become afraid of new noises so the heart beat freaked her out.

Anyway, last night, she woke up at 11:00 SCREAMING. She continued to scream for 15 minutes when I finally went in there because I was afraid that she had fallen out of her crib or was going to throw up from crying so loudly and for so long. All she wanted was for me to hold her. This wasn't exactly my plan for the evening....

She awoke too early (6:30) and grumpy this morning and then napped for a grand total of 20 minutes before 1 o'clock. To make matters worse, if I wasn't holding her, she was crying. She cried the whole time I was in the shower with her little face pressed against the glass, the entire time I got dressed, and the entire time it took me to eat my cereal.

Finally, at 1 o'clock when our attempt at a nap was horribly unsuccessful, I called Kelly to see if he might like a visit. We loaded up the car and headed to see him. Keeley promptly fell asleep and slept for 33 minutes. We visited for a while and then headed home (she stayed awake the entire time and "read"). It was a VERY long day.

Every time we have super long days, she does something incredibly cute that somehow makes it all worthwhile. Today it was that she insisted on eating wearing her hat from Dave and Cara. Interestingly enough, it had to be repositioned for her actual meal when she was finished with her milk.

Enjoying her milk

Repositioning the hat now that she's finished with her milk.

Container Pickiness

Life is moving along rather quickly for our little one. She is really starting to enjoy eating and showing some preferences on what she likes to eat. For example, if you get the cheese or her dried fruit out, she starts hitting her tray and making excited sounds while her feet swing wildly. This is cute I think. However, she is also starting to show you what she doesn't want to eat. If you are feeding her cereal and she sees something she would rather eat, she will repeatedly sign "more" and push your hand out of the way. It is up to you to figure out what it is she thinks she would rather have. Sometimes, what she wants isn't even on the table. This is the most frustrating because I am left to stand at the pantry or refrigerator and figure out what it is that might be appealing to her. So far the only consistent winner we have is cheese -- cheddar cheese only. Any other type of cheese is met with a disgusted look the minute it hits her tongue and then comes out partially digested on to her bib. Gross.

In some ways, I think it will be better when she learns to talk. Then, at least, she can tell me what it is she wants. However, then I wonder if that will really be better after all. I currently see this face quite a lot

That was her at breakfast trying to tell me something about the dogs. What she was trying to tell me beyond "dog" I don't know. Clearly, there is an important message I am missing though because her brow just got more and more furrowed the more she said it.

Two pacifiers

Keeley doesn't like to sleep. Today after her "nap" I walked into her room to find this face staring back at me.

I don't know why she likes pacifiers so much. She only gets them in bed and her car seat. Maybe she's just trying to just really take advantage of the time she gets with them.

Too busy for sleep

Since Keeley was born, you may be aware that she simply hasn't liked to sleep. She fights it SO hard and then, when she finally surrenders, we are lucky to get one hour of sleep from her. I have tried very hard to instill a schedule. After all, I am a big believer and lover of schedules and calendars. Keeley is simply not interested.

Once she became mobile, she got a lot happier and I was willing to deal with inconsistent and short naps. This was made easier by the fact that she generally was a pretty good night sleeper -- until now. We have started our day at 5:40 for almost a week now. That is simply too early. If you notice the time stamp on this post, you'll see that is just about 8:30. Keeley has already been up for 2.5 hours and gone back down for her first nap. 8:00 is too early for a nap!!! Oh well. Maybe all of this will seem better when we spring forward and she is going down at 9:00. Until then, I suppose I will just enjoy the fact that she gets to say good-bye to her daddy every morning.

Dress up Girl

Keeley has become quite the dress up girl. I think this is largely due to my mom encouraging her. She loves to dress up and then look at herself in the mirror or pose for the camera. It does make for some pretty cute pictures!

Mama?

Keeley now clearly says "dog" to talk about dogs and "dada" anytime she sees Kelly. In fact, today after a nap, Kelly went in to get her and, before he even turned the light on, she said it. Does she say "mama"? Absolutely not. Despite the fact that she used to say it when she was learning sounds, she refuses to say it to me. In fact, if Kelly or I say to her "say mama" she looks at me and laughs. Never mind the fact that I spend countless hours with her. At least I know she loves the dogs and Kelly.

Where are your pants?

Today, Keeley was supposed to be taking a nap in the afternoon. This is frequently unsuccessful but I always leave her until she gets really angry about it. I put her down and left to go do some work while I listened on the monitor. She talked and played for all 45 minutes of her nap music. When the cd finally ended, I figured she was done "napping" so I went in to get her. I found her standing in her crib with 5 pacifiers, two monkeys, and her blanket on the floor. She was also missing her pants. I looked around and didn't see them. Apparently, they were one of the first things to go because they were underneath her blanket. Why she did she decide to take her pants off? Why does she throw everything out of her crib? Who knows?!?! She is very cute though!