Kaylee is 3!

Well, Kaylee turned 3 on the 26th of July.  I can't believe my little monster is three!  I decided to interview her.  It will be fun to see what her answer will be over the years.  But here is what she told me:

1. What is your favorite color?

Purple

2. What is your favorite toy?

Pink (this is the name of her pink blankie, also known as Blanks)

3. What is your favorite fruit?

Ummmmm, strawberries

4. What is your favorite tv show or movie?

Ponies!  (My Little Pony Friendship is Magic)

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Mac and cheese!

6. What is your favorite game?

Mommy (I'm not sure if she means playing with me, or she was getting irritated with my questions!)

7. What is your favorite snack?

Crackers (No joke.  I bet she wishes she could live on crackers)

8. What is your favorite animal?

Piggy (not too sure about this because really I think dogs and horses are her favorite)

9. What is your favorite song?

Mockingbird (Hush a bye)

10. What is your favorite book?

Dragon Love Tacos (as seen here)

11. Who is your best friend?

Maeve

12. What is your favorite cereal?

Eat cereal with allll milk (Really, it is Cheerios and Puffins)

13. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Play and run and turn the water on.

14. What is your favorite drink?

Milk (or Milky as she often calls it)

Other Kaylee tidbits:
*Kaylee is officially off the binky, mostly potty trained (we still have her in Pull-ups at night) and in a big girl bed.  She actually accepted all these changes WAY better than I expected!

*She is obsessed with being a "Big Girl".  We aren't usually allowed to all her any nicknames, but my dad can call her Kaylee Bean.  She refuses to be referred to as Daughter, insisted that she is a Big Girl.

*Kaylee calls me "Mommy-yai-yai"....a lot.

*We have to sing the following song (in the following order) for bedtime: All the Pretty Horses ("pretty horses"), Hush Little Baby ("Mockingbird"), the second verse of Blowing in the Wind ("Blowin' in Wind"), the first verse of Little Drummer Boy ("Rum pum pum"), ABC and finally, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  The last one Lance actually has to sing to her.

*She is very into mimicking us.  If we wear our sunglasses, she wants hers. 

*Her favorite movies are Cars, Finding Nemo and Tangled.  We took her to her first movie this summer as well: Monsters University.  She decided the monsters were "scary" though.

*A recent list of things she does not like "alligators, dinosaurs, dragons and pirate ships".

*Kaylee always calls our dog "Maura Baby" and says she's "so cute!"

For Kaylee's birthday, Lance and I took the day off of work.  Kaylee loves animals, so we decided to take her to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.  We were joined by my mother in law Vicki and brother in law Brett.  It was also Brett's birthday so we were excited to celebrate with him!

Baby Tiger!

Afterwards, we had the family over for a BBQ and Cake.  Kaylee thoroughly enjoyed ripping into all her presents.  She was so cute and would show everyone what she got.  She would really make sure EVERYONE saw.

One cake for Brett, one cake for Kaylee!

The next day we had a birthday party at the neighborhood park with all of Kaylee's friends.  We had a Finding Nemo theme and had the ice cream man come.  It was a big hit with the kiddos.  Kaylee loved seeing all of her friends and celebrating her birthday.  

I worry when these girls get their driver's licenses.

Kaylee's Bedtime Routine

Well, we've managed to cut down binkies to just sleep times now.  Kaylee is very good at handing over her binky and is quite excited to get it back before bed. 

Lately she has been wanting me to sing her songs before bed.  She asks for the same 4 songs, in the same in order: "Pretty Horses" (All The Pretty Horses), "Mockingbird" (Hush Little Baby), "Blowing Wind" (Blowin' in the Wind) and "Rum pum pum" (Little Drummer Boy).  She has eclectic tastes. 

She also requires about 20 stuffed animals in her crib, Twilight Turtle turn on (usually to green), and a pile of book for her to read in the morning.  She has to have her two pillows stacked just so and Pink (her blankie) draped over her and the tags in her hand.

Tonight as I was leaving her room we had the following exchange:

Kaylee: Bump!
Me: *walks over to give Kaylee a fist bump*
Kaylee: Good night, Mommy!
Me: Good night, Kaylee!
Kaylee: You're my friend Mommy! 
Me:  Aw, you're my friend too.
Kaylee: Mommy my friend.  Daddy my hero. 

Love that kid.

Kaylee vs. The Spider

Lance was changing Kaylee in her room.  They noticed a large (and quite frankly) disgusting spider in the corner over her changing table.  Lance pointed out the spider and Kaylee was looking at it.  Then it started to move and Kaylee started screaming and crying.   I don't blame her.  I would scream and cry too.  It was seriously that gross.

Lance's attempts to calm her were no use.  By that time I had made it to the bedroom to pick up one very upset, crying toddler.  Lance told Kaylee he was going to get rid of the spider.  So he grabbed a glass and a piece of paper and caught the spider.  He then marched the spider through the living and delivered him outside.  Kaylee wanted to make sure the spider was securely outside, but did manage to make a very sad and pathetic "bye bye spider".

Once she recovered, she realized that Daddy had saved her from the nasty spider and from then on he was better than cake frosting.  All night she recounted the story of how Daddy saved Kaylee:  "Scary spider in Kaylee's room.  Get Kaylee's legs.  Bad spider!  Daddy took spider outside."  She then wanted to sit by Daddy all night.  She gave Daddy and pat and told him "Good job, Daddy" and even told him "You my hero".  Since Kaylee has been on a mommy kick lately, Lance had no problem with the extra attention. 

Kaylee woke up right when we were going to bed and we let her come sleep with us.  She told the spider story again.  And then announced she was "cuddling with daddy" and not with Mommy.  (I'm chopped liver in this story).

This morning, spiders were still big news, but at least when she said Daddy was her hero again, she turned to me and said "Mommy, you my hero too". 

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!

Well, now that January is half over I thought I would recap the past year.  Better late than never, right?

JANUARY

• We survived the Snowpocalypse of 2012!  5 days of snow and ice essentially shut Seattle down.  It was Kaylee's first real snow experience and her first sledding experience - which did NOT go over well!
• I started work almost full time and Kaylee started daycare.  It was a bit of an adjustment for everyone, but the payoff was worth it.
• Kaylee attended her the first birthday party of the year.  There would be many more to come!

Walking in the snow is hard work!

Ice, ice and more ice

Ready to go!

FEBRUARY

• We took a trip to Port Townsend (terrible time of year, I know!).  We visited the beach, Olympic Game Farm and did some (a lot) of wine tasting.  
• Kaylee attended birthday parties for three of her friends.  She got this birthday cake thing down.

Port Townsend

Sand is weird

Port Angeles

MARCH

• Kaylee's Co-op Toddler Group had their annual Carnival and it was the first time we attended.  Kaylee thought getting prizes was great!
• Attended Seattle Comic-Con (we're nerds, what can we say)
• Got a rare night out on the town with friends and my sister in law.  It only took 5 days to recover! (Kidding...it only took 4).
• Went wedding dress shopping with my best friend, Stef for her wedding.  Champagne was involved. 

Hanging out at the carnival

The Yip Yips at Seattle Comic Con.

 
APRIL

• Kaylee went on her first Easter Egg hunt with her friend Kaila.  
• Went wedding dress shopping with my best friend, Niki for her wedding. Champagne was also involved.  

Ooh an egg!

Let's do this

MAY

• Kaylee discovers her inner artist
• Trips to the zoo with Grandma Ann and the aquarium with Auntie Stef.  Kaylee decides fish are scary, but seals are awesome.

Eating markers is just an expression of my artistry

I promise Kaylee was excited about the seals.

Being silly

JUNE

• My 31st birthday!  I spend it with my two best friends hitting up some of our favorite old haunts in Seattle.  Awesome night.
• Celebrated my sister in law's 22nd birthday by going to Mac and Jack's Brewery in Redmond
• Hosted two bridal showers!
• Attended Washington Brewer's Festival for the first time.  Yum!

My two best friends

Stef's shower - it had a beach theme since that's where she got engaged

Niki's shower had a "outdoorsy" theme and a fellow bridesmaid made these containers!

JULY 

• Busy month!
• Bachelorette party for my best friend Stef.  We painted pottery, ate some delicious Italian food, drank and got our party crashed by her fiance's bachelor party!  Fun night!
• Kaylee celebrated her 2nd birthday on the 26th, which she shares with her uncle, Brett (who turned 18) and her cousin Indigo (who turned 3)  Lance also celebrated his 32nd birthday on the 19th.  We had a joint birthday party for Lance's family which included Kaylee, Brett, Lance and his Aunt Sue.  
• Kaylee went to three more birthday parties that month for her friends.  One was a Christmas in July party and the other was at a farm!

Trouble

Friends

Having fun

Happy birthday to Brett, Kaylee, Lance and Sue!

Stef made Kaylee's birthday cake!

Kaylee collected pet food at her birthday party to donate to the Seattle Humane Society

 AUGUST

•  August was another incredibly busy, but super fun month!
• We took our annual trip to Lake Chelan with Lance's family.  It was really really hot this year!  Kaylee did pretty well sleeping in a tent, but always woke up much much earlier than we would have liked!
• Was co-Matron of Honor for my best friend Stef's wedding on the 4th.  It was SO much fun!  They held it in their backyard and it was a beautiful wedding.  Everyone had an awesome time.
• Was co-Matron of Honor for my other best friend Niki's wedding on the 25th in Bellingham.  We danced until the early hours and I got to know her other bridesmaids, which was really fun.  So happy they both found awesome guys!
• Before Niki's wedding, we celebrated her bachelorette party!  We rented a lake house and had a "Red Neck Wedding" theme.  We had mullets and everything.
• Lance and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on the 31st by having dinner and drinks at a Belgian restaurant and relived our fond food memories of Belgium
• Kaylee celebrated another friend's 2nd birthday party and had a lot of fun hanging out with her friends.

Relaxin' on vacation

One of my favorite things to do in Chelan

Congratulations Stef!

View from the lake house

Niki is going to kill me for posting this picture.  Anyways, Congratulations Niki!

 

SEPTEMBER

• September calmed down a bit.  We took a trip to my family's propery on Lopez Island with my parents.  My uncle also showed up with his sailboat.  We missed going last year, so Kaylee hadn't been there since she was 5 weeks old.  She loved the sand! 
• I hosted a baby shower for my friend.  I did a "rainshower and frogs" theme.  My friend loves frogs and it turned out really cute!

Windy on the ferry

One of our beach cabins

Playing in the sand

View of our portion of the bay

OCTOBER

•  We didn't go trick or treating last year, so we made up for it this year by hitting up a bunch of Halloween/harvest events.  We went to Remlinger Farms and Kaylee got to ride her first ride in a pumpkin.  We also went to Bastyr University's Halloween festival and Kaylee got her first taste of trick or treating.  We also hit up the Seattle Children's museum and finally went trick or treating on Halloween at Country Village in Bothell.
• We got a new dog named Maura!  She is an 18 month old Shepherd Mix.  Kaylee loves her.  Like, a lot.  Poor dog.

Pumpkin Ride!

Candy!

Trick or treating pro

Trick or Treat partner

 

Maura!

NOVEMBER

• We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time.  It went pretty well!  Except the the turkey was a little undercooked, but otherwise everything else was excellent.
• My friend gave birth to a little girl!

I didn't have a picture of Thanksgiving, so you get this picture of Kaylee instead!

DECEMBER

• Lance and I took a much needed weekend trip to Portland, just the two of us.  We stopped by Multanomah Falls, shopped at Powell's Books and ate some excellent food.  Too bad we were both sick!
• We took Kaylee to the Woodland Park's inauguaral Wildlights.  Kaylee thought it was awesome, especially when she got the light up wand.
• We hosted Christmas with Lance's family for the first time.  It was much more relaxed than Thanksgiving.  Whew!  
• We talked about Santa for the first time with year and Santa came to visit Kaylee.  She wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but she was ok with the presents!
• Kaylee also celebrated her last birthday party of the year for her friend's 2nd birthday.  The girls went to Build-a-Bear and Kaylee picked out a dog that looks like Maura!
• We celebrated New Years by having a couple of Lance's friends over.  It was very laid back.  Just the way I wanted it.

Multanomah Falls

Lance on vacation

Wildlights

Yay!

Presents ready to be opened

Hanging out with Auntie Ashley and Maura

Santa had just come to visit

The aftermath

2012 wasn't the most "exciting" year (with the exception of my best friends' weddings)...we didn't have any big life changes, or major events, or go on any big vacations like we have in the past.  But it was filled with great memories, lots of parties and friends and family.  Kaylee was able to enjoy things so much more this year now that she is older and it was fun to introduce (or reintroduce) her to things. 

2013 looks to be a good year.  I already have 6 friends having babies and will be throwing some baby showers!  We are also planning to take a trip to Florida, which I am really excited about.  So, welcome 2013!  We're happy you're here!