Weekend with Nana

We wanted to post a few photos from our weekend with Nana and Auntie Paula. We figured since it would be a long time till we'd get to see them again, with the trip to Hawaii and all, we paid a visit to their new home on the Eastern Shore, VA. We had a very nice visit and even got to go for a quick swim. Oh, and they had some oh so cute kittens. Nana tried to get us to take one. Hahaha! Fat chance, 3 kitties is quite enough for us.

First's

I can hardly believe it (though I've been predicting it for weeks). Kyleigh took her first independent steps on 7/15. Rob was on the sofa and I was in a chair about 4 feet away. Only in the last two days has Kyleigh discovered that she can stand without holding onto something. So, she was standing near one of us when the other encouraged her to come to them. I can't remember which way it was and with whom. But, she repeatedly was trying to move between the two of us and next thing you know, she had taken 3 steps from one to the other. She repeated this about twice and then I think she was pooped. Our girl has no fear. Her other new feat is climbing the steps. She can climb our steps bottom to top in rapid succession. Then, she likes to turn around and come back down...adult style. She gets quite indignant if you will not allow her to take both your hands as she maneuvers her was down the steps, one at a time, while standing up. She has worn out a few of us doing this over and over. Finally, one last funny thing. We broke down and bought good baby gates to protect Kyleigh from taking a nose dive down our steps. Now, since we have three cats we have to creatively place them so that the cats can a) get to their food and b) get to the potty pans. Wouldn't you know, in a matter of moments Kyleigh figured out that if the cats can squeeze under the gate...so can she! It was like she was in training to be a Navy Seal. The only thing preventing her from falling down the steps was that she banged into all the cat food bowls and made a ruckus. If she's going to be a Seal, we need to practice her stealth! Till later...

Hawaii 2008 - K's first big trip

Aloha friends and family, Well, we survived a 2-week vacation with Kyleigh. Actually, she was really, really good. I don't know why I was so apprehensive, considering she's always such a good child. I'll try and give a brief overview of our trip without going on, and on, and on... We left on the day of Kyleigh's 10-month birthday. We were all up at 4am (silly me thought Kyleigh would sleep through loading the car and I'd just sneak her out in her pj's at 5:15am). Our flight left at 7:30am. Our first big suprise of the trip was that Kyleigh fell asleep DURING take-off and slept for the first 2 1/2 hours of the flight. Wow, we got to eat breakfast and watch an entire movie before she woke! We managed to make up quite a comfy bed for her in front of our seats (see photo). The next flight to Honolulu was as un-eventful. With a 4-hour layover till our flight for Kauai left, we walked a lot and Kyleigh spent some time exploring her new MacLaren stroller. She finally pooped out (during take-off again) and slept pretty much through till the next day - through the de-planing, rental car shuttle, rental car ride, transfer to the hotel, transfer to the pack-n-play. What a trooper!!! The most amazing part is that once she did fall asleep on this last flight, it was midnight our time. Wow! All in all, Kauai was a great trip. We spent a lot of time just relaxing and lounging. Kyleigh loves the water - any kind of water - baths, pools (big and small) and the ocean. She spent most of her time in the pool "surfing" on mom mom's chest. We went out to eat a few times and then splurged for a babysitter one night so we could have a nice "grown-up" meal at Roy's. Heather and Rob got to spend their last day in Kauai kayaking a river/ocean on the north shore and then we did some snorkeling. After one week with mom mom, pop pop and Aunt Karen, we parted ways and the Musick's headed to Oahu for a few days. We stayed at the hotel where we spent part of our honeymoon. It was wonderful, but not the same with a baby. A hotel was much more challenging then our 2-bedroom condo. Naps and early bed times were a challenge since we had no where to go and nothing to do. By accident, we discovered that a perfect evening could be had by all...with Rob watching a movie using headphones, Heather reading a book and Kyleigh sleeping. I suggested we spend some evenings like this once we get home. We basically did nothing in Oahu. We spent more time in the ocean here since the water was calmer than in Kauai. We also lounged by the pool, ate out and sat on the veranda each evening listening to local music. We discovered that Kyleigh loves music and will be-bop to just about any beat (including ringing cell phones). We made it home in one piece and after only two days, were back to our normal routines. It took mom a bit longer to recover then the others, but I guess being 5-months pregnant had something to do with that. I'm glad we did the trip, but will not be making such a jaunt for some time. Hope everyone is well. Hugs and kisses to all. Heather, Rob and Kyleigh