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

Wow, not even a full month has passed...

Can you believe it? I'm managing to post and a full month hasn't even passed yet. I spent a little time the other day trying to learn how to jazz up my blog. Like the changes? It's still a work in progress, but I like the modifications so far.

Not a whole lot to report right now. We've had a few lazy weekends and we're now gearing up for the next few weeks being busy. We're headed to the Eastern Shore to visit Nana and Auntie Paula next weekend. We'll post some pics of the trip. Then, on the 26th, we're off to the land of paradise...Hawaii! Sadly, I'm going to start packing today. I know, I'm a little pshyco, but what can I say, I HAVE to be prepared!

Kyleigh had tubes put in her ears last Monday, the 7th, and she seems much happier now. Not that she wasn't happy before, but you could tell that her ears were somewhat of a constant annoyance. Now she sleeps better, wakes better and isn't always rubbing at her ears. She really isn't doing anything "new", but is doing some major cruising. She pulls herself up on just about anything within reach and can walk/scale everything in her path, gracefully (and quickly) moving from the living room, to the dining room, to the kitchen - and all the way around it until we have to remove her from the cat food area.

The few photos posted are from her cousin, Joseph's, 2nd birthday party on the Fourth of July and from our friends son's christening party on the 12th. Many of our good friends were there. Someone joked that he didn't remember there being a blackout last year...there were so many babies close to the same age.

If I don't get back on for another post before Hawaii, I'll be sure to update everyone on our first family vacation after we get back.

7, 8 and 9 months

Oh, I'm such a bad mom for not doing a better job of keeping up with my blog. We've had so much going on in our lives lately and the last thing I've felt like doing is spending time in the basement alone.

For those of you that haven't already heard...the "big" news is that we're expecting another baby in December. Kyleigh is going to have a sister! The due date is December 23 and I just hope that I'm not in the hospital on Christmas Day. Needless to say, I'm exhausted almost every night and can't wait to go to bed after dinner.

As for Kyleigh...the one you REALLY care about. She's grown so much, we can't believe she's going to be 9 months old this week. I know I last updated when she was 6 months, but forgive me if I don't know exactly when she did what. But...here's the latest and greatest. Kyleigh has 2 teeth on the bottom now. She's eating well with her fingers (the pincher grasp). So far, she likes baby puffs, graham crackers, and bananas rolled in oatmeal. She's not been a fan of cantelope, watermelon or nectarine. I need to get on board with trying more things for her.

Just in the last fews days she's really been on the move. It's making mom and dad realize how "un-child friendly" their home is. It's a difficult time for us because our house is constantly being shown to prospective buyers and we hate to change it too much for fear of scaring away non-baby weilding prospects. Last weekend she was fine with her small play area and now she's crawling to the tables and sofa so she can get the way she prefers to be - vertical! She's able to move all the way around the coffee table, though she does fall some and that's never pretty. Next weekend I'm picking up a play pen so that she can move around safely. Kyleigh doesn't appear to love crawling, but she's definitely proven she's capable of doing it.

Enjoy the photos from the last fews months. They include a visit to Aunt Alison's in Pittsburgh (Rachel, 3 and Ava, 1) and a visit to great-grandparents Apop and Hilda. Hopefully, it won't be another 3 months until I post again. Until then...love to all!