Kiya is 2

It is official. Kiya turned 2 today. We had a family party on Thanksgiving with a Dora cake. Kiya dug right into the frosting and yet still wouldn't eat the cake. She loved the Dora, Diego and Boots figures though so it was still a success.

 And here is my big girl just this morning before she headed out to daycare to play with her friends. She was asking for her friend Lily all weekend. It was pretty cute.

In every picture we take, I see the sparkle and light in Kiya's eyes. I look at her and I see her Mama Zinash. I really see the resemblance now. I didn't always but I do now. The older Kiya gets she is looking more and more like her mother.

So today we are celebrating all things Kiya and yet we are taking a pause tonight to honor and remember a very special woman. 2 years ago some 7000 miles away, Zinash went into labor while at school taking her exams and she gave birth to Annakiya Yewibdar at a clinic in Angacha, Ethiopia later that night.

I have really no words. We are truly blessed and honored to be able to parent Kiya. I wish I could hop on a plane right now and go to Ethiopia and find Zinash and let her really see just what an amazing little girl she gave birth too. I know Kiya gets her fight and drive from her Mama Zinash. Some day we will make this happen. We have to.

Someday when Kiya reads this I want her to know just how much I love her and just how much she inspires me. She is a remarkable kid that just won't let anything stop her. She has fight and drive and silliness and sassiness. She lights up any room and can be shy or the life of the party. She loves all things music. She loves to sing and dance sometimes in the middle of the night. She loves to talk. She gives the best hugs. She loves the park and to count. She loves her dogs and her tee tee (blanket).

Her current favorite foods are bread and butter, peanut butter cups, bananas, all things chicken, fish sticks, ranch dressing, ketchup, sweet corn, cheese, mac n cheese, pizza, turkey dogs, oranges, peas and pasta.

She is a princess and tomboy. She loves jewelery and dolls and to play with cars and rocks.

Kiya is truly a rock star and I am just so proud of her. She has been given a big plate of stuff to deal with this year and she is tackling it like a champ with grace, attitude and pizazz. Look out world, Kiya is on the move literally this year and nothing is going to stand in her way or slow her down.

Thankful

I am taking a pause to truly appreciate all that I am thankful for as we approach Thanksgiving.

First and foremost, I am thankful for my daughter. Kiya is truly the most amazing kid. I am just so proud of her. She just takes things as they come and bounces back stronger than ever. I am so honored to be able to be her mother.  She is teaching me a lot.

I am grateful for my husband. He through all of this craziness that we call parenthood has stood next to me and encouraged  me and supported me. I couldn't have done half of this without him.

I am thankful for my family. I have amazing parents and in-laws. I am one lucky girl and Kiya is blessed with truly wonderful grandparents.

I am thankful for my lucky cast friends. These women, children and families have been in my life for a few short months yet they are the most amazing friends. They pick me up when I am down. The send me kind words and cyber hugs and offer support when I need it. I have made lifelong friends and so grateful for that.

I am grateful that I finally have a job :) The interview I thought went so well did in fact go that well. They called me back today and offered me a job. I have to pass a background check first but I am pretty sure that won't be an issue :) The plan is to do that and have me start in early December.

I am grateful for Shriner's Hospital, for Dr. H, Linda, Gwen, Robert and everyone else that works with Kiya. They are amazing and have made this journey manageable and I can tell they truly care about each and every kid that walks in those doors.

Lastly, I am going to take the time to be thankful for my squishy hugs, messy bathroom floor and the bonus cast free time.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

***Update in Kiya's Kare Korner***

Big change of plans

Today was a very LONG day. I had a job interview that seemed to go really well. Then we had Kiya's 2 yr check up in which we were planning for a routine visit and 3 vaccinations.

Yeah things didn't go as planned. Let's start with the good news.

Kiya is hitting all developmental milestones and as expected a little behind in gross motor. She is nearly perfect in all ways. She weighed in at 29.5 lbs with her cast on so about 26.5 lbs. She is 35 inches tall. She is in the 83rd percentile for height.

As we were discussing just how resilient Kiya is and such a trooper, I mentioned that her cast was starting to stink. I noticed the smell just a couple of days ago. Well, Kiya was sitting on my lap and I was rubbing her neck and looked down her cast.

I look down her cast a lot. I rub a baby wipe where I can to get whatever grime I can off. We are always checking for sores etc.  Well, we majorly missed this one. Kiya has a pussy infected quarter size keloid right smack dab in the middle of her back. We found the smell.

I made a panicky phone call to Shriners hospital to talk with our nurse. She said get Kiya out of that cast ASAP as in now. So we started untaping, unpadding and scrambling trying to figure out what we were going to do. We were finally able to convince the ortho department to cut off her cast with the saw. Yeah not fun. Really not fun. Lots of screaming but really she did great.

We then peel off her cast shirt and wow. Seriously GROSS. Poor kid. The plus side is keloids don't hurt, it is a scar that spreads beyond the original injury and is essence becomes a separate growth.

So the plan for now is to put Kiya on antibiotics for 10 days to rid her of infection and allow time for the skin to heal. Then we have no idea. I sent pictures of the keloid to our nurse at Shriners and she is going to consult with our doctor.  It appears we will have two options. Remove the keloid, allow that to heal and cast again with extra precautions or leave the keloid, cast and use extra precautions. We are in a holding pattern for now.

Kiya is cast free for at least the next 3 weeks which means we get baths, squishy hugs and some extra worrying. I am trying not to think about all of this time out of cast. We took her out 2 weeks early.

I have such mixed feeling about this whole thing. I know we had no choice and I know everything happens for a reason. So I am going to try and enjoy this bonus time with Kiya cast free. I am loving the hugs and seeing her walking cast free and I will try not to worry too much about her curvy back.

The next 3 weeks

I think it finally hit me today. The next 3 weeks around here are going to be really intense, really emotional and sometimes even a lot of fun.

I am officially one week away from having a 2 year old. I am slightly in denial about this but it is happening ready or not. I did finally order her birthday cake and yes it is Dora and chocolate. And no I don't feel bad for not making her a cake as we are celebrating on Thursday (Thanksgiving) and I will be slightly busy cooking all day.

We host Thanksgiving every year since we became home owners that is. So like the last 6 years or so. We will have 11 people in our house and 2 pugs. It will be great to have the family together to celebrate Thanksgiving and Kiya's birthday a little early.

We are also 2 weeks away from being able to cut of cast #1. I can't believe it has been 10 weeks already. It has flown by in a weird way but I am ready to say sayonara to this purple cast. It is starting to look icky and smell a little funky. And I am more than ready for a week of squishy hugs.

So we get 1 week to enjoy baths, hugs and cast freedom. Then back to Chicago for cast #2 11 days before Christmas. Sigh.

And while I am super excited to cut that cast off, I am also terrified. First, she learned to have balance and walk in that cast, what is going to happen when we take it off for a week? Second, I am going to try my darndest to keep her healthy that week so a silly sickness doesn't stop us from getting cast #2. Third, knowing me I am going to obsessively look at her back and compare to old pictures and see if it looks better, worse, the same. That week full of hugs and baths is going to be so emotional.

We did find out that we should have one friend at Shriner's with us on cast day so that is always helpful to have someone there who gets it.

So as you can see I have a lot on my emotional plate right now and it is slowly starting to seep into my reality. I almost cried when I ordered Kiya's birthday cake....it is going to be a long 3 weeks.

On another note, since I posted about our sleep issues we haven't had any. She has woken up and put herself back to sleep. I haven't had to climb in bed with her. She even slept in the pack n play at a hotel this last weekend. I was shocked as she is way too big for that thing but we were in a jam and so it was and she did great. We were off schedule all weekend with late bedtimes Friday and Saturday and still she slept great. We are thinking part of the issue is her over active imagination along with nightmares/terrors being common at this age. We are headed to the doctor tomorrow for her 2 year check up and will mention the sleep stuff to her as well. And I so know that because I wrote this paragraph, I am jinxing everything and will likely find myself in bed with Kiya at some point tonight. Fingers crossed I am wrong.

Sleep issues

To date we have been really lucky in terms of sleeping. Kiya had nap issues when first home and we are working through some nap issues now but night time sleeping was never an issue.

Kiya slept through the night from the time she came home until about a week or so ago unless she was sick or teething. She has been going down to bed just fine even in the new twin bed. She mostly stays in bed at night maybe on a rare night gets up once but then goes right back down.

She is a good self soother and we always put her down awake and she puts herself to sleep. She has never needed rocking and when first home she wasn't a fan of that much contact as we built up trust. Life was really easy. Kiya was a very easy baby. She would sleep 12-13 plus hours straight through every night.

Well not so much nowadays. She still goes to bed well but like clock work around 1 or 2am she is awake. She isn't crying or screaming. She doesn't usually get out of bed unless she needs a new diaper then she will. However she doesn't go right back to sleep. She is often awake for 2-3 or more hours at a time in the wee hours of the morning. She is singing, talking, testing her vocal range. She isn't upset just awake. And this momma has a hard time sleeping through it.

I last night did something I swore I would never do. I climbed into bed with Kiya at about 4am after 3 hours of hearing multiple verses of wheels on the bus or head, shoulders, knees and toes. Yup. I caved. And you know what within 10 minutes or less Kiya was sound asleep. I stayed with her for another 10 minutes or so and then went back to bed. She stayed asleep until just after 8am.

I have no idea if it is the new bed, the potential for freedom, the testing of limits or what but I miss my good sleeper. So if anyone out there in blog land has any suggestions I am more than willing to listen. I don't want to start something (me climbing into her bed) that is going to be really hard to get rid of later but right now it is my best option. I only wish I had done it at 2am instead of 4. Then we all could have had more consecutive hours of sleep.

Wordless Wednesday

Proof that a big girl officially lives in this house

I set up Kiya's brand new twin size bed today. I took apart the rest of the crib and it is now official. Sniff Sniff. There is no longer a crib in this house at least for now :)



And here she is reading one of her favorite books :)

We have been home 18 months today. We came home with a less than 6 month old 12lb baby. Now we are 2 weeks away from a full fledged 2 year old that weighs close to 27lbs and has more spunk than I know what to do with sometimes. She is keeping me on my toes and in the last week I have gone up and down the stairs more times than I can remember returning her to bed at nap time.

That said she is the light of my life spunk and all and I am so proud of my big girl. She loves being a big girl. Last night she was just beaming with pride when she went pee pee on the potty before bedtime and got to flush the toilet. Now if we could just convince her that the hours between 3am and 5am are meant for sleeping and not singing/talking that would be helpful.

No words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHSNSB70U80

18 months ago

18 months ago yesterday I walked up 4 flights of stairs and saw my sweet baby girl on the floor. Seconds later her nanny handed her to me and my 6 year long dream of being a mother had finally and really come true.

Here she was this tiny little almost 6 month old piece of perfection. She weighed 12lbs and couldn't hold her head up straight when she was sitting. She couldn't sit up unassisted and she couldn't really bare any weight on her legs. She was so tiny and sweet and well beautiful. I was in love. The feeling was definitely not mutual at first.

Kiya didn't really like or want to be held a lot. She was very independent and very cautious with her eye contact. Sh didn't trust me. To her I was merely a meeter of needs. Food, shelter, clothing, etc. I wasn't yet truly her mother.

Now 18 months later, Miss Kiya loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. She can be a little on the clingy side more recently but that is age appropriate. She is a walking, talking, independent and lovely little girl.

We have come a long way in 18 months. She is coming into her own in this new role of being a big girl. She was never much of a baby baby. She never really liked bottles and she still likes to do things or try them by herself. We saw her strength in her referral picture. We knew she was one tough and cautious cookie. Cautious in the who are you and what do you want way. She is a little bit of a daredevil otherwise. She was more so before her cast but that doesn't stop her from trying to climb on the couch or out of bed.

She is smart, funny and really very sweet. These 18 months have not always been easy and she has faced some obstacles but has bounced back and is truly a resilient kid. She never ceases to amaze me.

We have developed this wonderful relationship that I hope nurtures and grows. She listens to me and I to her. We don't always agree and well since she is almost 2 you can imagine the meltdowns but either way our relationship is beautiful. It took time and will always need work but the big thing is she trusts me. She needs me. I need her. We need each other. She has taught me so much and I look forward to teaching her and watching her grow.

And while I rely on 4 shot lattes to get me through toddlerhood, I am so in love with this amazing little person. She challenges me and tests me and sometimes that is hard but it comes with being a parent. And I LOVE being a parent.

My oh my...what have we done

Some how we managed to survive the weekend of change. Kiya did great with the potty training. There were a few times that she resisted and we just left the bathroom and went on with our day. She did have multiple successes though and she seemed really proud of herself. It for sure hasn't all clicked yet but it will.

Today will also be the first time at daycare that they will take Kiya to the potty. She says potty, knows that other kids go in there so we figured let's go for it. We do have a rule at home though that she can't flush the toilet or have toilet paper unless she goes pee pee or poop in the potty. I know some may say that is mean but otherwise she would just keep asking to go potty just so she could flush and wash her hands.

We also took the crib apart. It converts to a toddler bed. In my state of denial, I thought for sure Kiya would stay in bed. She stays on her mat at daycare at naptime so it didn't seem like a stretch. One loud thud heard from downstairs and we both ran up the stairs faster than the speed of light. Apparently she found a way out of her toddler bed. She either climbed over the bed rail or squeezed through the gap. Not fun. We put her back in bed and within minutes she was out again.

For safety reasons, we put the mattress on the floor for the rest of the night. Mommy foiled two other attempts over night to get out of bed. We are using the super nanny approach so first time she gets up we tell her it is bed time and put her back in bed. Second time she gets up we gain return her to bed and say good night. Third and subsequent times there are no words, we just return her to bed. I have seen this routine go on for hours on the TV show so our 30 some minutes until she fell asleep didn't seem that bad. We shall see how tonight goes.

Then there was this morning....my sweet, curious daughter got out of bed and decided that playing with diapers would be a good idea. She went to the cabinet and started to take diapers out and put them in the diaper pail. I heard a noise and went and saw her standing in the middle of the room with a diaper. I thought at first oh maybe I should change her. It was about 5:45am. So I changed her diaper and then realized there were 3 other clean diapers in the diaper pail. Sigh.

I put Kiya back to bed only to hear about 20 minutes later a very loud "all done". She was standing at the baby gate at her door. Dave was up with the dogs and it freaked him out. He wasn't expecting to see her there but there she was. He put her back to bed but again that didn't last long. She was up and out of bed again by about 6:30am, a full hour before she used to get up. I HATE daylight savings time by the way.

So needless to say I was up super early this morning with Miss Kiya. We are marching forward and will be purchasing a twin size bed for Kiya this weekend. The toddler bed thing isn't working out. We will make it work for the week but it has to go. We fully expect that she will get out of bed no matter what size bed she is sleeping in but the whole using the headboard to stand up and try to climb out of the toddler bed is so not safe. I don't want to hear anymore thuds so the mattress will stay on the floor.

I went shopping this morning for twin size bedding. That was more of a task than I thought it would be. I wanted something girlie, childish and that kind of went with her yellow walls. A lot of the bedding I saw was way too old looking or just plain ugly or covered with some cartoon character, etc. I wanted to stay away from that. 3 stores later and T.arget had what I was looking for. I will post pics after her room transformation this weekend.

Life with a curious, smart and super mobile toddler is exhausting but at the same time I wouldn't change a thing. She is a spunky little girl and while it is challenging at times she is super fun and life is never dull when you spend the day with Kiya.

Big girl room, potty training and more

Change is a coming to our house in the form of all things big girl. It makes me happy and sad to see Miss Kiya growing up. It is happening so fast but she is ready to be a big girl. I kind of think she has always wanted to be a big girl. She wasn't much in to being a baby until she figured out that she got more attention that way. So we battled that for awhile especially with daycare  but not anymore. (Before she walked they would carry her places instead of putting her down and making her hold their hand and walk from point a to point b. The Mama Bear stepped in an a former teacher of Kiya's to make sure that wasn't going to continue and it hasn't.)

First up, the removal of the crib from Miss Kiya's room. This weekend we are transforming her crib into a bed. Bed rail and gate have been purchased. Room has been cleaned. 4 bags of baby girl clothes were donated. It is time. Time for the crib to go.

Next up, potty training I think... This one is tough. She is definitely showing a lot of the signs that she is ready but not all. We know exactly when she is going poop and if we ask her if she is she says yes. Last night we asked her if she was and she said yes and we asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and she said yes. So diaper on we went over to the potty and she sat down. So I kind of think we could get her to go poop on the potty but not sure about the other. She drinks A LOT of milk and water throughout the day....she is sometimes dry after nap but not usually. She wets A LOT at night. Do we go for it? Wait a few more weeks until she is officially two?

I am going to talk to her teachers at daycare about it today and see what their process is like. If we are doing it we are all doing it together and I don't really want it to be a long drawn out 6 months of sort of potty training. I know night time potty training will take longer and I am okay with that but I don't want to rush things if it means it will take forever to get her daytime potty trained. I would rather wait and still change diapers.

Kiya has fully entered the terrible twos. Sigh. She can throw a tantrum like no other. They aren't frequent so when she does throw one boy is it a good one and usually over something very trivial. We are just rolling with it. We know it is a phase and will pass. We ignore as best we can and take breaks when needed.

She has also decided that whining is the best way to get things. Wrong answer in this house. We have a no whining policy. If she wants milk, to sit on the couch, her book, her blanket or whatever she needs to use her words not just point and whine. So the plus side she is learning a bunch of new words but the downside is that sometimes mid whine she starts to meltdown and needs a break.

We are working on manners so if she wants a book it is book please or in Kiya speak book peas :) And if she wants her milk and says please and we get it for her with some prodding she will say thank you. She is getting better at saying thank you but sometimes we ask her, Kiya what do you say? And her answer: say with a grin. Sigh. We have a spirited one on our hands for sure.

So that is where we are for now...phasing out all things baby and getting ready for our big girl to shine like the superstar that she is.

2 weeks and boy am I tired.....

Kiya has been a full time walker for 2 weeks now and I am exhausted. The whining and walking has seemed to stop. Sometimes she still wants to hold a finger but more and more she just takes off.

We were in a bookstore with my mom and she was EVERYWHERE and doing it all by herself. She would walk up this aisle and down this one and wouldn't touch a thing really to adjust her balance. Sometimes she would stop a little and adjust or take a couple steps backwards and then off she went again. I was so glad to have my mom there to help me keep an eye on her. And so proud of Kiya for not tossing all the books on the floor. She actually behaved very very well.

Our Birth to 3 therapist wants her to practice walking on all sorts of surfaces. Kiya does sidewalks fine, and the playground okay but grass not so much so we are going to work on it. Our therapist let Kiya borrow a shopping cart and she LOVES it. She pushes it all over the house turning and steering and running into stuff and backing up and then off again.

We had this great (?) idea to bring Kiya to a local grocery store and let her push this little cart through the store by herself. Again so glad Dave was with me. He followed her and I tried to shop. She went so fast and was again all over and loving it. She even wanted to put stuff in her cart. The first thing she grabbed was sun dried tomatoes, ICK. So those went back and we gave her some lettuce instead and then she wanted bananas and in the lunch meat area she just reached out and grabbed a package of honey smoked turkey breast. We didn't really need it but when we tried to put it back she grabbed it again so we let her keep it. She ate it for lunch when we got home.

She kept wanting to do her own thing and went to the check out line a few times before we were ready. I missed a bunch of stuff that we needed so had to go to the store again today but it was so worth it. She had such a smile on her face. Sure we had a meltdown or two when she wasn't allowed to go a certain way but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I wouldn't necessarily take her by myself unless it was a small trip for just a couple of things and I could focus on her.

I am so excited to see her new found independence but it is tiring this mama out and I am having a second cup of coffee mid afternoon to keep up with her.