3 more months

I have 3 months left of having a two year old. I must say time has more than flown by. We started out with this perfect little peanut and now I have a full fledged little girl. She doesn't even look like a baby anymore. Sigh....

We were very lucky. The terrible twos weren't really an issue. We had the occasional meltdown but nothing that didn't pass in a few minutes. We did have to put her in timeout maybe a handful of times and each time she sat quietly waiting for it to be over and then was fine.

As we say goodbye to the two's and hello to the three's a lot of things have changed. Kiya is still sassy and sweet but now has developed the whine. Oh yes, we have a very whiny kid right now. I am hoping it is a phase and it will pass QUICKLY. I mean it is really sweet when she says " Mommy, snuggle. Mommy snuggle." But when she says it while we are driving the car or trying to go grocery shopping it can be a little much. And the drawn out whiny voice...wow. She has mastered it.

She has also become more defiant. No has returned as one of her favorite words and she is becoming sneaky. We have had to do time out a couple of times recently for talking back. She is so full of life and sass...she has her own ideas and those don't always line up with what mommy and daddy need for her to be doing.

We are also proud to say she is daytime potty trained. Sure there is still the occasional accident as in one or two every few weeks but that is age appropriate. She is also getting  better about telling us when she has to go and she has been better about telling us she has to poop too. She is such a big girl now.

She is also conquering her cast. She doesn't have the same range of motion or even sight as other kids her age so things like pulling up or pulling down her pants are a tad more challenging. She has now mastered taking off her shorts (and night time pull up) and she is getting better about pulling up her underwear. She is also putting her own sandals on.

She is doing very well in preschool. She knows the days of the week and the months of the year. She is singing all the time and really is quite good at it. We can't wait to sign her up for dance but most places want her to be 3 when she starts the class so we have to wait for the winter/spring sessions. Her teachers are so proud of her and impressed with her singing, writing and more. They say she listens very well and follows directions well. Glad she is going that for them....not so much here sometimes.

Then in January we have to register or at least try for 3 year old preschool at our local private school. They don't take many kids so if that doesn't work out she will stay at her current school and we will try the private school again for 4k.

I am ready and not ready in this weird way for Kiya to grow up. I love seeing her develop and learn and yet part of me misses my little peanut. Nothing I can do to stop or slow time so horrible 3's here we come :) I am slightly terrified to see what she comes up with next.

Fearless

I always had a feeling that Kiya was fearless. This kid doesn't seem to be afraid of much. She LOVES to climb and LOVES to rough house with Daddy. Nothing stops this kid. Not big dogs, not heights, not her casts, nothing.

So today we went to a festival in our town. It is kind of a big deal around here. Kiya had had a bad night. She was SUPER constipated (over share I know but true). We opted for no nap since she slept in past 9am.

We ate some sweet corn and I do mean all of us. Miss Kiya shared my corn on the cob with me. It was so cute and messy.

We then decided to take her over to the little carnival section. We asked her if she wanted to go on a ride and she said yes. So I went and bought some tickets. $13 bucks worth thinking we may give some tickets to others. We went on this bumblebee ride first. It reminded me of the Dumbo ride at Disneyland. She got a little nervous when the bee jerked before the ride started but once we started it was all smiles and laughs.

The kid was hooked. Next we went on the swing ride. She really LOVED that one. We quickly blew through the tickets. She was tall enough to go on some rides by herself but given it was her first time I went with her. I had fun too so it was a win win. She only had to be 36 inches tall to ride some rides by herself. We stood her up next to the chart and she was a tad over 38 inches.

After we realized just how much fun she was having, we just had to buy more tickets. And thus we did. The joy on her face was priceless. She did think though that we were at the park. She kept saying "I like this park. This park is so fun. I come back on Monday." When we were flying high in the air she kept saying, "I go up high. I like to go up high. Weeeeee"

I have had so many fabulous memories with my fearless Kiya that I will cherish and today goes down as another great memory.  We had a great time as a family. If I could hit the repeat button on today, I totally would.  I so completely love being Kiya's mom. She is nothing shy of amazing and I am so proud of her.

Cast # 4

This post has been brewing in my head for a few days now. I just needed a few days to sort it out and well celebrate the good news of our soon to be baby girl.

Kiya got cast #4 this past Tuesday. It was a VERY long and draining day. Kiya as always was such a trooper. In my heart, I was hoping for just a little even a smidgen of correction in her curve. That was not to be this time. Her stubborn little curve gained 4 degrees. So we started the day at 66 degrees and once again our doc worked his magic and she is holding at 15 degrees in cast. Amazing. Her flexibility is what keeps me going.

I was devastated by the news that her curve got worse. It was a tough blow. However, not only did I have my wonderful husband, I had some dear friends there to help pick me up. And Linda, our nurse to insist repeatedly that all is fine and that I shouldn't be worried. I am so grateful that Catie, Tracy,Sarah and Rachel were there to pick me up after the news of her curve. I am not sure what I would do without these amazing women that I am so honored to call my friends. Catie has been down this road with her iron man and her hope and his progress is such an inspiration to me. Sarah just gets it and well Rachel is so sweet and dealing with her own cast day stuff and yet there she was to be a support.

So after the shock of that news and a nice breakfast chat with Tracy, it was time to get to Miss Kiya. She is usually pretty grumpy post anesthesia but once again my amazing girl just rolled with it. She was a little out of it and a little mad but once she got her crackers and some juice she was much better. I can't thank Tracy enough. She was right there by our sides encouraging Kiya to eat and drink and getting her more crackers. I just met the woman in person that day and wow. So grateful to her for being there when she didn't have to be and for her care and concern for me and for Kiya. I am lucky to have met her.

Kiya was sporting her new pink cast and was ready to get to the tape. She was even helping the nurses tape her cast. She sat so still and was just amazing. I was so proud of her. All was well until it was time to trim the shoulder straps. From there the day was a blur. Kiya was hysterical. I was a mess and the new latex free tape was TERRIBLE. It just became too much at one point.

I hate scoliosis and I hate this cast. There is extra fiber glass, crappy tape and it is so tight. I will be shocked if we don't have sores under her arms.

I hate that sweet Kiya has to deal with this and yet deal with it is what she does. She is truly amazing. She was up and running around that afternoon. She even went to preschool on Wednesday. She asked to go. She had a great time. She went accident free in her new big girl underwear. We had our first post cast laundry room bath and she was totally fine. She rarely if ever complains. She is such a superstar.

So where do we go from here....we keep on casting. That is what the doc says and that is what we will do. So here is to the next 11 weeks.

Cast free and mixed emotions

I copied this from a post I wrote today for our luckycast blog:

We cut off cast number 3 today. While it was cast 3 in reality it was more like cast two since we had to take such a long break between cast 1 and 2. But regardless the blue cast is now in the garbage.

Sweet Kiya, aka my string bean, is itchy, bruised and slightly off balance but is looking straighter. I am so excited for her to be able to enjoy summer toddler fun minus the cast for one week anyway. She will get to run in the sprinklers with her friends and take baths and enjoy.

I love the squishy hugs and the pure joy that encompassed her once we got the cast off. She was so mad when we were trying to cut it off and once it was off you could just see her face light up in pure joy.

This week of free is always a little strange for me. I try to enjoy all the hugs and fun and yet I watch and wait to see if/when her back will bounce back. I pray that it doesn't but we just don't know. That is the worst. She looks so straight right now. So straight, tall and skinny.

So we head to Shriner's on the 19th for supposedly a pink cast. She keeps saying she wants a pink one. She said that last time and we came home with blue.So we shall see.

Kiya truly amazes me. Nothing stops her. No sooner than we cut off her cast did she stand up and try to awkwardly walk away. She was a little off balance. After her bath she was back to running. She is nothing short of an inspiration. She is 2 1/2 and has a beautiful outlook on life. I love her goofiness, her stubbornness and her dare devil spirit. All of these traits are serving her well on this journey we are on. This kid has taught me so much about life and I am truly honored that I am her mom. I am so very blessed in so many ways.

Bad blogger.....still

So I had hoped that having the laptop back in action would mean I would blog more again but such is not the case apparently :(

Here is what is going on in no particular order.

1) We refinanced our house. Pretty painless but super happy with our new low interest 15 year mortgage.

2) We got our fingerprint appointment for the Department of homeland security. It is July 22nd....3 days after cast day.....could be interesting trying to get time off work that week.

3) Kiya's cast cut off date is in less than 2 weeks. Yeah for summer fun for a week.

4) Cast number 4 goes on July 19th. Pink is said to be the color but she said that last time and we left with blue. I am more than ready to see this cast go. It is GROSS.

5) Kiya is doing GREAT in her preschool class. Drop offs are getting better and she is having a blast. She can tell some of the days of the week and is getting really good at using scissors. Water days have been no issue and she is starting to make progress in the potty training department again. Amazing what spending her days with kids her age and older can do. She is even going poop on the potty again.

6) The pugs are well lazy. Sebastian loves to be outside in the mornings when it is cool and Badger has taken up digging in the front yard again.

7) We are rapidly approaching our 12 year wedding anniversary

8) We are getting closer to realizing our second child. It has been almost 2 months and by my estimation we are #2 or #3 on the wait list for a son. OMG.....crazy that my phone is about to ring with amazing news.

So that about sums it up.

Preschool Update

Kiya had a GREAT first week in preschool. She can't stop talking about her friends and her classroom, "La Playa." Her new teachers reveled in just how well she adjusted.

We faced one old and one new issue during this transition. The old issue being her over dramatic clingyness at drop off. I mean she grabs on to our legs and doesn't want to let go. Sure enough a teacher comes to get her and she walks a way to go play or do art or read and is just fine. It is an academy award winning performance. I would be worried about it but her daily reports all say that she had a great day and when we pick her up she is super happy and silly.

The new issues was splash day. In her old room splash day was Thursday and Kiya is with nana and papa on Thursdays so there was no issue. Now her new class has splash day on Tuesday. Due to her cast, Kiya can't run in sprinklers. Well she can once in July after cast cut off. I called her teachers to talk about options and they are going to bring out a water table so she can splash around and play. She will wear a bib and it will be fine. I was so excited that they came up with a way for Kiya to play with her friends and not miss all the summertime fun.

Week one down. I am excited to see what week 2 brings. She will encounter her first splash day.....so that could be interesting. She hasn't had to deal with sprinklers ever before as she wasn't walking last summer and now this summer she has a cast. For the most part she is a reasonable kid for a 2 1/2 year old anyway so I am hoping it works out.

Preschool

My baby girl is officially starting the transition to preschool this week. I can hardly believe it.

We are super excited for her. She is going into the classroom that we wanted her in back when they tried to transition her before and it went horribly wrong.

This time we are hoping things go much better. She has multiple friends in this room that she asks to play with by name. She has spent some time with the teachers in that room and seems to enjoy them.

She is going to start learning to write her letters, count to 20 which she kind of does anyway but skips a few numbers sometimes, learn to use scissors and so much more. She is so ready for this.

She was the second oldest kid in her old class and only one of 3 girls. Most of the boys were 18 months old or slightly older and 1 of the girls was barely 13 months old and still drinking out of a bottle. Once this very young toddler entered the room Kiya seemed to regress a little. None of the boys were using the potty all that well and obviously the little one wasn't so Kiya hasn't been doing so great in that department lately either.

She totally knows when she is going to go and will announce it while sitting on the potty. She says "I go potty now. Yay!" and then she goes. So she completely gets it but is being stubborn. I really need to find the pull ups that let the kids feel that they are wet so that recognition starts. We have the kind that the pattern fades when wet but that does nothing for Kiya. I can't seem to find the other kind. Will have to keep looking.

So Kiya was going to spend a few hours in there this morning and then a few more on Tuesday and by Friday she will be fully transitioned into that classroom.

Fingers crossed that my long note to her new teachers is understood. We just have certain rules with her cast. No sand, limited water play, limited time outside when super hot and please don't let the cast stand in her way. She doesn't. I put it all in writing for them.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

A day at the farm

We took Kiya to a farm today. She wasn't in the best of moods so our trip was short but she did like riding the little tractors.

 And the baby cow :)

She was so sweet and just liked petting him. It was cute.

2 years later and still in awe

Two years ago we walked up 4 flights of stairs to find this little one. She was 5 1/2 months old, tiny oh so tiny and scared yet she had this strength about her. She weighed about 13 lbs and truly was my little peanut. I will never forget the moment I laid eyes on her doing tummy time on the floor with the other babies.

And here is my little peanut 2 years later. She is more like my little string bean now as she is so very tall for her age. She is full of life. She loves to laugh. Is bossy, dramatic and just darn near perfect.







I look at her and still have to pinch myself. I am her mom. She is amazing. I have so much I want to share with the special woman that gave birth to the magical little girl. This year Kiya day and Mother's Day are the same. We met Kiya on May 8, 2009. I also spent my very first Mother's Day on a bus to Hossana where I was blessed enough to meet the woman that gave birth to Kiya. I got to talk with her, cry with her and share a hug that I still feel today. This woman's sadness and loss led to my joy and to me being a mom. Thank you just isn't enough.

I know the Kiya gets her strength from Zinash. I know she has her mom's eyes. I want so much for Zinash to see all that Kiya is now. I want for her to hear Kiya's infectious laugh and oh so sweet singing voice. I want her to meet her daughter. I dream that one day this just might happen.

I look back at these last 2 years and just how much being a mom has changed me. It is everything I hoped for and more. Sure some days can be frustrating and we have been thrown a couple of curve balls but most days are truly wonderful. Kiya lights up any room she is in and yet she can still be shy. She is a girl that knows what she wants and how she wants it. She is wise beyond her years and oh can she be stubborn. And yet she can come up behind you and give you a big hug when you least expect it.

Nothing slows her down and I love that about her. She just today and for the first time climbed up on the couch all by herself cast and all. Our couches are really tall and don't have removable cushions. She would always climb on her chair and then onto the couch. Today she said "Watch this. I climb on couch." And sure enough she did it.

I am truly blessed. I am in awe of my little girl and I love being her Mom.

What to say....

Two years ago I was preparing to board a plane that would take me 7000 miles away to Ethiopia. I was finally going to meet my daughter.

I can tell you when I legally became a mom, April 3, 2009. I can tell you when I held my sweet little girl for the first time, May 8, 2009. And yet I can't tell you when I actually felt like her mom. I knew I was her mom but it took some time to really just feel it.

Does that sound weird? We didn't share the same space for 9 months. We were jet lagged, over whelmed, fragile, and pumped up on adrenaline when we met Kiya. It was everything I hoped for and more yet it was strange too.

I wanted nothing more in my life than to be a mom and 2 years ago that journey began. I look back at where I was then and where I am now and I truly 100% feel like Kiya's mom. In the beginning I was doing all the mom things that you are supposed to do but that overwhelming don't mess with my kid instinct took some time to show up.

I can't tell you an exact date as to when I really became a mom. I know I felt it though. When I left her at daycare and she cried and screamed and I knew then that she needed me just as much as I needed her. I felt a tug. An instinct kick in that said I have to fix this. This is my kid and nothing and no one is going to mess with her.

The biggest compliment I ever got, came from a woman I now call a dear friend but at the time was someone I had just met. We were in the hospital waiting for Kiya's first cast and all the emotion that came with that day and she said to me later that day that you couldn't even tell that Kiya was adopted. That she looked at our family and saw true unconditional, parental love as we tried to be strong for our scared little girl. My friend has no idea how much those words meant to me.

I knew I was Kiya's mom through and through but for someone else to see it. To see that my adopted daughter was just as much of part of me as her son was a part of her. It was amazing.

I have had plenty of people ask if it is possible to love an adopted child as much as your own child. To that I say Kiya is my own child. I love her with all my heart and soul and will stop at nothing to make sure she is happy and healthy. She is my miracle. She is my dream. My love for her runs deep through me. I couldn't imagine loving her more than I already do.

So as I reflect on life and love, I take pause to be grateful for all the blessings I have in my life. I am truly one lucky Mom. I have this amazing daughter. I don't have the words to express how grateful I am to Zinash. Her sadness led to me being able to parent this wonderful little girl. I want so much to share all that Kiya has accomplished with Zinash. Someday I hope this dream will come true.

For now it is back to reality and life with a very active toddler.

Updates galore

So my blogging time is limited so this post is some updates as to what is going on with Kiya, scoliosis and our pending adoption.

Kiya

She is FANTASTIC. We enjoyed our week of squishy hugs and bubble baths. She is officially in pull ups during the day and diapers only at night. She is doing just awesome in the potty training department. She still sometimes wets in her pull ups and we are getting there with the whole poop thing. She did go poop on the potty twice yesterday but had started to poop in her pants. She told us though that she wanted to go to the potty so off we went and sure enough she finished pooping on the potty. She gets one star for pee and 2 for poop and when her reward board is full which it is she gets a prize. Her first prize is a playdough filled back pack with accessories that we are going to play with today.

Kiya still loves to sing and dance. She talks all the time. She has a tendency to be very bossy so we are working on using nice words and respect. Telling mommy to walk away tends to be a favorite. Or she will yell at the dogs to do something and poor Sebastian is pretty deaf so we have to remind her that his ears are broken.

She is now sporting a super cool blue cast. She for a week said she wanted a pink cast but they showed her the colors and she immediately said blue. We asked her if she was sure and she said "Yes mommy, blue cast." She bounced back VERY quickly. We thought we would get one night of her staying in bed all night and sure enough she got up once. The saddest part was the morning after when she said "bubble baths all gone" followed by "cut cast. cut cast off mommy". Broke my heart that she is old enough to understand all of that. We just told her that cast had to stay on and she seemed to get over it.

Scoliosis

Tuesday was surgery day. She did great. The doctor gave us a chart of her progress that showed her numbers out of cast and in cast. Her out of cast numbers started at 40 which was her initial measurement back in June of last year. She was 52 right before her first cast. She went up to about 64 after the 2 month break at the end of last year. Tuesday she was about 61/62 so we got a small amount of correction. Her cast numbers have always been awesome. She was held at about 15 in first cast, 16/17 in second cast and just under 15 in her 3rd cast. She is super flexible which is good. In talking with the doctor, he isn't worried yet. He said it often takes 2-3 casts for kids to show real progress and we really need to look at this as cast number 2 since she had such a long break after cast 1. It makes sense so we are sticking with it. We are so very grateful to have Shriner's hospital and Dr. H. to treat Kiya.

We also discovered that Kiya weighs 29lbs and is just under 36 inches tall. Yup my little string bean :)

Adoption

We are still waiting on our Adam Walsh clearance from California. All other paperwork is in and has been reviewed. Just one piece of paper holding us back from being officially waiting. Sigh.....

It will happen soon I hope but for now we just wait.

So I think that is a long enough post for today. Need to focus on our post placement report that is due next month.

Pictures of the Big Day :)

The plan for the day was for Kiya to get a great night's sleep, eat well, take a short nap and then off to the Children's Museum for some fun before cast cut off. The reality was Kiya was up at 6:30am, ate okay, refused to take a nap and was pretty grumpy for the first 30 minutes we were at the museum. She warmed up to it all and had a pretty good time. She loved the art room and of course the water room.

Some of the kids were kind of mean to the little kids. They refused to share and were teasing them. I was annoyed and as you can kind of see in the first picture, so was Kiya. 

Overall I think she had fun. It would have been nice had she not been so grumpy but such is the life of an almost 2 1/2 year old.

We headed home to cut off the cast. We thought we had the right kind of tin snips but we so didn't. Kiya started screaming and the snips didn't work at all. So off to the store Dave went in search of a better pair. Meanwhile Kiya and I watched Tv and she kept saying "wanna belly free. Wanna my belly free. no cast." It was cute and kind of sad too. But that cast had to go. It was GROSS and super tight on her poor belly.

Here is a picture of her back post bubble bath which she LOVED and asked for all morning.



 And here is the nasty pink cast. Once we had the right tool it was actually pretty easy and took less than 10 minutes and the best part was Kiya was so calm. I kept thinking back to last time when the doctors had to cut it off because of the sore. It took me and 2 nurses to hold her down and she screamed the entire time. This is definitely the way to go.

So we are enjoying our hugs and realizing just how skinny Miss Kiya is. Wow. She is a string bean. She was a little clumsy at first but better now. She slept great. No snoring which was nice. Now we just need to keep her healthy so we can get cast 3 next week. I asked her this morning what color she wanted her cast to be and I quote: "Mommy, pink. I wanna pink cast. Yeah pink." Yup that's my girlie  girl.

In other news....we got our first pee pee dance.  Yup we got home from dinner last night and Kiya was bouncing and kind of grabbing at her diaper. Sure enough we took her to the potty and she went. And her diaper was dry and had been dry for a couple of hours. Woohoo.

Tomorrow is a BIG day around here

Our 12 weeks in cast number 2 are coming to an end. We are cutting off the cast tomorrow. I am eager for my squishy hugs but hate that they will last for about a week and then we start again.

I am trying to stay hopeful that Kiya's numbers are better. I would take just a little better. Just please not worse.

To celebrate we are going to take Kiya to the children's museum and get wet, dirty whatever. Then we will come home and cut the cast off. Today we bought her some very special Dora bubble bath so off to a tub full of bubbles.

We head to Shriner's for cast number 3 on the 26th. I am hoping to enjoy the week of hugs and freedom. I know that I will be over analyzing what her back looks like...sigh....it's just not possible for me to look at her out of cast and not worry.

Pictures tomorrow of cast cut off and fun at the museum.

I know my last post hinted at some news....we are getting closer to sharing but not just yet.

Where have I been?

Well that is a good question. This whole working 40 plus hours a week and then coming home to full time job number 2 is tough. I have little to no time to do anything and it doesn't help that our laptop is well broken. We can't charge it. You see the power cord was and is a favorite toy of Kiya's. She loves to unplug it and then plug it back in.

I have so much I want to share but am just not ready yet. Trust me I will when the time is right...and it gives me something to write about later :)

That said we are going our best to keep up with Kiya. She is like the energizer bunny. She just won't stop moving.

We are working on potty training and we have good days and bad. Some days she uses the potty multiple times and then there is today when she tells me she has to go potty only to find out that she already went in her pull ups :( We will get there. I think she is starting to kind of get it.

We are about two weeks away from getting to cut off cast number 2. I can hardly believe it has been 10 weeks already. She will get cast number 3 on April 26th. We are fortunate to share our cast date with wonderful friends again which makes the tough day just a little easier.

It is time to update all of our homestudy and adoption paperwork AGAIN. We are waiting to hear if we have to be fingerprinted locally again as that would be the toughest part with both of us working full time. So getting paperwork together is also keeping me busy.

Oh and our 2 year post placement report is coming due. I can hardly believe it. 2 years ago today a judge in Ethiopia made all of my dreams come true by making me officially Kiya's mom. And next month is our 2 years as a family. Not sure what we are going to do for Kiya day but something outdoors and fun. I have to start thinking about how to summarize this last year with this amazing little girl. That is going to be tough. I want her Ethiopian Mom to see those pictures and read that report and not be worried about Kiya. She is doing GREAT. The cast doesn't slow her down at all.

Tomorrow Dave and I head to opening day at Miller Park. We were hoping to tailgate but the weather just isn't going to cooperate. Oh well, it will still be fun. GO BREWERS!

I will check back in again soon.

State of our home address

This picture just about sums up what the state of our home is right now. You see that impy grin....you see the dominoes that are dumped all over the couch and the floor. Yup that is Kiya. She is a non-stop all over the place full fledged toddler. Wow. The amount of energy she has can be a lot. Don't get me wrong she is beyond amazing and beyond adorable and super silly but wow.

She is super sassy as of late. She can be kind of bossy and yet we have a hard time not laughing. The other day she said to me " Mommy, sit down. Time for shoes on." Granted I had no intention of going anywhere but that didn't seem to matter to Kiya.

She is on the verge of jumping. She has mastered running as best she can with a cast on and has decided that jumping is up next. I am so excited for her. Every night she runs into her room and screams "1,2,3 jump." Then she says "Mommy do it." So of course I I say 1, 2, 3 and I jump. Then Kiya says " Daddy do it."  So Daddy jumps. To which Kiya responds, "No Daddy. Do 1, 2, 3 jump."

Just last night it was time to brush her teeth and in response to let's go in the bathroom, Kiya says "I'm gonna sit down now." She then sits down on the floor in her room. Sigh.....

Kiya is keeping us on our toes that is for sure. She is determined to try and climb oh everything. She loves to empty dog food out of the dog food bin if we forget to close the door to the laundry room. She loves to kick water out of the laundry room sink during bath time.

We spend a lot of time laughing in this house. We also spend a lot of time exhausted as Kiya doesn't appear to have an off switch. She is silly all the time and just loves to laugh and make others laugh. We are working on her understanding when we are serious and when we aren't. That is a challenge....but so far the threat of a time out usually works.

I love seeing her independent side. Each morning she wakes up and asks to sit up. Which means she wants her pillow propped up and then she wants her books. She then "reads" her books to her babies and stuffed animals while we get ready. It is too cute. And how she wants to tie her own shoes or put her own chapstick on or try to do her own hair. Her independence is a big reason for her sassiness. She is also very stubborn. If she doesn't want to do something like say sit on the potty boy are we going to hear about it.

So the state of our home is silly, goofy, crazy, fun, exhausting and really amazing.

Cast #2

Finally posting cast #2 pictures :)  Isn't she adorable? She loves her pink cast as I knew she would especially since she picked the color herself.  We are about 1 month in to this cast and doing great. Kiya is amazing. She is running all the time and she just knows how it all works. She knows her baths are in the laundry room with her Dora doll. She knows that we wash her hair on Sundays in the kitchen sink and after we wash her hair she gets to watch her favorite shows Dora, The Fresh Beat Band and Yo Gabba Gabba.

 There is no cut out in the back of this cast this time. Our doctor doesn't think it is necessary so we are going with it. I kind of miss it as it made for a good tickle spot but whatever.

 She is straighter and seemingly taller while in her cast. I swear before this cast she was just a tad shorter than the counter top and now she is clearly taller than the counter top which means she can grab oh everything. Sigh.... She loves in particular water bottles, keys, daddy's wallet, etc. She will usually bring you the items she grabs which is cute.

We are so grateful that we have these casts as a treatment option. Cast life was scary at first but totally doable. It is our reality and frankly I don't mind. My baby girl is getting her back straight and that is all that matters.

Daycare Drama

A few weeks ago, we were informed that Kiya would be moved up to a pre-preschool classroom. We at first were thrilled that the staff thought Kiya was ready for more structure and more learning opportunities.

Well the transition week did not go well at all. Far from it. Kiya was less than happy to leave her friends. She has 3 kids that she knows by name and would ask for them as we would put her jacket on in the morning. She also LOVED her teachers.

Her new classroom just felt off. Kiya only kind of knew two other kids in the class. Her teachers were less than friendly. Kiya has her cast on. Big deal. She can do everything that any other kid her age can do. She might do it slightly differently but that cast has never slowed her down. Heck she learned how to walk in that thing. Well, her new teachers were under the impression that Kiya couldn't sit on the potty because of her cast so they didn't take her. They assumed she wouldn't take naps even though most days she naps for at least an hour and a half to two plus hours.

I went in to talk with the new teachers to let them know about the cast and really the only rules we have are no sand and no water otherwise we let Kiya be. The response I got was less than welcoming. When I requested that Kiya wear a bib at meal times, they seemed annoyed since other kids didn't. I brought them a bib even. They drink from real cups in this classroom so lots of messes and I just didn't want her cast shirt to get wet. Sure a little liquid is fine and water not an issues but milk or juice slightly more of a problem as those could smell. Not really a big deal but the teachers reaction to Kiya overall just didn't set well with me.

As we started to have to drop Kiya off in her new room, things were getting really weird. Kiya stomped around the house whining. She started to say "no friends, no friends.". She would say "Kiya stay home. No friends." And then at actual drop off she would start to cry. It got so bad that yesterday she refused to walk in the door and gripped the door frame so I had to practically drag her into the room. After she was in the room she started to cry and then scream. She was saying, "mommy go home, mommy hug. wanna go home." If I didn't have to be at work I would have grabbed her and taken her home.

I had already talked with the director. She was aware of my concerns. She was there on Tuesday during the epic meltdown that was drop off. She was meeting with the other administrators to discuss our options.

She called yesterday with GREAT news. Kiya is going back to her old classroom with her friends and with her teachers. The plan is for her to stay there until a space opens in the pre preschool room that we want Kiya in. The one where the teachers are fabulous and Kiya knows other kids.

I am glad we got this resolved. I was feeling terrible about it and Kiya obviously wasn't happy and that was the worst part. And while I was excited about the new challenges that would be there for Kiya in a new room, her happiness shouldn't be sacrificed and now it won't be.

Life with a bossy 2 year old

Miss Kiya has always had an opinion and she definitely makes herself heard which is part of what I love about her. Now that she is talking all the time and in 3 and 4 word sentences she is well more dramatic, animated and bossy.

Oh and did I mention particular. Her new phrases are "Mommy do it. or Daddy do it. Or Mommy read it or Daddy read it. If Daddy tries to brush Kiya's teeth we get a prompt, No, Mommy do it. And most of the time if Mommy tries to put on Kiya's shoes, we get a No Daddy do it.

She is also very big on saying, Kiya's water or towel or doll or tee tee (blanket). Most of the time she is talking about her own things so it is fine. Occasionally, she will say things like "Kiya's car. Car go home." That car was not hers, it was her little friends....did I mention it is tough to rationalize with a 2 year old?

The word no has also become a favorite again. Yesterday and most days it is "no hat".  Today it was no socks and my favorite, " Mommy, no poop. no poop." She had pooped but didn't want me to change her because she was watching her favorite show.

Last night on the potty we got a whole round of no's. No towel, no light, Kiya no potty, no bath, etc. It was pretty cute but for sure the highlight was Kiya actually going poop on the potty. I am pretty sure it was a mere coincidence as we thought she was done and it was bedtime so we took her diaper off so she could go sit on the potty and low and behold she wasn't done yet. I will take the victory but also realize that Kiya isn't ready just yet for full potty training.

Life with a 2 year old so far isn't that bad. Yes we have the tantrums at times and the occasional timeout usually for not listening but really it is manageable. She is really a great kid. I love that I can have a real, actual conversation with her in which she understands me and I her. 

Sure she is bossy and stubborn but that is Kiya and I wouldn't have it any other way.