Finally . . . almost back to normal!

I've consistently been astounded at how similar Kenna and Matt are to one another. Their personalities are like mirror images, and I have to giggle every time I see a nuance of Matt in some new behavior of K's.

Temper - this is the first that comes to mind. She is as impatient for anything. Everything has to be now and my way. Now, I'm not saying that Matt demands things now or his way - that is actually far from the truth. The when and how she reacts are what are most strikingly similar to her daddy. First try . . . second try . . . AURGHHHH!!! scowl on the face, frown. The only move she hasn't mastered like her jedi father is the circle dance and the waving of the fists to follow. Yes, the force is strong with this padowan.

Brute force and Bam Bam - I remember the son of Betty and Barney Rubble (Flintstones) named Bam Bam. He never knew his own strength and was always hitting things. Again, Matt doesn't go around whacking things at random. That said he lacks grace and tends to walk heavily, close doors and drawers with a bang and toss objects into bins like they are all pieces of lumber regardless of its fragile nature. Kenna is very similar. She likes to bang cabinet doors and drawers, whack her toys on the coffee table (yes, I've accepted that the furniture we've pruchased will not retain its pristine appearance for long), and walks as if she's a giant among ants. (Side note . . . Kenna's molars are almost all in now so the drool is profuse. She loves to eat but hasn't quite mastered chewing with her mouth closed always. Thus, drool stains or bits of food are always on my clothes or pillows or florr now a days - sigh. I'm sure I'll eventually adjust to supressing my OCD-like tendencies to follow her around with spot cleaner and paper towels :))

Perhaps it is because I grew up in a very quiet house where we were expected to walk softly and close things gently that this stands out to me more than it should. But I do find it funny how much their personalities and manners are so similar. She is her father's daughter.

About 8 weeks later, Kenna is finally seeming to recover from her long bout of cold/infection and congestion. We're close to being consistent with the sleeping through the night again - I keep telling myself to hang in there. I think the second type pf antibiotics helped, and I'm sure she's a tougher kid for it. Today was picture day at school, so I am waiting to see proofs. I put her in a denim dress - too cute. She hated it. The dress was long enough that she had difficulty not stepping on it when trying to stand (scream). The shoes were stiff (not really meant for walking, I think, so I'm sure she hated that too. She did look adorable though. I had her teachers change her right after pictures to make sure she was comfortable.

Last week we had a terrible wind storm here in town. Several folks lost power and some are still without over a week later. Luckily, we had left town for Hilton Head Saturday evening and missed the whole thing. Our neighbors lost power for 3-4 days and fortunately no home was damaged too badly. Our good friends let us know that the house was ok, and we decided to wait things out a bit longer and stay at the beach and in the cool AC down in SC. We came back to a messy yard and big tree limbs strewn across our yard. After a day of cleaning the fridge out and restocking we set out to clean the yard. Needless to say, we've increased our supply of firewood for the winter. My OCD kicked in and I cleaned out the entire pantry as well and re-organized Kenna's toys and closet to get her ready for winter and reduce clutter. Ahhhhhh, that felt sooooo good!

Our Baby's Walkin'!!

I showed up to the school, and the first thing Miss Tiffany said to me was, "I was so excited today when I saw Kenna walking!" She explained that Kenna repeatedly made attempts after falling after 3 or 4 steps. Not patient but persistent! That was the best part of my day all together! Honestly it has been a bit rough lately, and I would say most of it is due to the lack of proper rest I have been getting since Kenna is still congested. And what a thrill I had when I heard this great news!

A funny story I will share is that Matthew and I had been betting for a while on when she would walk. The bet started back in early July when she was doing well holding on to two hands for support while walking. I had the under on 4 unassisted steps by the 3rd week in August. You know we're both engineers so we had to make sure a step was defined in detail; otherwise someone could declare victory on a technicality. She has been progressing so well that I felt like it just might happen. She had become more and more steady moving from 2 hands to 1 hand to 1 finger. That whole week I would try and let go, but she would freeze every time. It was like she knew she wasn't quite ready. When that week came to its end, we declared for a new time line. I took the over this time on before the 15th of September (the first week of our planned holiday). Inside when I took the under I actually said to myself, "She'll likely need less time since I'm betting for more." Sure enough, here we are with an almost steady walker in our midst!

She isn't totally steady, taking about 6 steps before stubbling at her longest pace. The smile on her face is simply magical and purely happy. Now I guess it is when the bumps and bruises really begin! Look out world; here she comes!!