Click here to see how big they are. (Photo by our good friend Deborah)
Kenna has grown 4 inches since November - that's 6 months folks! I was just looking at her the other day and realized that she's not really a baby anymore. She's a little girl that does what she wants, says what she wants, and goes where she wants.
She has recently learned the art of turn taking. When reminded, she will wait patiently behind whoever is currently having a turn at something. As soon as they finish she says "my turn." Or if they're not going fast enough in making it her turn, she'll just shove them and say "my turn." But heck she's not 2 yet...wait that's the catch isn't it? She's learned this skill and will soon give it up for the attitude of "no turn. it's mine!"
She's also recently perfected the art of climbing. The Kenna-sized-chair she was using to help wash dishes wasn't quite tall enough to give access to the dishes; so, she did what any heights-loving climber would do. She used the chair as a ladder to climb onto the kitchen counter. This is a skill that Morgan still has not mastered - heck I don't think Morgan has even ever tried to climb onto the kitchen counters.
Speaking of Morgan she's quite grown up as well. Tonight after reading her bed-time books, she went to her room to read her penguin book, primarily to show me the picture of the spines on the rock-hopper penguin's tongue (which all penguins have, in case you didn't know).
As she flipped through the pages, she found a picture of a penguin that had been attacked by a seal (or sea lion). She made the connection that the seal would eat the penguin. Then said that it was not good for the penguins - but it was good for the seal. Then she said that the polar bears eat seals so that they can't eat all of the penguins. When asked if the polar bears eat penguins she promptly reminded me that we already talked about the polar bears don't live in the same place as penguins. Penguins live at Antarctica and polar bears don't. I don't think that necessarily means that polar bears don't eat the seals that eat the penguins; I've never researched it, maybe they do travel that far. I'm guessing Morgan will figure it out and let me know.
Morgan has also taken an interest in dinosaur books. This is not so great for the non-dinosaur-name-knowing-momma, and the non-phonics-reading-momma. Luckily Michael can figure out the names for me. It's hard to find books that I like to read about dinosaurs. We did find a good one recently at the library - I Met a Dinosaur. It's a book about a little girl who meets dinosaurs in everyday places. Excellent illustrations and an enjoyable read. I haven't been looking too hard, since this interest just started recently, but I'm having a hard time finding well written, interesting non-fiction books for young readers/pre-readers about dinosaurs. We did find one about which ones are vegetarians/herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, but I'd like to find more. So, if the few folks who read have any good suggestions let me know.
Showing posts with label Kenna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenna. Show all posts
Monday, June 09, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Trust Your Gut!
I try to live by this motto. I try to teach my children the same thing. I hope that it pays off for them and that I learn to listen to mine a bit more.
This evening after getting the kids to bed, I went out to clean out my van. Mike was out getting videos from the video store.
I came into the house with an armload of things to put away. I headed straight through the house toward my bedroom depositing things in their rightful places as I went. While walking through the kitchen, I thought to myself "now that Kenna can climb out of her bed we've really got to make sure to lock that door every night." As I entered my room, the breeze was blowing in from outside. After putting things away, I decided to sit on the window seat and view the backyard (we've done lots in the last few months to make it a nice view). As I got closer to the window, I thought I heard the sounds of birds...or was that children.
Upon looking down, I saw my two beautiful night-gowned beauties walking in the backyard. As I type this I wish I had waited and watched them to see exactly what they would do. Morgan was headed toward the "beach" and "ocean" we installed today; Kenna was just getting down from the patio steps.
In that moment of course, I admired their beauty, and promptly called them into the house. Morgan told me that they had been looking for me everywhere . "You should have been in bed momma because we wanted to come sleep with you." Sweet, but uh, what the heck are you doing outside in the middle of the night? Really it was only about 9:45, but still - no going into the back yard alone after dark.
So, as soon as my gut reminded me to lock the back door at bedtime, I should have immediately headed toward the backyard to find the gypsies. Or at least realized immediately that it was the sound of my children in the yard, and headed for the camera.
This evening after getting the kids to bed, I went out to clean out my van. Mike was out getting videos from the video store.
I came into the house with an armload of things to put away. I headed straight through the house toward my bedroom depositing things in their rightful places as I went. While walking through the kitchen, I thought to myself "now that Kenna can climb out of her bed we've really got to make sure to lock that door every night." As I entered my room, the breeze was blowing in from outside. After putting things away, I decided to sit on the window seat and view the backyard (we've done lots in the last few months to make it a nice view). As I got closer to the window, I thought I heard the sounds of birds...or was that children.
Upon looking down, I saw my two beautiful night-gowned beauties walking in the backyard. As I type this I wish I had waited and watched them to see exactly what they would do. Morgan was headed toward the "beach" and "ocean" we installed today; Kenna was just getting down from the patio steps.
In that moment of course, I admired their beauty, and promptly called them into the house. Morgan told me that they had been looking for me everywhere . "You should have been in bed momma because we wanted to come sleep with you." Sweet, but uh, what the heck are you doing outside in the middle of the night? Really it was only about 9:45, but still - no going into the back yard alone after dark.
So, as soon as my gut reminded me to lock the back door at bedtime, I should have immediately headed toward the backyard to find the gypsies. Or at least realized immediately that it was the sound of my children in the yard, and headed for the camera.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Alas I've returned
from Washington, DC, my office, no where...
So many things have occurred since I last wrote. Christmas, a trip to DC, my birthday, New Years, museums and the zoo in DC, the trip back from DC, back to work for me, back to pre-school for Morgan, Kenna falls asleep on her own. The list could go on, but then I wouldn't have time to get to what I wanted to tell you.
Breaking the silence to share a cute story.
Mike went to his parent's house today. While he was there, his parents successfully convinced him to bring home their unused dog food, dog biscuits, and water bowl. The dog food was in a short metal trash can. It looks just like the one we use as a diaper pail. I don't think the dogs would actually mind if we confused them.
Since Kenna learned to take the lid off of our old dog food container a few days ago, Michael decided to put all of the food into the trash-can to try to keep her out of it for a few more days. I think it took about 25 seconds for Kenna to casually stroll over to the container, remove the lid, extract a few pieces, saunter over to Hyena's bowl and deposit them with a gleeful giggle.
As she excitedly returned to the can to do the trick again, her father realized his defeat!
As if that were not enough, she also found great delight in the new dog water bowl. The old bowl, was just that a bowl. Nothing fancy about it. We pick it up, add water, and return it to the floor - unless Kenna is awake in which case we put it on the counter. The new water bowl has a reservoir that will only need filling occasionally. The downside is that it's a bit big, heavy, and awkward to put on the counter. After only a couple of growls (from Dad) Kenna was willing to leave that alone.
So what gems can be gleaned from this experience...never assume that anything is safe with a toddler in the house.
So many things have occurred since I last wrote. Christmas, a trip to DC, my birthday, New Years, museums and the zoo in DC, the trip back from DC, back to work for me, back to pre-school for Morgan, Kenna falls asleep on her own. The list could go on, but then I wouldn't have time to get to what I wanted to tell you.
Breaking the silence to share a cute story.
Mike went to his parent's house today. While he was there, his parents successfully convinced him to bring home their unused dog food, dog biscuits, and water bowl. The dog food was in a short metal trash can. It looks just like the one we use as a diaper pail. I don't think the dogs would actually mind if we confused them.
Since Kenna learned to take the lid off of our old dog food container a few days ago, Michael decided to put all of the food into the trash-can to try to keep her out of it for a few more days. I think it took about 25 seconds for Kenna to casually stroll over to the container, remove the lid, extract a few pieces, saunter over to Hyena's bowl and deposit them with a gleeful giggle.
As she excitedly returned to the can to do the trick again, her father realized his defeat!
As if that were not enough, she also found great delight in the new dog water bowl. The old bowl, was just that a bowl. Nothing fancy about it. We pick it up, add water, and return it to the floor - unless Kenna is awake in which case we put it on the counter. The new water bowl has a reservoir that will only need filling occasionally. The downside is that it's a bit big, heavy, and awkward to put on the counter. After only a couple of growls (from Dad) Kenna was willing to leave that alone.
So what gems can be gleaned from this experience...never assume that anything is safe with a toddler in the house.
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