Kyla - 3 Years Old!

Kyla turned 3 years old on August 19, 2016.  She is the definition of a first born child.  She aims to please and she is a creature of habit and routine.  She is very sweet to her Mama but she looooves her Daddy and often says throughout the day that she misses him.

Kyla's typical schedule is as follows as we are on a stay at home schedule most days.

8:00 - Wakes up to the green light of her alarm clock.  She is allowed to get out of bed and come out of her room when that light turns on and she gets so excited about it!  She usually makes a bee line to my room to wake me up, cuddle in bed for a few minutes until asking if she can have her milk.

8:30-9 - Breakfast time.  She usually eats waffles, scrambled eggs, cereal bars, oatmeal, toast, or cereal along with her cup of milk.

9-lunch - Play time, go for a walk, play with blocks, color a picture, etc.

12-1 - Lunchtime most days is a pb and j, cheese quesadilla, grilled cheese, or mac n cheese (are you seeing a theme here?) 

1:00-3:30 - Afternoon nap time! 

3:30-5:45 - Watch tv, eat a snack, hang out until Daddy gets home

5:45 - Daddy's home!!!!

6:00 - Dinner time! Kyla pretty much just picks at her food like a bird.  She doesn't eat too much of anything we have, but she is good to at least try a bite or two of everything.  If bribed by a treat, she will eat a designated portion of her food.

The rest of the night is spent hanging out as a family, doing bath time, and winding down for bed. 

8:30 -  Daddy puts Kyla to bed.  They brush teeth, read a book, pray, and sing a song.


Some notes on discipline....
Kyla is not one to bend the rules too often but she's a 3 year old and she does test the limits on occasion.  When she does something dishonest, disrespectful, or disobedient, she gets a spanking or has to go sit in her chair in her room by herself for a while, depending on the severity of the situation.

Some notes on potty stuff...
She is daytime potty trained.  She goes to the bathroom without being told and rarely has an accident in her underwear.  She is still using the little potty chair but she does know how to get herself up onto the normal potty.  Soon, we will be phasing out the little potty because Mommy is tired of cleaning it all the time.  Kyla still wears a diaper to sleep in, both nap time and bedtime.  About half of her naps, she has a dry diaper when she wakes up.  But we have yet to focus much on sleep time potty training.

Some notes on her favorites....
TV show - Paw Patrol
Food - Cheese quesadilla
Drink - Milk
Toy - Blocks or Paw Patrol figurines
Movie - Minions
Thing to do - Swing at the park

Some notes on her brain power and social development...
Kyla can count to 15 or so until it starts going downhill...
Says her ABC's
Learning lots of Spanish!  She can say a lot of animals, colors, numbers, things around the house, some foods, and people (mom, dad, grandma, brother, etc.)
When asked what she learned at church, she usually says "We learned about God"
She is always very excited to see her friends and play with other kids.
Not shy at all.  Will talk to anyone about anything.
Likes to make up songs about any and everything.
Very protective and concerned about her 15 month old brother.

Kaiden - 1 year old!

Kaiden is ONE YEAR OLD!!!!

He is learning and growing so much these days, it's hard to keep up with him!

TRICKS:

Claps

Blows kisses

Crawls

Pulls up

Says Dada, "eeee ooo", hi, lots of words that sound like jibberish!

Drinks from a straw

Cuddles on pillows and blankets

OUR SCHEDULE

Kaiden is a great sleeper now.  His typical day is waking up between 6:30-7, nursing while half asleep for about 30 minutes, then up for the day.  We have breakfast, which is usually cereal, a cereal bar, eggs, pancakes, or waffles and a sippy cup of whole milk.  Then we just have play time until his morning nap, which is usually around 10:00.  He sleeps anywhere from 1-2 hours, then wakes up and I rock with him while he sips on another cup of milk.  He plays for a while and then its time for lunch around 12-1 with sister.  We usually make grilled cheese, quesadillas, pb and j, or something similar.  By about 1:00, its time for sister's nap but Kaiden and I hang out for a while before he's ready for his next nap around 2-3.  After his afternoon nap, more milk, a snack, and hang out until Daddy gets home and we have supper.  We then do bath time and by 7:00, Kaiden is usually ready to crash for the night.  Our bedtime routine is very basic.  We nurse in the rocking chair, then I sing him a couple songs.  Sometimes we try to look at a book, but he is not that interested other than throwing it on the floor.  

WEIGHT

18.5 lbs at his one year check up!  

He is wearing 12-18 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

TEETH

Has 11 teeth! 3 of which are molars.

One thing I wanted to remember was that Kaiden does not use a pacifier nor does he suck his thumb.  I'm curious to see if he develops any little form of self soothing.

FAVORITE THINGS

Chasing Cookie and "petting" him

Pulling up on EVERYTHING

Dancing to music! He really moves when music comes on.

Eating baby food pouches

Screaming if he can't hold whatever item Kyla is holding

Cuddling with blankets!

CHEEEEESE!!!!

 

Kyla - 2.5 Years Old

Dear Kyla,

I can't believe you are two and a half years old.  You are becoming more and more like a little girl and less like a toddler.  It melts my heart when I see you give Kaiden a hug (without being prompted to) or when you hug me and say "Mama, you're my beeeest friend."  I treasure these moments.

SLEEP

You sure do like your sleep!  You go to bed at 8:30 after you watch a show with Daddy.  You two have your bedtime routine down to a T and you rarely stray far from it.  In fact, when Mommy tries to put you to bed, you often tell me what I'm doing wrong.  (book, pray, then a song.)  You sleep in til about 8:30-9 in the morning and you take a good nap around 2:00 pm.  

FOOD

You are a pretty good eater most of the time.  You enjoy most breakfast items, oatmeal and Minions cereal being your favs.  You are addicted to milky but apple juice is pretty high up on the list, too.  For lunch, we usually have peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, or a quesadilla.  You love goldfish crackers and cheese sticks for snacks.  Dinner is whatever we have as a family.  You love picking out a treat after you have done something praise-worthy.  Marshmallows and candy are your favorite treats.

SKILLS

Mommy tried to potty train you for a couple days right when you turned 2, but she gave up too easily for fear that you were not catching on very quickly.  In November, we tried again and this time it stuck.  It took about 3 days of constant accidents until you realized that you were being rewarded with a sticker chart for every pee you got in the potty.  That was a great motivation for you.  It took about three weeks until you finally pooped in the potty.  Now that you are 2.5, you are pretty much a pro at going potty.  Mommy could not be more proud of you every time you run to the potty without me having to even ask "do you need to go potty??  I think you need to go...Kyla, please just go use the potty..." You still wear a diaper to sleep in.

Verbally, you surpass most other two and a half year olds.  We often refer to you as "Chatty Kathy" because you ALWAYS have something to say.  You are really into making up stories right now.  Most of them are about the activities of your day.  You can count to ten, sometimes twenty.  You know all your letters.  You love to sing your own made up songs.  You love to chase Cookie around and play with his toy.  You are used to the idea of having a brother by now, but now that he can reach your toys, it's a whole new ballgame.  You aren't a fan of sharing your toys.  In fact, you throw a fit when Kaiden even shows interest in your old baby toys.  Mommy can be standing in the other room and hear Kaiden cry out and I know exactly what's happening.  You took a toy away from Kaiden.  Your excuse usually starts with, "I was just TRYING to..." But boy do you love your brother.  If he is crying, you always tell me about it.  You love to run into his room when he wakes up from a nap and peer into his bed and start talking his ear off.  I love it when I'm nursing him and you gently rub his head and say, "awww, he's so cuuuute."  

You haven't offered to help change his diapers yet though.

FAVORITE THINGS

TV Shows - PJ Masks, Bubble Guppies, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, Peppa Pig, Team Umizoomi, Doc McStuffins

Toys - princess castle, doctor kit, little people bus, blocks

Clothes - Pajamas.  Every morning when we take your diaper off, you request that you keep your PJs on.  

Color - depends on what object you are looking at when being asked

Friends - Sadie, Lily, Ellie, Noah, cousins Emma and Kaylynn

Place - the park or church

Book - Dr. Seuss, Peppa Pig books

A Texas Christmas Story

So this year, we decided to veer away from our typical yearly trips to Illinois and northern Ohio for Christmas in exchange for a trip to the south.  We chose to do this because in November, my sister Krista and her husband Dan relocated to San Antonio to begin Dan's physical therapy program.  In addition, Matt's sister Izi and her husband Paul live just south of Austin.  We decided to make a vacation of it and visit with both sisters and their families! 

Day 1 - December 24 - Christmas Eve
We opted to fly to Texas, as a 20 hour car ride did not sound appealing with a baby and a toddler.  (Maybe in the future when whining and crying is at more tolerable level.)  Traveling to Texas, we had our family of four plus my Mom and Dad.  On December 23, my parents came over to our house and we enjoyed opening our gifts from each other and having dinner at our house.  The next morning, we loaded up in Matt's Pontiac Vibe and headed to the Dayton Airport.  Mom was kind enough to find us a direct flight straight from Dayton to Dallas.  When we arrived in Dallas, we rented two cars (Chevy Cruze for the parents and a Mazda CX-5 for us) to drive 4 hours south to Kyle, Texas.  I actually booked us a "standard size car" for us to drive around because it was cheaper, but they were out of those so we ended up getting the vehicle we really wanted to reserve for the same price as the original.  Mom and Dad actually had to go a little further distance that day because they spent the night at the Stones.  We finally made it to Paul and Izi's house for a delicious spaghetti dinner.  Kyla had met Gage and Jude previously, but boy did she love playing with her cousin Gage this trip!  They are about a year apart in age. Izi arranged it so that Matt, Kaiden and I got to sleep in the master bedroom and Kyla had the guest room all to herself.  That night we just had fun hanging out and talking!

Day 2 - December 25 - Christmas Day / My 29th Birthday
Merry Christmas!  We woke up around 8:30 and had our typical Focht tradition of monkey bread and coffee.  Around 10:30, the Stones and Prices arrived and we opened our stockings and Christmas gifts.  After leggos covered the living room floor, we made our way back to the kitchen to prepare Texas breakfast tacos for a late lunch.  Mmmm they were so delicious!  The rest of the afternoon, we spent time in the beautiful back yard and the kids had a blast jumping on the new trampoline.  That evening, we had a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn, green bean casserole, rolls, stuffing, and gravy.  It was all divine.  Krista even brought a homemade cake for my birthday!  Thanks sis!  Somewhere in there, we managed to squeeze in some Scum and President and enjoy more treats and coffee.  It was a great day and I"m so happy we were able to spend a Christmas with both sides of our family.  Truly a special day.

Day 3 - December 26 - A Relaxing Day at the Parsons
Today we just got to hang out and relax.  In the afternoon, Matt and Paul went to see the movie Step Dad.  Izi and I got to hang out, watch some cooking shows, and wrangle the kids.  It was great catching up with my sis in law.  I learned about making homemade probiotics, drinking apple cider vinegar, and her awesome gym.  We packed up and left the Parsons house late that afternoon and made our way further south to the Stone's house in Selma, which was about a 40 minute drive.  When we arrived at Krista's, the smell of fresh bread filled our nostrils and we were starving!  She served chicken and veggies and Italian Parmesan bread from her new bread machine.  That night, I believe we played some games and just hung out at the Stones house until we decided to head out to check into our hotel.  We stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites in San Antonio, about a ten minute drive from the Stone's house.  I wouldn't quite call it a dump, but yeah it was a dump.  The beds were comfortable and the shower worked, so I really wasn't THAT annoyed that the place had a lot of things wrong with it, including a missing TV box!  Anyway, we slept okay that night but we changed our sleeping arrangement the next night.  Kyla was entirely too distracted being in her own big bed right next to our bed, so the next night she got to sleep in the pack and play and that worked much better.

Day 4 - December 27
Today is Sunday and we woke up to a cloudy, rainy day.  I took Kyla with me down to breakfast and it was a pretty decent spread with eggs, waffles, cinnamon danish rolls, fruit, yogurt, coffee, juice, etc.  We decided to forgo church that morning and headed back over to the Stone's house after making a pit stop at Walmart to pick up a couple things.  We decided to go out to eat for lunch and we chose a Mexican restaurant  called   .  It had the best chips and salsa!  Matt and I shared some nachos and quesadillas.  After lunch, we went back to the Stones and most people took a nap.  Matt left to go back to Kyle after his nap because he joined Paul in a "ride along" for the 3 pm- 1 am shift.  (Paul is a police officer.)  I just stayed at Krista's that evening and we played games and had supper.  That night, Mom and Dad took me and the kids back to our hotel for the night.  Matt got back around 2:30 am!  Night 2 in our "awesome" hotel done.

Day 5 - December 28
Monday!  Our week is flying by and we are having so much fun hanging out with family.  I especially loved seeing my niece Emma walk around and play with her toys.  She even shared her things with Kyla and Kaiden!  How sweet.  :-)  On Monday, we had breakfast at our hotel then headed over to the Stones again to meet up with everyone to go to lunch.  We wanted a nice BBQ place, so we went to Bill Miller's BBQ in Selma.  It was the same type of food and atmosphere of a local place we go to called Hickory River BBQ in Tipp City.  It was delicious chicken and pulled pork.  That afternoon, we headed back to our hotel to meet Izi and her boys for a pool party.  Sadly, the pool was way too cold to swim in and the hot tub was the temperate the pool should have been.  We still had fun though and after swimming, we went back up to our room and ordered pizza from Maar's Pizza.  It was decent, but overpriced in my opinion.  We said bye to Izi for the last time this trip and then we decided to go back over to Krista's to play some cards and drop Kyla off for the night!  Matt and I got a pretty decent night of sleep that night and Kyla got a full night of uninterrupted sleep at Krista's house. 

Day 6 - December 29
We finally got to check out of our sad little hotel and move in to an AMAZING  hotel on the River Walk!  After we packed up that morning after a quick bite of breakfast at our hotel, we went back to Krista's to meet up with everyone.  For lunch, we decided on Cici's pizza and it was very good!  After our naps that afternoon, we headed on down to our new hotel, Drury Inn.  It was a gorgeous hotel.  Something different that they offered was a "light dinner" in the evenings as well as 3 beverages.  They also had soft drinks and popcorn all afternoon and evening.  After we got checked in, we enjoyed some food and drinks and then we headed down to the River Walk to see the Christmas lights.  We spent about an hour or so walking up and down the river, taking in all the sights and sounds of all the little restaurants and shops by the river.  There were SOOO many people out that night!  We were especially surprised by the massively long lines for the River Boat tours at night.  After our walk, we were pretty tired so we went back up to our rooms.  (Mom and Dad had a room right next to ours.)   We put Kyla down in the pack and play in our room, handed the monitor and baby to Mom, and went up to the hot tub!  I wanted to go to the one on the roof top, but they were very crowded even though it was chilly outside.  It was such a neat view from the roof top!  WE ended up making our way down to the indoor pool area where the hot tub was empty.  That rounded off the day!

Day 7 - December 30
Today is our last full day of vacation in Texas! We got up and went down to eat breakfast in the dining area of our hotel.  They had a typical hot breakfast with eggs, bananas, biscuits and gravy, sausage patties, hash browns, yogurt, etc.  After breakfast, I decided to take Kyla to go swimming at the indoor pool.  No one else wanted to join me, so I just took her by myself.  She had a blast swimming in the big pool, but she wanted to stay pretty close to the stairs.  Mom and Dad walked around the hotel and Matt stayed in the room with Kaiden.  After we were done swimming, we got cleaned up and waited for the Stones to arrive to go to lunch.  We found a Tex Mex restaurant along the River Walk called The Iron Cactus.  I have to say that my meal at this place was probably the hi-light of the trip for me  I ordered a stuffed avocado and it was insanely delicious.  I need to find the recipe. After lunch, we decided to go visit The Alamo.  There was a very long line to get inside so we just looked around outside as we listened to some very obnoxious street corner evangelists proclaiming that we were all going to hell.  (That was just lovely...not!)  We found our way to a shopping center after that and walked around some more.  We took more family pictures by the river and then saw that there was not an incredibly long line for River Boat tours so we went ahead and got tickets and went on a tour!  Kyla and Kaiden both did really well until about the last five minutes.  Kaiden woke up and decided he was famished, so we got by with letting him chew on a vibrating strawberry toy that Aunt Krista kindly shared.  After the boat tour, we walked back to our hotel.  At this point, it was probably about 4:30-5:00 in the afternoon and Kyla was tired!  She did not get a nice afternoon nap that day, so she decided that Daddy's chest was the best option for some Z's while we walked back to the hotel.  We did not plan on her falling asleep in his arms, therefor, we also did not plan on her relieving her bladder as she slept.  Matt and Kyla were soaked in pee as we arrived back to our room, then Kyla decided her nap was over as soon as she made it to the bed.  Matt got to wear shorts for the rest of the day. I fed Kaiden, we got cleaned up, and went down to have a light supper at our hotel lobby.  It consisted of baked potatoes, nachos, hot dogs, salad, and lots of cherry limeade, a favorite drink we found.  We took another little walk after our supper and then we had to say goodbye to the Stones for the last time of the trip.  We had so much fun hanging out with Krista, Dan, and Emma!  I can't wait to go back to Texas and visit with them again.

Day 8 - December 31 - New Year's Eve
It's travel day and we are up packing and eating breakfast.  We made it down to the lobby for check out with the million other people checking out at 11:00 and we waited in a long line to pick up our car.  Mom and Dad were on the road because they couldn't wait for us in the valet area.  We loaded up our Mazda CX-5 and hit the road for a fairly uneventful 5 hour drive back up to DFW.  We stopped at Taco Bell for lunch, got some gas, and maybe stopped once or twice more for bathroom breaks/feed the baby breaks.  Both kids did a great job in the car!  The whining and crying was to a minimum, much to my surprise.  (Thanks kids!)  We turned in our car, checked into our flight, and went to our gate.  We were just hanging out there for a little bit when Matt looked at the flights on the TV and said hey guys....our flight changed gates!  We need to get moving!  So we grabbed all our stuff, got on a shuttle, and found the new gate with time to spare!  We had a nice flight back to Dayton as our seats were near the very back of the plane.  There were even empty seats around us.  The flight attendant said that Kaiden and Kyla were "the most beautiful children she had ever seen" and they should be on the cover of Parents magazine.  (I think it had been a long day....)  Anyway, I had decided to check my suitcase at the gate so that it was one less thing we had to carry on board.  At the time, it seemed like a great idea.  But when we got to Dayton, we had to wait at the baggage claim to get it and it was literally the LAST suitcase to make its way through.  I'm talking...they turned off the belt just as my bag was coming out.  Ha!  It was quitting time.  It was almost midnight (Happy New Year!) as we loaded the shuttle and made our way back to our car.  We piled in like clowns and FINALLY, our travel day came to an end as we clinked our glasses of sparkling grape juice together to ring in the new year.  Good night to all!

TEXAS was good to us!  Kaiden's first flight, our first time getting a rental car, Matt's first time in San Antonio, my first time seeing Izi's house, and our first time seeing Krista's house.  I am so happy we got to do Christmas in a different way this year and it turned out great.  It was an adventure, as all trips with young children are, but it was great.

Kaiden - 6 Months

Kaiden is 6 months old!

I have to say that being this boy's mama just makes my heart explode.  He is perfect and just being around him makes me happy.  His nick name is "smiley" because well, all you have to do is look at him and he will give you a big gummy grin. The kid is more ticklish than any kid I've seen.  The only time he is unpleasant is when he is tired, which is great for me because I know exactly when it's time for a nap or bedtime.

Speaking of sleep, lets start off talking about that.  Here is a typical day in the life of Kaiden.

9:00 am - Awake for the day
9:00-11:30 - nurse, change diaper, get dressed (sometimes) and play on a blanket in the floor, in the walker, or the exersaucer and watch big sister play and run around.
11:30 - nap time in crib
12:15-12:30 - awake from nap and nurse
12:30-2:30 - play some more, watch some baby einstein tv, watch Kyla and I eat our lunch
2:30 - afternoon nap
3:15-3:30 - awake from nap, nurse
3:30 - 5:30 - more play time
5:30 - cat nap of about 30 minutes, if he will even go down
6:00 - family dinner time, Kaiden usually sits in the exersaucer in the kitchen
8:00 - start getting ready for bed, nurse, get into jammies, read a book, sing a song, then to bed!
Kaiden does not believe in sleeping through the night.  In fact, he prefers to be in his crib at night as little as possible.  He goes down around 8:30 in his crib and sleeps until the moment our heads hit the pillow around 11:00.  Then he sleeps with us until about 3-4 am, then I put him in his swing to sleep the remaining 5 hours.  It is quite the game of musical sleep chairs.  Its working for us for now, but I don't imagine I will be able to get much sleep for long with him in our bed because he is getting bigger and being more wiggly.

For the past month or so, we have been trying various baby food, baby cereal and oatmeal, and a few fresh foods in the mesh feeder.  The first couple times I fed him oatmeal, he loved it.  But after the first couple times, he has refused to eat it.  He squeezes his lips together so hard and I cannot even wiggly the spoon in there to force him.  Haha! I suppose in time, he will eat.  I hope I won't be breastfeeding him when he goes to kindergarten...

Kaiden is in size 3 diapers, size 9 month clothes.  At his 6 month appointment, he weighed 16 lbs 10 oz and was about 27 inches long.  He has his bottom front two teeth and those came in at about 5.5 months.  I feel like he's always "teething" because of the amount of drool he has.  Between spitting up and drool, he has to be wearing a bib at all times when he is awake.  It is soaked most of the time and I have to put a new one on after each nap.

Currently, Kaiden likes to blow bubbles, make funny noises, squeal, and say DaDa over and over.  He reaches for everything and he loves playing with and chewing on the strings of hoodies.  Another thing that's really funny is that he lays on the floor on his back and does a sort of "pelvic thrust" move.

Kaiden doesn't really like a pacifier anymore.  He doesn't suck his thumb either.  I"m trying to get him to like this little blankie lion, but he doesn't show much attachment to it yet.

He can sit up (assisted) or on his own for a while before he falls over.  He rolls over, but once he gets to his stomach, he doesn't remember how to roll back over very well and gets stuck.  He is liking being on his tummy more, especially if I put him in front of Kyla's play house while she's in it.  He just loves watching everything she does.

I think that about wraps up this 6 month update!  I hope to add pictures sometime but I wanted to at least get this posted while I had time!  

Kyla's 2 Year Update

Kyla Rose is TWO years old!

Up to this point in her life, Kyla has been a rather cautious, calm girl.  But recently, she has started acting, well, like a two year old.  She likes to run around and scream and play.  All. Day. Long!  It keeps mama very busy, especially while trying to take care of the new baby as well.  The only time she is not running around destroying the house is when she is glued to the TV or iPad watching her favorite shows, Peppa Pig and Bubble Guppies.

Everything is a battle with a toddler, especially when it comes to eating.  Kyla's favorite foods include peanut butter, carrots, cookies, smoothies, applesauce, pretzels, and fruit snacks.  She is obsessed with her "milky" and drinks a sippy cup full when she gets up in the morning, one when she gets up from her nap, and a bit right before bed.  The rest of the day, her cup is filled with watered down juice or just water.  For breakfast, we usually have scrambled eggs, pop tarts, cereal, or waffles.  Lunch includes chicken nuggets, pb&j, quessadilla, etc. and then we always put a little of whatever we are eating for dinner on her plate (most of the time she won't even touch it)

This is our typical schedule when we are home.
9:30 - Get up for the day, get dressed, change diaper, go to kitchen to get milk
10:00 - Eat breakfast
10:30 - 12:30 - Play time.  Most days we go out in the sunroom and play with the blocks or do puzzles in the living room or play with the little kitchen and read books in Kyla's room.
12:45 - Lunch time
1:30 - Nap time!
4:00 - Up from nap, more milk and a snack while we watch Peppa Pig.
5:00 - Mom starts getting dinner ready while Kyla plays
6:00 - Dinner
6:30-8:00 - Play time with Daddy.  They usually go run around in the yard, read books, and finish the evening by watching an episode of Bubble Guppies together.
8-8:30 - Get ready for bed.  Dad gets her diaper changed and jammies on, brushes teeth, and reads books in Kyla's room, then puts her to bed.

One major change we had recently was switching to Kyla to a big bed.  I was very hesitant to change up our routine because Kyla was sleeping so well in her crib.  She rarely wakes up at night, and if she does, she talks to herself or turns on her seahorse and falls back asleep.  But when Kaiden wouldn't nap that well unless he was in a quiet, dark room, I decided it was time to give him the crib.  The first week of the transition, I put the guest bed's queen mattress on Kyla's floor.  She only tried to get out of it one time and I saw it on the monitor and told her to lay back down.  Ever since then, she doesn't venture off the bed.  After a week on the floor, we moved the bed frame into her room and she was good to go!  I have a large body pillow along the edges of the bed that don't touch the wall so it gives her a barrier so she won't fall off as easily.  I have been very happy with the transition!  Sometimes, she even asks if she can go back to bed!

Kyla can count to 20, with a little help, 10 by herself. 
Can recognize about half of the letters and most of the numbers.
Sings ABC's like this.  A B C D E F G. H I WX Y and Z!
Sings "Crinkle crinkle little star"
Says "Kay-nen" for Kaiden
Helps the baby by ripping his blanket off and saying "Why you cryin baby?"
Can easily navigate her games and shows on the iPad.
Recognizes TONS of different animal pictures. (Thanks to playing with Nana)
Knows most colors and all the basic shapes, square, circle, oval, rectangle, triangle, heart, star.
Asks for "mystic" for music and likes to dance.
Loves to play ring around the rosie.
Swinging at the park is her favorite.
Loves seeing pictures and videos of herself and other kids.
Reads books to herself in her own language.

Kaiden's Birth Story

Kaiden was due on June 22, 2015.  Unfortunately, he did not get the memo that we were expecting him that day, so he decided to wait for us to take matters into our own hands on June 26.

Leading up to my due date, I was progressing nicely upon getting a cervical check at 39 weeks.  I was already about 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced.  Considering I was about 3 cm when I was in active labor with Kyla, I got my hopes up that baby Kaiden would be arriving sooner than expected.  At 38 weeks, I began to get extreme discomfort in my hips and groin area, making simple tasks incredibly difficult.  I was ready to have that baby!

When my due date came along, the doctor said I was 5 centimeters dilated and 60% effaced and the water sack was bulging.  He truly did not understand how I wasn't in labor right then!  He suggested because I was already 4 days past my due date, I could go to the hospital and have my water broken.  We talked about it on the way home and we decided that's what we would do because my parents were here to help with Kyla, and I was beyond ready to have my baby.

So on the afternoon of June 26, we drove to Miami Valley Hospital in downtown Dayton and checked in effortlessly.  (This was quite a different experience that having to go to triage with Kyla while leaking fluid all over and having contractions every few minutes!)  The nurse walked us to our labor room and there we waited for Kat, the midwife on call, to come in and break my water.  While they were getting me ready, the IV was administered.  I have to say THAT was the most painful part of this entire story!  The nurse said she was "really good" at putting in an IV, however, she blew the vein she chose and it hurt SOOO bad!!! Tears burst forth from my eyes and I could not control my weeping.  Ouch!  I did not expect that and Matt didn't either because he was sitting across the room looking at his phone when it happened.  When he looked up and saw tears streaming down my face, he ran to my side to hold my hand.

After about an hour of fetal monitoring, Kat came in and broke my water.  At first, she tried to use a hook type instrument but she couldn't quite puncture the water sack that way so she ended up using a different tool to put a little hole in the water sack.  I was expecting a big gush of water, but I didn't feel anything!  I was even afraid that she didn't really even break the sack, but that wasn't the case.

Contractions did not start for 15 minutes.  Then contractions were coming about every 7 minutes.  I felt a gush of water and then more water with each contraction.  I labored naturally and moved around the room, bounced on the ball, and watched tv for about 3 hours before having the epidural administered.  The contractions were becoming quite painful by the time the epidural was in.  Once in, I was still able to feel pain in my lower right abdominal area for quite a while, but it was tolerable.  Eventually after turning over on my other side, the medicine kicked in more.

I laid in bed and rested until 9:15 (2 hours after getting the epidural) and Missy came in to check me and she said I was ready to have my baby!  I pushed for 20 minutes (about 3-4 rounds of 3 pushes each) and then Kaiden Matthew Focht was born at 9:34 pm.  Missy said he "felt solid" when she laid him on my chest.  And solid he was at 9 lbs 4 oz!  He was 20 3/4 inches long.  He had a little mohawk and a funny little cry that was much louder than our first baby.

I could not have asked for a more perfect labor and delivery!  (Well, I could have been pregnant for a few less days, but hey, I in fact was not pregnant forever!)  The whole experience (besides the IV) at the hospital was so relaxing and enjoyable.  I even liked getting to experience some hard contractions before getting the epidural.  The nurses were great and Missy delivered my first child as well so it was wonderful getting to have her again.

The pregnancy was not fun.  Yes, I loved feeling him move and I loved my cute little belly for a while, but actually holding my sweet baby boy for the first time was AMAZING.  Every birth story is different and I would not trade mine for the world.  Love you, Kaiden!