Kailie's Dedication - Sunday May 17, 2009

We had Kailie Dedicated this past Sunday at our church and it really was such a lovely day! We were very fortunate to have Papa and Grama and Grampa John along for the day and a wonderful group of dear friends. After the church service we headed to Riddells Bay for a nice lunch that gave us all a chance to catch up a bit – below are a few pictures of our day.

Thanks everyone for coming!

6 Month Update

Kailie had her 6-month check up today and she continues to do fantastic!

She had a couple more shots to endure - for the first one she didn't make a peep and then the second one she cried just long enough for me to be able to pick her up and then she was all smiles again!! The whole process was much more traumatic for me than for her (as usual)! She then weighed in at 20 lbs exactly and measured 27 1/4 inches in height . . . she is still just slightly off the chart for her weight and in the 95th percentile for her height . . . not sure where she's getting all her height from - our only guess is from her Robertson blood . . . and as for the weight - well if you see this little monkey eat that is self explanatory!! Her doctor was so pleased with her progress and says that we should just keep doing exactly the same of what we're already doing - which is always so reassuring for us to hear:)

Kailie is having a great visit with G'pa John - below are a couple of pictures we took one afternoon when we stopped in to check out the beach.

Half Way To A Year!!!

Wow - can't believe we're already here!! Despite my best efforts I have not figured out how to freeze time . . . and as a result my little angel is now 6 months old!

It's been an exciting month - a few of the highlights have been:

- Teeth – Kailie has two bottom front teeth, they look pretty cute but did not come without their fair share of aches and pains. Kailie is such a happy kid so it’s easy to tell when something is bothering her and in addition to a few more tears than usual teething also involves wake ups in the middle of the night. When the first two came in we had a stretch of about a week of 4am wake ups which Mom and Dad don’t deal with very well! We’re pretty sure we must have another one or two teeth ready to make an appearance as we have had another few days stretch of 4am wake ups, some fiery red cheeks and just a bit more fussiness than usual – so we’ll see!

- Food – It’s no surprise really, but Kailie is turning out to be a terrific eater! We’re only up to about 4 different foods but so far apples and pears are by far her favorite with carrots coming in third and squash a very very distant fourth - I know my parents are smiling right now thinking ‘payback’!! I know I need to get her onto a few more vegetables but can you blame the kid for loving her fruit ;-)

- Visits – Kailie is loving all the family that is coming to visit. After Gramm Phyllis was here we had Uncle Parry and Aunt Carol come for their Bermuda holiday and we had a great time with them! Kailie immediately took to Aunt Carol and after spending a bit of time getting used to Uncle Parry she was happy to go to him as well. We had a great time with them and hope they’ll come back again:) Right now we have Grampa John here and in just a few days Pappa Mark and Grama MaryAnn will be arriving as well – Kailie is so lucky to have so many Grandparents coming to visit!

- Talking – It’s become pretty clear what Kailie’s first words will be . . . all we hear all day long is Da-Da-Da-Da-Da . . . . regardless of how much I say “Ma-Ma-Ma”!! It’s still pretty cute and irresistible – especially to see ‘Dada’ come running every time his little girlie calls ;-)

- Sleeping – We have officially started ‘sleep training’ for Kailie and so far it’s been everyone’s least favorite activity. Up until now we have pretty much done whatever Kailie wants to help put her to sleep (this usually means nursing her until she’s asleep!) however we’ve now decided she’s big enough to handle a few tears and sooner or later she needs to learn to put herself to sleep (and Mom needs a bit of relief!!). We’ve had a few rough nights – but thanks to some major support from a few friends and their stories (thanks Grady!!!) we are making progress:) Naps are no problem – it usually takes her just a minute or two to find her little thumb and the crys are halted . . . but for whatever reason bedtime is a much bigger battle!! We’ve had a couple of record short nights (27 seconds of crying) and some record long nights (lets just say it wasn’t just Kailie crying . . . ). She can get pretty worked up but she seems be figuring it out – so hopefully we are trending in the right direction to have fewer and fewer tears before bed! I must say – seeing her big smile in the morning is always such a relief on those tough nights when I’m sure she’s going to wake up and be so mad at me for what we’ve put her through!

Ok – I’m sure I could keep going but I can’t imagine many would keep reading! So for those of you still reading you will now be rewarded with some pretty cute pictures to follow!

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom’s out there – I know I’m going to treasure every moment of my first Mother’s Day:)

Love, J&K&K

If you look close you'll see my two bottom teeth!

Trying to get the buttons in my mouth!

This picture was when Mom was trying to get me to show off my teeth - I showed her:)

Still looking for teeth . . .

Out shopping with Mom, Dad and Grampa John

My first time in a highchair - I'm ready to eat!!

Thanks to Evan & Mae for sharing their Jolly Jumper with me - I love it!!

Daddy taking his first shot at feeding me - went pretty good but Mom had to step in to finish off the last few bites:)

Dinner out with Uncle Parry & Aunt Carol

Aunty Kayt - do you recongize this sleeper?! I bet you thought it would be a bit big on me when you sent it??!!

My first swim!! I was a bit stunned my first time at the pool but since then I've decided I love to swim - I can even put my face in the water!!

Being a monkey around my playmat.

Showing off my smiles:)

First Tooth!

For the last couple of weeks Kailie hasn't been 100% her sweet little self . . . a little less sleep, runny nose, bit of a cough, watery eyes . . . so today I decided to take her into the doctors just to make sure it wasn't anything major (yes I know a bit paranoid but I think that came as part of my new job descrption when I decided to take on the Mom role!!). Anyway he checked her out and assured me it was just a mild cold and that her breathing was all clear. Then when I got home I got to spend a bit of extra time with Kailie and as she was chewing on my fingers I all of a sudden got a sharp stabbing pain through my finger - Kailie has cut her first tooth!!! Which probably explains a whole lot of what I went to the doctor's for in the first place!! These little milestones are all so exciting we just had to share:)

Here are a few pictures - hope you all had a wonderful Easter - we sure did here!

Love, J&K&K

Five Months Old!

Yet another incredible month with our little girlie! The new picture is posted on the side however because she's not laying very straight she doesn't look much bigger than the four month picture but I can assure you she is!! It was right before bed when the 5 month picture was taken so it wasn't quite the photo shoot that it usually is!

I would say our most exciting news recently is that Kailie has figured out how to roll from her back to her tummy – and she just loves to show off her new move!! The only problem is that once she gets onto her tummy she has a very limited amount of time that she'll tolerate being there. The first night after she had figured out how to roll over proved to be a bit problematic as Kailie often wakes up in the middle of the night but she has always been very good at putting herself back to sleep (it’s her magic little thumb!) however when she rolls onto her tummy in the middle of the night she can’t get to that magic little thumb so she has to cry for Mom and Dad to come and rescue her – which also then completely wakes her up! So we now have her wedged in the crib pretty good to prevent the nighttime rolling!

We have also just started giving Kailie a little taste of some rice cereal and she is taking it like a star! I am just amazed at how just she seems to know what to do – she has always loved to eat so I know I shouldn’t be too surprised but she really seems to know exactly what is going on when the spoon comes at her . . . it’s all pretty messy right now but all the fun we have doing it is totally worth it!

Kailie continues to sleep like an angel – our little night owl has finally decided to give up her nighttime fights and she now goes to bed around 7 each night . . . which means the rush is on to get home from work so we can get a bit of time in with her . . . I’m glad she’s getting longer sleeps at night but I sure do miss our evenings together.

Kailie has also (finally) decided that she likes her Baby Bjorn . . . she wasn’t keen on it when she had to face forward but now that she faces out and can see all that goes on she just loves it!! She loves to go for walks and to the grocery store with us where there are all sorts of things for her to look at . . . we usually don’t hear a peep out of her!

Last month we had a lot of fun with Gramm Phyllis while she was here for a week or so and this month we are looking forward to seeing Uncle Parry and Aunt Carol as they had decided to come to Bermuda for a vacation:)

Below are a few pictures and I think I have finally figured out how to get a video on here (although I must apologize in advance for the bad video work!) – hopefully I will have more of these in the future!

Lots of Love,

J&K&K

Kailie's First Report Card

Today Kailie had her first big test and of course our little girlie passed with flying colors!! We had one of the nurses here in Bermuda come by for a visit this morning to do an assessment on her - not that we were really worried but it's a service available here in Bermuda and we thought it would be good for us to speak with one of the nurses about how Kailie is developing and what we can do to help with her development.

It was loads of fun and Kailie was a little star despite the fact her 'test' started right around the same time her nap should have started.

Below is her first report card - I hope they all continue to be this good all the way through her school years:)

The
NURSES'
Practice Ltd.

e d u c a t i o n & s u p p o r t

Child Development Assessment
Liz Boden RN, RSCN
Name Kailie Matthews Age almost 5 months

Sociability
Kailie welcomed me with a radiant smile. She makes excellent eye contact and enjoys a face-to-face conversation. She enjoys outings and is just beginning to show signs of separation anxiety; this shows that she is a secure happy child. She did however allow me to interact and play with her. She is cared for at home by a nanny while her parents work. She has settled well into the new routine.
Speech
Kailie was silent for much of my visit demonstrating a thoughtful baby. She can screech and squeal and is beginning to laugh.
Gross Motor Skills
Kailie has excellent tone and alignment. She has good head support while held in the sitting and standing position and also while lying on her tummy – although she does not enjoy this position much yet. She is reaching for toys even while lying on her tummy, however this is obviously causing some frustration. She is using both arms well and appears to favour her right hand. She is almost rolling independently. While held in the standing position her heels are well on the ground.
Fine Motor Skills
Kailie is using her hands well to discover toys and is taking things to her mouth for further exploration. She even managed to transfer one toy from her left to her right hand!
She is beginning to explore textures through touching and feeling.
Concentration
This was fairly difficult to assess as Kailie is very bright and responsive and very sensitive to everything that is going on around her. She looked at several books one after the other meanwhile checking to see Mom was still holding her. While following my pull-string bear she was distracted every time Mom moved! She did however remain interested for a long time. She was interested in each toy and particularly liked the ‘Sassy’‘Fascination Station’ and Sassy ball with a bell inside.
Conclusion
Kailie is a bright, responsive, secure baby making excellent progress in all areas. Do not underestimate this little girl. She is learning fast and understands far more than you would imagine. I shall be happy to follow her progress.

4 Month Dr. Appt

Just had to add a little update to Kailie's 4 month post . . . we had her 4 month doctors appointment on Friday and he only had great things to say about our sweet girl! She weighed in at 17.5 pounds which still puts her off the charts for her age but at least this time she came a bit closer to the charts!! She also was quite tall (I missed the exact height measurement b/c Kailie was screeching very loudly when he put her on the measuring tape!!) but when we were reviewing her stats at the end of the appointment she was at the very top end of the charts for her height which given her weight is great as that almost puts her weight and height in proportion! Her doctor also assured me that once she starts moving some of her chub will start to melt away . . . which will probably make me a bit sad when that day comes because I just love my chubby kid!! We then had another couple of shots to endure - and even before it was time for her shots Kailie was pretty worked up so I was a bit worried about how it might go - but she was a super-star!! I didn't even know he had given her the first shot and for the second one she cried for the amount of time it took me to pick her up and then she happy and all was good . . . so another couple shots over and done with:)

Here is a picture of Kailie just before we were heading off to church - it's not easy to catch her smiles all the time so I'm always so pleased when we do!

Hope all is well with everyone:)

Love, J&K&K

4 Months!

In the blink of an eye another month has flown by! Most days I wish for time to stand still but as she keeps growing I just get more and more excited to have this little angel in our lives!! Here are a few highlights of the past month:

We got to spend so much time with Kayt, Asia and Stefan as they were here for about a month. It was such a great time for Kayt and I to enjoy each other’s little ones for a while!

Kailie loves to smile and the smiles we used to have to coax out her we now see all the time!! And now in addition to these great smiles she has also started to giggle and laugh . . . it really is one of the sweetest sounds we’ve ever heard!

Kailie is proving to be a great cheerleader for Mom and Dad as we get back into running!! She ran her first race with us this past weekend and cheered us on the whole way (ok – ‘cheer’ might be a stretch but she stayed awake and had smiles for me the whole time)! Next week we have another race to run however this time it’s Dad’s turn to push the stroller . . . it might be on wheels but it’s still a lot of extra work!

At the beginning of this month I was video-taping Kailie as she learned to reach out and touch a few of her toys on her activity mat and over the last few days she’s practically hanging off her toys!! She loves to grab everything within her little arm’s reach – so now toys / rattles are added to the long list of baby gear that gets packed up with us when we go out of the house!

Kailie continues to be a superstar sleeper . . . I sometimes wonder if she sleeps too much!! She’s generally sleeps around 9-10 hours per night and that’s often with me waking her up to feed her in the morning and then she’ll often do a couple 3+ hour naps and one little hour long nap in the evening and then off to bed again . . . sometimes I wish she’d have more awake play time!! I don’t know how I’d manage work if she wasn’t such a great little sleeper:)

Grace Ann joined us from the Philippines to help look after Kailie while I go back to work and so far all is going very well – at least here at home . . . . at work it’s a whole other story!! It’s been pretty tough going back, a lot harder than I thought it was going to be but many of my working Mom girlfriends tell me it will get better with time – I’m just not sure I’m quite convinced!

We now look forward to Grama Phyllis coming for a visit this coming weekend and not long after her we’ll be seeing Uncle Parry and Aunt Carol then Grampa John and Grama Mary Ann and Papa soon after them . . . we’re so looking forward to all our guests and we know that you’ll love every minute you get to spend with Kailie as much as we do.

Finally – Kailie just got some great news from the Slemko family today – they welcomed their baby girl Georgia into the world and Kailie can’t wait to meet her newest friend!!

A few pictures below – all our love, J&K&K