Laughter

I could listen to this all day...

Kopycat Karis

I've been more tired than usual this past week.  The other day, it was a long day and I settled on the lounge chair downstairs and was hanging out with Makena.  Karis was upstairs practicing her letters.  She called me to ask me to come upstairs to help her spell "Fluffy."  I asked her to come downstairs so I could help her.  She didn't want to come down and I didn't want to go up.  I told her to just talk real loud and I would help her from where I was.  Here is how our conversation went:

"Mommy, how do you spell 'Fluffy'?"

"F"

"Okay, what next?"

"L"

"Okay, what next?"

....  We got to the letter "Y" ...

"Help me do 'Y'"

* sigh * I responded, "Look at your writing workbook and find Y."  

"Mommy, I can't.  Come upstairs and help me."

"No, Karis come down here and I'll help you."

She then responded, "I'm too tired."

Oh no she didn't, I thought to myself.  "No Karis, Mommy is tired. Come down here."

This repeated a couple times as we tried to convince each other we were too tired. 

One final time I asked Karis to come down.  

Karis responded "Mommy, I don't have time."

"You what?!"

"I don't have time."

"Karis, you're a 3-year old!  You have all the time in the world!  If you want me to help you, you need to come downstairs."

So, it has begun.  She's copying me by saying the two most frequent excuses I give her daily -- I'm too tired and I don't have time.  Yikes!  I didn't realize I say those things to her so often.  

A fun way she's been copying me is her interest in baking and making things.

I made a birthday cake for Makena the other day.  I try to do most of my serious baking during their naps as it's easier to do it without eager little hands that are so willing to help.  

When I was finishing Makena's birthday cake, Karis decided she wasn't going to nap.  She came downstairs and saw me using fondant and she was curious as to what it was and what it felt like. I gave her a chunk of it and told her she could play with it like playdoh.  I thought she would make some shapes out of it but instead she asked for some of the balls I had made and she made her own cake.   She also asked for some frosting to make the finishing touches.  

As she was finishing her "cake" I was taking pictures of mine.  She wanted me to take pictures of her cake too.  She then ran upstairs to get her own camera so she could take her own photos.  She was so proud of it.  It was so cute!

She was so excited to have her own cake to give to Makena.  She told me that when Makena woke up from her nap, she would show her the cake, say "Surprise!" and give her a big hug.

Our Hungry Little Bird

I can't say it enough.  Makena loves to eat.  She would eat all day if I let her.  Her little innocent face with mouth open wide is so cute.  It's one thing when we're feeding her, but it's even funnier when I catch her like that when I'm eating or prepping dinner at the counter.  She always wants food!

I typically feed both girls dinner, and then I try to take a few moments to myself to sit and eat my dinner (as fast as I can because I know at any moment, duty calls).  My few minutes of silence are often interrupted by a "Darth Vader"-like heavy breathing. I look down and sure enough Makena is asking for food with her mouth open wide.  Below is a video that will give you an idea of what I'm talking about.  Derek took the video the other morning.  I had just finished feeding Makena breakfast.  I went into the other room and Makena stuck around to see what she could get from Daddy.  

My Separation Anxiety, Not Hers

(by Lena) Like most first time parents, I try to do things by the book as much as possible. Karis is at the age where separation anxiety sets in. I have learned that there are certain things we as parents can do to try to ease the anxiety. While Karis doesn't really exhibit much, if any, separation anxiety, I still try to do what I can to follow certain steps so that she knows when I'm leaving and that I will be back to get her.

When saying good-bye to your child, whether leaving them at home with a sitter or dropping them off in nursery, I learned that you're supposed to give them a little time to get comfortable, kiss and hug them, tell them you're going to be right back (keeping it light), and then leaving and not coming back to comfort them.

Well, last Sunday, I dropped Karis off at the church nursery. I took her out of her stroller and before I even had time to stand up straight, she had dashed into the room and the door shut behind her. "Bye Karis..." I said (to myself) as she was long gone... I kinda wanted a hug and kiss good-bye. I signed her in and filled out the name tag for her, thinking I could go in the room and put it on her. The nursery volunteer stood at the door and said, "I'll take that for you. Enjoy the service!" and he took the name tag and went inside... again, the door shut.

It was funny and sad at the same time... I know Karis enjoys her time there and evidently didn't care much for a proper good-bye but I sure could have used one! I wonder is there is anything in the "book" about parent separation anxiety. =)

p.s. The smile, kiss and mad dash to me when I walked in the room to pick her up was enough to make up for the lack of proper good-bye.

The Remote

Two Facts about Karis:

1) She knows that the remote does something to the TV. You'll see in the video she looks over her shoulder a couple of times. She is looking at the TV.

2) She clearly knows what she should not be doing or playing with. This is displayed in the last couple seconds of the video.

Too Busy To Blog

It's been a little while since we last blogged. Honestly, we've been pretty busy --no, not with work or our crazy social lives. We're busy with our little Karis H. Robinson. The "H" now stands for Hurricane.

She is one curious, strong, persistent, fearless, non-stop baby. She is now in every part of our home. She used to stay in the main traffic areas, but she now crawls under the table, through the high chair, and even up into the dishwasher. She also used to stay close by, but now she wanders off into the next room or straight towards the open front door.

Here is what we deal with on a daily basis:

1) Diaper changes, or better known as "Mommy (or Daddy) vs. Baby" wrestling matches.
Here is a play by play:

• Baby gets put down on the changing mat
• Baby submits for about 8 seconds (max!) and then attempts to flip over
• Mommy places one hand on baby's stomach
• Baby squeals
• Mommy is a sucker and loosens her hold
• Baby turns over and mommy grabs baby's ankles
• Baby starts to walk away on her hands with her legs in the air
• Mommy releases legs for fear of a face plant and is left watching a little naked butt crawl away
• Clearly it seems as if baby is winning during the entire match, but eventually mommy wins ... but not without a few beads of sweat on her brow

2) Every day we try to teach her what she is not allowed to play with in hopes that one day she will actually understand what we're saying. We call our home the Garden of Eden. There are plenty of toys, an exersaucer, a little shelf for her toys so she can stand and play, a little activity table, plastic containers we leave out on the kitchen floor for her to play with, etc. But like the Garden of Eden, there are just a couple of apple trees Karis is not allowed to "eat" from. Of course, those are the things she is most drawn to ALL DAY LONG. Those things include the bathroom, the refrigerator, the pots and pan rack, and one exposed outlet we use for her baby monitor.

We now keep the bathroom door closed at all times. But if one of us goes in there, you will soon hear a toy drop and then little legs scurrying along the carpet. In just a couple of seconds, little Karis will be at the door with a big smile and she'll excitedly continue on into the bathroom. She'll stand up along the toilet and pull out the toilet paper, or she’ll look into the tub where she takes her baths, or she’ll play with the tag that hangs off the pipe behind the toilet. If a guest leaves the toilet lid open and the bathroom door open, she will notice it far sooner than one of us will. She makes her way in there and dips her fingers in the toilet bowl.

It's the same thing with the refrigerator. If the door opens, she’ll quickly make her way over and crawl around or even under the door just to stand there and look at the mecca of things she's never seen, touched or stuffed in her mouth before.

3) Michievous behavior. One example of this is her fairly new "skill" she has taught herself. She can now pull herself up on the hamper, take the lid off and pull out her dirty clothes… as if there wasn’t enough of her stuff lying around everywhere. There are plenty of other examples such as chewing on our flip flops, knocking down the trashcan to get at the paper inside, emptying the diaper caddy, and pulling out diaper wipes to suck on them.

4) Loud repetitive behavior. One thing she loves to do is stand up and pound her hands above her head against whatever is supporting her, be it the DVR in the entertainment center, the bedroom door or the sliding mirror closet doors. It's quite loud and not our favorite thing for her to do, but she seems to be doing it out of sheer excitement – for what, I don’t know. Another non-favorite of ours is her opening and closing the door of the entertainment center. She will open and slam the door closed over and over and over again.

There are probably things that I forgot to mention but I think you get the idea. But all that said, I am having so much fun with her. She makes me smile and laugh all day long. If you just look at her, she gets happy and smiles. When she does, how can I not quickly forget about the thing she just knocked over or the receipt she just ate?

She plays so well by herself but she definitely loves having someone to play with. Her giggles are contagious and she gives the best little hugs and kisses. I love watching her try to figure things out and slowly start to understand a little more about the world she lives in. I am so thankful that God has entrusted us with this precious life. I just pray that we will be honorable, loving and gracious every step of the way.

A couple more Karis' firsts...

Karis smiles quite often. But Saturday night with some friends for a BBQ, Karis actually laughed out loud. It was past her bedtime, Lena was putting her in the car seat, and Karis was starting to cry. Lena picked up the car seat and tried to entertain Karis by shaking the car seat. Check out Karis finding it funny below.


First Giggles - 3.21.09 from LenaDerek on Vimeo.

Also, she held her own bottle for me for the first time today.

What a proud papa I am!