It’s May Already? Wow!

GOALS FOR MOMMY: WRITING, KNITTING, AND EXERCISE/ GOALS FOR KAIRAT: SLEEP
My online time tends to be fast and furious right now, as my darling 15 month old has been keeping me quite busy. Nap times tend to be housework time and by the time he goes to bed, I’m ready to follow soon afterwards or would just rather do nothing. However, I’d want to be a bit more productive in the evenings and I think chores are going to take a lesser priority so that I can start doing at least a couple things I’m missing such as writing in my Blog and knitting.

Exercise is also a major goal. Kairat went through a bit of separation anxiety for about three months and “Mommy” was his main focus. With that waning a bit, I can hopefully start leaving him at the gym daycare again while I work out. We’ve gone in just to play a few times and he seems to be enjoying it and forgetting that I’m there; a good sign. I typically enjoy my physical activity in the early morning around 5:30 a.m., but with the onset of a couple bad colds for both he and I, mornings have been tough. K’s sleeping has also been off and he’s been getting up anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. I think we’re on the tail end of this last bout of stuffy nosed ailments so hopefully K will begin coughing less, breathing smoothly, and sleeping later allowing Mommy to get back in shape. (Of course, that’s assuming I was ever fit to begin with.)

ALL ABOUT THE KID
Fifteen months old. It is hard to believe that Kairat is growing and developing so fast. I was warned about the toddler stage where walking means trouble but I swear I absolutely love the fact that K is mobile and exploring. Of course, we’ve done some major baby proofing around the house and there are still some challenges, but I find it so much fun that he can and run around it greatly outweighs restacking books on the bookshelf or trying to figure out what his button pressing fixation has done to the TIVO machine.

Kairat took seven steps a few days after his first birthday and never turned back. Not much of a crawler to begin with, he worked incredibly hard to gain his balance and move out on his own. All K wanted to do was have someone “walk, walk, walk” him around the house until he finally reached some independence.

Peek-a-boo has moved on to a new level where we now chase each other around the house, crouch beside chairs, spy around corners, and actually try to surprise the other in our one-on-one search.  We’re both having fun with that!

[K is hanging out with the neighbors.] This child is verbal and really wants to communicate. Of course, I can understand quite a bit of what he is saying but he is starting to get to the point where others can too. For instance, at library hour last week during the reading of the story, Kairat walked up to the librarian in the middle of the book, made the sign for “more” and at the same time said, “more cookie”. Now, I know his “cookie” isn’t clear but she knew exactly what he was talking about and told him he had to wait. (The kids get Graham crackers while being read to.)

He also impressed the librarian this week by his ability to focus on a “longer story” typically meant for the “older” kids. There are two sessions for library day: the first half hour consists of books for children under three while the second session is for children who are a little older with a longer attention span. There are breaks in each session with a snack. We typically sit through both sessions and K loves hearing all of the stories read by someone new.

Kairat is addicted to cookies (and grapes). Mind you, he doesn’t get a lot of sweets but once he had one of Grandpa’s molasses cookies, he was hooked. Every time we read a book and he sees a picture of his favorite treat, he signs for (and now says) “More, more?” He does the same for apples and bananas only with those; he pretends to eat them off the page. Have I mentioned what a good eater he is?

Kairat is now saying “please” and “thank you” in his own way. It is pretty hard to refuse a 15 month old something when he looks at you and does sign language for please and says, “plaaa?” However, K has also learned the meaning of, “No.”

Some of the words that he can say, or almost say and/or sign for are: Papa, Mama, Mimi (my mother’s name for him), grandma/grandpa (they sound the same), Emma (our cat), Mini (our neighbor’s cat), ball, balloon, baby, kids, cheese, apple, banana, cookie, cracker, more, please, thank you, no, bread, grapes, book, down, up, truck, stuck, bike, Pat (as in Pat the Bunny), rabbit, diaper and animal sounds for a rooster, cat, dog, elephant, monkey, cow, lamb, and lion, as well as a good car imitation. He also likes to try to sing with some “la, la, la’s” and “ladida, ladiday” from an old song my mother sings with him. Of course, I have a mother’s ear when it comes to pronunciations but he is trying to repeat almost everything he hears and if he can’t say it, he repeats the intonation of word’s syllables so it almost sounds like the word.  It is remarkable how his vocabulary seems to grow every day.

Being outdoors is our favorite place to be and swinging seems to be K’s favorite activity. [This pic is of him being pulled by Aunt Kerri.] We’ve strung a baby swing up in the new barn for his pleasure and it is a constant request. (He can almost say, “swing”, too.) Riding in his wagon, pushing cars and trucks, playing in the dirt, mud, and puddles, walking in the woods, and exploring flowers, the grass, rocks, and anything else he can get his pudgy little hands on are also favorites. (Natascha, he loves motorcycles!)

We love being active and getting outdoors without having to wear a snowsuit. I’m looking forward to even warmer weather and a chance to garden and do yard work with my busy helper who loves to rake and dig things with his shovel. As long as he isn’t digging up freshly planted seedlings, we’ll do just fine.