Kinlee: 17 months

The time is moving quickly.  This girl seems to be the poster child for “they’ll grow up so quickly.”

She has really started to just talk.  Not like words, that we can count or keep track of.  She just talks.  I don’t know how that works without all the therapy and practice and such, but she’s got it!  I was debating compiling a list of her words, and it just got ridiculous because it’s pretty much whatever is required for what she wants to say.  She’s got a long way to go before she is giving speeches, but public speaking would not surprise me as a top skill at some point down the road. Yesterday, it was “want up bed!” that came out. She wanted to get up on our bed while I was getting dressed to go somewhere.  And then she said, “touch heart” when she wanted to be lifted up to play with the chunky wooden heart that hangs from one of our ceiling fan pulls.  Always surprises me.

Today in the van on the way to the store, she just was chattering with Braska, as they often do.  They mimic each other, or one says something and the other laughs and says, “So funny!”  I realized that they were singing, “Jesus Loves Me.”  Kinlee was singing, “Yes, Jee-zuz…” and Braska would say emphatically, “Luffs ME!”  Then again, and again.  Then Kinlee said, “Bah-bul tehs me…” and they both said, “SO!” very loudly. 

It cracked me up.  And it made me proud.  They took turns singing it again, switching off parts, singing some together.  Kinlee griping at Braska for interjecting too soon, and Braska squealing back at the reprimand.  Who needs a radio anyway?

KiKi is insisting on helping push the cart while we’re at the store.  Braska sits in the seat and Kinlee is below her feet pushing with all her might as we go.  I often stop to pick something up and the cart keeps moving.  The kid is strong!  Today at Aldi, she was grunting while I was debating a choice, and I realized the cart full of stuff was moving very slowly.  She was actually making it go all along, Braska and many pounds of groceries in tow.

She loves putting things down “the chute,” as in the laundry chute in our hallway.  If Daddy doesn’t want to get out of his chair to drop his socks in, she is more than happy to make the trip.  And she’ll stomp off in her very determined way…it makes me laugh often.  Something about that little walk when she’s on a mission.

Currently, she wants to “pat, pat, pat” everything.  She sees a cow on a bottle of milk. She’ll say, “Cow. Pat, pat, pat.”  That is to tell you that the milk needs to be within her reach so she can come over and pat it.  She’ll do so, then she’s good to go.  That happens with the TV, with books, with cars that go by (we’re not able to oblige her in that request usually), and with her sister in the flesh. Lots of patting going on.

Jumping on the couch or her crib or anything else with some spring is a favorite. Not that it’s allowed as far as the couch is concerned, but she loves to stand on the couch and look out the front window.  And inevitably, as the girls start to wrestle on the couch and run from end to end, jumping happens.  It’s pretty cute, I must say.  But we usually try to divert them to the floor, even if it means that we go to get a bunch of pillows and cushions and make our own little fluffy romper area.

She’s my little buddy. She wants to watch all the getting ready (except the hair dryer), she names all the make-up parts, “bwush,” “ipstik,” “muhkara,”, and she loves to brush her teeth while I’m primping.  She’s not a fan of baths right now, but she will play in the pool ALL day if you’d let her.

Yesterday, it was raining and she always seems to know.  Even if it’s not loud.  So she kept saying rain, and I opened the front curtains to see she was right. It was a very soft, summer rain, and she was excited to see it.  I opened the front door to show her without obstruction, and she wanted outside.  I shrugged and figured what the heck.  So the girls and I went out on the porch and the sidewalk and they walked back and forth, barefoot in the rain, up and down on the porch step 50 times, stomping down the sidewalk singing “rain, rain, rain” over and over and over.  KiKi only agreed to come in because it was time for snack—grapes! Her fave right now.

17 months already. She’s going to be a handful and a completely fun kid all wrapped up in a cute little package. 

Here’s a little short clip with some of her animal sounds… it’s rare that she will cooperate with video where she sees it.  (And the living room mess…yep, that’s a daily thing. We clean it up before lunch, again before Daddy gets home, and at night before bed. That’s on a good day.)

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