This month has been a very busy one for Miss Kamy.
- She’s officially upgraded to size 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. Keller’s cousin Mary was super sweet and sent two huge bins of clothes for the kids to wear. Since she’s got kids older than Kamy and Caden, she’s got nearly everything we could possibly need! What a blessing. =) Kamy had a great time digging through both bins and putting all the “new” clothes in her dresser and closet. This also means there’s been a return to the Kamy-bomb in her bedroom during quiet time — she’s been pulling out every single shirt, pants, skirt, and jammies and laying them out in her room. She’s got more than enough to wear in the new size, so I packed up her 2T pieces. While it makes me a bit sad to say good bye to the cute pieces she wore this spring, it was time. <Sniff>
- Kamy’s picked up several new skills this month. She’s been very interested in climbing and I’ve had to explain to her that no, the bookshelves aren’t meant to be used as a ladder (the bookshelves are screwed to the wall, so they cannot fall over on her) … nor does she need anything that’s placed up out of her reach. She’s doing better about it, but I still get surprised by where I find her some times.
- While in DFW, little Miss Kamy climbed out of her pack n play! That was the first time she had climbed out, so we were a bit surprised when we came to get her in the morning and she was sitting on Payton’s couch instead of in her bed! When Daddy opened the door, she looked at him and said “I got out.” Oh really? I hadn’t noticed. Lol! From then on, it’s been impossible to keep her in her pack n play if she doesn’t want to be. Bed time is still fine, but naps are a lot harder to coerce when she can obtain freedom at any time. We ended up sleeping with the door to our room open at Min’s so I could (hopefully) hear her if she got up at night. I’ll be traveling with child proofing door knobs from now on. =P
- She can also unlock and open the sliding glass door and any door knob without a child-proof handle on it. We currently have a child proof knob on the front door, car port door, and her bedroom door (to prevent quiet- and nap-time escapes) but we don’t really have a good option for the sliding glass door yet. A security bar in the grooves won’t deter her one bit once she figured out the problem.
- Kamy has mastered the skill of jumping now too! She loves to hop around the house and jump. Fortunately she hasn’t started to jump off things yet … something I’m in no hurry for her to try. Kamy has been trying to jump for a while, but she’s consistently getting both feet off the ground at the same time now, instead of hopping on one foot and spinning in a circle like she started out doing.
- Her dexterity is also improving. I bought her a wooden bead lacing activity, hoping to help her develop some of her fine motor skills. Little did I know it would be no challenge to her at all. Next up? New lacing cards arrived today. =P
- Kamy is starting to become a great helper in the kitchen. Though she’s been helping me cook for a while, she’s beginning to carry some weight too! When I’m getting ready to cook, I can ask for a series of ingredients from the pantry and she’ll pull them for me, place them on the counter, and then put them back when I’m done. She knows all your basic baking ingredients – flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, shortening and of course chocolate chips! It helps that all of them are on the bottom shelf and at her eye level. Kamy is also getting much more adept at stirring and pouring while helping me in the kitchen. Fewer piles of flour end up on the floor and splashes out of the bowl are minimal. I’m so proud of her! She really seems to enjoy being in the kitchen with me, so I definitely want to encourage her any way I can.
- Picking blueberries was about as productive as last year … she is a lot better at just picking the ripe ones, but I cannot say that many end up in her bucket. I think she had all of five berries in her bucket at the end of the day. Many many more were in her tummy!
- Keller got her a new little gidget for her room — a light switch extender. Now Kamy can turn on her light in her room all by herself (and without trying to climb on anything). She was so excited about it when we first set it up.
- Kamy remains the easiest two year old to put to bed. One night just before bedtime, Keller asked her if she wanted Daddy or Momma to put her to bed. Her reply? Kamy. So that’s exactly what she did! She said good night to everyone, gave out her hugs and kisses, and put herself to bed. It made Momma so sad to realize that she’s growing up and becoming more and more independent. She’s only chosen that option once and most of the time she wants me. Most nights we’ll sit in her chair and cuddle while I sing her song before putting her in bed. Then she lays down with her Seace and any animals she’s accumulated, a sippy cup, and her three blankets — draped across the bed rail to make a tent. Everything must be in the tent and all three blankets must be used. Hehe!
- Conceptually, Kamy has really improved her understanding of sequences. She can follow a series of directions given up front and has a reasonable chance of completing the list of tasks correctly. She also knows the steps for taking a shower or bath — from closing the door to getting wrapped up in a towel afterward.
- While it comes and goes, Kamy has a renewed interest in learning spanish. She knows nearly thirty words in spanish, and multiple times per day she’ll ask “what’s ___ in spanish?” She’s constantly challenging me to learn as quickly as she is so I can at least keep up with her, if not ahead. The Google Translate app on my phone is my lifeline right now and Kamy understands that I’m learning along with her.
- We’re working on how she asks for things too. “May I have ___ please,” is the most effective way for Kamy to get what she wants, instead of responding to “I want ___ please.” She’s starting to create more complex sentences. Now that’s she’s memorized this, we are working on some of the more technical elements of the English language because “May I have you to help me please” isn’t exactly grammatically correct. =) We’re not there yet, but we are certainly making progress.
- Lastly, my new question for Kamy is “Do you understand?” She’s gotten a lot better at listening to my questions, but she doesn’t always respond promptly. This question seems to refocus her and get her moving along. It also means she can let me know if she hasn’t heard the question. So far it’s working pretty well.
So, there’s another busy busy month for Miss Kamy. I’ve started to keep a post it note for each month’s updates so I don’t have to try to remember it all when I sit down the type it weeks later. Because of that, these posts keep getting longer!
Here are some parting shots of Miss Kamy and water … what could be better?!
