McKamy – July Update

Our days are busy busy around here!  Kamy has really been thinking in new ways this month and we’re seeing the results in so many different areas.

• Probably the biggest change this month is McKamy’s imagination.  She’s constantly pretending to do something or make something, and nearly every day she “brings” me something to eat – muffins or cookies or dinner or bread.  “Here you go Momma!”  My favorite question to ask her about these imaginary items is “what color is it?”  90% of the time her answer is “Prolly … pink!”  Lol!  Prolly is a pretty common word from Miss Kamy, any time she pauses to think of an answer you’re likely to get one.

• Another iteration of her imagination is her friend, Frank the dinosaur.  He lives on the wall by the dining room table and loves (and does) everything that Kamy does.  What is he eating for dinner?  Whatever is on Kamy’s plate that night.  Where does he sleep?  In Kamy’s bed of course.  What color is he?  Pink (duh), blue, and brown at the moment.  Daddy and Kamy talk about Frank at least once per day and it’s always interesting to see what she comes up.  Oh, and of course Frank loves hanaburs and beans.  =)

• Kamy has started singing more throughout the day!  Not only is she attempting to sing the songs as she’s interpreted them, but she’ll also change the words or ad lib new verses to match whatever she’s doing.  One of my favorites right now is I’m in the Lord’s Army.

I love “marching down the engine tree,” don’t you?  Oh, and “ride in the calorie” is pretty great too!

• Kamy consistently asks a new question — “what we doing today?”  She always wants to know the plan for the day, and anything out of our normal stay-at-home routine is worthy of mention.  If we’re heading into Daingerfield for errands, she’ll ask if we are going to the bank, library, grocery store, and feed store … and if not, I’d better have a reason for skipping one of them!  Then as we drive through town, she points out each one as we pass — including asking for a shake at Sonic.  Unfortunately for her, Sonic is a treat for when we have been in the car a while, not just for a quick trip to the grocery store.  =P

• Lately I’ve been offering more craft activities for Kamy during the day.  Since it’s a break from the routine, she gets really excited to try something new.  We’ve made sidewalk paint, used watercolors, and played with slime (only marginally successful).  Thanks to the addicting world of Pintrest, there are a million ideas for different hands-on activities or crafts to use with toddlers and babies.  The hardest part is figuring out when in our schedule is the easiest to do it — before lunch is perfect, except Caden wants to be right in the middle of Kamy’s project (and it’s not always appropriate for his little hands) or I have to plan on bath time right after to get everyone clean again.  =)  It’s a learning process for me too!

• One of my friends from a life group we attended in DFW has a daughter named Katie.  Since she comes up with all sorts of funny phrases and sayings, she’ll regularly post “Katie-isms” on her facebook page.  We are starting to get to the point where I may keep a running tab of my favorite Kamy-isms too!  Most are just mentioned in passing, but Kamy can really make me laugh some times!  “Don’t do that Daddy!  Kamy is not a ball or a bean bag” is one of my favorites — because Kamy is only allowed to throw balls and bean bags, she was quite adamant that Daddy was not allowed to toss her on the couch either.  He had to explain to her that Kamys are fair game for Daddy too!  She also had to correct Daddy that Caden was not cookies, despite that being his nickname for months!  Another frequent phrase of Kamy’s is “Wait a middit.”  That one just makes me smile every time!

• Instead of asking Kamy “Do you understand” after I ask her to do something … my new often-repeated question of choice is “What did I say?”  I mostly use this when she asks something and I’ve already answered her once.  No, the answer hasn’t changed in the 10 seconds it took to ask it again, silly girl!  The funny thing is, she’ll nearly always repeat my first answer correctly, word for word.  Oh, so you were listening after all!  I thought so.  =)  The companion phrases to go with this question are “What did I ask you to do?  Are you going to do it?”  Just because she was listening doesn’t mean she hops right up to actually do something about it.  We’re working on that!

• Another thing we’ve learned about Miss McKamy is it is very rarely a question of comprehension with her.  She knows the rules, she knows the drill.  She is listening all the time, and it’s amusing to listen to her repeat the rules attached to a given item, without prompting.  Like the rules for Sonic shakes, she also knows “don’t spill it, don’t dip in it” for her big girl cups and “use your spoon, not your fingers” for her yogurt.  We may have repeated it a couple times but we certainly don’t have to remind her at every meal.  She takes care of that herself!  That also means that when she doesn’t do as we ask or follow the rules, it’s likely not an issue of understanding — it’s either forgetting or not listening and choosing to disobey.

• In case you hadn’t noticed so far, Kamy is a detail person.  Not much slips by her, and if something falls out of line or out of place, she’ll let you know about it.  I’m consistently amazed at how detailed her memory is and how clearly she can make connections from past events to what’s going on right now.  She’ll remember something little I mentioned in passing and bring it up three weeks later.  When I mention we’re going to go to the farm, she’ll bring up picking blueberries and wanting to see the big white dog.  And the barn that broke.  =P  She’ll bring up a specific occasion too.  For example, when we visited DFW in June, we spent one afternoon at a splash park in Arlington.  Overall Kamy had a great time, but two weeks ago she brought up “I don’t like the orange slide,” “I like the frog slide,” and “I want to go under the rainbow with Daddy again.”  This is completely unprompted and certainly unscripted as I was changing her diaper and had said nothing at all about the splash park in weeks.  I have to be very careful about what I say and how I say things around her, because she is absorbing everything  I say.  It’s a little intimidating!  It’s a good thing I’m pretty content with my choice of words!

Speaking of details … someone found something to keep her occupied during quiet time!

• Since Kamy’s dexterity has increased, we’ve switched to using big girl cups at the table for meals.  It took a few days for her to really get the hang of them and to keep from spilling water all down her shirt and into her bib, but she’s doing great now!  She had a set of five plastic cups and another set of glass Pooh juice cups that she can choose from.  Kamy still uses her sippy cups during the day and in her bed, but they only show up at meal times when Kamy deliberately pours out her water and makes a mess.

We love you Kamy-girl!  Your little thinker continues to amaze us and I know it’s only a matter of time until Daddy and I are stretched to keep up with how you think and learn.  We’re so proud of you!