a few more scattered photos

A few more pictures before the princess wakes up and wants to nurse...
For the NY contingent. This tee is actually from her auntie Diana.
Her head is resting on her frog pond--which we use in futile "tummy time" attempts! Although, she is getting a bit better. She will stay on her tummy for up to 20 seconds before either starting to fuss or just rolling over to rectify the situation herself. From her auntie Abbie is this foot piano. The idea I believe is to put it in her crib--but when do the Giffords do anything normally? No, we just prop it up wherever we are and let her go to town.
And there's the thumb int he mouth again--but she does really like to kick that piano and when the chicken thing on the top of it does that eerie "hello baby" she starts laughing. Apparently its only eerie to her parents.
Kaylee has also become entranced with her sippy cup. Notice, I did not use the word proficient. No no no...while Kaylee does seem to have a grasp on what the sippy cup 'could' do--she doesn't appear to have the ability (or perhaps it is only the desire she lacks) to tip the cup up so that she can free the water within. However, this minor detail does not seem to spoil the novelty of the sippy cup in any way. After she eats her dinner and while Mommy and Daddy finish theirs--Kaylee will bang, chew, and throw that sippy cup for a good long while before getting bored.
Well that's it for updates for now--that's pretty much all the pictures from the first half of April. I will off load the camera again soon and likely mass update again in a couple of weeks! Cheers.

Over-due Easter Pics!

OK--the long since promised Easter-pics! (Sorry-most of them had red-eye so I had to wait until I had time to fix them--which apparently is on a sleepless Saturday morning starting at 4:45 am)
Kaylee's beautiful little easter-egg dress is courtesy of Deborah Leary -- a co-worker of mine. Grant hated it, but of course, he hates anythign with frills...and especially hates bonnets--so this was a lose-lose for him all around.
Kaylee certainly seems to like it though--look at that emphatic smile!
And just in case you were wondering--she is just as adorable (and smiley) from the bird's-eye view!
The bunny shown here is also courtesy of Deb Leary. When you squeeze its paw it sings a ridiculous song: "When I'm happy my ears wiggle and my foot taps up and down..." And yes, his ears do wiggle and his foot does tap up and down.

While Kaylee's overall demeanor would indicate that she likes the bunny, there was an occassion or 2 where she seemed a bit disturbed by him--or at least non-plussed.
This one is a little blurry, but I just love the pose she pulls off:)
This one is called Easter_Drama in the archive. Do you think she possesses some of her Mommy's passion for 'the theatre'?
I am not happy about how this photo came out--but I'll suck it up and deal. At least it shows our whole family--all 5 of us!

Big Girl Bath Time

OK--I apologize that these two pictures are a little blurry...however...my attention was more on the fact that Kaylee was in the bath and needed to be monitored with "constant vigilence" (anyone get that reference?) and less concerned with how 'in-focus' the camera was. The blurry effect is further enhanced by the fact that we purposefully try to steam up the bathroom a little bit before setting her in her tub to help keep the parts of her not submerged in water-warm. Wow that was a complicated sentence:( I did graduate from Tufts--really!

Anyway--do you think this little cherub likes her bath--it took a few tries to capture that smile on camera; but it was worth it.
Of course its not all smiles and laughter--Kaylee takes her rubber duckies very seriously at times!

A Visit; April 14th

Late (well late for me which is not really late for the rest of the world) on Friday night, Grant's good friend Bill and his lovely fiance Kim arrived at Chateu Gifford. Kaylee (and Mommy) were both already retired for the night--so we just pretended they showed up REALLY early Saturday morning (which would be normal for me, albeit rather strange for the rest of the world.)
So here's Daddy with his girl and Bill with his:)
Kaylee truly is becoming a thumb-sucker which I have mixed emotions about. Partly--I am happy that I don't have to worry about a "binky" every 5 seconds and that Kaylee is able to comfort herself all the time--as her thumb is always with her. Partly--I worry about her teeth development. But at the moment--it really is just plain cute!
Naturally we also Kaylee pose with just Bill and Kim. And as an indication of things to come, Kaylee already seems to be "questioning" the validity of her parents' requests.

Of course, being the wonderful baby she is, she acquiesed all the same; but couldn't help letting her true feelings show through.
Bill thought it important to let Kaylee know early that bad hair days can always be rememdied with a hat.
Again, being the kind soul that she is, Kaylee would never argue with a guest...but...she does seem to wonder if this Bill guy has any idea what he's talking about.
Finally, as Bill requested she at least give the "punk look" a try--it became very clear that: "Mommy, this guy is nuts! I am cute no matter what--and this hat is ridiculous!"
We had a wonderful visit and were sad to see them leave, but we know we will see them again soon. Bill and Kim will be married July 14th 2007, and we will all be in attendance to wish them well as they begin a new life together.

Yee-Haw

I just fell in love with this little outfit. I can't even remember where I picked it up, but I do remember I picked up the whole ensemble (sans shoes which I've had since she was born) for $5. I keep thinking that's like a really good deal, but considering she wears her clothes for like a month before she grows out of them...I am not sure it really is a good deal. Even so, I just loved it...it was just a nice departure from the classic pinks and purples that litter her wardrobe.
Doesn't she look like she's ready to go country line dancing or something? She just needs some cute little cowboy boots...which I could procure...but that seems a little ridiculous, since shoes go really fast too, and those are even more expensive...Seriously, who pays like $20 (or even $40) for baby shoes? Answer...most parents because that's what they cost!
I like the above picture because it kind of looks like she's curtseying...I assure you, it was not on purpose...just luck! And I am not sure what face she's making in the picture below. But its cute:)
Anyway, that's my update for now. I have some Easter pictures that I will try to put through photoshop to get rid of the red-eye this weekend so I can post them soon!

Uncle Ben and Aunty Danielle

Well Kaylee has been able to spend some time with a few people who are very important to me. I figured since I had some fake "aunts" and "uncles" and "cousins" growing up...so can Kaylee.

Although, unlike my parents, I plan on explaining fairly early that they are not actually related to her but rather just very important people to the family (that can often be even closer to us than our actual blood relatives.)

Anyone need to be told which one is Ben and which one is Danielle? We all love Danielle dearly, but Kaylee definatley has a thing for her uncle Ben; she just adores him. He gets these big smiles from her and she even reaches out for him to pick her up when he is near. He just has a way with babies...so I guess him being an infant teacher at a daycare is the right career path for him. I wish he worked at a closer center...if it was at all feasible I would bring her to the one where he works...but it just is SO far out of the way of my already ridiculous commute that it is not possible:(
Still she sees him every few weeks...and that seems to be doing fine for now.

a birthday

So...Daddy turned 26 on Sunday, March 25th. And Kaylee, thoughtful little munchkin that she is bought him a nice birthday present which she promptly demanded he read to her. And being the nice Daddy that he is, he complied.
Kaylee found this story interesting...she was particularly intrigued by the illustrations, she how carefully and closely she studies them...
Apparently Daddy was not holding the book correctly and Kaylee endeavored to correct the position of the book on several occasions throughout the reading.
Eventually, she concluded that the book indeed was to her taste! (Sorry I am a bit punchy right now and am apparently in the mood for bad puns.)
Happy Birthday Daddy...we love you!

jump jump jump

We got Kaylee a new toy for her half birthday. Its a modificaiton of a jumperoo and boy oh boy does she like it. It took her a few days to kind of figure it out...but now she sees how she can really bounce around in it a lot and how her small movements have big reactions and she loves it!
She bangs on the toys, makes the lights go on, spins the spinners and presses the buttons. Sometimes I think she would stay in the thing for hours if I let her, but for now it serves for a wonderful break for mommy when she has to gather her belongings to get ready for work in the morning or start cooking dinner.
As I was mentioning...now that she understands the toy a little bit more, she has a lot of fun in it...and man can she bounce!

Adventures in eating

Kaylee has yet to meet a food she hasn't liked! She is fast going through all the stage 1 foods that Beech Nut brand has to offer. And while she may like eating them...her body is not necessarily reacting in kind. But it does tend to make for cute photos. I believe here we have her introduction to carrots, which she actually seemed to really enjoy!
And she has this new little habit when she eats. After she takes a bite from the spoon she promptly sticks her thumb in her mouth. Daddy and I have decided that as the consistancy of the food got thicker she may have adopted this habit to aid in her sucking reflex to help her swallow. It's cute but really prolongs mealtimes...

Kaylee at daycare

I thought it might be nice to show a few of the pictures I've managed to snap of Kaylee while at daycare.
She goes to daycare Monday through Wednesday and seems to really enjoy it. Her teachers all love her and apparently a majority of the older children in the school (ages 3 to 5) all claim the cute baby as their baby sister.
Just like at home she loves playing in on their equipment, but unlike at home she gets lots of opportunities to socialize with other children...
Here are Kaylee and Caiden. Caiden is 2 weeks older than Kaylee and he is her "boyfriend." The first week or so when Kaylee was still adjusting to being away from Mommy (by the way she seems fine now, its Mommy who is still having trouble adjusting) it was Caiden who apparently made Kaylee smile. She would sit in the swing or the exersaucer and watch him play, and that would calm her down and make her happy. When they are together the hold hands and shriek with glee at each other. It really is very cute, even if Daddy has muttered several times about having to find a shotgun.
This is little guy is Sergio. He's a bit older at 13 months and he likes to make sure everyone shares and nobody hogs toys. The other day one of the children took a toy away from another. Sergio promptly crawled over and took the toy away from the 2nd child and gave it back to the first before returning to his cheerios.
This is Elizabeth (9 months) and Madison (15 months). Madison is actually about to transfer into the toddler room so Kaylee won't be seeing her much longer. But I am told Kaylee and Elizabeth get along really well. This morning, Elizabeth was trying to share her ball with Kaylee. And by share, I really mean she was forcefully trying to make Kaylee take it which Kaylee did not seem all that interested in...but hey, sharing is always a good thing!