To add on to the last blog entry... it's important for me to mention that Kayla amazingly did not break any Hummels or bells from Grandma Mary Louise's collection. (Do you see them all in the pictures?) She let Kayla know what she could and couldn't play with and for the most part, Kayla listened.

Kayla, Bobbie and I flew to Indiana a couple of weeks ago where we met up with her Uncle Trevor and saw both of her Great Grandma's. Uncle Jim, Uncle Bob, Aunt Rita and her cousin Patrick got to see her and she played with her favorite toy at Great Grandma Blueberry's - the wind up singing bird. She had Uncle Bob wind it up for her dozens of times. We also got to go to a japanese steakhouse which she really enjoyed except for when the chef would light the oil making big flames which she did not like.



We also got to see her Aunt Marjie and cousin Kevin. They brought her what has become her favorite doll. The doll sucks her thumb and apparently needs her diaper constantly changed. Her name is Katie and Kayla takes good care of her.

I'll have more about our Indiana trip later.

Still catching up on 2 months missed entries...Here's a few shots from the Villages last month.

Also, I just wanted to put in some of Kayla's "statistics" mainly for me to reference later.

Ht: 34 inches
Wt: 29 lbs.
Shoe size: 7
Clothing sizes: 3T tops, 2T (almost 3T) bottoms
Teeth: Hard to tell but probably all 20

In just 2 months she'll be turning 3 which I can't believe. She's very independent and has to do everything herself. For example, if we dare flush the toilet for her, she'll end up in tears. She'll sit on the toilet and say "Are you not going to flush the toilet?" -- What she really means is "Don't you dare flush the toilet for me."

At night, she likes to sometimes give her Daddy and me a sticker, a balloon (a fake one that she pretends to blow up), and a doughnut (for pretend). I'm not sure how she got this combination, but it's just one of her things.

She's been pretty much completely potty trained for 3 months now. We had gotten lazy and stopped asking when she needed to go because she was so good at telling us. Then, a couple weeks ago, we made a trip to Home Depot. We were out in the garden section and she ran in the middle of a couple of the trees. Next thing, I heard her Dad yelling "No, no, no..." It seems she took a leak in the outdoor area!! We quickly exited and cleaned her up in the restroom and left the store without telling anyone. It started raining not long afterward so we figured no one else noticed. We learned our lesson!

We were so used to diapers we didn't realize what a relief (and cost savings!) it would be to have them done with.

Kayla started swim classes about 5 weeks ago. Even though she can't quite swim unassisted yet, she loves the classes. Amazingly, she was never afraid -- which can be a good thing or bad thing. There are 4 kids total in her class -- Abby, Kayla, Zoie, and Antonio. When the teacher asks who wants to go first Kayla wiggles up and down pointing at her self and saying "me, me". She's an eager volunteer.

We love the structure of the classes and are really happy with the results. The kids learn to do "shark fins" to dive to the teacher, float on their backs, and jump in and turn around to grab the wall. They use a variety of props like flippers, boards, and rafts for them to learn how to kick too.

Kayla's improving a lot every week. Next week is water safety week and she'll be fully dressed in regular clothes for both classes. They suggested we dress them in fairly heavy clothes and tennis shoes for this. They don't want them to be scared if they ever accidentally fall in a pool.

Just to update everyone on the Hop-a-thon from yesterday...Kayla jumped 28 times!

Some current news....

Kayla will be participating in a Hop-A-Thon tomorrow for Muscular Dystrophy. Her class at school has been practicing for over a week and she's learned alot about helping children with disabilities.

I've asked her why they're hopping and she says "because some kids cannot hop because they have disabilities". Her teachers encourage us to help teach acceptance and awareness. She gets to turn in her pledges next week and she's even going to give some money from her piggy bank.

Wish her happy hopping tomorrow.

Again, I'm about a month behind on showing some pictures, but I wanted to share them anyway. Here's a few from this past Easter.

Kayla enjoyed Easter this year especially since Nana put together a nice Easter egg hunt for her. She's been hiding eggs ever since but can't seem to keep the hiding places a secret for very long.

It's been a busy couple of months and I wanted to share some of the recent pictures. Pop Pop and Nana made it to the Villages despite Pop Pop having major surgery in February. He spent 12 days in the hospital but was able to bounce back quickly. He had to recover not only to visit Kayla but to play lots of golf and pickle ball! Here's a shot of Kayla and Pop Pop out taking baby Kyle for a walk.

Aunt Kristi also made it down for a few days to visit during her spring break. She's very close to finishing nursing school!! Kayla is excited that she'll have someone to call to ask advice on how to take care of her boo boos.