The ABC's of the Condrons. . .right now!!

I stole this idea from Lyndsey, but it was so cute. . .

A is for Awesome, this is one of K's favorite words. If she sees something she likes, "awesome" will be exclaimed!!

B is for Boo Boo, with shorts and sandals and running on the concrete comes boo boos. Most boo boos can be fixed with a kiss and a band aid, but she will not let you forget about her boo boos until they are completely healed!!

C is for Cuteness because that is what my day is filled with. From the cry for "mommy" to get her up in the morning to the cry for "daddy" to come back and get her out of bed at night, we are filled with the cute antics of Kerington.

D is for Dante. Kerington loves Dante. The other day he ran into the wall (pretty common at our house now, we are pretty sure he is blind). Kerington was the first at his side, "Dante, K? Dante, K?" She gave him a sympathetic hug and kiss to make his boo boo better. She also really likes to brush him, with whatever brush she can find :/ Dante tolerates her but can often be spotted dashing out of any room she enters.

E is for early because that is what time Kerington wakes up. It does not matter if we put her to bed at 7:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m., she is up before 6:00 in the morning. She gets this trait from her dad, because I like to sleep in, especially in the summer. I am going to remind her of this trait when she is a teenager :)

F is for Friends. We have made some really good friend in our town. We have people we can rely on, talk to, have over for dinner, not clean our house for (that is the sign of a true friend). Kerington has also made some good friends. She has her friends at Miss Molly's house, but she also has Riley (Iley) and Kai (Tai). She recognizes both of their cars (bye bye's) and their moms. She gets so excited when she sees them!! They play really well together too, except the occasional sharing issue which is bound to happen with two year olds.

G is for Grass because after extensive grass therapy, Kerington will walk in the grass with hop hops on or even barefoot.

H is for Handsome because Steve is getting more and more handsome everyday. I love that man!! (hey this is the Condron family blog and there are three of us, not EVERYTHING has to be about Kerington :)

I is for Isolation AKA time out. Time out is a daily occurrence at the Condron house. The most common offense . . . not listening. Time out is really effective with K, it truly upsets her to have to sit in front of the basement door for 2 minutes, not enough that she listens when she doesn't want to, but enough that it breaks my heart to see her sad little face in time out. My favorite part of time out is she has to give us a hug before she can get up. She really is a great kid!!

J is for Jumping because around Easter, Kerington discovered her love of bounce houses.

K is for KinderMusik. We took KinderMusik in the spring and are going to take a short 2 week session at the end of July. It is a cute little class that focuses on age appropriate child development and having fun!!

L is for Leotard. 'tard as K calls it. It is her Tuesday morning attire for dance class. She has two cute little 'tards, pink and black, with matching pink ballet slippers.

M is for Moving. We want to move, but do we buy or find a bigger rental? Go back and forth for the next six months and you will be where we are now. . .

N is for Nice. We have really been working with Kerington on "please" and "thank you." She remembers almost all of the time. The other day a man, a stranger, commented on what nice manners she has.

O is for Outings on Wednesdays. Some of us have been having Wonderful Adventure Wednesdays. It is a time for mommies and babies to come together and explore the greater metro area. They have been fun, so far we have been to the zoo, Paradise Park, Deanna Rose Farmstead, and a Warrensburg play date.

P is for Play dates. This summer has been full of fun play dates with all of our friends. Sometimes we go to the park, sometimes the pool, sometimes at someone's house. They are always exciting and always fun. Any time you get two or more toddlers together, excitement is sure to occur!!

Q is for Quiet Time. Kerington used to need time everyday to play by herself. She would go through her toy box or play with blocks quietly or go play in her room by herself. Recently, since she has started talking more and talking in more sentences, quiet time has become less and less. She still plays by herself, but it is not quiet :)

R is for Restroom Drills (sometimes known as potty training). Oh potty training, what to do? I have talked to my friends who have potty trained or are potty training. I have read blogs, researched, and I have decided . . . the kid will pee pee in the potty when she is ready. She shows interest and I always sit her on the potty, but she waits until I take her off the potty and pee pees on the floor next to the potty. She does really like toilet paper though. . .

S is for "simming" aka swimming. Simming is one of Kerington's favorite pastimes right now. She recognizes the pool when we pull in. She loves the water, running around through the sprinklers, and has even gone down the kiddie water slide a couple of times.

T is for Thomas the Train. I don't know if it is because 47 trains come through Warrensburg each day or what, but Kerington loves trains. We took her to see Thomas the Train. She loves to watch Thomas on TV and she has a Thomas the Train book, which I have hidden on more than one occasion. I am not proud of it, but I did it, I read that book at LEAST 10 times a day and that is all I can handle.

U is for Uh Oh. Most of the time, the words "uh oh" indicate some sort of accident has happened, right? Well not at our house. "Uh oh" indicates that some sort of purposeful act it about to take place. When I hear those words, I go running.

V is for Vegetables. This summer we signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture program. Each Tuesday, we go to Buckeye Acres Farms to pick up our shares of vegetables. Kerington gets to see Hilde the Horse and the "cheeckins." The cheeckins were there for several weeks, then they were gone (Buckeye Acres also sells fresh chickens). It was a sad day for Kerington, but this week they were back again (or some that looked similar enough to fool an almost two year old :)

W is for Water. Water, strange as it sounds, is another obsession this summer. It does not matter if it is in a pool, a cup, coming out of a faucet, coming out of the sky, in a tub, in a puddle, coming out of a water fountain. There is not a drop that is going to get past the sharp eyed Kerington.

X is for x Xenons which has nothing to do with the Condrons. I googled "words that start with X" and it brought up a list of scrabble words that start with X, one of which is xenons. Steve and I do love to play scrabble, eat pop corn, and watch reruns during the summer!!

Y is for year as in I can't believe it has been a year since Kerington's first birthday and two years since she was born. She is such a blessing in our life, I can't believe that God blessed us with this perfect little girl who makes me laugh everyday!!

Z is for Zoo. We bought a Friends of the Zoo pass again this summer, FOTZ to those on the inside. We have already been three times and each time it has been awesome. Each time we start at a new point so we can see it "fresh." K loves the "enmals" My favorite quote from our last visit, "Hi Monkey, I two!" She loves the carousel ("dancing" as she calls it), she has ridden a camel, she talks to the enmals, and of course, the train. It is one of our family favorite destinations this summer!!

Grass therapy

Every time, I think I am close to getting a "Mother of the Year" Award, Kerington puts me in my place. One particular situation started last summer. K and I had met our friends Jen and Riley at the park. Neither of the girls could walk yet, so we were limited at the park with what we could do. We swung for a while, took turns putting the girls down the slide, then thought we would just sit and chat in the grass for a while. As I sat Kerington down on the grass, she put her legs and arms up so no skin was touching the grass. "Eh, eh, eh" was coming out of her mouth. What?! Why won't she touch the grass? I looked over at Riley who was happily crawling around in the grass, chasing bugs, and picking up sticks. Then looked at Kerington who was working on abs of steel with only her diapered bottom touching the grass on the verge of a major breakdown. How can my daughter be afraid of grass? How did I let this happen? She is almost a year old and I have never sat her in the grass? Really? This put me into full on crisis mode. For the rest of the summer, most days, I would put her outside in the grass for a few minutes. . . the same thing, no skin could touch the grass. She started walking later in the summer and when she had shoes on, she would tiptoe carefully IF we were holding hands and there was NO way she could fall down. And heaven forbid someone not mow, and the grass was taller than her shoes. I didn't know what to do, what kid doesn't like the feel of grass between her toes on a summer day? I had failed.

Eventually fall came and it got cold so the grass issue went to the back of my mind. I could focus on more pressing failures. By the time spring rolled around, I had almost completely forgotten about the fear of grass issue. . . UNTIL, we were out looking at houses with our realtor. We were outside of a house, and decided to go look in the backyard. It was a warm spring day, Kerington had on flip flops (hop hops, as she calls them). We took off around the back of the house, in the grass . . . I look down at Kerington, who is walking along, then realizes where she is. She grabs my leg and says, "Ow toe, ow toe, up mommy, up mommy, ow toe, ow toe, see me, see me!!" What just happened? Did Kerington fake a toe injury to get out of walking in the grass? There was nothing in that yard for her to hurt her toe. My crafty little girl just faked a toe injury to get of walking in the grass. I had to give her credit, that was genius. I was proud, that shows problem solving skills.

Grass therapy went back into full effect. We would go outside walk in the grass, going a little further each day. Kerington's fear of grass became known, a topic of conversation at dinner parties and play groups, I received a lot of advice on how to help Kerington like the grass. One night, we were at our friend's, Paul and Sarah, house. Kerington was running around in the backyard with their dog. She had on hop hops, things seemed to be going well. Paul and Sarah even commented that she seemed to outgrow grass-phobia, THEN she fell. "Eh, eh, eh, eh" Kerington's arms and legs were up. We were all laughing, then Paul and Sarah's energetic lab mix came over to "help" Kerington. She was up in two seconds flat. Sometimes, you can't or won't overcome your fears until you have to.

Kerington and the grass are still not on the best of terms. She tolerates it, but she won't be rolling down any grassy hills soon. She still high-steps through they grass if it is too tall, but she will run through the yard barefoot or run to the swings at the park.

Dancing Diva!!

So, we did it. . . we said we weren't, but we did. We signed Kerington up for dance, well creative movement actually, but she wears ballet slippers and a leotard with an attached tutu. It is adorable. The class is just Kerington and her friend, Riley. They dance, they walk on a balance beam, they jump, they stretch, and melt my heart while doing it. I realized that I totally underestimated Kerington and what she is capable of. During class, she follows direction, she can do things independently, and listens!! This has been a lesson for me.

Now there are some of us (Uncle Andy) who do not think that dance is a good idea. He has visions of a bottoxed, made-up, girdle wearing, panty hose sporting, big haired "prosti-tot." I assured him that Steve would stop me before I got to that point:) To which he responded, I am so going to hear about a "crazy pageant mom" on FOX news.

Getting Kerington into dance was not easy because you are supposed to be two and the class started 3 weeks before her second birthday. The owner of the studio said that if we brought her and Riley in, he would see if he could get them in the class. . . what? her first dance audition? I was nervous, how stupid is that? Even though I knew it wasn't a dance audition, it was judgement, but judgement of what? my parenting? how well behaved my baby was? cuteness? If it was cuteness, I knew we would be fine :) All he did was look her up and down and register her. When I tell this story later in life, it is going to go, "Kerington had her first dance audition when she was one." It is not entirely a lie. . .

For now, thirty minutes on Tuesday mornings, I have a beautiful little dancing diva!!

Father's Day!!

Today is Steve's 2nd Father's Day and my dad's 32nd Father's Day. We spent a super Saturday with my Dad, Mom and brother on Father's Day weekend. We went to a parade, birthday shopping for K, barbequed, had a Minute to Win It Challenge (long story for another blog), K and "Gin" (hard "G" not and juice) made cookies, and K and my dad (her Papa) swang . . and swang . . . and swang . . . and swang . . . a favorite pastime at Papa and Gin's house.

Kerington loves almost everyone she meets. She is laid back, easy going, and friendly. If you can keep up with her, you can play with her, but her and my dad have such a special bond. She loves Papa and even called my mom Papa 2 for a while. She now affectionately calls her "Gin." But, she wants to talk to Papa on the phone, she recognizes "his" house when we visit, she know his truck, he is the first one to get a hug. He is the one she cries for when she is in trouble with Steve and I.

Watching them this weekend was was so neat, because I realized he loves her just as much as she loves him!! He is excited to see her, he lights up when he is the first one to get a hug, when she follows him around, when he is the only one that can put on her shoes. He is so patient, loving, and attentive to her. Funny side note: At one point, Uncle Andy had the remote and she took it from Uncle Andy and told him, "That's Papa's mote." While Kerington loves all of her family, she and Papa have a special bond.

Speaking of special bonds, the bond between father and daughter is growing in this house. K loves her daddy, and daddy loves his K. To celebrate Father's Day, we went to the zoo. K and daddy rode the carousel (or danced as she calls it) AND they rode a camel. Kerington has been talking about camels for a while now so when we saw the opportuntity, we took it. It was worth it, seeing the two of them on top of the gigantic camel was adorable. Kerington is very cautious and careful, I am not sure she would have ridden the camel with me, but she feels protected with daddy, she rode like a champion camel rider.

Steve is such a great dad. He truly LOVES to spend time with Kerington. He plays with her, has tea parties, reads books, builds blocks, just to name a few. She gets so excited when Daddy comes home. My favorite thing to do is watch Daddy and Kerington in the morning while she is cuddly and drinking her "mauk." She cuddles up next to Daddy and watches ESPN with him. It is so sweet. I am so glad there is a day to celebrate Daddies and let them know how much we love and appreciate them!!

Big Girl Bed

Tonight, for the first time, we put Kerington in her converted toddler bed :( She climbed out of her crib a couple of months ago, but the back and sides of her crib are taller than the front so we were able to turn the crib around. The problem with that is the back of the crib is REALLY tall and we just had to "drop" her in and hope she tucked and rolled. Steve had been telling me we need to convert her bed. I kept fighting him. This is just one more check off the list that I do not have a baby anymore, she is a big girl. . .

As we were converting, she was crawling in and out of her bed. I kept trying to convince her that she could not get out of the bed without my help. . . she was not buying it. I would try to help her and she would say, "I'll do it." (this is a common phrase at our house lately). So we laid her down at bedtime, we said our good nights, and I reminded her, "Don't get out of bed unless mommy and daddy come to get you." She chatted for a while. Steve laid in the hallway floor to see if he could see any tiny feet under the door, so far so good. It had been quiet for about 30 minutes so I went to check on her. . . Her little head popped up, "Hi Mommy!!" BUT, she was still in bed!! I just went to check on her for a second time and she is successfully asleep in her toddler bed!! I'll keep you posted . . .

Summertime!!

Even though I am 31, I still work on an academic schedule so. . . I love summer!! I am as bad as the kids, I count down the days, the hours, the minutes. I have difficulty paying attention. It is not that I don't like my job, to the contrary, I love what I do. But to me summer is a time to relax, catch up with friends, travel, and lay poolside. Kerington and I have done just that this summer. I have been out of school for 9 days and we have been to the pool, seen Thomas the Train, been to a backyard playdate, played at the park, picked strawberries, gone to see the "enmals" at the zoo, tagged along with Steve to a conference at the Lake, and even had a day where we did not get out of our pajamas!! So far this has been a perfect summer!!

My most favorite part of summer is getting to spend all day with Kerington. She is at such an adorable age. I think she is saying 100 new words since the beginning of summer. . . everyday is new and she is in awe of every experience we have. A common saying at our house is, "Wow, coo (cool)."