It's been a crazy week

There's been a lot of stress around Karen's job lately. On top of that, she got called away for a trip (leaving today) which changes our vacation plans. So there was a lot of scurrying around making travel plans, changing travel plans and so forth. You know, I think that children can feel stress and changes within the family, don't you?

So I wasn't that surprised when Kylie had a hard day on Saturday. Lots and lots of tears and hysterical crying. She skipped her nap that day and was inconsolable by late afternoon. She had a hard time getting to sleep that night (which is very unusual for her) and was again whiny and teary on Sunday morning. She hasn't eaten much this weekend which always concerns me.

But byy Sunday afternoon, she seemed a bit more like her regular self and we went to the park. You might remember that Kylie likes to pat trees. Well, she's added more trees to her patting route. She's now saying, "Hello trees" to the ones by the park sidewalk. There are over ten of them but she dutifully visits them all.

Lately, she's been climbing to the top of the slide but refusing to go down. She insists I clean it if it's wet (I carry around a hand towel to dry off wet swings and slides and such). Then she smirks and makes her way back down the stairs. This child loves to have things in order and loves to have me clean things up. Here she is after sending some mulch chips down the slide. This is the cute "no" smile I get when I say, "Go on down".


Karen was supposed to take the camera with her this week. I had the camera bag all packed up but then we forgot it. It's one more thing I'll have to carry on the plane but I don't mind when I can get pictures like these:


We moved Kylie's plastic play table outside. I brought some paper and crayons outside and she did some coloring. I noticed with a sinking sensation that she did all her coloring with her left hand. I've also noticed she does most of her eating with her left hand. I'm left-handed and I wouldn't wish it on her for anything. I've heard that kids can still switch hands but for now it looks like I've got a left-handed daughter.


Just a few more pictures to share. The other morning, the sun was pouring through the three windows in our front door. The light was doing that thing were you could see every molecule of dust floating in the air. Kylie kept reaching her hands out to touch the sun. She also liked going "under the sun" and "hugging the sun". These pictures are straight out of the camera. Oh, and the green blob is a sun flare (I hope). There isn't a green blob on my floors; I promise.


Here are a few recent scrapbook pages:
Right now

Sweet and silly

Now excuse me while I try to put my house back in order from the packing and toddler whirlwinds.