Every little bit counts...

Yes, every little movement, sound and/or facial expression from Kaitlyn is totally cheered and analyzed by her parents. This is so true today as I was running around to answer phone calls, get back to people, take a walk with her this morning and keep her entertained.

Can I just say Crayola is wonderful? They have these new markers and finger paints that don't color on anything but the special paper that comes with the paints and markers. It is called color wonder. You can get them at WalMart for $6. Since Kaitlyn is just learning to hold a marker/pen and color on paper, this is great to start out with. I even splurged and got her the finger paints too, but she has only put her fingers on paper a little bit so far. She is really catching on fast though.

We have been working with her for months now to sip out of a straw. She would suck the liquid halfway up the straw and then it fell back down. Today, I ran to 7-Eleven to get gas and got a cherry slurpee (yum, my favorite!!). She asked for a sip and drank out of a straw for the first time. Yeah! Go Kaitlyn! Finally now we can order her milk at the restaurant without a big mess!

For a long time, I wanted to teach Kaitlyn sign language and know that she could pick it up easily. Although we haven't focused on teaching her signs, there are a few that she has remembered and picked up on. One sign I taught her was to say please by rubbing her chest. This week I saw her using this sign when I asked her to say please. Of course, it is easier to get her to do it when she is in a good mood, but how awesome is that to see her say please.

And last, but not least, she has really enjoyed playing with bracelets. Not that she hasn't always done this, but I guess it is the way and how she plays with them, that are different now. She holds up her arms like a true girl. She also likes to shake them and then take the bracelets on and off.

Play Pool and Grapes

By the title of this blog entry, you may think we are having a grape stomping party in our backyard. When in fact, we are entertaining little toddlers in our backyard with pools and grapes. The pool was for splashing and the grapes for for our hungry little toddlers.

This past Friday, Ellen and her little tyke, Ian, stopped by for some fun in the sun. Kaitlyn and Ian enjoyed being in the play pool and liked playing with the toys and balls. Since Ian doesn't like the big pool as much, this was fun to watch him enjoy the water without being afraid of it getting in his face. Kaitlyn liked it because it was something new.

Brandon came home early and joined us in the pool. Ellen and I were especially entertained with his bulging biceps and swan-like dives in the pool. Brandon even took Kaitlyn and Ian for a spin around the pool.

After traveling two weekends in a row, we are going to relax this weekend and just play around the house. I can tell we have some work cut out for us because we see weeds around the backyard and bushes need to be trimmed.

I am worn out from the traveling and trying to clean up the house, laundry and getting Kaitlyn back on schedule this week. Also, I have had several projects that I have put extra time in for work. I look forward to reading to Kaitlyn a lot this weekend as we haven't had as much time lately to just sit and read. Goodnight Moon has been very popular lately.

The last couple of nights I have tried to read it to her but she is not interested. I think she has another tooth coming in because she hasn't been sleeping as well and it took an hour and a half before she went to bed last night. I hope it comes in quickly.

Diapers?

Had to share ... Kaitlyn looked at me and then pointed to her room and cried a little bit. All because she had a BM in her diaper. She is really becoming aware of her little body. I know Brandon can't wait for the day Kaitlyn gets out of diapers. He puts his shirt over his nose every time he changes a bad dirty diaper. It is very funny and it makes me wonder what Kaitlyn thinks when daddy does that... Hmmm...

Building Blocks

Kaitlyn is building her foundation. She has had a wild fascination with stacking blocks and her big lego blocks this week. Here are some pictures of her creation today. She also learned this week to say yum-yum for yummy food and began today to say ta-da with her arms up.

I bought her a couple new sippy cups and one with a straw because she is throwing them on the floor and breaking them. Now since she is older and knows better, we have her pick up her cup and things she throws on the floor. She is catching on very quickly that it is no fun to pick up everything she throws down. It really is more of a game, but she learns very fast.


As far as eating goes, she really likes skinned apple slices today. When she sees mommy eat, she has to try it. Usually, she knows what I am eating like a tortilla or chip. Let's just say she is turning into a big copycat and mimics everything. We are getting very close to the stage where we have to watch everything we say and do, not that we don't already; however, we are in for it now!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Brandon! Kaitlyn and I love you very much and hope you had a fun weekend! We enjoyed spending the weekend with you!
We really loved going on the big "couch" tube all together Saturday morning. Kaitlyn especially loved playing in the water with you. I couldn't believe how nice it was to have you to change diapers while I visited and you took care of putting her to bed when I couldn't keep my eyes off of the Irish dancers Aunt Linda asked to come and perform. It was great and thanks to you!
One memory I enjoyed was going to Nacho Libre with you on Friday night late, even though we should have just gone to bed. We both laughed in the same parts and we had it in mind all weekend! Very funny.

Thanks for all that you do!! Love Sarah and Kaitlyn.

The Weekend

Talk about doing a lot in one weekend. We spent five hours driving (stuck in some Austin traffic) to New Braunfels to stay with my high school friend, Tracy Pavlu, her husband and twin 2 year olds. We traveled on down to the hill country for Brandon's friend, Nathan Vajdos' wedding. It was really a pretty wedding and we had a lot of fun thanks to the Pavlu's for watching Kaitlyn as she went to bed on Saturday night.

Brandon enjoyed going out with Preston to a sports bar on Friday night and I enjoyed going with Tracy and her 10 year old cousin to the San Marcos Outlet mall. I was so excited because I was able to buy a Coach purse for 20 percent off and a couple of cool toys for Kaitlyn. Sorry Brandon, we didn't have time to go to the guys' stores. I can't wait to go back!!

And Kaitlyn had the most fun. She was so worn out from the drive down that we put her to bed early on both nights. I thought we could have taken her with us and just leave the wedding and rehearsal dinner early, but she was just too tired. Her big fun was Saturday night when the Pavlus had the air mattress blown up for Tracy's cousin. The kids had so much fun jumping on it. Kaitlyn would try to roll, climb or crawl up on it just so the kids could bounce her on it. She would giggle and giggle until she found another toy in Peyton's room to play with.



Kaitlyn also learned to say cheese this weekend. As I kept taking a ton of photos, the other kiddos would say cheese and Kaitlyn picked up on it. Very cute!

On Sunday,we played in the pool a little bit when we got back and watched the Mavs game. I am still getting over my three hours of sleep on Saturday night because Kaitlyn wanted to sleep with me and not in her crib.

Night night for mommy!

Monday Cleaning

Monday was a day for us to clean and take it easy. Kaitlyn is still fighting her cold and has a runny nose. She seems pretty happy for the most part except for the early evenings before bed. She is becoming so independent too. Here is a picture of her taking the swiffer mop and pushing the button herself. She is mommy's little helper!

Swim Fridays

On Friday, we had our third swim playdate and our friends Katie and Zoey, Kerri and Caroline and April and Anna Kate joined us. Caroline enjoyed her first time in the pool as well as Anna Kate. We mostly sat and ate grapes with the kiddos in our laps as the pool wore them out. Kaitlyn was out for a little bit and sat with me, but she wasn't feeling up to her normal self so we kept things low key for her. It was really cute to see her share her toys with Zoey and Anna Kate. Here are a few photos from Friday.

Everybody is Doing It!

I started a blog before today; however, I can't seem to find our password, and I must have typed in the wrong email address, so we are beginning fresh. We began sending little updates to our close family members when Kaitlyn was born, and I now think that maybe this will be a little easier for everyone to check out for an update on the Plano Meches.

And the other reason for really committing to this blog is because, "Everyone else is doing it, so why not?" Ha. This is very cool, and I hope to get Brandon addicted so he will write a few columns.

So to start us off in the right direction with this blog, here are a few of our latest photos.