Meet Kayleigh's Truffles sheep. She loves her new friend. We got her Truffles for her first birthday knowing how much she loves Abby's Truffles dog.

Truffles was intended to be something fun to lay on while we changed her diaper so she wouldn't be screaming through the whole process. Alas, her clinginess to the sheep meant it made it into her crib. And this is how we find Kayleigh in the mornings - sprawled on TOP of the sheep, an arm wrapped tightly around its neck.

That is one HUGE lovey!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Waking Kayleigh up in the mornings is funny. She goes through a roller-coaster of emotions in a span of 1 minute.

She's happy to see you....
She's upset you've woken her....
She's excited to be picked up and free from her crib....
She's still tired.

The only person who can consistently keep her in a happy, giddy state during the wake-up routine is Abby!

Kayleigh loves seeing her in the mornings and is very entertained by her. But she knows Abby can't pick her up, so she sits back and watches her sister or will try to play with her thought the crib slats.

So, on weekends, we like to send Abby in to Kayleigh's room first thing in the morning.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kayleigh had her 1 year well-baby checkup a couple of weeks ago and she is doing beautifully.

She is currently teething, which means that no one in this family's getting a good night's sleep. She has two little front teeth on the bottom and SIX on top - two of them are molars that have broken through.

She's a statue when she stands - very steady - but will only take about 6 unassisted steps, so we have a ways to go before she walks.

She speaks only a few words and refuses to sign, even though she knows how, yet the pediatrician assures us any speech by 1 is fantastic.

I am still nursing Kayleigh most of the time, but we have started introducing other beverages into her day.

We've learned that Kayleigh is a bit lactose intolerant, so we have been experimenting with soy, almond, hazelnut, and rice milk. Her hands-down favorite is hazelnut!

We love our pediatrician. She is such a practical lady. Since whole cow's milk is less tolerated than 2% or skim, she suggested that we give Kayleigh the latter two to try. Immediately following her suggestion she says, "I know what you're going to ask next. Don't babies need the fat? Well, yes, but we live in America. Even with the healthiest diets she'll get enough of it in her diet." Working with her has really made parenting stress-free. I wish we knew her when Abby was first born.

We have a friend who is a chiropractor. Kayleigh had her first adjustment done on April 10th. We had noticed some alignment issues with her right hip and feet and after the adjustment, we noticed a significant improvement.

Kayleigh was so cooperative during the adjustment - even when the Activator was used on her sinus region to help stimulate her immune system - and leaped into the chiropractor's arms after her treatment.

We talked to the pediatrician about the chiropractic treatment and she expressed how fortunate Kayleigh was to get it. We learned from her - as well as from our chiropractor friend - that babies are extremely prone to mal-adjustments due to the transition from womb to world and all the shifting/fusing of bones during their first years. As they grow and as they begin to walk and develop their muscles, most of these alignment issues fix themselves, so they're rarely a concern, but to have a chiropractor's help is tremendously beneficial. We have agreed to see the chiropractor again after Kayleigh has been walking for awhile.

This is the preschool gymnastics class. Abby has been doing gymnastics since she turned 2. Over a year and a half later, she still looks forward to going to the gym every Saturday morning.

Recently, the competition team girls began practicing during the preschool class. At first, they were a distraction for the younger boys and girls. However, you can tell how much they inspire the little ones now.

Birthdays are all about family and friends. So last Saturday (4/16), the grandparents, Uncle Allen, and a couple of close friends were invited to help us celebrate Kayleigh's special day.




The extra treat Kayleigh and Abby enjoyed was our community's Easter Eggstravaganza egg hunt earlier that afternoon. For the first time since we've participated in the festivities, the weather was pleasant and the winds stayed relatively calm. The Fishers joined us at Butterfield Park.





Later that afternoon, we gathered at our house for some casual food and birthday girl doting. Paul grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, Po-Po made some California rolls, tea eggs, and traditional Chinese birthday noodles, and we finished up with the world's most delicious cake - the Spring Fling from a Denver cafe/restaurant, called The Market.



Lucky for Kayleigh she has an older sister who could help her blow out her candle. Otherwise, she kept staring at the cake as if expecting something startling to pop out of the center! (A cupcake incident on her actual birthday left her a little cautious of cakes - she touched cake frosting for the first time and the unexpected texture frightened her to tears!)







After dinner, we cleaned her up - digging cake out of ears and nostrils - and quickly tore into presents because Kayleigh was quickly running out of steam. So many great gifts!





Kayleigh's party consisted of a lot of laughter, kisses, and hugs for the birthday girl.

Kayleigh happily dove into any open arms waiting to hold her. She knew how much she was loved.

All in all, a sweet celebration for our sweet little girl!

All 160 birthday photos have been uploaded to Fotki.

Abby loves cooking with my mom, playing her little sous chef. Whenever we visit Po-Po and Gong-Gong, Abby looks forward to helping Po-Po in the kitchen, whether it's in making cake, watching dinner being prepared, or getting her hands dirty to roll jiao zi (dumpling) skins, she has a wonderful time.






After some hard work in the kitchen, it's time to play. Abby recalls how much fun she used to have riding in a wee-wee-wee, so she introduced Kayleigh to the joys. Kayleigh didn't know what to expect at first, but soon understood the enjoyment.


Bedtime stories are always a great way to end the day. Kayleigh has a pretty short attention span, so she likes to wrestle with Abby's floppy dog in between pages. (Notice the monkey-pajama-ed blur in the picture?)

So, Paul and I are enjoying the second "Recovery Week" of the P90X workout, which means we have only 4 more weeks remaining.

We have definitely been noticing results. Weight-wise, neither one of us have lost more than a couple of pounds, but what's shocking is that our body fat percentage has gone down significantly. Mine has been cut in half! Which means that despite very little weight loss, I'm fitting into clothes that I hadn't worn since I was 10-15 pounds lighter!

Both of us are much, much more flexible and feeling more toned. Stamina is up, energy is way up for me. I'm not as lethargic during the day and feel like I'm getting more things accomplished overall.

The biggest shocker for me is that I'm still enjoying the workouts. We have skipped several days due to illness or Kayleigh not wanting to go to bed, but more often than not we are looking forward to the 1-1.5 hours of working out. We are both getting better at the workouts - Paul can do impressively low, chest-brushing-ground push-ups now - but they are tailored for a wide variety of fitness levels, so they continue to be just as challenging.

The one workout we still despise, though - Ab Ripper X. Not even a full workout, just 17 minutes of pure torture!

I came home last Thursday to a couple of surprises. Gong-Gong had been watching Kayleigh while I went in to the office for the day. Since Kayleigh had slept in that morning, I did not get a chance to get her dressed and ready in the morning. When I walked in the door, I saw that Gong-Gong had done it again! This time to Kayleigh. Her famously floppish hair was no more. Gong-Gong had gotten tired of it always getting into Kayleigh's eyes, so rather than finding a hairclip, he found a pair of scissors and took care of the problem.

After being slightly disheartened that I wasn't there for her first haircut, I actually thought Kayleigh looked quite cute with her choppy bangs. So, hair shock was surprise number one.

Surprise number two was I saw Kayleigh take her first unassisted steps. With her froggy in one hand, she let go of my fingers and walked towards the chalk board, taking two fairly steady steps!





Over the weekend, we saw her take up to three good steps on her own. Still very cautious, she will generally go to her knees and crawl if she needed to go more than a couple of feet. Quite a huge milestone, though, for the little one!



So, surprise number one, needed a bit of a fix. Because of how short her bangs were cut, I did not know how to attempt to fix it, nor did I think Kayleigh would cooperate well enough to let me mess with her hair, so we took her to the Jack and Jill kid salon.

We knew of this place because Abby had recently attended a princess birthday party there. The stylists there work great with the youngsters.

Kayleigh sat in a pink Hummer and did everything the stylist asked of her, not protesting one bit!





In the end, the stylist just softened up her bangs and evened out the sides and back. Because of how short her bangs were, she did not want to cut off any more.

I had her hair clippings saved for a "First Haircut" certificate just for fun.