Heartbroken

Well, it's official. My little girl doesn't need her mama anymore. No, not Kinsey. Aliya. She has been in Ontario for 5 days and she hasn't called. Or e-mailed. Or contacted me on Crackbook. I think she's having a perfectly swell time without me. It used to be that she would go somewhere just overnight, and she would have to phone me to talk to me. But I guess she's getting older. Pretty soon she'll be sewing her own clothes and growing her own wheat for her pasta. Oh wait. Wrong century.

Smooches

Kinsey has become the kissing queen. She absolutely loves giving kisses. To everyone in the room, many many times. The other day we were at Aliya's dad's house saying goodbye to Aliya, and I asked Kinsey to give Aliya a kiss goodbye. Which she did, and then proceeded to kiss everyone in the room. Including Peyton, who she kissed about 7 times. When she was all done with the kissing, Peyton followed her around the room gesturing for more kisses. Less than 2 and she's already driving the boys crazy. We are sooooooo in for it when she gets older.

Photoshop Phun

Because I had way too much phun with this to not share......even if I didn't go to kindergarten to learn sharing, somehow I picked it up by osmosis.

When your shorts stand up on their own...

Perhaps it's time to wash them before they walk away...

Spoons are for sissies

She started out using a spoon. It ended ugly.

Tissy & Airy

Cousins....
Airy (Erin) and Tissy (Kinsey) are only 6 months apart in age. Which, in the first year, seemed like a monstrous difference. Now, they seem to be more the same age, with the one difference being that Erin has a huge vocabulary, while Kinsey has an eeny weeny one. Well that, and the huge difference in the size of their toes. But Erin has always seemed to have a soft spot for Kinsey. They have started to play together, rather than the "side by side" playing that usually happens at this age. Airy is also teaching her younger cousin some of her monkey tricks. Like yesterday when Airy was over I decided to bring up Aliya's old doll stroller. And what does Airy do?? Climbs in it as though it was an actual stroller. And what is Tissy now doing all the time? Yep, climbing in the stroller. She's learning all about being a monkey from the best teacher of monkeyness.
Yesterday, before Airy and her mum came over, Steve, Kinsey and I were at the park. And we were meeting Airy and Robyn at our house. There was a chance Airy would get there first, so Robyn said they would just go play in the back yard until we got there. Well, they did get there first, but Airy refused to go into the back yard. Instead she kept knocking forlornly on the door saying "Tissy.....Tissy....Tissy." Luckily Tissy was less than a block away. I hope as they get older they will continue to enjoy each other's company. And we will have lots of funny stories, pictures, and videos of the two of them together. Monkey Marie and Monkey May.

Compare and Contrast

Anyone out there with more than one child knows that no two children are exactly the same, even twins. And I am sure many people spend at least a small portion of their time making comparisons. Well, being the perfectly normal parent that I am, I have done that. However, when one child is way above normal in pretty much everything, those comparisons can be a little skewed. Take Kinsey and Aliya. When Aliya was the age that Kinsey is now (almost 16 months) she:
1) had a repertoire of more than 100 words
2) could speak in complete sentences
3) could feed herself with a spoon
4) had 10 teeth
5) had 3 haircuts (1 full, 2 bang trimmings)
and 6) had stopped nursing.

Aliya at approximately 16 months

Kinsey, on the other hand :
1) has a repertoire of less than 10 words
2) isn't sure yet what a sentence is
3) can feed herself with the wrong end of a spoon, but still prefers to be fed
4) has 6 teeth
5) has almost enough hair to cover her scalp
and 6) is showing no signs that she will ever stop nursing.

Kinsey at approximately 16 months

Now I know that Kinsey is perfectly normal, and that Aliya was not, it is still hard not to think that Kinsey is a little, how would I say........slow. Which I know is very, very, very wrong to think. And I just hope that I stop comparing them pretty soon, or Kinsey will always feel that she doesn't live up to the legacy of her sister. However, there are some things about Kinsey that are so much different than Aliya, and in a good way. Kinsey is a champion sleeper. She goes to sleep easily, and naps usually between 2-3 hours a day. Aliya was down to 1 nap and would not go to sleep easily. There was much singing and cuddling that needed to happen. Kinsey is also very content, both in who she is and what she can do, but also in her general temperament. Aliya was always itching to be older, bigger, and better at everything. She still is. While that isn't a bad thing, it meant she was often cranky in the here and now. Kinsey just takes everything in stride. By this age, Aliya had more ear infections than I can count, and had surgery to put tubes in her ears. Kinsey? Never had an ear infection or been anywhere near an operating room. Thank goodness.

So what is the moral of my little tale here? Ummm, there isn't one. Except I love both my girls and think they are both wonderful. And they are 2 completely different people. And they are both mine.