This week has been an interesting one for Kailin as well. In big news, I signed us up for Mom and Tot swim lessons last night. We'll be hitting the pool for an hour on Mondays and Wednesdays from June 16-July 16. I'm excited because I know she will love it, it'll be good Mommy and Kailin time, and I've been dying to get her into swim for almost a year now since she's such a water baby. I'm hoping that taking a class with me will help her to take a class WITHOUT me soon. Since Steve teaches on Monday nights, we'll be getting a sitter for Colby on those nights (hint hint - we're taking applications from any interested parties).
This morning she helped me unload the dishwasher and for the first time, I was able to give her some "real" dishes to put away. Usually I restrict her help to silverware and plastic bowls which she mostly just handed to me to put away. She reveled in her promotion and it was nice to have the help. My baby sure has grown since we brought her home two years ago this month!
The phrase of the week has been, "Mom, I love you and I missed you!" anytime we are apart for more than 5.5 seconds. It warms my heart and makes me laugh at the same time. I'm not sure when the transformation from mama or mommy came, but I'm Mom most of the time now. That makes me giggle a little bit, too. I feel a little like a character on a certain soap opera (which I won't name, but suffice it to say that Marlena has had glowing green eyes and now has a name that looks something like Marlena Evans Brady Evans Black Brady Black Evans Dimera Black Brady....or something like that) who left her toddler home and went on her honeymoon and returned to a teenager! Kailin sure has grown up this past month - whether it is perceived or real. She's got such big girl ideas now. I snapped the shots in this post this week and wasn't trying at all to set them up or capture the light or - I had the camera out and turned it on her and snapped. I think I can honestly say that my daughter has none of the unphotogenic qualities of her mother. That girl makes a good photo no matter what she does!!
I'm hoping that as these weeks wear on, things are feeling more normal in her life and that they will continue to improve to a point where she can entirely be herself again. I think she's done remarkably well with all the change, but she does still struggle with sharing our attention. I hope that as we go on she'll find a good balance and I won't have to feel so much like she gets the lion's share of our negative attention and the lamb's share of the praise. I've caught her being sweet to her brother lots of times this week and made sure to tell her how happy and proud that makes me, so I hope that has reinforced things for her. She is doing lots better as time goes on, so I know we're making strides in the right direction. I can't wait to see what next week will bring us!
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