The Catch-up Post

(Published on Saturday, August 29th.)

So, Mom's computer has been down for two weeks, but we got the new AC adapter in the mail this morning, and we are back in the modern age. (Quick Update: We were back in the modern age for all of 2 hours before the entire computer crashed, and Mom had to spend hours trying to recover the pictures that she had not backed up; I hope you learned your lesson, Mom. Now, we only get to use Dad's work computer, which is not the easiest blogging computer, when he is home. Hurry up and get a new computer rents; I have computer needs!) Anyways, I have been extremely busy the last two weeks, like always. First and foremost, I made it to the double digits; I turned 10 months old on the 13th. It's not quite as exciting as hitting the teens, but it gets me that much closer to my 1st birthday, i.e. presents and cake; I am way more excited about the latter. My goal is to be walking by my 1st birthday, which shouldn't be a problem. I am now able to walk while pushing anything, and I can even stand all by myself. Now, I just have to steady my legs and take off! I have acquired another new talent in the last couple of weeks, the gift of dance. I learned most of my moves from the movie Happy Feet; those penguins really know how to dance. I practice all the time; I have tons of toys that play music, and I just press the button on whatever toy is closest, and it's Ginger Rogers, eat your heart out. I especially like to dance to the new Dell commercial that plays the lollipop song and to "Choo Choo Blues".

I love singing as well, like the "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" and "The Wheels on the Bus"; I even create my own music by banging on everything: the couch, the tables, Opie's toy chest, the chairs, the cabinets, etc. Sometimes I get so caught up in making my music, and getting the subsequent attention, that I lose my balance and take a tumble. Not to worry though, I am tough as nails, and it takes a lot to hurt me or really upset me.

All of this new mobility really tires me out, so I have been sleeping pretty late in the mornings, which I am pretty sure Mom does not mind. I learned to say Mama this past Wednesday, and I am finally about to get my 3rd tooth - thank goodness! It is right underneath the gum, and it is making my life miserable; please, pop through soon. Everyday brings new discoveries and changes; life is really exciting at this stage, just take it from me!

My new dance moves have gotten me invited to tons of parties lately. The weekend before last, Mom and I went to Mrs. Amber's baby shower. She is having her second little boy in September. I enticed Jordan, who is a month older than me, to chase me around the room during the shower. I would crawl away really quickly, and then stop, turn around, and check to make sure that he was following before I took off again. He just couldn't resist. I ate some cake, pulled up on every piece of furniture possible, entertained several compliments on how adorable I am, played with some ribbons off of the gifts, and passed out as soon as I hit the car. That sounds like all the components to a really good party, if you ask me. Mom and Dad have been busy as well; on Friday night, they went to the Incubus concert with the Wheelers, and Grandma babysat me. Mom and Dad had a really great time, so they send their thanks to Mrs. Allison and Mr. Ben! On Saturday night, Mrs. Teri and Mr. Justin invited us over to their house for dinner. Mrs. Teri made chicken and fish tacos and the best extra chocolaty cookies ever, according to Mom anyways since I didn't even get to taste one. They could have at least left a little cookie dough on the wooden spoon before giving it to me; I went ahead and checked every inch of it, just in case. What a tease! Mrs. Teri even has an entire fun drawer for kids; she is very prepared. I checked the house for childproofing needs, flirted with Mr. Justin, climbed the stairs, bumped my head on the table, played with Mrs. Teri, and then lost the fight against sleep in Mom's arms. I had an awesome time; thank you, Germany fam; I can't wait to see you guys again.

This past weekend was even busier than the weekend before. On Saturday, Grandma threw Mom's cousin, Hannah, a graduation party before she headed off to college at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The whole GA family was there. I entertained everyone with my new dance moves and walked back and forth across the porch with the help of my push car. Cameron taught me some basketball moves while Great-Aunt Marsha loved on me and carried me around; it was really nice since I don't get to see them that often. Of course, Grandma gave me tons of attention and a large amount of cake icing, to Mom's dismay. Aunt Mallory taunted me with the promise of beer, about which Mom and Dad were not happy, and Mrs. Sharon praised my unique style of dance. Haley and Hannah are excited at the prospect of having another dancer in the family. I shared my toys with Uncle Ian and waved at him whenever he walked by me. Aunt Stephanie brought me a book on impressionist artwork from her trip to the High Museum; it is a nice addition to my Mona Lisa book on classical paintings. I am so cultured already, a testament to my brilliance. Dad, sadly, had to leave the party early to head to San Diego, so Mom and I spent the night at Grandma's house. There are lots of new things with which to play at Grandma's house, including the little rocking chair that Mom, Aunt Stephanie, and Aunt Mallory used when they were younger. I tried to keep my legs crossed while sitting in the chair; Dad always says, "Sit like a lady or dress like a man." Grandma even got me a new big girl chair to eat in when I am over at her house. On Sunday, Grandma took me shopping and bought me several new outfits for my trip to WV. Thank you, Grandma. Daddy has been out of town a lot lately; I cry hysterically whenever he just steps over the gate or leaves the room when he is at home, so it has been really hard having him out of town so much, but he always makes it up to me when he comes back. The other day, when he was out of town, I went right up to a picture of him on the table, pointed to it, said, "Dada", looked over at the door, and started to cry. It made me realize that he was supposed to be coming home at about that time. I am a total Daddy's girl; that is until I get hurt, and then all I want is Mommy. (By the way, I throw a major fit whenever the rents put up the gate to block the hallway and stairs; even if, I am nowhere near the gate, I totally lose it when I hear it click in place. Just to reinforce my frustration, I like to press my face up against the plastic as I cry. I don't like being told where I can and cannot go in my own house.)

Mom and I have been staying really busy during the week as well. On Tuesday, we went to our weekly Moms' lunch at Mrs. Lindsi's house. It was pretty much just Luke and I because Jackson slept the entire afternoon, and Selena didn't come. Luke and I had a blast as always, but I did throw my first major fit over not getting my way when Mom wouldn't let me crawl up the stairs again and again. Here comes the attitude! The Thursday before last, Mrs. Allyson, Hudson, and Brayden came over to go to the pool. Hudson and I checked each other out a bit since we don't hang out that often. It was nice hanging out, just the five of us, down at the pool. We even went to see Mom's old co-workers at Roswell High School. Mrs. Bright even let me drop some students from the computer system - oh, the power was intoxicating! Since Dad has been out of town so much, Aunt Stephanie came up this past Thursday night to keep Mom and me company; she helped me fly around the house, and I demonstrated all of my new tricks for her at dinner. I was so exhausted after showing off for Aunt Stephanie that I slept until 8:15 the next morning and then took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon! A girl's gotta get her sleep.

Mom and I even keep busy when it is just the two of us hanging out around the house. I now like to have my evening snack down at the park, and my love of bubbles grows deeper with each pop. I have recently discovered that the bedroom, bathroom, closet, laundry room, and hallway make a nice circular path to crawl around over and over again. On one of my daily crawls, I discovered a little man in the bathroom; how weird is that! I'm just excited because I am finally taller than someone in this household. I visit him daily, just so he doesn't get lonely. The kitchen stools also make great walkers to push around the dining room, and Opie makes the best playmate. I have decided that since he stares at me when I eat, I am now going to sit and stare at him when he eats. I try to do the stairs at least once a day to maintain my slim physique, which I check out in Mom's full length mirror on a regular basis; you can push the mirror, and it will swing back at you - too cool. I love looking at myself; can you blame me? Plus, I just found out that the round button on the TV makes it turn on and off - way too much fun! Life is pretty exciting at the Kendigs' homestead; just don't put the gate up, or it is meltdown city.

Today, I am going to Lucas' 1st birthday party, and I am so excited! Happy Birthday, Lucas! I'll report back later this week.

I've got places to go and people to see!

I am working on a better means of mobility so as to go those places and see those people. I have found that the objects not meant for pushing work better than the actual walkers. I do things the 'Livie Way'. I have also started walking along the furniture; my favorite piece of furniture to hold on to as I walk is the TV stand, especially if there are DVDs at the end to throw.

It is a good thing that I have started practicing the whole walking deal because my weekends keep getting busier and busier, and I do not think that there is going to be a slowdown anytime in the near future. This past weekend was filled with fairs, fun, friends, and festivities. On Saturday, Grandma came up, and we all went to this little fair that Dad passes everyday on the way to and from work. It was a good idea, Dad, but it was way too hot to even enjoy it. Grandma got me a snow cone, which I found quite tasty, and I spent the rest of the afternoon with a bright red mouth. Dad won me a little stuffed frog on his first try at the balloon pop booth; I refused to pet the stinky horses; we made one lap around the fair, and we were out of there. Thirty minutes of pure sweat is good enough for me. I'll just have to wait for the Cumming fair in October to really get the full experience. By the way, walking around the Cumming fair last year is what caused Mom to go into labor, so it will be like a little anniversary. This weekend, I also felt grass for the first time, and I am not a fan. I tried to keep both of my legs up in the air so that I wouldn't have to touch the grass with my bare skin, and there is no way I was going to crawl on those horrible little spikes. I even pointed out the bugs in hopes that the rents would get me out of that terrible predicament, but instead they just laughed at my expense. How rude! By the way, I like to point at everything now, just so you know. I believe that my days as an outdoorsy girl have already expired.

Sunday was Hudson's 1st birthday party; Happy Birthday, Hudson. The party was during nap time, so after a ten minute nap on the way there that did not suffice, I spent the first hour trying to keep my eyes open and figure out what in the heck was going on. A little taste of cupcake and icing fixed that though. The party was prince-themed, so I got to, or was forced to, wear a crown, but I got a little scepter when I left, which made up for the crown embarrassment. Playing the part of princess was a piece of cupcake. I was really excited that Lucas was there. I hung out with him most of the time, and he kept me entertained by bringing me toys. I am not big on crawling in strange environments, and there were so many people that I didn't want to get trampled. Luke even grilled up a fake hot dog and fed it to me; he takes such good care of me. Hudson tried to play a little doctor with me; don't worry, Dad, I didn't indulge him. I did, however, have a great time with the tissue paper from his gifts. It's the little things in life that count. Mrs. Allyson had bubbles, a kiddie pool, and a slip n' slide, but I didn't feel like getting wet because I didn't want to mess up my hair, so I didn't partake. Hudson enjoyed his cake thoroughly, and I enjoyed the attention from some of my favorite people like Mrs. Teri, Mrs. Lisa, Mrs. Allison, and Mr. Justin. The fun didn't even stop there because Mrs. Lisa came home to have dinner with us, and she stayed until bedtime to wish me sweet dreams. It was an awesome and tiring day, so on Monday morning, I decided to sleep in until 8:15! You're welcome, Mom. I also got in some of my own present opening practice when I knocked over Mom's old gift bags and ripped the tissue paper to shreds. Just to make sure that it didn't taste as good as it looked, I took a little bite of the tissue paper, but it wasn't as good as the dog food that Dad confiscated from my mouth the other day. I mean, they keep it on the floor, so how can I resist! Life - it's so complicated! At least I can clap for myself now, which makes everything I do a celebration.

Speaking of something to celebrate, I was introduced to my first staircase today at Lucas' house, and I wasted no time conquering it. I climbed up that staircase three times, without any prior practice I might add. I'm amazing; I know! I even turned around a couple of times to wave down to Mom and make sure that she was watching. Good thing Mrs. Allison was right there, just in case. I have no time for fear. Lucas and I tore up a magazine or two, stood at the gate and banged on the bars like little inmates, and enjoyed some blueberries. He even gave me a couple of little friend kisses. Now, that's one great Tuesday!
* Sorry, Lucas, Mommy's computer is broken, so I am having to use Daddy's, and I can't get your picture to rotate. It's a really cute picture, so I had to include it; hopefully, your Mommy can rotate it.