Picture Update on Keilah

This post will be a Keilah post since I haven't done one on just her for a little while. She's at one of my most favorite ages - language acquisition stage! It's so fun to see her little mind put things together and try out her daily expanding vocabulary as she processes the world around her. She makes me laugh every day at her cuteness. At 20 months old, she is extremely talkative. I don't always understand all she is saying, but she sure does want to tell me all sorts of things. Like all little kids this age, she loves shoes and wearing shoes that don't belong to her. Here's she's trying on Abby's shoes in the morning while she eats her apple.

Nothing on the table is safe from her anymore - especially if it is food. The girls shelled the few peas I grew for them to snack on. She found the bowl and ate most of them.

Walking around mostly naked in her beloved pink shoes. You wouldn't believe that just a week before this picture she hated those shoes like nothing else. She threw fits every time I tried to put them on her and would kick and scream trying to get them off her feet. She would refuse to put weight on her feet whenever they were on.

She was outgrowing the shoes she loved and her new shoes were perfectly fine. I checked them out by trying to put other shoes on her as well to make sure it wasn't a comfort issue and she threw the same kind of fit. Here's a two minute video of how she reacted when we tried putting her new shoes on her. 

So Aaron and I knew this was a battle we had to win since she couldn't wear her beloved old shoes anymore. So one morning we strapped them on and left them on. Oh my. You would have thought we were killing her. The screaming, kicking, and crying we endured. She took several trips to her crib to try to help calm her down, all while wearing those despised shoes. She threw her fit for a complete half hour, after which, she accepted her lot in life and changed her mind about the shoes. She fell in love with them and insisted on wearing them full time. If one came off, she would bring it to someone crying until she was able to get them back on. I hope the next size up is an easier transition for her. 

Keilah is also a very picky eater. With the exception of milk, yogurt, and ice cream, she is mostly vegan. No other animal products may touch her mouth. It's very annoying. She picks out the tiniest bit of meat in food I make and sets it aside, or refuses to eat the dish altogether. About once a month, she will suddenly like a meat item and eat it. I give her as much as I can when that happens. But then when I try to give it to her again, she refuses. Here's a typical meal for her. I usually try to get some grains in there too.

How we broke her of her pacifier habit: I started slowly snipping away at her pacifier every week until they were down to little nubs. This was about a month ago. I snipped them one more time and they were so short she had to physically hold them in her mouth using her hands. She is now sleeping just fine without her pacifier. 

A sick little girl a few weeks ago. She was happy to snuggle with Abby's big blue bunny while lying on the couch. 

I was out weeding and Keilah was with me. I heard her talking about water as she played in the sandbox, but didn't pay much attention to her. Turns out she was telling me about the water in one of the toys that she found and it made some lovely sandy mud to play with. 

Just having fun with pictures. 

She got less and less thrilled with getting her picture taken as time went on. 

The girls found their old stroller and gave it to Keilah. She loves it and spends much time pushing whatever item she is playing with in her stroller. 

She learned to climb over the gate! She's crying here because she was mad that I wasn't helping her over the gate when she got stuck. 

Still angry. 

Once she made it over, she was all smiles. We let her experiment on the stairs that day. She fell down them at least twice that day and had a few minor slips down a couple of them. She got very angry when we turned the gate around and she could no longer use the bar in the middle as a step to get over. We'll try again at having no gate when she's a little older. 

And finally, hello marinated tomatoes and cucumbers. It's good to have you back in my life this summer. I will miss you when summer is over. Until then, I will eat you as often as possible until I get sores in my mouth from all the tomato acid. Sigh of happiness.