A little climber

We found out today that should she be so inclined, Kylie can climb out of her playpen. Today while she was at Erica’s house she climbed out of her playpen after her nap, thankfully the room in which she was napping had the door closed so she could not get out of the room. Erica said that she was just getting ready to go out to her car to get something when she heard Kylie starting to make noise upstairs. Seeing as Kylie was just waking up and Taylor was still asleep in her room, Erica ran out to her car to get her items. When she came back in she heard Kylie knocking on something, and when she went upstairs to get her, she found out that Kylie was knocking on the bedroom door. Erica said that when she opened the door Kylie was standing there with a big grin on her face, all proud of her accomplishment.

Two Magic Words

As I predicted, shortly after I leave to go back to Minnesota Kylie says the words I have been waiting a long time to hear: “Love You.” The first time she said it she was walking from Aunt Sissy to Mommy while looking directly at Mommy and said “Love You.” Tiffany quickly grabbed her phone and called me and got Kylie to say it again. So the first time I heard Kylie say the words I have been waiting to hear was over the phone over 600 miles away. But I heard her say it and that’s what I have been waiting for. It makes me miss her all the more and I can’t wait to get back home to see her and hold her again!

Back to Burnsville

Today my temporary state of elation had to come to an end, as it was time to come back to Minnesota. I spent the day playing with Kylie as much as possible and packing slowly, as it is not really something that I was looking forward to doing. After Tiffany got out of work it was time to start heading back towards the airport, I needed to fill the gas tank of my rental car – a PT Cruiser which hopefully I will never need to drive again – and then return it to National Rental. We also decided to have dinner at Bob Evans before they dropped me off at the airport. Due to a long line returning the car I actually got to the airport later than anticipated, I think this was actually a good thing as it allowed me to spend more time with Kylie, but it also did not afford me the opportunity to have a long good-bye with Kylie. I think this was a good thing because the short good-bye that I was allowed was very difficult, had it been any longer I am not sure I would have been able to handle it. During the day Kylie would periodically get upset when I left her site, one particular time I was going to use the bathroom and she followed me down the hall, when I started to close the door she looked like she was going to cry. I had to cancel using the bathroom and pick her up and hold her for a while and explain to her that I was simply going to use the bathroom and that I would be right back. At first I didn’t think much of it, however I did realize that she had already picked up on the fact that I would be leaving soon. At the airport, while saying good-bye, I realized just how much she understood and just how much me being gone affects her. When I got out and opened the back door to giver her a kiss and tell her how much I loved her and that I would see her soon, she immediately started to get upset. She started saying “no” and shacking her head, she even pushed me away slightly, but then I leaned in and started talking to her and telling her that I love her and that everything would be ok and I would see her soon. That’s when she grabbed the front of my shirt and held onto me and just kept saying “no.” I am happy that she does not want me to leave, but I am not happy that she gets so upset. I found out later from Tiffany, when I called to let her know I made it back to Minnesota safely and to check on Kylie, that it was a good thing I didn’t turn around, because Kylie was sitting in her seat crying and shacking her head no while watching me walk away. I truly hope these next three months go by rather quickly…

Holiday Shopping

Being out in Minnesota and finances in general, is going to make holiday shopping difficult. I have already decided that I am only going to be able to shop for only a few people, and I hope everyone will be able to understand that. That being said I did do some shopping today, mainly just for Kylie, out at the outlet mall in Howell with Tiffany today. We only got Kylie some clothes, mainly because that is what she needs, but also because we were rather disappointed in the selection at the toy store. I was happy that we were able to do the shopping rather quickly. This is mainly due to us dropping Kylie off at Tiffany’s father’s house while we went shopping. After we finished up with our little bit of shopping we went to Tiffany’s Dad’s house for dinner. It was nice to see everyone over there again too, as I was unable to see all of them the last time I was home.

A nice visit

Tonight Tiffany, Kylie, and myself were able to go visit Chris, Tracey, and Delaney at there new apartment. The new place is really nice and in a really nice area as well. Delaney has gotten so big since the last time I have seen her, and she is walking now! Well not full out walking around the place but she walks between Chris and Tracey across the living room and that is a good six or seven feet. She is still a little wobbly but for all intense and purposes she is walking! It was real nice to see Kylie and Delaney playing together, and I took plenty of pictures of the two of them together. As soon as I get them up I will post a note so everyone can go take a look at them.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I was lucky enough to be invited to Melissa and Jason’s house for the holiday, which allowed me to spend the holiday with Kylie. I would like to thank them for allowing me into their home and for a wonderful dinner. It was a very nice day and it was nice to see them again.

Today is a day when we are supposed to be thankfully for the things and the people in our lives, and I think it goes without saying that I am very thankfully that Kylie is in my life. However, I would also like to mention that I am also thankfully for everyone else in my life as well, both near and far. All of you may not know it, or realize it, but I am the person that I am today because all of you have touched my life and contributed to me. So I would like to say thanks to everyone for being here for me and loving me, I couldn’t and wouldn’t be me with out all of you. I love all of you very much, and miss all of you that are far away.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Good to be home

Wow it is nice to be home! More to the point, it is great to see Kylie again! I had her at my place today while Tiffany had to work, so we spent a number of hours together and it was great. Being able to hold her again and to see her and play with her, I can already tell it is going to be hard to leave again. Kylie has grown since the last time I have seen her and her hair has come in thicker in the front along with getting a little longer in the back. She has grown a little taller and as such looks like she has slimed out a little and lost some baby fat. She is still as happy and vibrant as ever, and I am very happy about that. She loved seeing me and I got to hold her for a long time again before she wanted to play, even then periodically throughout the day she would just come up to me extend her arms and say “up” and just hug me for a while. We spent the day playing and laughing and having fun, when she had her morning snack, a cut up pear, she sat real close to me and would occasionally just put her head on me and snuggle against me, it was so cute! She was also real excited to see all her toys at my apartment that she hasn’t seen in a long time, especially her ball popper. I have already taken a lot of pictures and I am sure that many more will be taken over the next few days. I haven’t smiled this much in a month! I love my little girl more than anything!

A longer stay

Negotiations ended today for Rick and I to stay out here in Eagan for another three months, and as it turnes out we will be staying. I am happy enough with the terms that we reached to say that I would stay, but like all things they could have been better. Basically I will be getting another raise, for the duration of the stay of course, they will continue to pay for my housing, and I will be receiving a bonus upon completion, in addition I will also be receiving a slightly larger stipend each month. In the grand scheme of things it isn’t really much, especially when I consider that this means i will have to spend another 3 months away from my daughter. I can only hope that the time will go by quickly.

On a side note however, I am leaving tonight to fly back to Michigan for the Thanksgiving holiday. I will be home for 5 days and 5 nights, not nearly long enough, but at least I will be able to spend time with Kylie, and that is what I miss most being out in Minnesota.

A little update on Kylie

Kylie is doing very well, aside from missing her Daddy. Her ears are no longer bothering her, but lately it seems that she is catching up on teeth. Tiffany has told me that Kylie now has molars coming in on both the top and the bottom. As such Kylie has not been wanting to eat much lately and she has been drooling a lot more than normal. In addition Kylie is learning new words on a daily basis. I am not even going to attempt to list all of them, but I will say that she has not picked up on “love you” yet, even though that is probably the expression that she hears the most. Hopefully she will pick that one up soon though. All in all she is doing very well and I am looking forward to seeing her next week very much.

Congratulations Tiffany

Tiffany informed me today that she passed her Teacher Certification Exams for elementary education and early childhood education with flying colors, not that there was ever a doubt in my mind that she would do otherwise. This basically means that she theoretically could teach now if a school needed teachers bad enough and didn’t mind that she did not yet have her 4 year degree. These exams are required to teach even if you have your 4 year degree, so in a way she is ahead of the game. She still has two more exams that she would like to take, one for language arts and one for integrated sciences, those will come later. But as of now she could technically teach, so a big Congratulations to her!!