Miniature Stump: Skating through her world

This Summer we thought it would be a great idea for Kylie to take some swimming lessons. She gets to swim once a month for OT, and with that we have seen more of her social skills emerge. That type of heavy work and activity can calm her enough to be more social, yet too much can make her hyper...so trying to find the right balance of things.

Anyhow, with that said we put her in lessons and it was tough at first. I had to give the instructor...high school girl, some lessons on how to work with Kylie...honestly, she could have used lessons on how to work with kids in general, but that is a whole other can of worms. Once she applied the proper word usage and approach, it made a world of difference. Each set of lessons was 2 wks long and 4 days a week. It wasn't until day 7 that Kylie felt more comfortable getting her face wet. I was taking her swimming every day....courtesy of Frandma letting us use her pool pass. All of that extra practice, with less pressure helped her gain more experience and confidence. She was going under all by herself, and she loved it!

As you can see with her score card at the bottom...she passed onto the Advanced Tot class!

Since Kylie had become so comfortable going under water, we wanted her to be safe too...so we continued the lessons. We got signed up with the same instructor, so we thought that would be good. Well, not so much. I would sit out in the hall, because Kylie would get more anxious whenever she saw us. Some other girls in the class need not be there, as they were very proficient swimmers. Anyhow, the instructor didn't like that she had to work with Kylie, since the other girls were so easy for her. Let's just say I was not pleased with how she handled Kylie, and we immediately had her removed from that class and switched to another one. The new girl was great with Kylie, and Kylie loved her! Once again, we went swimming day after day, and with all of our hard work...she passed again!

We will resume swimming lessons next Summer when the pools open up to allow us more time to practice with her. She has turned into quite the little fish! Here is a quick video of her going under water.

So a couple years ago I bought a dress super cheap, but didn't like how it was made. So I chopped the top of and made it into a shirt for me and said I would make Kylie a dress with the remaining fabric. Hey, so the time came and I finally made her a dress. Love how it turned out and how beautiful she looks in it!

Here is our matching outfit pic!

Often times before nap time we either play outside, go for a bike ride around the block, or play at the park...some outdoor play to get her nice and worn out before her nap :) She always loves to find little treasures along the way, so here she was showing off an acorn she found.

Stopping to give her acorn another inspection to make sure it is just right.

Kylie was outside playing baseball with Matt. He has started pitching the ball to her, and having her hit it. She is actually doing really well, and making some great contact with it that way too. You may notice the grass looks like it is covered in hay..nope, that's just what all the yards looked like out here with the drought.

I think this face is because Matt was hitting the ball, and she was pouting that she wanted a turn too.

This is just cute...Kylie and Matt side by side watching some TV together.

We went to quite a few Royals games this year. Kylie loves them so much, and Matt has taught her most of their names and numbers. We stayed after a Sunday game so she could run the Fun Run...after all Sunday home games, kids can run the bases. She made friends with an older girl in line and they held hands most of the time, and she loved it!

Yep, even trying to hold hands while they ran too :)

Yay..home plate!

All done running the bases, and ready to head on home.

Another video for you all. Kylie showing us how big a Royals fan she is with her knowledge of the players!

We absolutely love going to Deanna Rose out here, it is a petting zoo type of place and it has grown quite a bit since we started taking Kylie when she was a baby. We met a friend there, and they had so much fun together, and just love how they hold hands!

Ready with their bottles to go feed some of the goats!

Usually the goats in this area are a lot smaller and pretty mellow. This time was not the case! The goats were bigger, and pretty aggressive. I had one leg up try to shoo them away, while trying to help Kylie and take some pics! One goat was chewing on the back of her shirt, and a goat was chewing on her friend's dress too! Either way, it made for many smiles and giggles, and that was priceless!

So sweet sitting together on the swing!

I know, we were about done and I think they were both ready to be all done having us take pics of them :)

I has seen on one of the kid websites I go to that a skating rink had a day for kids under five to come skate. I thought we would give it a shot and see how it went. We rented one of the skaters...like a walker with wheels on it for the kids to use. There was not point it renting it because we parked it shortly after getting there. She loved skating so much!

They even gave the kids a little lesson and it was perfect. They taught them how to fall if they feel like they are about to fall...to keep your hands out so you don't fall on your face. The best was that they taught them how to get up when you fall, because you tend to fall a lot when you are learning how to skate. Here she is with a friend she made there...so cute!

She totally did not need the skater that we rented, and wanted to go back and skate more. We still have to make a return trip there, but so glad she enjoyed it and how well it all turned out! Yay, our girl is enjoying new things and just doing so great!

I have no idea what got into Kylie, but after bathtime when she comes down to hang out with us for a bit before she goes to bed...she was like all cuddly with me. If any of you know our girl, this is totally unlike her. It has been less than a year that she has been getting closer to us and letting us snuggle up to read her books at night. So yeah, long awaited hugs and cuddle time from our little girl and any time she gets close, we totally soak it up!

So this particular night, she actually laid down on me...I was like Matt, get the camera! Here are a couple pics he got of us...love this little moment here!