Kicky Kayli turns Terrific Teenager

Kayli Marie was born 13 years ago today. She was my biggest baby (until Dan) and was my only dark haired baby. She was born near Christmas and came home in a big Christmas stocking. Okay, honestly we brought it home seperately since she had to go into a car seat. We did take her into her Grandma C.'s house on Christmas Eve in that stocking though. We now use the stocking to hold Christmas movies which can't come close to being as precious as the stocking's original cargo.

Kayli was the best baby ever. She came home sleeping five hours a night and continually improved. We thought of her as the baby we were blessed with so we'd be willing to have more. Her birth went well and she was a genius at sleeping. It amazed me how much it helped me to get that much sleep in a row with a new baby. She had her own funny quirks as she grew though. She liked to kick so she was called "Kicky Kayli" by her Dad but she did NOT like to stand on those legs. If you picked her up she would hold her legs up and refuse to put them down. Thus she was our slowest walker, finally agreeing to walk on those legs, and learning how by 15 months.

Here's my cute Kicky Kayli with her blond hair and her legs out. She got around our wood floor by scooting on her bottom and used to kick her legs and make herself go in circles.

Kayli grew up a bit and had a little brother named Connor. In the picture above she is five and Connor is two. When Kayli used to go play with her friend across the street at this age, I used to send Connor with her. My saintly neighbor never complained and would only send him home when he didn't smell so nice and needed a diaper change. Kayli asked me once why she could never play with just her friends and not Connor. I explained that Connor would be sad and she kept taking him. What a good sister! They are good friends still and this is a blessing to them both.

Kayli became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in January of 2004 and our good families supported her. The above picture includes many (though not all) of her uncles and her Grandpa C. Kayli went over to visit Grandpa C. this summer and chatted with him for two hours. This made Kayli very happy. She loves a good listener.
Now Kayli is a teenager who can play the piano and the flute. She has played softball before and likes to play basketball and soccer. She mostly likes to "hang out" with friends. The best thing about Kayli for me is that she notices when I need help, and often steps in to do what she can. She often babysits for us (sometimes more often than she likes) and this is helpful to me too. Hooray for Kayli who will be a terrific teenager.