Kylie is Nine!

"What are you bringing home from work with you on Wednesday, Dad?" "What are you bringing home from work with you tomorrow Dad?"  These are the sounds we were hearing in the days leading up to Kylie's birthday . . . with a little bit of outright  "My birthday is in ___ days" thrown in there. Just in case we might forget!  The correct answer to the question about what dad is bringing home was "Flowers and candy"  She doesn't have high expectations at all.  Woe to dad if he forgot or got it wrong.  He didn't.

 This girl loves attention, so her birthday is great in that way too. Being the star for the day is no problem for this lady.  If the phone rang . . .it better be for her.  It rang a number of times and she would saunter over and pick it up like, "Duh. this is obviously for me and it is someone from my fan club calling to give me their birthday greetings".

We had a quiet low key birthday celebration which gave her lots of time to play - which is her favorite. We didn't even have candles or sparklers or dessert. Gasp.  I guess the motivation to open presents must have been fairly strong that the rest became very unimportant.  

 Kylie has been begging and begging and asking and hinting (unabashedly) for an American doll or a Journey doll for probably over a year.  We gave her her gifts (minus the doll) and she was extremely grateful and went to town playing with everything and told us we were the best in the world. I then put the wrapped up doll on her bed and told her to go put her stuff away in her room. Of course she said it was too early to go to bed and "not yet" and "I'll do it later" etc. etc. She finally went to do it and just put in on the bottom step of the stairs.  I had my camera all set to video her opening the gift and her cooperation was not forthcoming!  Finally after a final admonition, she came up (grumbling as she walked . . . until she spied the shiny box on her bed). Then it was a gasp and the pile she was  carrying got dropped to the floor.  She began ripping and tearing and got to the box. Then came the hard (and funny part). She finally got a glimpse into the box and saw what it was and the exclamations and following actions were super comical. Her ripping and tearing stepped up a notch with a bit of frantic thrown in.  But the box was strong and it wasn't happening real quick. It probably took almost five minutes for her to get the dolls out of the box. I can only imagine her heart rate as she tore. I have it on video and it is a bit agonizingly painful to watch her battle. But funny.  If I was a great mom before, I was downright the best in the entire solar system and I was wonderful and amazing and every other nice adjective too.  She is enjoying her gift and it was worth the wait I think!

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And a bit about our boomerang of a girl Kylie: 

I mentioned play time earlier, but I think it is probably what defines this girl best. She still has a super duper imagination and uses it constantly. As a result she loves to play. She needs to play actually. If she has too much structure and activity and hasn't had enough play time, she will get really grumpy.  She doesn't really need anyone else to join her either. Sometimes they will and that is fine, but mostly she just carries on by herself very cheerfully. I think this works for her because then she is the boss and there is no one to fight or argue with - unless she wants it to happen . . .and even then she is in control of which imaginary person will win and how long the fight will go on and what the discipline will be etc. etc.

 Did I mention bossy in that last paragraph?  Good  - because we wouldn't want to miss that important detail either. I wouldn't say she is terribly bossy at home - she can't really boss her big brothers around and her little brothers are mostly not a big part of her play - though Karter does do quite a bit - and he listens well to her most of the time. I think the bossiness emerges primarily when with friends. She likes to be in charge and say how things will go and this sometimes causes fights.  I guess some of her friends must have a little boss in them too - which I am glad for!

 Kylie is a collector and she's got it pretty bad.  I try to compensate for her addiction by secretly making more room for her to collect by eliminating some of the collection. (I hope the language is hard enough there that when she reads this, she skips over that line;))

Her room is full of papers and notebooks and duotangs and old schoolbooks and more papers and some really random treasures like rocks. I like a neat and empty room  . . .which means her closet becomes a bit of a dumping ground.  It is on her list of things to do on Saturday.  Last time she tackled this project the garbage can held about two tiny broken things.  Collector indeed. 

 Kylie's favorite things to play are dressup, school, and house. There are many variations and deviations but her play mostly centers around these things. 

 She also has a thing for baseball right now . . but like most kids just wants to hit the ball.  Throwing and catching is okay for a tiny bit too.  So she mostly needs people to play with her and her brothers are not exactly willing to help her out with this. 

 Kylie enjoys sports - but probably enjoys the people playing the sports with her more.  She is social and likes to spend more time interacting with the people than with the ball.

 She played hockey with the boys last winter and at this point is bound and determined to skate with the girls next season.  The boys can't comprehend how she finds hockey boring, but we all smile at her as she skates in circles in her own zone (she's a stay at home defenseman) and then wonders why she didn't get a goal yet again.

 Kylie is a reader  - somewhat - but in a way that drives me crazy. She loves to get into a book, but once she is in it, she leaves it and starts another one. There are not too many books that she actually read from start to finish. There ARE a lot of books with bookmarks about three chapters in.  Her curiosity obviously doesn't get the better of her!  

 Since this picture of Kade and Kylie together is right here and they are hugging (or at least have their arms around each other) it is probably a good place to comment on this relationship.  I know I talked about it in Kade's post too, but these two together can drive one nuts!  They seriously cause so much extra noise and it is not pretty noise. Kade teases; Kylie screeches. Over and over.  It never gets old.  Kylie often asks for it - because she loves to stick her nose where it doesn't belong. Mind your own business is often the slogan of the day.  She can't even help herself.  The van is one of the prime grounds for their lovely interactions.  No road trips being planned.

Having said all that . . . even these two do have their moments. They can play together quite nicely and once in a while we get to be witness to this beautiful sight. Then we take pictures.

 If you ask Kylie if she likes school, she will say "NO!"  Her favorite subject is recess and then Phys. Ed.  She very much dislikes math and french and enjoys writing cursive. She is starting to be a very careless speller - which is a big of a shock to me as she has never struggled with it before.  Maybe she always has, but now they are more on their own for practicing and it is just now becoming evident.  She needs to finish more books:)

 Though she says she dislikes school, she mostly does well in it and is very enthusiastic and helpful in class.

 Karter is the one who spends the most time with Kylie. He is old enough to be factored into her play now and mostly does quite willingly when invited. They are also sharing a room temporarily and enjoy that as they comfort each other in their fears.  Kylie can work herself up and get all scared - but having Karter there with her is enough to calm her. She takes him with where she dare not go on her own.

 Kylie loves to sing and listen to music.  She will often dig out the hymnbook and sing and always seems to enjoy learning her song at school too.

 Kylie is wrapped all around her dad's finger.  Being the only girl, she remains the princess of the castle and can sometimes get her way, when her way ought not to be gotten. They do have a very special relationship and I am thankful for that.

 Kylie has an easy smile AND an easy frown. She can yo yo from the grumps to the giggles in mere moments.  She usually wakes up very grumpy, but it also usually only takes her about 5 minutes (and a bit of breakfast) before she will walk out the door with a cheery "Bye mom! I love you!"

 Though nail polish seems to have taken a bit of a back seat right now, long/fake nails have not. The sound of the tapping for her is almost equal to the tapping of the high heel.  You really aren't a real woman if you don't wear high heels that tap and have fingernails that are long enough to make noise too. I'm pretty much a failure in both departments and she has completely given up any hope in converting me. I think she has come to term with our differences.

 I still pick out Kylie's clothes every morning.  I do so with great care.  Woe is me if I get something wrong and pick a sweater she hates or pants that have an uncomfortable snap.  If I want her to be in a really good mood that day, I will pick out a dress or a skirt - but I usually ruin even that by making her wear leggings. She hates leggings/tights and will try to get away with not wearing them. Most of the time that is not an option. She doesn't always sit the most ladylike and needs those leggings to compensate for that!  That is one of our battles right now. Though she knows I won't change my mind, she keeps trying!

Kylie is taking a cooking class at the library right now and loves it! Again . . I'm sure it is more about the interaction with friends than about the cooking, but I hope she is learning some good stuff at the same time. She has yet to volunteer to take over any of my cooking duties.

Kylie loves movie night and is not appreciating the fact that Spring/Summer means more activity and less staying at home on a Friday night.  She will watch pretty much anything, but loves her princess movies or anything girly.

Kylie thinks Kevin is funny. She is the first to laugh at his jokes - even when they aren't all that funny. She loves his high school stories and hearing about the people and teachers there. They usually get along well. They do get on each others nerves occasionally and Kevin does not appreciate Kylie tattling on him. I do:)  Whereas Kade will protect Kev and keep his secrets, Kylie will make sure we remain informed as parents.

One of Kylie's favorite Saturday activities (and it doesn't happen that often) is going with Jonathan to get rid of scrap metal/wire.  The reason she loves it so much is that they get to dip into their earnings and go to Tim Hortons.

 Kylie wishes there was never an instrument named piano invented.  Yep. Lessons go that well!  She actually enjoys the lessons part - but not the practicing. I feel like she has actually made decent progress this past year (though she still reads notes terribly!). She tends to play by ear and by finger numbering. Drives me crazy! She will play piano on her own and plunk out her own tunes occasionally which gives me great joy. 

 Kylie remains a big help with Konnor. She doesn't always love the job, but she is competent and will usually embrace it - as long as it doesn't cut into her own play time too much.  She is quite careful and sweet to him most of the time.

Kylie loves that her hair is long again. Once in a while I will threaten to chop it all off if we have a really bad hair brushing experience, but on the whole things go well. She seems to know that if she whines too much, I might just actually make her cut some off. She loves her hair down and it seems that pretty much every day (no matter what I put in it in the morning) she will come with it loose.  This of course translates to tangles.  Thank goodness she doesn't mind showers and baths (unless it cuts into her playtime!! Do you sense a theme?).

Kylie loves to pray. Rarely does a supper go by where she doesn't ask to pray. The answer is usually - "Sure Ky. You can pray any time you want."  and then we sing.

She is very diligent with her devotions.

She has a very black and white sense of right and wrong. Sometimes this is good. Sometimes we have to be careful with it.  

I love this picture. It is kind of typical Ky.

Kylie - our one and only dear daughter. How we love you.  The spice you bring to our family is inspiring.  Your quirks and tendencies are what makes you you . . .and you are certainly one of a kind!  We love having a girl in the midst of all the boys - though sometimes we are glad you are the only one:)  I am sure you make me a better person.  You challenge me and stretch me. You light up your dad's day.  Thank you for your tender heart and constant love. Even when you are angry at me and tell me I ruin every thing . . . I know you love me.  You are quick to write a note of apology if you know you have made us sad/mad.  Thank you for all the hugs and cards and pictures that all say how much you love us. 

Keep smiling. Keep showing little acts of kindness.  Keep loving Jesus. Live every day for Him. Remember that He is always with you. Don't be afraid.  Trust Him.  He cares for the little birds . . how much more He cares about our dear Kylie.

We love you.