Randomness again.

Marley and I went for one of our nightly runs last night and it gave me just the recharge I needed to get out of the funk I've been in lately.  It's funny how the stars, wind in a ponytail, a loyal dog who stops at every corner to look back for the go ahead to cross and hip-shaking music can totally reprogram a girl.  I needed that run.  Just like I need to see my girl smile.

Last night, before I started the bedtime ritual of brushing of thy teeth, getting jammies in check and turning myself into a four-eyes, I did my pre-ritual ritual of checking in on Kennedy.  I tiptoed into her room, used my cell phone as a flashlight and put my hand on her chest.  And when she didn't flinch from my touch, I kept it there.  And then my eyes filled with tears.  I felt the electricity from that tiny heart pulse right through me and it sent me into deep thoughts about how I'd be lost without this beating heart and how I firmly believe if it ever ceased beating then mine too would lose its rhythm and stop permanently. 

And just when the tears were blurring my vision from all the "what ifs" I had allowed to invade my brain, I got a text message and it scared the living piss out of me and I dropped my cell phone/flashlight right on top of Kennedy.  And then I was laughing.  And running.  And thinking about the show One Born Every Minute.  I haven't seen it yet, but one of the commercials shows a dad hovered over his newborn as the baby is getting weighed, cleaned, etc. and he's trying to take a picture with his cell phone and drops the phone right on the baby. That was me.  Only I wasn't trying to take a picture and Kennedy isn't a newborn, but I was having a moment and then the moment turned into a tragedy and then the tragedy shifted gears and became a comedy when I realized the cell phone victim was okay and the reality of what just had happened set in. 

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I swear, I didn't teach her to twist open an Oreo and then lick and scrape the frosting out with her teeth.  In this case, this is nature not nurture.  Who knew?  I thought all kids figured out the frosting is the goods of the cookie via a veteran Oreo eater like myself, but, no, I had nothing to do with it. 

And just so you know, the Hokenstads aren't known for their graceful eating habits.

Or for always having a clean face.

But we can rock the diaper look like nobodies business.

An early birthday present.  Meet Le Chateau In Le Courtyard.  Or Log Cabin on the Rocks if that's too fancy for y'all.

We have a big birthday party coming up this weekend.  Kennedy will tell you she's turning two while holding up five fingers, but it's all good. 

Out of nowhere Kennedy started calling her binky "Mimi," then I told her Grandpa H. was coming to visit and she answered my statement with a very inquisitive "Papa?" (she came up with that one on her own because we've never called him Papa) and last weekend when visiting my brother, Jay, she randomly called him "Jay," "Gay" or "Day."

Like I said, it's all good. 

I'm swelling and she's growing.

As of lately, I've caught myself saying things like, "Miss K, you make my heart swell," and then ten minutes later I'm telling Brandon that we've officially entered the terrible twos.  The other night I laid in bed pondering whether or not Kennedy might suffer from multiple personalities only to wake the next morning to a text message from a friend, whose daughter is two weeks older than Kennedy, stating that she, too, is living with a three foot version of Jekyll and Hyde.  I slept better that night knowing this is normal, she's normal, but, jeesh, this teeter-totter of emotions that show their faces in various forms of unexpected kisses to my cheek or air-balled swats aimed in my direction are exhausting and a lot for the mind and heart to take in.

I have to confess, though, this is my favorite age thus far. The little girl she's turning into has evolved so much in just the last month. My shy girl who used to sit back and watch the other kids play at the park has now entered a stage of exploration and self-confidence. And the combination of the two are the perfect concoction for a mother to sit back and feel that heart of hers swell with jubilation and pride. Who knew there was a social person who didn't need to borrow her mama's lap in order to go down the big kid slide hiding deep inside that body of hers? Who knew she'd dive head first into uncharted waters and come up smiling and not looking for her mama to save her? I can assure you, I didn't.

 

So, she's grown confidence and she's grown a love for hitting when things aren't going her way, but there's one thing Kennedy hasn't grown out of.  And that's our weekly visits to the front window to watch our garbage man use his captivating robot arm to heave our can full of dirty diapers, old batteries, rotisserie chicken carcasses, banana peels and countless other household items that once stocked our shelves into the back of his truck in one jerky motion.  Mondays and Thursdays provide two minutes of pure joy and a morning full of anticipation. 

With the weather starting its gradual change from the 60s to the upper 70s, we have spent the afternoons out back in the sun.  Kennedy elbow deep in her water table and asking to blow bubbles.  And Miya, well, Miya is still a lazy, sleepy, chill dog.

And last weekend while dad was away we went to a baseball game where we watched ate.

And ate.

And ate.

And shared and ate with friends.

And what's a weekend without a visit to the train park.  Y'all getting sick of me talking about the train park or what?  Yeah, well, I got nothin' to come back with except it's a cheap outing and it pleases Kennedy more than cookies do.  But today we almost kept driving when we saw how many people had the same idea as us.  However, the "choo choo"s coming from the back seat motivated us to find a parking spot in the overflow lot across the street and put our big-crowd hats on.  I still don't know what was going on at the park to produce such an overwhelming number of people, but it was definitely not your typical day at the park.  There were bouncy houses, obstacle courses, face painting booths, balloon animals, a clown magician, ring toss tents and a giant bunny.  It was the epitome of carnival madness sans a dunking tank and cotton candy.
 

Remember that shy girl I was telling you about? 

Well, she was definitely absent today. 

A month ago she would have never done this...

And because I'm feeling the old heart swelling up again with love for this girl of mine, I'll be generous and leave you with some L-O-V-E too...