I've Created a Monster

Just now as I was folding laundry, I showed Kendra how to throw the used dryer sheet into the garbage. She enjoyed doing it so much that she promptly tried to throw away every article of clothing she found on the floor. (Umm, not that there are any clothes on the floor in my home. Yeah...)

* * * * * *

Different story, same child. I just realized that I never told you the saga of Kendra learning how to walk. Well, I may have told you, but I never posted it on the blog. If I did tell you, then just skip the rest of this post. Or if you don't really care. Or if you're offended that I didn't tell you (that's for you, Andrea!) But if you're curious, here it is!

So Kendra had been taking the occasional step or two, but only if she hadn't actually noticed that she wasn't holding on to anything. Which was pretty rare. And I mean that literally when I say "step or two." So she really wasn't walking at all.

Until I went to Seattle for the weekend of Juliana's wedding. Friday morning, Kendra was showing off that she could stand up (which Bentley didn't do until after he was already walking), and I moved away from her and asked her to walk to me and she did! She probably took ten steps that time first time. (And poor Craig was stuck back in Virginia and missed it all! I felt really bad for him for that.)

After that, she would take steps but only if she had stood up first and wanted to. If I stood her up or if she just didn't feel like it, there was nothing that could persuade her to try.

So a week later, my parents come to visit (hence the pictures I already posted). They arrive Monday. By Tuesday, Kendra is already in love with my Dad. This isn't surprising, since she pretty much loves all the men in her life. Daddy, Bentley, Grandpa Smith-- she loves them all and has them all wrapped around her little finger. No reason that Grandpa Rex should be an exception! She even went so far as to put on her best cute act just for him, and then burst into tears when she realized he was asleep and hadn't noticed her. So on Tuesday, he sits on the floor in front of her and asks, "Kendra, don't you want to walk to me?" So she does. And he gives her a big hug. So then she walked back and forth between us several more times, collecting hugs the entire time. And that was all it took!

Since then, she's pretty much been a walking fiend. Crawling is a thing of the past. But she still has this huge, very smug grin as she meanders her way, zombie-like, around the house. She knows that she's hot stuff.