tags:

Kylie’s first christmas was an eventful one… We lived in hawaii where it was very expensive to buy a real tree but we always did. Kylie’s first christmas tree survived about three days, however because during that time she managed pull it down three times!

We never witnessed how she did it specifically, but we’re pretty sure it was because she was going after a particular ornament. It was a little wicker basket with a tiny little dog and cat curled up together on a red & green plaid blanket. For some reason Kylie was determined to destroy it – and she was successful!

Eventually we managed to block off the tree, and after that first year she never again tried to destroy the tree (though for several years she seemed perplexed about why we were bringing the outdoors in), or any ornaments, she would even wait until christmas eve to tear into her presents. That first year though, we had to tell her that Santa did not bring goodies to bad little doggies – of course she still got plenty of goodies.

Now, there’s only one thing we want from Santa..

(btw, whenever you see small photos like these in a post here, you can click on them to see a larger version.)

tags:

Well since we admitted already that Kylie’s no angel, here’s a specific example of how bad (yet smart) she could be.. In order to help her maintain her mobility and flexibility in her adulthood we took Kylie swimming once a week. She didn’t “enjoy” it per se, but she was willing and  after her swim session she would always play around in the rehab area like a loony, running and jumping so it seemed to make her feel good.

During her sessions Kylie swam in an endless pool  – you know the ones that generate a current for you to swim against, and with her short neck she did have a little trouble keeping her chin up. So to help her keep from struggling we winched her up a little using the handle on the back of her life jacket. This seemed to work great until…

One day her swim coach unhooked her a little early and she didn’t see it coming and as soon as the hook came off she SANK like a stone!! For a few seconds she actually swam under water! It turns out Kylie had been FAKING it, letting the hook hold her up and pretending to swim!

We were not happy (swimming sessions were like $35/each).. but we were laughing! And soon after, Kylie found herself spending her swimming sessions on the underwater treadmill where there was no way to cheat. Although she did sometimes attempt to keep her front feet on the ledge on the front of treadmill – but hey you can’t blame a girl for trying!