Monday, September 20, 2010

Terrible 2's


The Terrible Two's have hit with a vengeance!
The meltdowns are getting quite intense. Kana is super happy and giggling one minute then rolling on the floor crying the next.  She is going through a big "only mommy!" phase. No one else is allowed to do anything when mommy is around. No one can see what Kana is doing, or play with Kana, or help Kana..."only mommy" has to do everything!

Kana is very advanced with her verbal skills. She is way ahead of all the other kids her age. She's a little shy at first, but soon talks non-stop, sings and dances. She can recite most of her ABC's, counts to 14, and can even spell her name! She memorizes all the words to songs and books and repeats everything she hears and see's. She loves to give commentary on absolutely everything! Her favorite time of the day is sitting at the dinner table. She is always the first and last one eating. When asked if she is done, she starts shoveling food in and says "I wanna eat, Yeah, yummy yummy in my tummy!" She sure loves to eat...anything and everything. Mommy tries to make sure she eats only healthy food. We are lucky she is such a good eater because she is equally excited about "special treats" as she is about her daily vegetables. She was quite tickled about the baby & mommy carrots that were "treasures" she found in her soup last night.

She was so excited about Baby E's 1st birthday party in Santa Barbara this last weekend that she stayed up half the night repeating everything that happened. Licking the chocolate frosting was the highlight, of course.
While on a walk this morning, she told Kiwi that "she has to be a little bit dangerous!" We don't know where that came from but it's been cracking us up.

 She has a busy schedule this Fall. We have our ongoing playdate with her best buddies on Mondays, usually shopping & the beach with mommy on Tuesdays, Baby Ballet in Torrance on Wednesdays, Toddler class in Hermosa Beach on Thursdays and the park with the nanny on Fridays. We have been travelling most weekends, so it's been a little hectic. Kana loves to be home playing with her toys, dancing to music in the family room, hiding in the closet with her backpack, or riding her trike & cars in the backyard. It's very difficult to get her out of the house sometimes. She also has to sleep with all of her friends. The number of stuffed animals and babies in the crib is constantly growing.
The scar from her stitches WAS healing nicely, until she jumped off the bottom stair, pushing nana aside to do a face plant onto the tile last week. It now looks like the forehead wound opened just slightly and has a yellow bruise surrounding it. ;o(
Her 2 year well-baby check-up is next week. We are curious to see her exact height and weight. We are pretty sure she is still off the charts since she fits in some 3T clothing. All the experts say that toddlers get really picky at this age and don't want to eat, we don't think that is happening here. She loves to help cook and bake in the kitchen. She is mommy's little Taste Tester! Our friends predict that Kana will be a famous chef someday, mommy says she may win the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest when she grows up! ;o)  Although she is quite intense with her moods lately, she as also been extra cuddly. She loves to snuggle and read stories.  She is a happy girl... wearing us all out.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

A great birthday

Finn, Ethan and Kana had a fun time playing this morning. We didn't even plan the coordinated outfits! They are just the most adorable children! We love to see them play together. Kana wasn't excited about sharing her new toys just yet, but she always loves to see her best buddies.
Happy Birthday Kana and Nana!



Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Happy 2nd Birthday Kana!!!



Kana's having a great time celebrating her birthday week! We went to Disneyland w/ her BFF's on Monday, to the beach & helped Nana bake cupcakes on Tuesday, to the Aquarium & out for a joint birthday dinner celebration w/ Nana on Wednesday. Tomorrow is the actual birthday... more excitement to come! Lot's of presents to open in the morning and two of her closest friends are coming over to play! She is one happy girl, Singing "Happy Birthday dear Kana" to herself all week!






  
Disneyland w/ Annika and Caden

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Pacific Northwest

I’ve been on vacation in the Pacific Northwest now for 5 days and I can sum it up best in one word FUN! I am having so much fun I even yelled out loud, “I having fun” while standing in the kiddy pool. It was made just for me. It’s one foot deep and I treat it as my playground. The big pool is a bit scary so I try to make daddy sit in the little pool with me. He doesn’t like it very much since the weather is breezy and cool and most of his body is above water.My cousins, Harrison and Owen, are taking good care of me and I really like having girl time with Aunt Megan. I’m still warming up to Uncle James. He’s really nice and he took out my stitches for me but he’s like a giant and so I find him a bit intimidating. I get to see Papa and Gramma every day cause we are in the same condo. I put together some video of me in the pool and some pics of the week so far.


Tonight was really cool because I had my first Smore. We didn't know it but apparently it was international Smore celebration day or something to that extent.We had an early bonfire, just after 6pm, so I could get to bed close to my normal time. The crazy thing about it was this was the first evening that there weren’t any clouds or a marine layer to darken the skies and up here the sun doesn't set until after 8:30pm. You can tell from my expression that I enjoyed the Smore a little bit. I had marshmallow and graham cracker all over my hands and face. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Yummy.


Holding hands with my Cousin Owen. He takes good care of me. Harrison is waiting up ahead.

Stitches Out

All I have to say is no tears, no fussing no crying. I'm tough!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I Can Read.......well sort of




As you can see I know this story very well. Some might say by heart or that I've memorized it. I say I can read. What do you think?

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Update


Kana is recovering well. She is pretty tough. She slept almost 13 hours last night and woke up happy in her crib with all of her stuffed friends.
Wow, her first stitches, just a month before her 2nd birthday! She was a good girl on the flight home. She was getting a little tired & cranky waiting in the airport, but once we got on the plane, she was the perfect traveler. The man next to us even made a comment about how well she behaved. She loved looking out the window at take off and kept busy eating snacks, coloring, reading and watching "kana bideos" on the iphone. She got a little nervous & held both of mommy's hands for the landing sitting in her own seat for the first time. We made it home safe and sound around 8pm. She enjoyed visiting Elk Grove and is a seasoned traveler now... ready for her next adventure to Portland on Friday. ;o)

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Trip in Oakland then on to Elk Grove

I went on an airplane with Mommy today to visit my Auntie Steff in the hospital and to see Gung Gung and Daisy.  We flew into Oakland to meet and have dim sum with my great grandparents. The problem started with stupid Southwest Airlines. After a short, direct flight, they somehow lost my carseat and wouldn't give Mommy a loaner since we were non-revs. So after waiting for about three hours, Mommy "borrowed" an abandoned carseat and as we were going to the car I tripped and hit my head in the parking lot.  It was pretty traumatic.  Mommy told Daddy that I had a hole in my head. Check out the picture.
 
After all that waiting at the airport, we didn't have time for dim sum either.  I was so bummed.  When we made it to Elk Grove,  Nana cleaned me up and Mommy called Kaiser and off I went to the ER.  I got two stitches. I tried to be tough but I cried when they held me down.  I'm all better now though.
Do you think the stitches will help with my street cred? Daddy didn't have stitches until he was 24 but both he and Mommy spent plenty of time during their formative years in the ER so I come by it honestly. I have to have the stitches removed at the end of the week so I'm going to have my Uncle Jim do it when I get to Portland.  I'm not supposed to get the stitches wet so until they are removed there will be no washing my hair and my face if I can swing it.
I'm off to bed.  It's been a long day with some new wild experiences and others I could live without.  We are only here for 24 hours, so I need my sleep.  Good night.