Firsts

I was going to wait until Monday to write this blog, but since today is June 1^st and the title is “Firsts,” I figure it made more sense to post it today.

A lot of firsts have happened recently! So I thought I would share some with you.

• Kayley pointed at Andrew and said “dada!” about a week ago. Then later that day she pointed at his picture and said it again! She has said “dada” before, but this was the first time she said it and pointed and we were 100% sure she meant her daddy.

• Last Sunday, Andrew felt Cub for the first time!

• Kayley experience her first at home water-play on our balcony and loved it!

• Kayley had her first taste of my chicken pot pie and meat loaf and loved them both. She also enjoyed ramen for the first time.

• Kayley fed herself with a spoon! Boy did she get messy, but we are so proud of her.

MmMmMmm Tasty

• Kayley had her first really good look at the Space Needle. We’ve never really pointed it out to her before. But when we took Andrew’s childhood friend to Kerry Park, we made sure Kayley knew what we were looking at.

The classic picture

• Kayley drew a picture all by herself for the first time. Now we have a pad of paper and some crayons at home so we can have more drawing time.

• Kayley got to attend her first bridal shower and had a blast with all the wonderful ladies. Congrats again Mike and Heather!

Aunty Heather, Uncle Mike, me, Kayley and Andrew enjoying the wonderful sun! It was a perfect day for a bridal shower

• Kayley went to her first farmers market and enjoyed eating fresh sweet snap peas and part of a baguette.

• Kayley played in the sand for the first time! She also ate some…

What is this stuff?

Digging with Kaylin

• Kayley took her first trip to the library. She loved seeing all the books and kept pointing and pulling books off shelves while saying “ga! Ga!” (“Ga” is her word for book. We think she got it from her favorite book, which is “Baby BeluGA.” For the past three weeks she has picked that book every night for her daddy to read.)

About to enter the library.

• This morning, Kayley played with her shadow on the wall for the first time. She has noticed it before, but never tried to play with it.

• Andrew starts his first day at his new job at Amazon on Monday!!!!!

They sell things from A to Z!

We're super excited for our new adventure that is about to start. We don't know exactly what it will be like, but we think the hours will be a lot better for our family. Andrew has training for about a month, and then he'll be working Tues-Sat. It will be totally different, but just think of how less crowded places will be on Mondays. ^_~ Thank you, God, for providing this new job!

Visiters

As I’ve mentioned, Andrew’s folks came up for a visit so they could attend Kayley’s dedication and her first birthday party. Kayley got to play with her Grandpa and Grandma V for a whole week! And she loved it!

The sad thing is, Andrew, Kayley and I all caught colds right when they arrived - this also means there aren't a lot of pictures since I don't take pictures when I don't feel well. Thankfully they weren’t too bad, but mine was enough to take me out for most the week (being pregnant and having a cold is exhausting). So sadly we didn’t get to go to the children’s museum, or the fairytale park like I originally planned. The good thing though is that I was able to go nap and rest and leave Kayley to play with her grandparents (Kayley barely had the cold, so she wasn’t slowed down much, just extra grumpy). Thanks to them, we all were able to recover before Kayley’s party. Plus, they helped me go on some errands and went on some errands themselves while I prepped stuff at home.

Even though our week wasn’t full of special outings, Kayley had some great play time with her Grandpa and Grandma V. I think her favorite play time was when all the blocks were out and they would build towers for her to knock down. 

Before

After

All this playtime and face time has really helped Kayley remember who her Grandparents are. We show her pictures and talk about them, but man oh man did the week visit really help their faces stick. A few days ago we had a video chat with them, and Kayley was super excited to see their faces and hear their voices again. She even said “hi,” waved right away, and pointed and said “oOoOoo!” All other video chats prior to this visit she was happy but not this happy. 

Playing with Grandpa and stealing his hat

Giggles with Grandma

All smiles!

Hopefully the next visit we’ll all be in tip top shape to go on adventures!

***You have less than a week to vote on if you think Cub is a boy or girl! Votes are anonymous, but you only have until June 8th to make your guess. Poll is located on the right near the top of the blog. 

Party Time!

On her birthday, Kayley got to enjoy the Imagine Children’s Museum and the Rainforest Café. A few weekends ago she had her first birthday party! Many family members and friends were able to join us for the celebration. Her Maimie, Grandpa V and Grandma V even got to be there for the event.

Since Kayley loves animals so much we had an animal themed party. Mark, Andrew’s dad, created a birthday sign, and animal wall and table décor for us to use out of a clip art file I found. I personally think the animals were super cute, but nowhere near as much as the birthday girl. Andrew, his folks, my mom and myself set-up for the big bash while Kayley took her nap, and I am so thankful for all of their help. Right before the party began Kayley woke up and we got her dressed for her party.

Pointing at her birthday sign. She was very excited about it

Some of the yummy food, and the cakes!

This little girl is a social butterfly! Even though she’s only one, she made sure she said hi to everyone who came to celebrate. She was so excited to see so many people she knows. And she seemed to really like all the animals all over the place. We had some of her stuffed animals, and her blocks for the kids to play with. And for the older kids and adults we even had a craft area set-up to color your own animal mask.

Kayley playing with some of her friends

Party time!

The craft room

After some socializing and munching of food we played a game that included all ages. Thanks much to Andrew and his mom, a box with a secret prize (Cold Stone gift card) wrapped inside was wrapped in about 35 layers. Each layer of wrapping paper had a message written on it. Some said “prize”, which meant you got to pick a prize out of the prize bucket, and others said things like “act like a monkey,” “name 3 Disney animated movies,” “give the birthday girl a hug,” “give 5 people hi-fives,” etc. It was a fun game, and gave everyone an opportunity to unwrap the gift once or twice. Plus, we made sure each child got to pick a prize from the prize bucket. Thus I don’t think we were dealing with any jealousy when Kayley opened her gifts later one. 

Ray acting like a monkey

Quinn having her turn at opening the gift

Beckie naming 3 Disney animated movies

Hiroe giving the birthday girl a hug

After the game we set-up Kayley’s high chair so everyone could witness her and her first cake. I made a HUGE cupcake (milk and egg free) chocolate cake for her. She was a little shocked when everyone started singing “Happy Birthday” and Andrew was holding this huge cupcake with a number one candle burning on it. At first she looked around at everyone singing, but then she just stared at the cake. She had no idea what to do when Andrew put the cake on her tray (candle-less). 

I do NOT want to wear a hat

What's going on? Everyone is singing

She barely touch the frosting right away, but then examined her hand right away trying to figure out what the stuff was. She touched the frosting again and looked at it weird – she doesn’t like getting super dirty. I tried to offer her some but she shook her head no, touched the frosting again, and then shook her hand to get the frosting off. This happened a few time and she refused to take a taste. She only tasted it and realized how good it was after she fed me a piece. I guess she wanted to make sure we weren’t giving her poison.

What is this stuff?

You eat it mommy. Gotta make sure it's not poison.

Alright, I guess I'll take a bite

THIS STUFF IS SO GOOD!!!

She really went at it after she finally tasted it. I’m a little surprised at how much of it she ate. And man was she on a sugar high after that! She was nowhere near wanting her early evening nap after the party.

Yeah, she ate a lot. And this was taken while she was still eating!

Had to take her to the sink for a proper cleaning

And on a side note to a few particular people (you know who you are!), I would like to say that Kayley did not have any friends or family members who tried to sample her cake before or after she had a bite. 

Kayley's cake

The carrot cake

The orange-coconut cake

After the cake eating (we had carrot cake and orange-coconut cake for all the guests) Kayley got to open her gifts. She really liked reading all the cards people gave her, and had a lot of fun playing with tissue paper. She was super excited about everything she opened though, and if it came in a box, she wanted to give it to her daddy to open. Thank you everyone who blessed Kayley with time to celebrate with her and/or gave her a gift. They are all much appreciated. 

Aren't the animals cute?

Reading a card together

Tearing off the wrapping paper

We are so glad so many family member and friends were able to come and celebrate our little girl turning one. You all made Kayley’s first birthday party very memorable.

Ps. If you haven’t done so yet, don’t forget to vote on if you think Cub is a girl or boy. The poll is located on the right near the top and will be open until June 8^th.

Mother's Day

I know Mother’s Day was nearly three weeks ago, but I am only just finding time to write about it. We’ve been busy, Andrew’s folks came to visit, and Andrew, Kayley and I all caught a cold. So without further ado, here’s what we did this year on Mother’s Day.

As you know last year was my first Mother’s Day as a mom. It was filled with a lot of effort, and out of all that hard work I was able to meet my beautiful daughter, Kayley.  This year was another exciting Mother’s Day for us; Kayley was dedicated at church! 

All dressed up for the special day

Some of you might be wondering what that means. We’ll to sum it up as simply as I can, it was Andrew and I saying in front of our church family that we will raise Kayley to know God, and asking our church family to keep us accountable to that (Proverbs 22:6 Raise up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it). It’s different from baby baptism, which I disagree with, but that’s a whole other theological story and explanation. But we started off Mother’s Day with this celebration. And to make it extra special, Andrew’s folks came up from Cali to witness it, plus my mom, sister, bro-in-law and two nieces came to our church as well – we took up a whole row at church.

There were ten babies up on stage this year! Wow we had a baby boom! It was exciting and encouraging to be packed up there on stage up with little ones and their parents. Each family got to share a bit about their child being dedicated and then Pastor Craig prayed a prayer of blessing over the child. I’m surprised at how well Kayley did up on stage for so long. She kept pointing at all the little ones on stage, pointing at the screen that showed pictures of each baby, saying “hi” to everyone, and trying to get some of her adult friends (mostly Alli and Ray who we were standing next to) to play with her.

All the families

Kayley's turn!

Pastor Craig saying a blessing over Kayley

After all that Pastor Seiya asked us parents formally if we planned on raising our children to know God and in a way that pleases Him. He then asked the congregation if they would assist in this and keep us parents accountable. Then the elders of our church, plus grandparents, joined us on stage to pray over the little ones one more time. 

Pastor Seiya taking to the congregation

Praying over Kayley

It was a lovely service, and we followed that with a family picnic in the park. 

Enjoying our picnic

The cousins!

Thank you God for the wonderful sunny weather as an extra blessing to celebrate Mother’s Day. And please help Andrew and I to raise Kayley (and Cub!) in a way that is pleasing to you so that she (and Cub) will come to know you at a young age. 

Giving Cub some big sister love

All smiles ^_^

We love you, Kayley!

Checking out a flower while being grumpy about sitting on grass

Trying to keep her feet out of the grass

So cute and sweet

Don’t forget to vote on if you think Cub is a boy or girl. The poll is located on the right near the top of the page. You have until June 8^th to cast your vote.

K's 12 Month Check-Up

We visited Z for Kayley’s 12 month check-up today and received a great report! Like at her 9 month check-up, she was recorded to be tall, lean and healthy. Here are her 12 month stats:

Weight: 19lbs and 13ozs (25-50%)

Height: 30 and ½ inch (90-95%)

Head circumference: 18inch (50-75%)

She’s a tall one for someone her age. No wonder why people always guess she’s older than what she is. Z was impressed with how mobile she is, and her list of words and specific sounds she does for things; mama, dada, uh-oh, hi, and she recently started saying “ga” for books, and something that sounds like “woof woof” for dogs. Though she doesn’t do them all the time, she has those down pretty darn well.

She also can point at her nose when asked and her foot too. She also knocks when asked, claps, and she can “shake it baby shake it,” which is what we say when she has a shaker toy. There are a few other things she does when asked (like, “please give that to mommy,” and “can you share?”), but she’s still grabbing the concept of those. Today I actually asked her if she could “knock knock knock” while we were in the living room. She thus walked down the hall to the hall bathroom and knocked on the door. I was very impressed since she hadn’t done that before.

Anyway! Back to her doctor appointment! So Kayley is doing great for a little one her age. I told Z that Kayley had been fighting a temperature for about 4 days, and that when it went away her whole body broke out in a rash that doesn’t seem to both her at all. I was told this is very normal for little ones and not to worry about it and that it should be gone in a few days. I forgot what she said it was called, but it’s very common for 6 month to 2 year olds to get. So yay for being nothing else!

While at the doctors Kayley got three shots, one in her leg and one in the back of each arm. Oh I hate hearing her cry about it. =( I wish there was some way to explain to her that even though it hurts it’s to help keep her from getting sick. She recovered quite quickly though, though a pouty look was left on her face for a while. Before we left to go home, I let her have some time watching the fish so she could relax a bit more before being strapped into her car seat. That seemed to help. But she still had this look when I strapped her into her car seat:

Kayley's disapproving look

It seems very disapproving… Well, her next visit to see Z is when she is 15 months old.