Funny Nina

Forgot about this...Kai-isms

Kai spilled a bit of his juice...and said, "I didn't spill the juice, it's just floating on my knee."
We have a problem with Kai sitting in his chair at mealtime. He fell out of his chair while performing dinner table gymnastics. He said, "I was sitting perfectly, and the chair just tipped over."
We picked Kai up at school today; he was reading on a cot with his partner, Jackson. He told us he was reading, "Plant Life Cycles". On the way home, we asked him what the book was about. He said it was about flowers. Mom asked him if the book taught him that flowers start with seeds. He said, "Yep, and soil." He was truly reading this book, we were watching him for several minutes as he read aloud, quietly. Kelly said she thinks he'll do fine with partner quiet time, he's just a "whatever" kind of kid she said.
Talked about babies in school - what they do. Kai responded with what they DO NOT do. They don't climb rocks or walls.
Listened to Somewhere Over the Rainbow in the car, he said sweetly: "Junie used to sing this to me."

Meecie and Fud still here!

Got to spend Meecie's 59th birthday in Monterey Bay at the Hyatt. We had a great time at the hotel, especially swimming with Kai, and everybody loved the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Meecie's birthday presents were presented to her in the form of a warmer-colder game in the hotel room, but Kai keeps secrets as well as he plays hide-and-seek so he hid them and then said, "Here it is, Meecie!"
Fud woke up after hardly sleeping the night before, in a double bed with Kai sandwiched between him and Meecie. He said that Kai ran 8 miles in the night. He said, "...And the coup de gras was the Mexican man talking on the silly, stupid radio all morning!" Kai loved the sound of that, asked Fud to repeat himself at least a dozen times, and now repeats it for us verbatim.
Nina says a lot; she's a great mimicker both in sound and in expression so she'll be an early talker. She is so, so, so cuddly with Meece and Fud, lots of snuggles and hugging Fud's legs and burying her head into shoulders. She is loving the hats that GG sent her. She puts one on, takes it off, and over and over. Also loves getting dressed; loves shoes.
While playing Nemo (Kai is still into this, "I thought we were playing Nemo" out of the blue...doesn't require a whole lot of energy but we have to be in character while we talk) in the car, Kai as Nemo said, "I love school. I love Great Beginnings." When asked about his favorite part, he said playing outside. I was relieved to hear that.
What else...at the aquarium we went to a presentation in the auditorium. The moderator asked if anybody had questions...Kai, close to the front, raised his hand and said, "I, um, I saw, um, I saw the biggest fish in the world! It was a puffer fish!"
In the hottub he asked the adults across the tub, "Could you move please?" so he could swim over. Introduces himself to any and every kid, always saying, "My name is Kai, K-A-I, Kai." and then will say, "Do you wanna play?" Sometimes they take the bait. More often than not they are older and giggle. Kai just rolls with it.
SO, dear Sara, here are pictures. Kai in red socks - his favorite color - at soccer. Not looking like the coolest kid, but definitely the funkiest. Nina in her first barrette - freaks her out. And birthday gal with dad and kids in Monterey.
xoxoxoxo

Meecie and Fud come to visit!

Meecie and Fud came to visit on Saturday, just after Kai's first soccer game at Land Park and just before his first Sac birthday party for his neighborhood buddy, Collin. It was a busy day; Kai was thrilled to sleep with Meecie in the office as Fud took over Kai's bed and bunked with Nina. Sunday we took off to San Fran for the day while Nate stayed home to study. We hit Golden Gate park first, followed by a drive by the ocean, down Lombard, and to the public market in the Ferry Building. Kai had a rough afternoon, very tired, and said, "I don't want to do nothing. I just want to go home and watch something with paci. Now! NOT the market! I want to go home NOW!" This lasted until Grandpa said, "We'll buy you something at the market, Kai." Bribery works well with Kai. He got a delicious blood orange sorbet from Ciao Bella. (He also said, "I want to plug my mouth with paci." Time to wean the kid.)
Monday and Tuesday Kai spent mornings at school; Fud made our backyard look just beautiful; Kai went to Rocknasium to climb in Davis; Kai went to Cloudy with a chance of meatballs with grandma and grandpa; Nina has words for them "Gpa and Gma", or something like that.
Today Nina's sitter, Lydia Schutter, started. Kai is thrilled when I pick him up from school, he seems to thoroughly enjoy it. Yesterday they made stirfry for their snack. Kai said, "I don't like Chinese food. I like California food. Kid's food."
The day before they made pretzel dough.
The picture of Nina is her first attempt at fingerpainting. The picture of Kai is a nightime tickle with Nate.

big day

Kai woke up wednesday and decided to poop on the potty all by himself, no prodding from me. We considered it a bday gift to Nana. This meant of course the promised trip to ToysRUs - it's all over now - for a toy. We entered the parking lot and Kai said, "Wow! A lot of people pooped on the potty today!" He pretty quickly picked out a cheapie little Cars toy, even after I offered to buy him a trampoline. The trip to TRU was followed by Wee Wednesday, an art class for kids at the Crocker Art Museaum. Kai wasn't in the mood for it, and he let me know by running in the hall, touching the paintings, smearing hands all over the glass even though the curator had just told him to "look with your eyes, not with your hands." Oy vey. A little 3yo was helping me police him. After looking at a few paintings we went downstairs and did an art project with oil crayons and gold paint - a really sweet, beautiful project that unfortunately was not really up Kai's alley. After a few minutes of pounding on the paper and slapping paint all over he said, "It's complete! It's complete! I'm ready to go."
Poor kid just wanted to go home and play with his new toy.
School was great; Kai told me on the way there "Don't drop me off! Don't drop me off!" But when I did he just took off exploring. When I got there after an hour to pick him up he was trying on roller skates and had paint all over his clothes.
Nina loves to go outside, it's one of many of her words.
She chose what she wanted to wear today - shook her head no to something I got out of the drawer and pointed to what she wanted - her blue/floral one-piece H.A. outfit from nana and dup. She's got good taste.
She just put Kai's underwear on her head and paraded around as if it was a hat.
We went to the park today during Kai's hour at preschool; she loves to climb, swing is OK but she prefers to climb and threw a little fit when I didn't let her go down the big slide by herself.
Kai still gets a hot tummy when he doesn't feel well. Day four of school and he already has a green-snot cold. Nina's next I'm sure.
Now it's Friday - one more moon! Yesterday was another hour at school - he didn't want to leave - followed by a trip downtown to the library, a bit of downtime at home, then a swim lesson followed by a trip to the soccer store to buy some shin guards. You'll see in the picture how much he likes his new shin guards. The video is a bit of the kids on the lanai last night, we had just seen a flock of birds fly by and Nina was quite excited about it. Kai was spinning around with a very large broom, pretending he was...I'm not quite sure.
There was a moment yesterday when I was writing this, and it was absolutely quiet. I tiptoed around the house to see what my babies were doing. Nina was on the lanai, sitting very still, just staring at the trees. Kai was laying on his bedroom floor, reading.
Right now it's 7:30 in the morning and Kai and Nina and Nate are all reading on the couch. Sweet way to start the day.

Monday...first day of preschool! Kind of. Just 3o minutes with Nina and I there hanging out. He was fine; I was nervous. Not feeling all warm and fuzzy but hopefully it's just my nerves. I'm so afraid that they won't realize how special my child is. All the other kids seemed like zombies, where was the spark? Will Kai lose some of his spark in that setting? He was climbing the trees and he was in the mood to jump over every gate rather than walk through...yeah, he woke up with an attitude on monday. They didn't notice though.
Tuesday - today, our second day, Kai walked in and sniffed and wrinkled up his nose at the smell of an elementary school cafeteria. However, at this school the former Sac Coop employee drives up in her little moped with her daily purchase of organic fruits, veggies, and dairy, a cute woman with tattoos and piercings. He thought pee-ew but luckily said nothing. Today he spent our 1/2 hour inside, and it's amazing to see how he independently moves area to area, but gets into a groove immediately with other kids. He served himself a snack - poured himself juice and grabbed handfuls of goldfish, and was quite proud. A little girl asked him to write his name, then when he paused for a sec she offered to write a K for him. It was real cute. He loved that and kept talking about it. "Yeah. Yeah. We were nice to each other. Me and that girl, yeah. Yeah."
Went to B&N storytime after and darn it, Mr. Steve wasn't there, just a poor young girl with no talent for corraling preschoolers who were running all over the place. Kai read, and read, and read. Halloween, Shel Silverstein, Backyardigans books...
Then, the highlight, SOCCER! He was the only kid registered in his class so Kai with two coaches - now he knows the world DOES revolve around him! Yes! Kai stayed on for the next class, in which a little 4-year-old boy Roman and Ivy, 2.5, enjoyed running around together. The coach was awesome, and Kai had so much fun. Played in the playground after and then took my sweaty-headed kids to Jamba Juice for a delicious citrusy smoothie. Nina had her own and devoured it; I couldn't take any of it away without a blood curdling scream.
Came home to find a resident's spouse on our doorstep chatting with Nate; she knew we lived just a block down from her and she brought her 14-month-old daughter - Kaia! - to visit. She was really nice, hopefully we'll be friends.
Nina fell asleep on Nate's lap in the living room with all lights on tonight. Kai played with us after she dropped down; he's still obsessed with role play, tonight we once again played Cars. He dropped quickly after the torso-twisting, leg curling, buttocks in the air, try-for-an-hour poop.
Four moons.

Wonderful weekend

Fantastic weekend. It rained saturday morning and was overcast all day sat and sun. With weather like this, I could love it here. Took the kids to the American River pathway, Kai rode his bike while I pushed Nina in the jogging stroller. Finally, with the cooler air we could smell what I remember California smelling like - luscious eucalyptus and the most sweet, fragrant flowers. I kept exclaiming, "Smell that! Can you smell that? It smells delicious!" And Kai said, "Can we eat it?"
We rode across a pedestrian bridge to the other side of the river where Kai tried to climb a few trees - he's always on the lookout for a climbable tree. We made our way to a little playground, played for an hour or so, then rode back. We went to the Davis hands-on museum in the afternoon which doesn't hold a candle to Ann Arbor's, but we enjoyed an hour there.
Sunday Nate worked, the kids and I didn't leave the house until 3. Our destination was a hike from a book I bought with 15 urban hikes around Sacramento. We chose a hike not knowing it was near the airshow, so we had quite an amazing view of thunderbirds circling us but it was also way too loud for Kai. We stayed and played on what may be the best playground in the area, but after 45 minutes Kai had a meltdown from the noise so we left without hiking. We'll return.
The highlight of the weekend for Kai was joining his buddies last night for biking up and down the sidewalk. They were all out - Georgie (3, who reminds us so much of Cole), Rachel (5), Melody (5), AJ (2), Alyce (2.5) and Collin (5). It was quite a scene. Kai and Rachel are kindred spirits, and rode up and back and up and back...Nina chased after the kids and tried to grab wheels and pedals.
Pictures are Kai after his neighborhood ride last night, and Nina watching Kai put on his shoes. She loves shoes almost as much as she loves hats.
Nina's new words, "Oh wow!" Also practicing, "Noooooooooooooooo!" She says book and knows most animal sounds.
Kai was so great all weekend, not a single timeout, I never yelled at him, he never sassed at me, and he was very cuddly and affectionate. I think it makes sense that he's not as well behaved when Nate's around, because he has to compete for my attention. Last night he whispered, "I'm sorry for being mean to you, mom." I said Kai, you've been great all weekend, you don't need to say sorry for anything. Then he sweetly said, "I'm sorry for not picking up the letters and the legos." (This was the cause of a huge eruption and standstill several days ago when I wouldn't play with him and we wouldn't leave the house til he cleaned up those toys, major Kai powertrip. It was awful.)
Nate had a very tough week and weekend, we miss him. But as hard as he works, he always makes time to take the kids outside to play before dinner, to bathe them, and to read to them before bed. Not many other dads do that, here or in Dexter. He rocks our world.

Fairytale town

Kai was thrilled to get an invitation in our mailbox to Collin's 5th birthday party next weekend.
Went to Georgie and Rachel's backyard last night for a quick visit at dusk, the kids climbed the cherry tree, Kai enjoyed eating cherry tomatoes off their vine.
Took the kids to fairytale town yesterday, they both loved it. Kai wanted to play Peter Pan - I was Wendy, he was Peter, Ninsies was Tinkerbell. In the afternoon took the kids out back to frolic in the water but didn't last too long because it was 100 degrees and the concrete is so hot, and we were being pestered by a scary bee. It's supposedly raining this morning, the first since we moved and no more rain in sight.
And I found a sitter! The wife of a resident looking for extra cash. Lydia is very sweet, and her mom's name is Nina!
The video clip is Nina's favorite perch.

Shiners and sprinklers

(Pictures of Kai are all a motion blur, you'll have to settle for more Nins...)
Trying not to feel guilty about Kai. Argh! We're not handling this right. The best parenting advice I've ever gotten was from Rebecca, who told me it's never too late to change the way you parent. That little nugget saves me. Today was one of those days for Kai - one of many lately - when he can't focus on the task at hand for more than 1 minute. I should have grabbed him every 5 minutes and had an intense tickle fight. Or taken him to the park all morning. Or forced him out of the house for a long bike ride. Instead, Nina napped and Kai and I struggled.
Howevs....
We had some fun. Kai is into Uno, played that. Went to an amazing place called Art Beast which is essentially a hands-on museum for the arts. Kai had his 4th YMCA swim lesson and he's getting pretty darn good at the back float. (Nina is MAD that she isn't in the water!)
If you could have seen my little cherub Kai today, dressed up in a much-too-small-Winnie-the-Pooh costume, dressed in yellow fuzz from head to knees, asking anybody around if they would be Tigger to his Pooh. All you could see was his eyes to chin and shin to foot. Heartbreaking. One little girl came up to me with the Tigger costume and said, "You'll have to be Tigger for him. I have to go."
We got to the Y and the Gentilly born-and-bred gal commented on his NOLA Hornets t-shirt (always representing). Instead of breaking into the lineup he said, "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My dad, he watches the new orleans hornets all the time. And I played Pooh at Art Beast."
Nina bonked her head hard on the corner while I was on the phone. Then at Art Beast she took a terrifying tumble down the stairs while I was trying to wipe dirt off of Kai's smelly cheese stick. (I have a love-hate relationship with cheese sticks - can't live with 'em can't live without 'em.)
The night ended with romping through the sprinkler with Nate. Nina is a bit afraid of the sprinkler, as you'll see in the clip.
The other day Kai said to me, "I miss Michigan."
He also said, "No, YOU clean it up!" and "Nina did it!" and "You love me even when I'm naughty." Heck yeah.

Finally, the kitchen

Nate and I stayed up until almost midnight last night putting the kitchen together. I think they like it. Here's a picture of the two upon hearing there was a surprise waiting for them.
Our labor day weekend ended with an active day - first trip on the Sacramento River trail, we're going to have to bike with Kai now that he cruises so fast. And it was Nina's first time in the backpack; I liked having her close to me again, missing the bjorn.
Nate took Kai to a park later in the day, where he met some older girls who played soccer with him. Then Nate took him to the last day at McKinley Park pool, where Kai certainly asserted himself in line for the diving board.
Today we lolly gagged around the house after taking Nate to work. We went to the best story hour in town at Barnes and Noble...Mr. Steve was hilarious, and Kai was THRILLED that Mr. Steve read KnuffleBunny and some other Mo Willems books. (In addition to Kitten's First Full Moon!) It was very participatory and Kai did the most interacting with Mr. Steve. When Mr. Steve started to read a book that Kai wasn't excited about, he went to the shelf and grabbed some stuffed animals and started to try to interrupt by shoving them at Mr. Steve. Yikes! But he didn't push it too far. Nina wandered around picking things off of the shelf and trying to climb the benches. After the story hour Kai read to himself for more than an hour. Unfortunately he wants to read mostly books about characters he sees on TV. Ugh. I would love to throw that thing out the window.
He had his second YMCA swim lesson, poor Nina is almost impossible to contain she wants to go in the water so bad while watching him. Later in the evening, we rode the bike/pushed stroller to the hospital to pick up Nate but when we got there found out he had to stay later - Kai was very sad. Lots of guys in green scrubs wandering around, and Kai often thought he saw daddy (or daddy's friends). He looks so darn cute on that bike, rides so tall and proud, and wearing that flaming red helmet - gets lots of smiles. Rode home and Nate suprised us just a few minutes later. Here's a picture Nina as we were getting ready to go out for the ride.
Nina up three times in the night...again...poor Kai stirs every time. In the middle of the night he practically does somersaults in the bed trying to get comfortable. Or find water. Or paci. It's crazy.
Kai is really into imaginary play these days. We'll be hanging out and suddenly he'll say, chin down with a half-grin, "I thought we were playing Cars." Or he'll say, "Let's play Max and Ruby without the guys." It'll come out of nowhere. I wish I was more into the imaginary play thing, it'll be nice when Nina can join in. All day yesterday I was Mater, Nina was King, and Kai was Lightning McQueen.
Not sure what the day has in store for us, but I'm getting SAD that I have to share these kids soon with school and sitter.

Meeting new friends and a roadtrip to Napa Valley

Labor Day weekend and we get Nate for three days. He needed a day to study, so yesterday I tired the kids out at the "teacup park" and then we road tripped to Yountville via Highway 128. It was a gorgeous drive, and I was glad Kai woke up in the middle of it so I had somebody to share the views with. Lake Berryessa was breathtaking; Kai woke up just in time to see it and while still half asleep said, "It's the Island of Sodor!" He loves the twists and turns of California backroads and loves going up and up and up and up. We came home and the kids ate dinner on our back patio. Saturday we went to the Davis farmer's market, where we indulged in fresh figs and fresh orange juice, Kai played in the playground and Nina stared at dogs. Saturday night we enjoyed an evening with the Belnaps and Kai and Nina played joyfully with their four kids. Nina loved having stairs again and spent a lot of her time climbing up and - I think - trying to fall down a few. Kai loved scooting around the backyard with different helmets on his head.
Nina can now fit into the beautiful dress Jenni Jackson made for Nina. Here it is.

lessons learned

Guys in nba jerseys - even if the jersey is a cp3 hornets jersey - riding bikes to trader joes on friday nights aren't the guys you want to take home to mama.
"Hey, CP3, we're big Chris Paul-New Orleans Hornets fans!"
Reply: "Hey, I love your spice!"
Me, confused. He continues:
"Your freckles, like cinnamon, beautiful spice, I love that spice."
Hmmm...better places to make friends I guess.

But I returned to a bleary-eyed post-nap baby Nina, tired from our day at Old Sacramento where Kai obsessed over candy stores but we all had fun at the railroad museum. Nina freaked out over the horses she saw there; Kai really, really wanted to play somebody else's flute.

Just now, from bathroom where Nate is bathing kids:
"Did you just put that in your butt? Did you?! Sit up! Sit up!"

Kai talkin'

Nina and I sitting on Kai's old crib mattress, Kai tumbling over the side rail, talking, upside down, IN MY FACE: "Did you KNOW that tadpoles turn into frogs?! Did you KNOW that?" When asked what they eat, "They eat cattails...and TADPOLB food!" (remember how he used to say meatballb instead of meatballs?!)

Blogging from Sacto

Into September already and it's still 100 degrees before noon. Nina ate a whole nectarine today and has had five dirty diapers. Visited yet another park in Sacramento today...a few other kids in the playground and Kai was psyched until they left. Then he started bullying the toddlers so we didn't stay long; just long enough for Nina to get a big red sore on her chin. Came home and Kai did potato stamping and painting which meant he stamped and painted himself, and I kept Nina occupied with a paintbrush and applesauce on her highchair tray. Feeling like I need a mantra or daily affirmation to stay patient with Kai. Leave him in the bathroom to poop and he squirts out all the toothpaste or unrolls all the floss or pulls the towel rack out of the wall. Leave him in the bedroom for a timeout and he rolls Nina's crib across the room (scratch scratch the floors) or does dangerous flips over his old crib, or yanks on the blinds til they fall down. Leave him out in the living room while I put Nina down for a nap - wow! He's been reading to himself quietly for almost a half-hour (this is after all watching and treats were taken away for the day because he...I don't remember now what he did!). But oh how I do love this little tornado. Yesterday went to farmer's market in Davis and he fearlessly scaled the rockclimbing wall to the top several times, his tan little calves shaking and his hair wet with sweat, cheeks brilliant red. Followed by a trip through the market where he couldn't keep his hands off the samples and ended up dumping out the melon, then shared his lemonade with Nina which ended up all over her shirt. A band played Route 66, which he knows from Cars, and he kept shouting for more Cars songs. Asked me if we could be in that band someday.