Kaida turned 3 (over a month ago)

Her Buffalo party was ducky themed, except it was too windy to hang the decorations.  So just a ducky cake.

 

Her Pittsburgh party was rainbow themed.  That one was a little easier since it was at home and pretty much anything rainbow colored worked!

 

Even her toes were rainbow colored.

 

 

3 Year portraits.

 

 

 

 

Kaida's 3 Year Old Interview

I trimmed a little bit out, but all her answers are still there.

Here's the transcript in case you need some translation.
A:  What is your name?
K:  Kaida
A: How old are you?
K:  Three
A:  What is your favorite color?
K:  Pink
A:  What is your favorite toy?
K:  Rainbow Dash
A: What is your favorite fruit?
K: Vegetables
A:  What is your favorite TV show?
K: Minnie... Mickey Mouse!
A:  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?
*Rumbling*
K:  Was that thunder!?
A:  No (It totally was).  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
K:  This stuff (pointing to the play-doh cupcake set instructions).
A:  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
K:   Macaroni
A:  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?
K:   Macaroni
A:  What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?
K:  Pizza
A:  What is your favorite outfit?
K:  This outfit, that I'm wearing.
A:  What is your favorite game to play?
K:  Chutes and Ladders
A:  What is your favorite snack?
K:  Pretzels
A:  Pretzels or pretzel fish?
K:  Pretzel fish
A: What is your favorite type of animal
K:  A giraffe
A:  What is your favorite song?
K:  Twinkle twinkle
A:  What is your favorite book?
K:  Humpty Dumpty
A:  Who is your best friend?  /  Colin: Humpty Dumpty sat on wall.  Fall.
K:  Rainbow Dash
A:  What is your favorite thing to do outside?
K:  Play with my bubble chalk (airbrush chalk)
A:  What is your favorite drink?
K:  Lemonade
A:  What is your favorite holiday?
K:  Christmas!
A:  Who do you like to take to bed with you at night?
K:  Rainbow Dash
A:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
K:  Who (I didn't realize she was saying that she wanted to be The Doctor when she grows up so I asked again).
A:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
K:  Rainbow Dash
A:  Alrighty, thank you very much.
K:  You're welcome!


And now she's started preschool.  She's a big girl!

Kaida's Room

I recently made some changes in Kaida's room.  I designed some robots in photoshop and when I printed them out she said she liked them so we framed them and hung them in her room.

 

 

I think they came out really cute and I'm pretty proud of them.  I would have liked a colored mat but I couldn't find one that would have matched the robots very well.

 

 

We hung them on the wall where her name used to be.  I only had to move a few of the stickers to make it all fit.

 

 

 

The reason there was space where her name had been was because her name fell off the wall.  I used the blue stuff and it held for a little while.  Then it started to sag.  And eventually we would hear letters hitting the floor.  But, of course, only at night when she was in there sleeping.

 

Then I had them just in a pile on top of her dresser.  And, after a long time, I propped them up on top of her toy cubes so they were leaning against the wall, supported underneath, and then sort of secured them to the wall with the blue stuff.

 

Somehow, even though the cubes are secured to the wall and can't move, the letters started to sag again and the A at the end managed to fall behind the cubes.  I really don't even understand how it happened but have given up trusting the blue stuff.

 

Anyway after all this I had a great idea.  We used these 3M Picture Hanging Command Strips to hang the robot pictures and they have held up fantastically.  So I decided to try them for the letters. 

They're sort of like Velcro but the two pieces snap together.  You put one on the wall

 

 

And the other on the object you're hanging.

 

 

It's only been a couple hours but so far so good.

 

 

 

I had to take down some stickers on this wall to put up the name. When we first did the room I put the stickers in circle patterns and every time she grew a little she would pull the next highest sticker off.  We started with three circles and today we had one and a half circles left before we pulled them off.

Luckily we had lots of stickers left so I added some more around her name.

She said she likes it but I think she was just excited to play with the old stickers I pulled off.

Imagination

Today Kaida informed me that she had a pet under her blanket.  Its name is Izza-Wizza.  She's a parrot and she goes on adventures on pirate ships.
Izza-Wizza has a friend named *Mizza-Myth (how appropriate!) Who is a small fluffy bunny that jumps.  Mizza-Myth is under Colin's blanket.
Also I cut her bangs last night and today she looks like she grew a foot overnight.  I can't tell if they're related or not.

 

*Edited to change the friend's name from Izza-Myth to Mizza-Myth (I'm not sure if his name changed or if I just heard it wrong the first time.)

Today Colin brought Kaida's blankie, Baby, over to the couch where we were all sitting.  Then he handed it to her and said "Baby".  It was adorable.

JR shaved off his beard today.  It's been a pretty big deal.

Kaida: Daddy, you look funny.
JR: My beard is gone.
Kaida: You better put it back on.

Kaida: Maybe you should go to the store and buy one.
JR: Well, you can't buy it at the store, you have to grow it.
Kaida: You can put water on it to help it grow.

Kaida: Daddy, you look funny without your beard. You look tiny.

And I'm pretty sure she told him that he wasn't the daddy anymore because he didn't have his beard.
I'm not sure JR was totally confident in this decision in the first place but Kaida is definitely not helping.

Zoo pics!

 

This peacock greeted us when we arrived.  We saw 4 of his guy friends and one lady friend throughout the rest of the day.

 This is the Ocelot who surprised Kaida.  I guess if the glass is really clean she has trouble realizing it's there between her and the animals.

The hyenas kind of freak Grammy out but Kaida and Colin weren't bothered.  Colin liked the "Doggies"

 

Colin poses with the bird that wanted to go home with Aunt Manda.

 

Buffalo Zoo

Today we went to the Buffalo zoo with Grammy, Uncle Tim, Aunt Manda, and Owen.  It was fun, well, until Owen got sick and they had to leave.  It was kind of downhill from there since it was well into nap time anyway.
But before all that excitement we saw some bats.  I held Kaida up to look in the window.  She said she couldn't see them so I pointed out a few that were sitting on the ground.  Then one suddenly flew across the enclosure and she sort of spazzed out.  Then she told me "I really don't think I like them."

In the Rainforest area there are net rope barriers so it feels more open.  Right inside there's an Ocelot behind glass that surprised Kaida when it walked right past her and then a bird flew up onto a railing right next to Aunt Manda.  After that Kaida was pretty timid about all the animals in there.  Like, "Yeah, I see the monkeys but a more important question is, can the monkeys see me?"

The whole zoo is more park like than the Pittsburgh Zoo, with lots of open areas and pathways.  It's a little confusing when you're used to one path that goes in a big circle but it's still fun.  I don't really remember what it was like the last time I went but it seemed nicer and more updated.

There were a couple areas to play but we didn't get to spend any time there.  We get 50% off with our Pittsburgh Zoo membership so I definitely think it's worth another visit.

Short Stuff

5/24/13

Colin's belly button: "Beh Boo-Oh!"

He locked himself in the bathroom tonight.  JR asked him "Were you stuck?"  He replied "I stuck"  Sounds a lot like "I stink"

He has an unreasonable love for graham crackers.  He asks for them constantly.  We bought a box at the grocery store today.  When we got home he took it off the table and tried to open it with his teeth (where did my children learn that?).  When that was unsuccessful he brought it to the counter to put with his older box, apparently happy that he won't run out anytime soon.

5/28/13

We think Colin said his first sentence this past weekend.  He was standing on the chair in the dining room looking out the window when he said "I see a doggie!"
So we came to look, but there was no doggie.
So now we're not sure if he was just trying out words he knows or if he was saying something completely different not related to doggies.
We might count it, I don't know.

Kaida learned an entire song and can sing it all the way through without help.  I swear we haven't been watching that much Wonder Pets.

 

Today I called JR to ask if he wanted us to pick him up early since we were out.  I said "All right, I'll call you when we get to the bridge."
Kaida asked me what bridge and I told her the one near Daddy's office.  She asked "The yellow one?"  I said yes (many of them are yellow).  Then she said "The one that goes under the bridge?"  It's a bridge with two levels so while her description was original, it was accurate. 
It gets better though. 
Then she said "And we come home on top!"  Yup, outbound traffic is on the top level of the bridge.
As soon as she can reach the pedals she can go pick him up!

Brilliant Baby!

In the last couple days Colin has picked up a few new phrases and a song!  He's brilliant.

The song is Bob the Builder.  We sing "Bob the builder.  Can he fix it?  Bob the builder.  Yes he can!"  Then Colin sings "Ba ba ba-ba, ba ba ba!"

Yesterday I told him "I need a shower, 'cause I stink.  I stink.  P.U."  He immediately started telling me "You stink!"  I kind of think no one else will be able to hear it but it's hilarious.  He did it again today while we were changing his diaper.  Except he said "I stink."  It's funny 'cause it's true.

While we were emptying the dishwasher today JR handed him a plate and told him to give it to me.  He gave it to me and said "Here you go."  Like, who even taught him that!?  Brilliant!

I should probably see about getting him into a gifted preschool class :-P

Short Stuff

5-14-13
We had Perogie Kielbasa skillet with Haluski for dinner tonight.  I gave Kaida some Haluski and then asked her if she wanted a piece of kielbasa. 
"No, I'll have some of that chicken."  She proceeded to happily eat 2 or 3 slices of kielbasa (epic proportions for her).

5-15-13
This morning Kaida brought in a book to read to me in bed.
"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.  Jack fell down and got hurted..."
She also read me a coupon she found this afternoon.  It was remarkably similar to The Night Before Christmas.

She has really been amazing me lately.  The "reading" thing is fun.  But she also recognized the number 8 when we were at the store on Monday.  And at dinner the other night she thanked JR and then said Gracias as well!

Colin has started calling his lovey Dee-Dee.  When we can't find it we wander around calling "Oh Cutie!  Where are you?"  And he says "Oh Dee-Dee!  Dee-Dee?"  He also has the most adorable Thank you and has started saying "Mal" for milk.
And he loves Graham crackers and had a melt down today when we ran out.  Guess what, Ritz are not a reasonable substitute, I should have known.

Mother's Day Portraits

We had some pictures taken on Mother's Day.  They came out really cute.

Kaida and Colin: Short Stuff

Yesterday Kaida introduced herself to a little girl while we were waiting to go into zoo class.  She said "I want to play with that girl"  so I told her to introduce herself and how to do it.  She said "Hi, my name is Taida!"  And the girl said "Hi, I'm Madison".  I should have told Kaida to say "Nice to meet you Madison"  so she learns a trick for remembering names early on.  But I'm pretty sure she could try Madison or Sophia, if she doesn't know another little girl's name, and be right half the time.

So before JR left Colin was calling JR Daaaah-deee (or Mama).  But now as soon as he sees JR on Skype he starts saying Byee!  I'm afraid he's starting to think that's JR's name.

At Target -
Kaida (to little girl): Hi, What's your name?
Little Girl: Eva
Kaida: I saw Wall-E.
Little Girl: ?

Colin loves his wearable blanket.  Before bed I hold it out and he runs over to stick his arms through the holes.  It's adorable.  I'm a little worried that he's going to have a hard time weaning off it when it gets hot.  There have been a couple nights where its been warmer so I didn't put it on him.  I don't know if it's coincidence or not but he seemed to wake up a lot those nights.  I guess we'll just struggle through if it is a problem.

I Hate China.

JR went to China, so we've been on our own for more than a week now.  To break up the monotony a bit we decided to go visit Grammy and Poppy.  We had a nice visit.

But after 4 days and nights at Grammy's house we had kind of a rough day today getting back into the swing of things.  It probably didn't help that Kaida had Zoo Class this morning so Colin had a babysitter.

Kaida seemed sort of out of it at zoo class.  She didn't answer any questions at all.  And normally you can't get the kid to zip it.  Then on the way home she fell asleep for a minute.  I woke her up so she could have her real nap when we got home.

While we were at Zoo Class the babysitter put Colin down for his nap.  I guess he was up there for more than an hour but didn't actually sleep.  He could be ready to switch to one nap but that would be rather sudden.  Hopefully mom can put him down a couple times while she's here so he gets used to someone else doing it again.  Since I'm planning a date night when JR gets back.

Other than being sleepy, or not being sleepy, the cranky level has been dialed up to an eight and the naughty level is through the roof.  There is still cat food all over the kitchen floor from where they just picked it up out of the bowl and threw it.  In the office I found a pot lid and every single bobbin for the sewing machine on the floor.  As I cleaned that up Colin threw a dirty disposable diaper in the toilet, while Kaida was going potty.  Not to mention the never ending dishwasher battle I have with Colin on a daily basis.  And, he ate a ball.

When we skyped with JR I asked him if he wanted to see them one last time before he reads about us in the news. 

I sort of hate China.

Kaida and Colin: Short Stuff

Kaida has a little obsession with having her hands washed after she eats.  Understandably since she's usually pretty messy.  But I also think it's because when she was a baby she would cry to get down from the high chair but we would tell her she had to wait until we cleaned her first.  Now she sees it as her ticket out of the booster.  Once I'm clean I can get out of here.
Anyway.  Today she asked several times for us to clean her hands.  Eventually I told her she should use her napkin.  She tried it but wasn't very successful.  Cue the whining.
So then I helped her use her napkin to wipe her hands
Kaida: "You're the only one who loves me.  And Daddy."

Colin has started saying Please.  I'm pretty sure that's what the peep sound evolved into.  And he also says potty.  We talk about, and go to, the potty about 8,000 times a day so I totally understand where he picked that one up from.
He's hilarious when he calls JR.  He often calls him Mama but when he calls him Daddy he says Dah-Deeeee.

Colin just switched to his size 4 shoes.  He has one pair with shoe laces (holy annoying) and the soles are very firm.  All his shoes up to this point have been very flexible (including his other pair of size fours).  It's pretty funny because he has a super hard time walking in them and just sort of stomps around.

In a related story:
Tonight Colin stomped into the kitchen, went to the fridge, yelled a little, ate the cheese I gave him, and stomped back out.  Apparently I am now living with a teenaged boy.
I never would have put the shoes on him if I knew they would make him act this way!

Colin Pictures!

Laundry basket ride.  We brought Goodnight Moon down since it needed some repair work.

He's very sad that Daddy won't give him the milk but it does show the curls he gets after
bathtime pretty well.

Finally, milk!

Aunt Judy let me play with her phone when she came to visit!

I don't actually know how this happened.

He works the bow headband

He can't keep his hands off his head when he eats.  This is the result on the extreme end of the spectrum

Dress up fun!

So the wings are how the Easter Bunny gets around to so many houses, that explains it.

He's definitely warming up to the idea of hats.