New Old Photos

I finally found a way to get the photos taken on my phone transferred onto my computer. So, here are a few of the pictures of Kaya I have taken over the past 8 months. The quality isn't great but the memories are. I can't believe how tiny and fragile she looked as a newborn, she is a totally different baby now.The most recent shot: Happy girl @ 7 months old

Kaya's 1st carousel ride @ 5 months old

Kaya in her shades @ 2 months old

Papa reading to 1 month old Kaya
Papa & 3 week old Kaya loving on each other

Mommy & 1 week old Kaya

Boots! @ 1 week old

ShuShu's 3rd Birthday

Today we celebrated Joshua's 3rd birthday. We took him and Adam to a reptile show at the Nature Center where we got to pet a 20 foot long snake and lots of other snakes and lizards and went on a nature walk. Then we met up with Kaya's grandma, grandpa, aunties and uncles for dinner at Thai Orchid and then went to Joshua's house for cake and presents. Kaya's favorite part was when she grabbed a huge handful of frosting while everyone was singing Happy Birthday. 

Weekend Update

We had a nice, relaxing Saturday. First we spent the morning reading the library books that Kaya and Papa picked out from the library. She liked the Caillou books that are in Spanish the best. She also loves the Dr. Seuss ones, especially "My Pet Your Pet Wet Pet Dry Pet" And "Mr. Brown Hears a Moo, Do You?". 

Then we went out to dinner. Kaya sat in her high chair and gummed on tortillas. She is getting SO easy to take out in public now. We stopped by the park on the way home and Kaya went down the slides on Papa's lap and swung on the swings. It wasn't her first trip to a park but it was the first time she ever used the playground equipment. She smiled and laughed and seemed to have fun but I think she was more interested in the other kids than anything. 

Showing her approval for the swingset through a round of applause.

Also, Papa brought home a new toy for the spoilt girl today. Since the day she was born, people have been telling us that she should play piano because her fingers are so long (Kels calls them starfish hands).  She had lots of fun sitting in front of it, banging on it and making a swell racket.

Nice, relaxing Saturday. Tomorrow is cousin Shushu's 3rd b-day so we are taking him to the Reptile Show then Grandpappi is coming to visit and then we are going to Shushu's b-day dinner!

As Requested

Per the request of Uncle Pattycakes (who claims to check this blog far more frequently than it is updated) - here are some photos of Kaya taken over the last week.

Kaya and Mommy tried to beat the heat in sundresses and bare feet.

We took a bus ride around downtown Long Beach due to extreme boredom. Miss Holiday loved it, especially not having to sit in her evil, dreaded carseat.

She found a way to play with ALL of her toys at one time. My girl's so smart.

On Labor Day, she wore a pretty dress for a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Scoby, Great-aunt Stephanie and her second cousin, Katie (Grandpa Jim's sister and niece).

Grandma Kim also came to visit and she and Kaya spent the whole afternoon together while Mama slept! They walked to the beach; they watched Pocoyo DVDs; they played with toys and Grandma fed carrots to the baby.

I think that's about all the new photos we have. It is getting much harder to take pictures of her since as soon as I turn the camera on, she crawls up, gets right in my face (as pictured below) and tries to grab/eat the camera.

Milestones

I realized that I have been so busy reporting on all the activities we've been doing that I have completely failed to document all the developmental milestones that Kaya has reached and all the new tricks she can do to delight and disgust us. She's learning and growing so fast at this stage that it feels like everyday brings something new. 

At 6 1/2 months, she could pull herself up to a standing position while holding on to furniture. And, she started scooting around, using her arms to get where she was going and just dragging her legs behind her. Not the quickest mode of transport but she had some mobility for the first time and she was able to maneuver herself right off the bed and conk her head on the ground more than once. That's when I realized that Kaya being able to move around independently was going to drastically change this whole parenting thing! 

By 7 months, she was crawling all over the place, up on all fours with her tummy off the ground. She gets into absolutely everything. She has a toybox full of toys and even if I dump them all on the ground for her to play with, she will crawl right around them to tug on the wires to Papa's record player or bash Mama's laptop keyboard (which has already been replaced once due to a certain someone barfing their morning bottle onto it). Most of my days are spent baby-wrangling and chasing her around trying to keep her out of danger and trouble but it is really amazing to watch her discover the world around her. She has such a curiosity about everything and everyone and she's really starting to interact with her surroundings in a meaningful way.

In the last week or so, she has started to figure out how to use and control her hands in a much more coordinated way than ever before. She has started clapping her hands, waving bye-bye and she likes to sit on the kitchen floor while we are cooking and bang on a pot with a wooden spoon.

She is still nursing but she is a great eater and has gotten the hang of solid foods now. Shaun and I make all of her food ourselves, at home, in the food processor. It's actually pretty fun to just walk around the produce section at the supermarket, grabbing whatever looks fresh and delicious and coming up with new mixtures and ingredients for purees. She has a pretty diverse palate, I think; she will eat veggies- even the bland ones like cauliflower- and, she likes rice and barley cereal. But, fruits are her absolute favorite.

She loves strawberries and bananas, blueberries and peaches, apples and plums. I don't think she's met a fruit she didn't like. It's still a very messy process but that kind of makes it more fun! Besides, I think she looks quite fetching with a sweet potato goatee!

Sometimes it makes me a little sad to watch my sweet, fragile newborn growing up so fast and turning into a chubby, busy little infant but mostly it makes me proud. She is so smart and healthy, curious and loving. I am so excited for what the future holds- everything from her first Halloween costume to her first words, first steps, first Christmas- there is so much to look forward to!

Summertime & the livin's easy...

It has been almost unbearably hot the past few weeks (nothing in comparison to LA, I know- especially with the terrible fires still burning). We are trying to keep cool and take advantage of these last few weeks of summer by doing fun outdoor activities like splashing around in the little pool in the yard. 

Or, if Kaya had her way- eating the little pool in the yard. But, I think we are all just kind of ready for summer to be over.

We picked out Kaya's new fall wardrobe and I can't wait to dress her up in her teeny new peacoat and cardigans. I think she looks especially charming in this hat.