More silliness

My new favorite picture

Kaia was very excited to see the Easter Bunny and kept telling me she wanted to sit on his lap...until we got up to him. Then she did give him a high-five. But she wasn't too sure about sitting on his lap...so I sat down with her. When we walked away she was all smiles and kept talking about going "back" and sitting on his "lap".

These bowls are her favorite toys. Doesn't she look so proud of herself? She saw the picture I posted earlier on the blog of her standing in the bowls and she decided to recreate it. Her new thing is looking at pictures of herself and trying to make the faces or do the things she sees in the picture.

In the car!

Cool girl!

Talking to Nana and Papa on the computer! Kaia loves it!

Playing hide and go seek with Daddy! He found her!

What's My Name?

Instead of saying Dada, Kaia has started saying Josh. She usually repeats it when I say it and Josh has been telling Kaia that his name is Josh and Mama's name is Kaitlyn and she tries to repeat them. But last night she actually started calling him Josh when she wanted him, instead of Dada. It was really funny. I asked her what my name is and she said "Mama". I asked her what her name is and she said "Mais" (She tries to say Kaia sometimes, if we ask her to repeat after us, but it's still difficult to say). Then I pointed to her daddy and asked her his name and she said "Josh". When it was time for bed I took her upstairs, which made her mad because she really wanted her daddy. She kept yelling "dada dada dada" and when that didn't work she started yelling "josh josh josh". I couldn't help laughing. Eventually she calmed down and went to sleep, but we'll see if calling him josh continues today.

I want to add this too, so I don't forget. Kaia calls Grandma Hazel and Grandpa Vernon "Nana" and "Papa". I've been wondering what she's going to call Julie, since "grandma" is too hard to say. Up until now Kaia hasn't really given her a consistent name. Last weekend we were at their house and Kaia started calling Julie "Mahmoo". Her name for Kurt was a little harder to figure out, but it's something like "Popple". It's adorable the way she says it, and I wonder if these names will stick.

A way with words

Kaia's new favorite word is "okay". It's so cute when she says it, but I haven't caught it on video yet. We laughed the other night because it seems like she's already figured out how to use words to get us to do what she wants, and still make it seem like it was our idea!

Kaia: "bath?"
Josh: "Do you want to take a bath?"
Kaia: "Okay!" (Like it was his idea...she runs over to the stairs and waits for him to come too.)

Pictures!

Wearing Mama's shoes and scarf!

Silly girl loves bowls!

Mama and Maisy!

Taking a snooze

Reading with Daddy

Cool Like Dad!

Hanging out with Mama

With our friend Jenna! (Kaia calls her Nenna)

Cool dude! Kaia giving her version of 2 thumbs up!

Growing Up!

Kaia had her 18 month doctor appointment yesterday. The poor girl is starting to hate the doctor's office-she cries when she gets in the room. And who can blame her, when she only goes there when she's sick or has to get shots, which is every three months. The good news, which I wish she could understand, is that she's finished with her shots and doesn't have to get anymore, except for the flu shots, until she's 5! Yay! She weighed 26 lbs (in the 70th percentile) and is 32 1/4" tall (60th percentile)! She is definitely big for her age (maybe she got the Marten genes and will be tall), but her growth has slowed over the last few months, which is to be expected. Especially her weight gain now that she's running everywhere and is all done with bottles! We've officially gone 2 weeks now without any bottles, except for Sunday night when she woke up in the middle of the night and was inconsolable-a bottle was the only way to get her to stop crying. She'd been sick this weekend with a stomach bug, so I think she was still not feeling well. But other than that she's been going to sleep great without one! I think it's been harder to wean us from our dependency on them than it has been for her. Now my challenge is to figure out how to get her to drink her milk, since she spits it out when drinking it from a cup. Any suggestions? If so, leave me a comment!!

One more thing I have to add because I don't want to forget it. Maisy loves anything with music. This includes commercials, and if the Subway "Five Dollar Footlong" song comes on she drops what she's doing to watch. She even tries to do the hand signals. She's also my little social girl who loves parties. She loves the Progressive commercial where 2 guys from other insurance companies are buying insurance. When the Progressive saleslady says "office party", Kaia says "party" and laughs. We were heading up the stairs last night and she heard that commercial come on and had to go back and watch it. While we were laughing, Josh told me this story...

Yesterday Kaia woke up from her nap, but was still tired, so Josh took her downstairs and sat with her on the couch. She had her eyes closed and was breathing heavily, and he was pretty sure she was in a deep sleep. A commercial came on that Kaia really likes, and it has music. She suddenly opened her eyes, sat up, and pointed to the commercial. Josh said "do you like this one?" and Kaia said "yes", then she closed her eyes and went back to sleep! Hilarious!

Memorable Maisy Moments

• Running! Kaia goes to one end of the living room and says "go!", waits for us to say "go", and then runs to the other end, laughing the whole way. When she gets done she gives us a fist bump and says "yeah" and then goes over to Berkeley and tries to give him one too, until I say "Berky thinks you're very fast". I think we need to train him to give her one back. Repeat at least 10 times, or until she gets distracted by something else.
• Singing! Kaia loves to sing, whether it's along with a song on the radio, with Mama (her newest favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Wheels on the Bus...she's learning the actions!), or with a video while in the car. I'll never forget the 1st time I heard her singing along with a song in her sweet little voice...it just melts my heart! But my favorite is Kaia singing "How Much is that Doggy in the Window" with Nana Hazel. When I told her Nana used to sing that to me she wanted Nana to sing it to her too. And now everytime I try to sing it to her, Kaia says Nana, and we have to call Nana to have her sing it instead.
• Kaia loves the dogs! She does such a good job being gentle when she pets them and says "nice" and "good dog". Whenever we come home she says "hi dogs" and whenever we leave she says "bye guys" and "love you" and gives them kisses.
• Her new favorite game is saying "Oh Mama", then I say "Oh Maisy" and she laughs and says "Oh Mais". I'm glad we've given her that nickname because it's much easier for her to say than Kaia!
• A little parrot....Kaia repeats just about everything we say now with amazing clarity, so we have to be very careful in choosing our words!
• Kaia's learning to say please "peas" and thank you "thanks". She has started saying "peas" when she wants something and is learning that this is the key to getting what she wants. I'm starting to forsee some problems in the future when she says "peas" for something she she's not supposed to have...
• Her favorite phrase is "no way"! Instead of just plain no, if she doesn't want to do something or doesn't like something, it's "no way no way no way". Thanks to Daddy for trying to teach her to say "no way josé"!
• And we also have our share of toddler pouts and screams. When Kaia is in a pouting mood or tries to avoid doing something she goes into the bathroom and "hides" between the toilet and bathtub. And when she gets mad she screams a very loud, high-pitched scream that usually lasts a few seconds and makes her face turn very red. I have to stifle a laugh when she does this and just wait for the tantrum to stop and for her to turn back into my sweet little girl. Oh the joys of toddlerhood.