December 2007

December 10, 2007 2:12 PM
Florida and Disney! Kaya also took her first big vacation in December! Her parents took her to Florida to go to Disney World and also to visit her Uncle John and friends. The family left early on Sunday December 9 to board the autotrain for the trip to FL. It was Kaya's first time on a train, and her first trip out of state! Once on the train, Mommy and Daddy quickly learned that some things, such as walking around a fast moving train and trying to eat in the dining car, are really hard with a baby! Especially a very wiggly and active baby! But it was still a fun way to travel. Monday morning, the family was able to check in to Disney's Port Orleans resort early, and went to the restaurant to get lunch. However, Kaya wasn't happy sitting in the Bjorn and wouldn't let Daddy eat his lunch, so they ended up bringing food back to the room instead. Then they were going to head out to the parks, but were so tired that they all took a long nap first. That evening, they went to Epcot. This was the first time that Kaya's parents had ever driven to any of these parks - they usually took the buses before they had Kaya. So it was quite interesting as they had to learn their way around the Disney property - they definitely got lost a few times! It was also the first time they ever had to walk so far to the gates - those parking lots were huge!

Disney trip -part 2 So after entering Epcot, Kaya got to ride her first ride, which was Nemo and Friends at the Seas. Kaya seemed to enjoy the ride and was quiet and calm the whole time. After that, they visited the manatee exhibit, since Kaya's nickname before she was born was Manny the Manatee. Sometimes her parents still refer to her as the manatee. After leaving the seas, the family walked around the world showcase so Mommy and Daddy could get dinner in Japan, and Daddy could get soft pretzels in Germany. Those are the best pretzels in the world by the way (and that means the entire world, not just Disney world). Epcot closes at 9, so the family intended to go to the Magic Kingdom next since it was open until Midnight. However, after taking the monorail to the transportation center, they realized they were too tired! So they took it back to Epcot again and headed home to the hotel.

Disney Part 3 On Tuesday, the family went to the Magic Kingdom. It was very nicely decorated with all the Christmas decorations. Kaya got her picture taken with Daddy on Main Street, and then she got to ride a few rides. She rode the TTA, during which the first half Daddy held her and she was smiling and laughing as she looked all around outside. However, once the ride passed through the dark space mountain, Kaya was very very unhappy! She does not like the dark! So Mommy had to hold a not as happy Kaya after that. Kaya then napped while her parents took turns riding space mountain. She also got to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, both of which she mostly slept during, and Snow White, during which she stayed awake. Mom and Dad were very proud of Kaya and hope she will continue to like or at least tolerate rides! After a fun day at the Magic Kingdom, the family headed over to Epcot for awhile.

Thu, Dec 20, 2007 4:00 PM
This afternoon Kaya surprised her Grandma Martin by meeting her at babies R Us for a quick shopping trip! Boy, was that Grandma surprised when Kaya jumped out from behind one of the store pillars!

Mon, Dec 24, 2007 1:10 PM
Merry Christmas! Kaya's mom has been bad about updating her journal this past month! But it was a great month for Kaya. She has become very social recently both with people and with her toys. She still loves the puppy bears, but is more interested in smiling and laughing at mommy and daddy now. She also still loves to play with Freddy, especially to chew on his wings and legs. Actually, Mommy and Daddy suspect she may be teething slightly because she immediately chews on everything she can get in her hands - her hands, other people's hands, blankets, clothes, etc. And she smiles the whole time. Another new habit is the constant drooling she does. Mommy still doesn't put drool bibs on Kaya, but she will have to start wearing them soon. Kaya is also starting to show a great interest in food. When Mommy and Daddy are eating, she watches avidly, and even gets a bit jealous and cries if she hasn't been fed recently herself! Mommy was hoping to put off introducing solid foods to Kaya until she was 6 months old, but she may have to start sooner. She'll see what the doctor says at Kaya's next doctor appt! Kaya is pretty awake and active all day lately. she usually will take 1 good nap which Mommy appreciates. In the last few weeks she finally started losing some of her baby hair, but she still has plenty of hair growing in. Mommy thinks she will have a baby mullet soon. nice!!

Fri, Dec 28, 2007 9:12 AM
Kaya had her first snowboarding trip to Blue Mountain today! Kaya hung out in the lodge with both Grandmas while Mom, Dad, Grandpa Martin, Uncle John, and Jessie went out skiiing and boarding.

Sat, Dec 29, 2007 8:27 AM
Starbucks A random note on Starbucks. Kaya has been many places in her young life - the malls, the zoo, breweries, beer fests, parties, visiting relatives, disney, trains, etc..but one of the places she has been most often is Starbucks! Mostly the ones in various barnes and noble bookstores, but also the mall ones. This is because Starbucks is one of Mommy's favorites! Starbucks or Coffee may very well be Kaya's first word!!