Disney

Kaya and her parents drove to Disney on Monday December 1. Kaya loved so many aspects of disney it would be impossible to describe them all. But here goes:
- She loved all the Christmas decorations and was constantly pointing at statues, balloons, people, etc.
- She 'talked' to people all over - on buses, on the monorail, at the hotel. By the end of the trip, alot of hotel guests even knew her by name!
- She loved the characters! she was so excited to see Pooh bear she almost jumped out of Mommy's arms. and she giggled and tried to pull his nose. :)
- She loved water fountains, especially the one in France. fortunately it was too high to jump in.
- She collected things off of shelves in gift shops, and gave them to Daddy to hold. At one point Daddy was holding almost 20 figment dolls. Don't worry, he put them all back (but Kaya did get 1 Figment as a present!)
- She went on lots of rides: Dumbo, Snow White, Aladdin, Triceritops Spin, Haunted Mansion, TTA, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, the railroad, Winnie the Pooh.
- She ate lots and lots of Mac and Cheese and grapes. And she learned that she likes Nutri grain bars too.
- she cut more teeth while she was there - has 3 of 4 molars now!
- She started saying "uh-oh" when she drops food on the floor. Unless she does it intentionally!

Florida and Disney Vacation

Kaya took her first plane trip to Florida on Tuesday Nov 25. She was very well behaved on the plane considering that she could easily kick the tray table on the seat in front of her! But in general she was behaved during the entire travel adventure. Kaya loved running up and down the ramp at the Philly airport, and once in FL had fun running around baggage claim and the car rental place. After arriving in Stuart FL for 6 days with her grandparents, Kaya discovered the following fun stuff in the florida house:
- A budda doll
- all the lights/blinds/etc
- Jumping in puddles outside
- Showering! Kaya has decided she will no longer take baths, only showers. She loves standing in the middle of the water and letting it pour over her head.
- Swimming. Kaya throws an absolute fit whenever anyone removes her from the pool. She loves to splash, and always wants to go deeper.
- Rice cakes, pretzels, and watermelon became some new favorite foods.
- Being upside down. Kaya loves to be held upside down. This started way before FL, but she really loves it!
Kaya also visited friends Ruth and Chris on Tuesday, spent Wednesday with Uncle John (where she had fun playing in the sand at the beach, carrying around Jessie's Hippo stuffed animal, and chasing around P-dog), spent Thanksgiving dinner with her family and Jessie's family (which went well, except when Kaya almost swallowed a rock from the fish pond!) and hung out with her Grandparents and took long walks with Grandma in the stoller the last few days.

Boyfriend

Kaya has a boyfriend! His name is Caleb and he's about 1 month older than her. They go to school together, and he gives her hugs all the time. Hopefully he's not also giving her colds!

Franklin Institute Visit

Kaya went to spend the day in Philadelphia today! She and Mommy woke up early (for a Saturday) and went to the Franklin Institute. Kaya really seemed to enjoy running around the science exhibits. She walked through the giant heart, got to sit in a race car, and even checked out the rock wall (but decided against climbing it). Mommy hopes Kaya will be more into rock climbing soon! She also had a great time looking at the ball rolling contraption and chasing some other kids around. And she got to go on a 10 foot train ride and steer a boat. One favorite activity was picking up a bunch of paper airplanes that other people had created from the floor. She smiled alot the whole trip. :)
After that Kaya was pushed around Philly in a stroller. That's the way to see the city! She slept through a lunch at Cosi, but woke up in time to cheer Mommy on as she sucked down a starbucks Latte. Mommy can't wait to take Kaya to more museums soon!

Week of being sick

This week Kaya got a double whammy - an ear infection AND pink eye in both eyes. Mommy did not have fun giving her 2 different antibiotics a total of 5 times a day. Kaya got to play hooky for the first 4 days of this week though. She stayed with Daddy on Monday, Grandpa M on Tuesday, Mommy on Wednesday, and Grandma C on Thursday. By Friday she was ready to go back to school. Thank goodness for antibiotics.

Fun Stuff

Funny and cute things Kaya has been doing lately:
Trying to brush her teeth. she usually ends up chewing on the toothbrush. She has 10 teeth now!
Trying to ride the base of her car like a skateboard! Mommy and Daddy were not happy to look over and find her standing and balancing on a wheeled object! Needless to say, the car has been retired..and it looks like Kaya may be ready for snowboarding sooner than anticipated. Obviously we don't have a picture of this!
Waving bye-bye to Mommy when she drops her off at school.
Running away from Mommy/Daddy/Grandma/etc and looking back over her shoulder to make sure she's being chased!
She's talking up a storm, and it no longer sounds like babbling. But most of the words are not clear.

Halloween

Kaya was Minnie Mouse for Halloween this year. She loved running around in the dress, but wasn't as thrilled with wearing the ears. She mostly wanted to take them off and chew on them! It was really hard to get a good picture of Kaya in her costume this year, because she can't stay still. Grandma and Grandpa M came over to visit and to see her in her costume. After that, Kaya went trick or treating to a few houses, including Grandma and Grandpa C's house. She also got to pat the dog that lives across the street - Roxy. She really liked that. She thinks Roxy is a big cat!

Trip to NJ

Today Kaya, Mommy, and Aunt Jessica drove to Princeton to see Anita and her new baby Sid. He's pretty cute!

Happy Birthday Uncle John!

Kaya's Uncle John is celebrating his birthday today!

Today Kaya got to do the long car ride back home to PA. And she also had lunch for the first time at Wendy's! Kaya ate a few pieces of her chicken nuggets, but more importantly, had many many spoonfuls of Grandma's frosty! Kaya's parents are happy that she's a little older now and can enjoy the finer things in life!

First Wedding Reception

Kaya got to attend her first wedding reception today, on the lake in Canandaguia NY! Kaya started her day with a long car ride through lots of rain with Daddy, Mommy, and Grandma Martin. Kaya doesn't like to be in her carseat long, so it was great that her "Granny-Nanny" was there to entertain her! While Mommy and Daddy went to the wedding, Kaya and Grandma had a fun time running up and down the halls of their hotel, and riding the elevator. Kaya liked to push the buttons in the elevator. Then after the wedding, Kaya and Grandma got dressed up and were able to attend the wedding reception. Kaya really liked the lodge feel of the reception hotel, and she kept running back and forth through the lobby and pointing at the stuffed bear at the entrance and over the doorway, and at a stuffed animal bear in the gift shop. She defintely had alot to say to those bears! One hotel guest couple decided that because she was being so cute with all her running and pointing, that she needed a stuffed animal bear - so they bought her one as a surprise! Kaya loved carrying him around the rest of the night!
At the reception, Kaya also liked dancing a little - both alone and with Mommy and Daddy. And when the band took a break, she even tried to run behind the microphones to check out their equipment. All in all Kaya had a great night. :)

Shuttling

Another new hobby that Kaya has adopted in the past month is shuttling toys back and forth. For example, she will move stuff animals from the couch to the chair, and then move them all back one by one, in the same order. She'll bring Mommy 4 mini books, and then take them all back to the shelf. She'll bring her shoes to Daddy, and then take them away again. And she does this about 100 times in a row. It really is amazing that she doesn't sleep a bit better!

Freedom

Within the last few weeks, Kaya's parents purchased a few additional baby gates and opened up more of the house to Kaya. She's absolutely loving the fact that she can run into the front hallway, through the front room, and through the pocket door and back to the kitchen. Naturally she is related to Mommy as she likes running in circles. She also loves going into the front hallway and shaking the bells on the door, as well as tapping her Pooh Happy Birthday balloon to make it sing to her. And when it does sing, she likes to dance and sing along. We think she's a good dancer and has a great singing voice.

"Dis" and "Dat"?

Kaya has become more verbal this past month. She's constantly pointing at objects around her and asking "Dis?" or "Dat?". She wants to know what everything is called, and she wants to play with absolutely everything she sees. She is especially interested in all things lighting - lights on the ceiling, light switches, and the dome light in Mommy's car. Obviously Kaya is related to Daddy and the two will be holding father-daughter days in the IKEA lighting section soon.

Kaya's also just talking up a storm about everything and nothing. She's not really understandable yet, but she clearly says "Aya" to talk about herself, and cat pretty well. And of course Mama and Dada. She also knows which door Daddy comes through when he gets home from work, as she'll point in that direction and ask "Dada?" all the time when she's waiting for him to get home.

New Shoes

Kaya got her second pair of everyday shoes today! They are pink and size 4.5, and have little flowers stitched all over them. They will replace her size 4 navy blue ones that she has grown out of. Mommy is a little sad because she loved those blue shoes!

Update: On Monday, Kaya got lots of compliments on her new shoes from her teachers at school!

Pumpkins

Today Kaya went to Pete's Produce, a farm near her home, to pick out a pumpkin for Halloween. Kaya took off running as soon as she got there, and had fun patting the pumpkins and trying to pick them up. She helped Daddy pick out a big pumpkin for carving, and then even found a small pumpkin and carried it around and put it in the wagon all by herself! Then she also helped Daddy by pushing the wagon and trying to pull the handle. When Daddy was paying for Kaya's new toys, Kaya walked around and picked up several purple flowers that had fallen off some of the mums that were for sale. She definitely recognized that these flowers belonged in a group, and she picked them up and handed them to Mommy. She also tried to give some to a few strangers.
Later in the evening, Kaya also got to taste raspberries for the first time. Mommy and Daddy bought them for Kaya along with the pumpkins. At home, Kaya kept saying "mmm..mmm.mmm" while she ate her raspberries, and after she was done, even pointed to the colander of berries that she knew was up on the counter and kept saying "mmm. mmm. mmm!" to let Mommy know she wanted more. It's nice to know she can communicate her needs even though she doesn't talk much yet!

Infant Carseat

Today was Kaya's last morning riding in her infant carseat on the way to school. For the last month, Kaya has been riding backwards in her old carseat in the morning, and then forwards in her new carseat in the afternoon. This was mainly because Mommy and Daddy could quickly transfer Kaya from bed to carseat to car in the morning without waking her up. BUT Mommy has decided that since Kaya has grown past the 30 inch limit for the old seat, it's time to stop using it. Plus it was getting too heavy to carry!

Kaya's Birthday - A Trip to the Zoo

Not only did Kaya get to go to the zoo for her birthday, but she also got to ride in her forward facing carseat for the first time! When she got to the zoo, she got to play in the tree house with Daddy. The treehouse is great place for kids to run around, and the family pretty much had the place to themselves that morning.

Last Day in the Infant Room at School

Today is Kaya's last day in the infant room at her school. She's going to miss Ms Stacy, Michelle, and Trisha, but she's going to have a great time with Ms. Katie and Ms. Annie in the Toddler room. The toddler room comes with other benefits, like new toys and a playground! The toddler room also comes with benefits for Mommy too - snacks and milk are provided, and the cost per week decreases!

New Blog

For her 2nd year, Kaya's going to try out a new blog! Here's another picture from year 1 though. Actually, she is 1 day old in this picture.

The Distance Run

Kaya is great at cheering Mommy on at races. Today Kaya went to Philadelphia REALLY early so that she could watch Mommy run the half marathon. Thank you Kaya!

Happy Birthday Kaya!!!!

AT 8:20pm, Kaya officially was 1 year old! To celebrate, her Mommy and Daddy, both sets of Grandparents, and Uncle John and Jessie had dinner at Kaya's house, and then sang Happy Birthday to her right at 8:20 pm. At the end of the song, Kaya started clapping for herself, and then everyone joined in. Then Kaya took her very first taste of cake..or in reality frosting. She wasn't too sure what to think of it, so she immediately decided to feed some to Daddy instead! After cake Kaya got to open some of her first birthday presents, and had a wonderful time with the gift wrap as well (Kaya is a mini human paper shredder!). :)

Kaya's Birthday - A Trip to the Zoo

Random Kaya Facts

Wed, Sep 3, 2008 12:22 PM
Some general fun Kaya stuff:

She loves to unroll toilet paper, and take the wipes out of the wipes container 1 by 1. She's still horribly mean and rolls over during diaper changes. especially the dirty ones. :( She loves to clap and will clap if you ask her to. And she loves to pat, pat, pat the cats. She also loves to pat Daddy's head and always laughs when she does. We think Daddy's spiky hair must feel like a cat! She completely self feeds now, even breakfast, and also tries to feed Mommy food all the time too. Sometimes she'll just pretend she's going to feed Mommy and will take the food back at the last second though! total fake-out. She thinks that the sound of people sneezing and coughing is FUNNY. She's learning to eat with a spoon, but often gets the wrong end in her mouth. When she doesn't want to be picked up, she'll throw her arms up, her head down, and let her body go completely limp. She's starting to have tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants. and she's becoming very assertive! Her newest favorite stuffed animal is her white bunny. She can open 1 of the cabinets that has a child lock on it. Daddy things she's going to be good at those tavern puzzles. She loves to walk and hold her book open in front of her. She's all into handing people things, like books, food, clothes, etc. very helpful! She's starting to react to basic commands, like "Go to Grandma" or "Get your book". But she certainly does NOT react to "NO"!

Official Last Day as an Infant

Today is Kaya's last day as an "infant" although she's been toddling around for awhile now. She had her 12 month doctor's appt this morning, and she's doing great. She still hasn't hit that 20 pound weight requirement to have a forward facing carseat yet though! Mommy was planning to wait a few more weeks before using the new carseat anyway, because it's just too convenient to still be able to use the carrier in the morning before school. Kaya's doctor said she's doing great with eating and she's healthy and ahead on her milestones. So that was all good news to Mommy. Tomorrow Kaya gets to party!! and eat the first of her several birthday cakes! Today is also the 1 year anniversary of the day that Mommy and Daddy took a 7 mile walk to encourage Kaya to get here!

Happy Birthday Grandma M

Today Kaya visited Grandma and Grandpa Martin to celebrate Grandma Martin's birthday!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy!

August 2008

Mon, Aug 4, 2008 12:13 PM
Kaya turned 11 months old today! Mommy took the usual picture of her in the chair next to the sign...sort of. Kaya was very uncooperative! Mommy did not get the newborn sleeper comparison picture yet however. She may wait and take it while Kaya is asleep. Only 1 more month until Kaya gets to eat cake!
Tue, Aug 5, 2008 12:16 PM
Kaya took the day off from school today and spent the first half of the day with Grandpa Martin and the second half with Grandma Criddle. What a lucky girl Kaya is!

Wed, Aug 6, 2008 12:14 PM
Kaya really likes clapping her hands lately. It's very cute. She also will give you a "high 5" sometimes. Today Kaya went to Reading to visit Grandpa's office while Mommy had her teeth cleaned. Then she went to Starbucks (her favorite) with Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa. Kaya also tried mashed potatoes for the first time today. She liked them! She's all set for Thanksgiving!

Tue, Aug 19, 2008 6:51 PM
Kaya has become more dedicated to walking this week! And she's been wearing her shoes every day at school too. Kaya still will crawl if she is in an unfamiliar situation or place, or if she is very tired. But the rest of the time she's stepping all around, usually with a toy in each hand. Her hair is getting long in front too. Mommy can now put it up in a little ponytail on top of her head. She's not ready to cut Kaya's bangs yet!

Thu, Aug 21, 2008 5:00 PM
Kaya had a great day in daycare today! She got to go out to the toddler playground with the "big" kids (1-2 year olds) and she absolutely loved it. Her teachers said she just took right off as soon as they got out there and had a great time climbing over everything and playing. After that in the afternoon, Kaya apparently comforted one of the younger babies when he was in his bouncer and crying. She kept bringing him toys, rocking him, and gently rubbing his head. :) Mommy feels like Kaya has really grown up this past week!!
Fri, Aug 22, 2008 6:30 PM
Tonight Kaya went to her first real playground with Mommy and Daddy. Kaya loved being pushed by Daddy in the swing, but she was happiest when he was facing towards her. She also had a great time going down the sliding boards with Daddy, but seemed even more interested in climbing up the slides instead!

July 2008

Tue, Jul 1, 2008 5:01 PM
Kaya took 2 steps tonight before falling. And she also ate her first "piece" of pizza. Now that Kaya is eating regular food, Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to introduce her to one of the finest foods on earth!! She seemed to like it, especially the tomato sauce.
Wed, Jul 2, 2008 11:02 AM
Kaya and Mommy went to Longwood Gardens today. They stayed for just over an hour because Mommy's attention span is short when it comes to plants! Later Kaya had fun at home using the laundry basket as a battering ram to try to break down the door into the living room! Kaya enjoyed her first saltine crackers in the evening too. cheese and crackers soon!

Fri, Jul 4, 2008 8:20 PM
Kaya is 10 months old today! Kaya and her parents spent the day at home relaxing, since it was a holiday and the beginning of Mommy and Daddy's vacation from work!

Sun, Jul 6, 2008 4:21 PM
for her 10 month birthday Kaya got a car that she can use to walk around, and later ride. It sings and has lots of flashy lights and a shape sorter in the hood too. It didn't take long for Kaya to figure out how to walk around with it!

Mon, Jul 14, 2008 11:06 AM
Mommy kind of forgot to add in that Kaya is 100% off bottles now! She went to the sippy cup about a month ago. Yay for Mommy for having less bottle washing and sterilizing to do! Kaya has also decided she is DONE with all baby foods. She will only eat table foods now! So mommy has tried to be inventive with finger foods for both Kaya's lunches and dinners. So far she likes peas, corn, carrots, mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets! The foundation of a well balanced meal!!

Sat, Jul 26, 2008 7:00 PM
Today while Mommy and Daddy went to cousin Gwenn's wedding, Kaya stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. Kaya also had a funny experience with Guiness (the cat) that evening. Kaya was in her exersaucer stationary entertainer while Grandma was doing dishes. Guiness loves to be close to Kaya, but isn't the smartest cat on the block (far from it) so she walked right up to Kaya and laid her tail on the tray portion of the saucer. When Kaya grabbed her tail super fast, Guiness tried to run away..but Kaya didn't let go! She ended up being spun around in a circle in the saucer!! Mommy and Daddy can't wait to take Kaya on spinny rides. :)

Tue, Jul 29, 2008 11:27 AM
Kaya loves to pull things out of the refrigerator and freezer now. She also can open some of the (non-babyproofed) cabinets and loves to take out the pots and pans. And she loves the dishwasher too! Mommy has to close it up quick once Kaya sees it open. Other things she's been into the last month are hair grabbing (ow), face grabbing (ow), offering to share her cheerios (cute) and taking steps (but not fully committed to walking yet). She also has started giving Mommy and Daddy full on bear hugs, which is really cute. And she still loves to take sips out of "real" glasses even though she usually ends up with liquid all over her shirt! She is also quite the talker, although Mommy and Daddy can't quite understand her yet. She says things that sound like "Kaya" and "cat" in addition to Dada and Mama.

Tue, Jul 29, 2008 7:30 PM
Kaya, Mommy, and Daddy went to the mall tonight to buy Kaya her first pair of shoes! She's a size 4, medium width. She now is the proud owner of navy blue and beige sneakers! She doesn't really like wearing them yet though. she's more interested in playing with the laces.

June2008

Wed, Jun 4, 2008 8:20 PM
Today Kaya is 9 months old! She started the day with her nine month well checkup with Dr. Totoro at Paoli hospital. actually, she started the day by sleeping in with Mommy until 8:30. But after that they went for the checkup. Kaya did well at the doctor even though she had to get an injection and a hemoglobin check. She was very active while there and even managed to eat a small piece of the paper that covers the exam table. What is it with the paper obsession anyway? After the appt, Mommy and Kaya went back home to play for awhile, and then they left for the mall. Kaya had her 9 month pictures taken in the afternoon, and she did pretty well for them - although she refused to sit still and kept crawling out of the picture / off the backdrop. But everything turned out ok!

Sun, Jun 8, 2008 7:10 PM
Kaya has started saying "Mama" to Mommy finally. After many weeks of everyone (Mom, Dad, the cats, random objects) being referred to as "Dada" or just plain "GA", she started following Mommy around the house and calling her Mama. Sometimes it comes out as more of a "meh-meh". But we're working on that. :)

Mon, Jun 9, 2008 3:10 PM
Today at school Kaya drank all of her milk from her sippy cup at one feeding. This is the beginning of the end for bottle feeding. YAY.

Mon, Jun 9, 2008 7:00 PM
Today Kaya stood up on her own for at least 30 seconds. And then she carefully sat back down. It was almost long enough for Mommy to consider going to get the camera! But Mommy wasn't brave enough to do that yet. She also managed to take a half step forward..before sort of falling into Mommy's arms. We won't count that as a first step, but she could be getting close. Kaya also likes to throw her toys all over the place. She will throw or kick her shapes from her shape sorter and then chase after them when they roll away. She especially loves the blue circles because they roll really far. And she also enjoys pulling up on her bookshelf and throwing her books on the floor one by one..and then chews on the lucky winners.

Sun, Jun 15, 2008 10:25 AM
Kaya celebrated Father's Day by first going to Reading to see her Martin Grandparents. After that she came back home to see Daddy (who had to work most of the day) and then have dinner with Daddy, Mommy, and her Criddle Grandparents.

Tue, Jun 17, 2008 10:17 AM
It looks like Kaya's top 4 teeth are all coming in at the same time. Mommy is very very scared. And Kaya has been up a zillion times the last few nights as a result of the teething. Plus, yesterday after 9 months of sleeping on her back,she suddenly decided she wants to sleep only on her side or her tummy! Watching Kaya chase the cats around is pretty funny too. She seems to crawl faster and lift her arms and legs higher when she's after them. And she gets this super excited expression on her face. Apparently our cats are pretty dumb, because they don't run away from her fast enough!

Sat, Jun 21, 2008 9:04 AM
Kaya went to Abigale's 1st birthday party today and had a great time. She got to watch the other kids run around and even got to play in the Moonbounce for a little while. Mommy now wants a moonbounce for Kaya's home!! A permanent one! One tooth also came in today - the top middle left one!

Sun, Jun 22, 2008 9:00 AM
Mommy spotted another tooth this morning! This one is on the top right, not right in the center but to the side of it. A vampire tooth!

Mon, Jun 23, 2008 2:58 PM
Another upper tooth came in today. Hooray! Now Dracula is really starting to bite everything.

Mon, Jun 30, 2008 2:59 PM
For fun, Mommy is going to list some of Kaya's favorite activites: 1) crawling to the head of the bed, holding onto the headboard, and violently patting the picture Mommy and Daddy have above the bed. She does this several times a day, and can't be convinced to give up. 2) Cat chasing. Enough said. 3) trying to grab the gas line to the dryer. 4) trying to bite the straps of her changing pad. and carseat. and stroller. 5) trying to nurse while laying on her tummy. believe me, this is interesting. 6)pressing the buttons on the safe. they beep. 7) playing with the ties on Mommy's sweat pants.

Mon, Jun 30, 2008 5:15 PM
Kaya took a step tonight. And then fell! And then repeated this process a bunch. We think Mommy's promise to buy her new shoes when she starts walking is starting to inspire her!

May 2008

Fri, May 2, 2008 11:21 PM
Kaya has been crawling in some form for awhile now, is pulling herself up on everything and is into everything, but somehow her parents have never seen her roll over from back to tummy until tonight. Now she's all over the place when Mom and Dad try to put her to bed!
Sat, May 3, 2008 12:03 PM
Today Kaya took her first trip to Lincoln Financial field in the morning. No football right now though! Then she also took her first trip to Gettyburg to see her grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and cousins!
Comments:
Aunt Marcy: Hi Kaya, I enjoyed seeing you today. You are really getting around and you are sooo cute. I hope you had a good time and we hope to see you soon. Love ya Aunt Marcy
Sun, May 4, 2008 8:00 PM
Kaya is 8 months old today! She had a great day today watching Mommy run the Broad street run in the morning, and then going to Kai's first birthday party in the afternoon.
Sat, May 24, 2008 8:21 AM
Kaya has been extremely active the last few weeks. She seems to be everywhere at once. She will no longer be still during diaper changes, much to the anxiety of her parents. Once the diaper comes off she immediately twists, flips over, and basically tried to escape the situation. Then Mommy gets to chase her bare butt around the room trying to get the new diaper on!
Wed, May 28, 2008 1:47 PM
Daddy took a vacation day today so he could spend the day with Kaya and Mommy. Kaya got to eat (Puffs) at the West Chester diner, and then took a 2 hour nap with Mommy! (Mommy likes to nap. ALOT). Then the family went for a walk at the park on Paoli pike. This was the park where Mommy walked 7 miles the day before Kaya was born (maybe to encourage her to be born!!)
Thu, May 29, 2008 6:00 PM
While playing outside on the deck tonight, Kaya managed to stand up for a few seconds without holding onto anything. Mommy is hoping she masters this feat before she gets her 9 month pictures taken sometime next week!!

April 2008

Mon, Apr 7, 2008 6:38 PM
You can tell Mommy got really busy at work because Kaya's site hasn't been updated recently! Kaya is still doing great. She has been belly crawling and doing "yoga" and moving around a bit now. She also makes forward progress by lunging and crawling a bit, though she doesn't have it down perfectly yet. But she can get herself back to a sitting position when she needs to, which is nice for Mommy - who doesn't have to rescue her all the time! of course, she still backs herself under the couch every once in a while. She's also having fun experimenting with new sounds, and really REALLY likes to blow raspberries when she has a mouthful of food. Very funny (and messy!). Peas and sweet potatoes are her favorite foods for sure. She isn't that interested in any fruit type foods yet, although Mommy has tried apples, pears, bananas, and peaches. She also got her first tooth within the last 2-3 days. It's on the lower right in the front, and very very cute. Mommy is a bit scared though!

Tue, Apr 8, 2008 6:29 PM
Kaya started officially crawling on April 8 - to the point where she can be somewhat of a terror to the cats. She is into anything and everything - usually things her parents do not want her to play with, such as: tv remote, cell phone, cables, the laptop, carpet fringe, shoelaces, the straps on her carseat. everything. The cats are scared, and with good reason! Even the wood floors aren't hindering her movement anymore!

Sat, Apr 12, 2008 6:32 PM
Kaya has started to pull herself up on furniture and people now. Let the baby proofing begin! She also really really wants to eat paper. And today she sort of waved hello to Daddy when he was riding around on the tractor mowing the lawn!

Sat, Apr 12, 2008 6:36 PM
One cute thing Kaya has been doing lately is trying to lean a little forward in her carseat so she can smile at Mommy when she's driving. Don't worry, Mommy drives safe. And Kaya's big smile is so cute! And her second tooth has arrived too!

Wed, Apr 23, 2008 5:54 PM
Kaya has her first ear infection. and she HATES the bubble gum flavored medicine. Mommy and Daddy have to give it to her twice a day, and she is sure giving them a hard time! In happier news, Kaya had her first lunch out in Manayunk today. She and Mommy and Daddy ate at the Brewpub and sat outside next to the river. It was nice. Kaya had lots of fun playing with the menu (trying to eat it, of course!)

Wed, Apr 30, 2008 5:56 PM
Kaya has been able to get to a complete standing position by holding on to either the side of her play pen or on to her toy piano. She started this maybe 2 days ago. It is a little disconcerting to her parents, who after having Kaya remain in a mostly horizontal position most of her life, now regularly turn around to find Kaya standing straight up like she owns the place. And she's pretty tall!! Kaya also has been enjoying her first finger foods - puffs and cheerios lately too. At first she just played with them, but it didn't take too long for her to figure out how to pick them up and get them into her mouth.

March 2008

Sat, Mar 1, 2008 8:16 AM
Kaya ate bananas for the first time this morning! She really seemed to like this. Probably better than that boring old rice cereal! Kaya had a big smile on her face the whole time.

Sun, Mar 2, 2008 10:00 AM
Kaya rolled over for the 3rd time this morning. So we know she can do it when she wants to!

Mon, Mar 3, 2008 8:00 AM
Today was Kaya's first day at daycare. She had a fun time reading Dr Suess and doing artwork. She was smiling and happy when Mommy dropped her off and again when Mommy picked her up. And she seemed to really like seeing all the other babies too! Mommy could already see a difference in Kaya when they got home that night. Kaya is more deliberately playing with her toys, pulling them towards her, banging things together, etc. She also started making this clicking sound by pushing her tongue to the roof of her mouth. Not sure where she learned that one!

Tue, Mar 4, 2008 8:20 PM
Happy 6 month birthday Kaya! Kaya turned 6 months old at 8:20 pm. She had another fun day at daycare, after which she and Mommy came home and played and waited for Daddy to get home from work. Kaya has started to really get into her doorway bouncer - she always liked it, but now she can get what can only be referred to as "major air" when she's playing in it. Kaya also tried baby oatmeal for the first time tonight. She didn't seem to like it very much!

Wed, Mar 5, 2008 8:23 AM
Kaya rolled over for the 4th time this morning. Mommy put her on her playmat, walked 10 feet away to get some much needed coffee, and when she came back Kaya was in a different position. She seemed a little surprised.

Sat, Mar 8, 2008 7:14 PM
Today Kaya first went to visit her Grandparents in Reading for the day. She also got to nap with Mommy while she was there. Then, when Mommy and Kaya got home, they found out that a tree had falled down and knocked down the power lines close to their house. Mommy was pretty freaked out to drive up to the house and find it surrounded by emergency vehicles. That was some rain storm! Kaya then got to spend her first night at her Grandparents house in Westtown. Since they only live 1 mile away, she hadn't had the chance to really stay over yet!

Sun, Mar 9, 2008 9:17 AM
Rollover # 5. This is probably the end of documented rollovers now! Kaya has really changed so much in the last 2 weeks. She actually likes to be on her tummy now! She's SO close to crawling now too - she gets up on hands and knees and rocks forward, can move backward, and turn in a circle. Uh Oh.

Sun, Mar 9, 2008 5:00 PM
Peas! Kaya tried peas today for the first time. She gave Mommy a funny look when she took the first bite, but after that she was eager to eat more. Please Please Please let Kaya continue to like her vegetables!!

Wed, Mar 12, 2008 8:46 AM
Today Kaya had apples! I think they were a little sour tasting to her because she made a funny face for these! But Mommy is hoping to start including apples as a breakfast food!

Sat, Mar 15, 2008 8:46 AM
Kaya had a great day today. Mommy took her back to the zoo for the morning and part of the afternoon. And Kaya had sweet potatoes today for the first time! She seemed to like these alot, which is great.

Wed, Mar 19, 2008 8:49 AM
Kaya is practically crawling. she does best moving backwards still, but slips a bit when she tries to move forward on all the hardwood floors. Too bad her parents don't have more rugs in the house. She also really enjoys standing up and holding onto things, although she is not cruising along furniture quite yet.

February 2008

Mon, Feb 4, 2008 1:13 PM
Happy 5 month birthday to Kaya! Kaya celebrated the day by getting some more pictures taken professionally, during which she was NOT happy (but still ended up with great photos!). And then she went out to buy some new diapers! Exciting! Tue, Feb 5, 2008 1:09 PM
Kaya has discovered her feet, and loves to grab them with both her hands. It's very funny. She especially loves to do this during diaper changes. While in some ways this is very helpful, it's also pretty darn difficult to get the new diaper on her when she's all scrunched up in that position. lol!
Tue, Feb 5, 2008 1:11 PM
Mommy is trying to delay introducing solid foods to Kaya until she's 6 months old. But Kaya is sooo interested in eating and even gets jealous when she sees her parents eating in front of her. So Mommy has been putting a little bit of milk on a spoon and "feeding" it to her that way. She LOVES it. She started opening her mouth wide for the spoon right away. Only 4 more weeks till she gets some real food (well, rice cereal anyway)!

Mon, Feb 11, 2008 9:00 AM
Kaya has made a few new discoveries over the past week. She's figured out that she can pull down on some of the animals on her exersaucer and cause them to play music. She's been having a great time pulling the rings off of her stacking ring toy thingie and throwing them on the floor. actually she loves to throw most things on the floor. perhaps this is the beginning of the "watch mommy pick things back up" game? She reaches out to touch almost everything, and sometimes Mommy will walk around with her and let her pick up various objects like her toys, her brush, stuffed animals. Kaya doesn't always like to let go of these though! Kaya is getting much better at sitting on her own as well, but sometimes she gets lazy and let's Mommy know she's done!

Mon, Feb 11, 2008 7:00 PM
Kaya also loves to pet the cats now. Sometimes she is very gentle about it, but other times she tries to pull their fur. The poor cats are so starved for attention and love however that they don't seem to mind at all!

Tue, Feb 12, 2008 7:30 PM
Mommy broke down and gave Kaya her first taste of rice cereal tonight. Kaya has just seemed so hungry lately! Kaya did very well at eating the really watery cereal, but she didn't seem super excited about the taste or anything. But she was all wide eyed the whole time, definitely a new experience for her! Mommy also let Kaya sip a little bit of milk out of a cup, just to see how she'd do. And she did great with that! She won't be switching to cups anytime soon though since Mommy is still nursing her.

Wed, Feb 13, 2008 9:24 AM

Recently Kaya has been spending more time in her parents bed than in her own bed. Apparently a queen size bed is the right size for Kaya! At least Mommy is less worried about keeping her warm.
Thu, Feb 14, 2008 7:00 PM
Kaya asked Daddy to be her valentine today. And Daddy said yes!
Sat, Feb 16, 2008 9:00 AM
Kaya rolled over for the second time this morning. Yes, that's right - it's been 5 weeks between roll overs..probably because Kaya hates to be on her tummy, and also hates to be on her back - she only wants to sit up now, which she is almost doing without support when she's in a good mood and has the patience to try. Anyway, Mommy caught this roll-over on video. Yay for Mommy!
Tue, Feb 19, 2008 7:11 PM
Today is Daddy's 30-something birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy!
Wed, Feb 20, 2008 7:00 PM
Teeth! Mommy can see a corner of Kaya's bottom left front tooth breaking through! :)
Sun, Feb 24, 2008 5:22 PM
Kaya visited lots of friends today! First she get to meet her new friend Morgan, and had lunch at her house too. Okay, well all the parents had lunch. Then she went out for coffee with her Aunt Angela. Okay, so Daddy had a moccachino, and Mommy had a latte, and Angela had a mocha. And Kaya got to meet her first puppy today - Sammie! It was also Kaya's first visit to Skippack, where Mommy and Daddy used to live.
Wed, Feb 27, 2008 4:37 PM
Kaya said "Mom-Ma" tonight! She said it really clearly..but she probably didn't really know she was saying it! But Mommy appreciated hearing the sound anyway!!
Wed, Feb 27, 2008 5:21 PM
Kaya loves to rip apart magazines. Mommy gave her a Newsweek to destroy earlier, because Mommy doesn't like Newsweek very much. Mostly because it shows up every week, and with a baby in the house, who can keep up with all that reading?

January 2008

Mon, Jan 7, 2008 11:46 AM
Today Kaya had her 4 month doctors appt. She's growing great! Afterwards Mommy took her to the mall and then to Longwood Gardens for a walk because the weather was so unseasonably nice!

Thu, Jan 10, 2008 8:00 PM
Kaya plays a new game with Daddy called "sit up, stand up". Daddy will let Kaya grab each of his index fingers in her hands, and he'll ask her if she wants to play sit-up stand up. Then if she looks interested (because hey, she can't talk yet!) he'll tell her, "Ok, let's sit up", and Kaya will sit up using Daddy's two fingers as leverage. Then he will say "Stand up" and she'll push up onto her feet until she's standing and using his fingers for balance! She seems to love this game, even though it is quite a workout!

Sat, Jan 12, 2008 5:00 PM
Today Kaya made a surprise visit to Reading to see her grandparents and extended family! That Grandma and Aunt M were sure surprised when they were out food shopping and suddenly received a picture message of Kaya and the rest of the extended family hanging out in Grandma's kitchen!

Sun, Jan 13, 2008 9:05 AM
Kaya rolled over this morning! and both Mom and Dad were there to see her do it, and cheer her on.

Sun, Jan 13, 2008 1:00 PM
Kaya was baptized today. She did really well, and spent alot of the ceremony "talking" to and laughing at the deacon. She's becoming a very social little girl! She didn't cry at all during the actual baptism, but did have a pretty confused look on her face! After that she had a big party with 36 family members at her house.

Tue, Jan 15, 2008 11:53 AM
Kaya still does not like Tummy Time, but she tolerates it for a few minutes now! She also has been very good at bathtime lately, although she does try to escape from the infant tub. perhaps she's a manatee after all! New things around the house have started to amuse Kaya over the last few weeks. She still loves to look in the mirror and laugh at the baby there. She also loves looking at a picture of herself that Mommy and Daddy have in their living room. She was 3 mos old in the picture. She is also suddenly very interested in and happy to see Tom (of Tom and Ducky). And she loves looking at the bathroom sink - or more accurately, the faucet. Maybe because she can see her reflection in it? Kaya also absolutely loves to have her diaper changed. Ok, truthfully, she likes to be naked. She always gets very excited and giggles and kicks kicks kicks when she's on the changing table.

Tue, Jan 22, 2008 7:36 PM
Kaya has been giggling for awhile now, but recently when she gets started laughing, she does it for several minutes. Mommy is having a great time getting her to laugh..and her giggles are music to Mommy's ears! Kaya is also getting really good with her hands..she moves her bink from her mouth, out to the side, and then back to her mouth over and over again. She loves moving her toys back and forth between her hands. And, when her hands aren't in her mouth already, she loves to touch everything, different fabrics, furniture, toys,and especially glassware (not necessarily good!). She also loves to sit up and then bend way way over in order to grab her feet or look at the floor closer. She's definitely interested in just about everything!

Sat, Jan 26, 2008 1:00 PM
Daddy had the flu this weekend, so Mommy and Kaya escaped to Grandma and Grandpa Martin's house for the night. Kaya had a wonderful time, and Mommy got some much-needed extra rest too!
Mon, Jan 28, 2008 7:00 PM
Kaya's newest thing to do when she's mad is to blow raspberries and make angry guggling sounds. It's SO funny. And she manages to accomplish this quite nicely even when she has her bink in her mouth too. She also has really started to enjoy textures recently - she loves to reach out and touch all sorts of fabrics, wood furniture, the cats, anything! And she's very interested in watching everything too - from Mommy eating to Grandma blowing her nose!
Wed, Jan 30, 2008 4:00 PM
When Kaya does Tummy Time now (fyi: she still doesn't like it!) she now is able to lift up her butt and sort of scrunch forward a tiny tiny bit. Don't worry, she's not going anywhere yet! Mostly because she still isn't lifting her head at the same time as her butt! It makes for an interesting yoga position however.