DW again

Kaya and Mommy took a trip to Dutch Wonderland today. Kaya had a great time - she rode the bouncy bears twice, waving goodbye to Mommy before each spin. She also loved riding the airplane ride with Mommy. However she wanted to be super brave and independent, so she wouldn't let Mommy sit near her on the seat and she didn't want to hold on. It was safe though. She also rode the log flume two times = the second time Mommy bought the picture. Again she didn't want Mommy to hold her, but Mommy was scared herself and needed something to hold on to. :)
Another ride involved spinning in circles and then lifting off the ground at a 45 degree angle. Mommy had her leg over Kaya for this one! It was pretty wild.
On the Carosel, Kaya decided that she had to ride the brown horse to "match her dress". That was cute. She also loved going on the big train around the park, and then the little train that she had to power herself using a hand wheel. All in all it was a great day at Dutch Wonderland!

In the Car

Kaya didn't want to leave Nanae's house one night, and wouldn't get in her carseat unless Nanae climbed into the back seat with her. Once she did, Kaya ordered Nanae to "Shut the door!" and said "Drive Daddy".

Kaya's Third Birthday

Kaya turned 3 at 8:20 tonight! She had a pretty good birthday - first we all slept in, because it was Saturday! Then we went to Longwood Gardens for a walk in the morning. Kaya got an unexpected gift from the garden store there when she ripped open a packet of Silly Bands before we could stop her - hence I ended up putting $3.87 on my credit card. Then we walked all over longwood gardens (Kaya led the way) and saw all three treehouses! One treehouse was pretty neat - it had a working beehive inside of it, which was producted between two sheets of glass so you could see up close - but not get stung. After that Kaya decided she was too tired to walk, so we carried her out of there. It's funny, we don't even consider taking the stroller anywhere anymore, but sometimes I still wish we had it!

For Kaya's birthday dinner we went to Momo and PaPa's house for dinner and Nanae and Pop Pop came with us. Kaya was tired and slept the whole way there, but as soon as we got there she immediately woke up and wanted to open presents. She just couldn't wait! She loved all of her presents, especially the stuffed giraffe and the tent tunnel - which she kept bringing all her friends into. (including the inflatable dinosaurs that have taken up permanent residence in the sunroom). After all the presents, she sat down very nicely for dinner and ate some turkey and mashed potatoes. She was especially interested in her TWO cakes - both Dora themed - one chocolate and one ice cream cake. She had a great time dipping her finger in the frosting!

When we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, (at 8:20pm, as per tradition) she just screamed at us to stop!! She did not like being on display like that at all this year!

Lady Godiva

After her shower, Kaya was running around the house without clothes on. Chadd and I wanted her to calm down (the shower tends to pump her up more than me after 3 cups of Starbucks), so we were laying in bed, under the covers pretending to be going to sleep. As we looked toward the foot of our bed, suddenly we see Kaya cruising into the bedroom on her riding tractor, legs straight on in front of her, buck naked, saying "wheeeeeeeeee!".

We laughed for a long time.

Riverdance

Or possibly Lord of the Dance. Let me explain:

Kaya loves to play toddler games on our iphones. One game involves putting pieces of various things together - kind of like a puzzle. There are trains, a windmill, etc. One is some sort of musical instrument. Kaya loves this one. Once it's done, it plays this jaunty little song, and Kaya goes crazy and dances all over the house. I've never seen someone stomp their feet so fast. I might have to put her in Tap lessons.

On a side note, she hates the noise the battery makes in this puzzle. She always makes me do it.

Tea

When Kaya says she's thirsty, it comes out more with an f sound. So here's a conversation Kaya and Daddy had last week:

Kaya: "I'm Firsty"
Daddy: "Do you want some water?"
Kaya: "Yes, I'm Firsty!"
[Daddy hands Kaya the water. Kaya takes a sip]
Daddy: "It's pronounced "Thirsty". Thirsty. With a "T". "
Kaya: [stops drinking] "That's not Tea daddy, that's water.

Wonderland

Kaya visited Dutch wonderland for the first time this evening, and she loved it! she had a great time driving Momo around on the turnpike (although she really wanted the yellow car), sliding down a big silo slide with other kids, and sliding down a huge slide on Daddy's lap! She also rode the rollercoaster 3 times, and the monorail once. She also was able to pat a bunny rabbit and a chicken. We'll be going back to Wonderland soon!

Fun talks

Kaya chatters on alot, but talks the most when we're in the car coming home from school, or when she's in the shower.. So far, I hear..
- That Jasper is the monster, and he chases us. Kaya, Ryan, and Kalonji - we run!
- That Kaya doesn't want to wear shoes, just " her feet".
- That she doesn't want her hair in a barrette or ponytail - she "Just wants her hair".
- That Ryan is her good buddy.
- That [insert anything here] that is NOT cool.

In the shower, it sounds like a zoo. The crab, the dog, the cat, the seahorse, and no less than 2 my little ponies all take turns getting dunked in the Cinderella bucket (possibly against their will), or each have to have a shot at wearing this beaded necklace. Kaya never wants to get in the shower, but once she's in, she's happy there for at least 30 mins.

In terms of her (8000) stuff animals, everyone gets put to bed these days. Everyone gets a chance to go "night night" while wrapped up in full size blankets. Sometimes they even get to sleep in a row.

If there are ever three of anything, there is always the Daddy dino, the Mommy Dino, and the Baby Dino. and sometimes they all have to hug it out.

Ooh, Baby Baby

When Kaya was born, we received one of those cards that play music. This one says "Babies Rock" on the outside, and when you open it up, it plays that song..

almost 3 years later, Kaya has discovered it, and was running around the bedroom one night singing "ooh baby baby" while madly giggling. It took me a few minutes to figure out what she was saying, and then I was laughing so hard I was crying.

nothing really prepares you, as a parent, for the day your kid sings Ooh baby baby to you. LOL.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear

Out of the blue, Kaya recited this entire book to us while we were laying in bed one night. We were really impressed that she remembered all the linkages..and even more impressed because WE DO NOT have this book at home! In fact, we've never read it! guess she's been paying attention at school. :)

Wow, it's been a year

You can tell it's been busy, since it's been a year since I've gotten to write about Kaya. So much has happened in the last year. For one, she's given up "dis dis dis, ha ha ha" although she still likes to see it and check up on it every once in awhile, which is funny. That's just been within the last month though! She talks all the time now, and says the funniest things (or at least I think they are hysterical):
- Where is HIM?
- Pass the 'mercials.
- I want to go to 'Muda.
One day on the car ride home recently, Kaya had a 10 min conversation with me about motorcycles. She said that she wants to ride a motorcycle "someday" and that it will be a quiet motorcycle, not a loud one. She told me she would ride up front, and I could ride in the back! When I asked her what color hers would be, she said hers would be yellow, momo's would be purple, and papa's would be pink! then she changed her mind and said papa's could be red.

What else has happened in the past year? let's see...
Kaya started at a new school - Bright Horizon's - and she's very happy there. She has a boyfriend named Ryan, and she hugs his mom every day. Her teacher is Ms. Tina, who is awesome. Kaya also went on some great vacations - to the Caribbean on a cruise with Nanae, Pop Pop and Uncle John, to Disney with Mom and Dad, and to Bermuda with Momo and Poppop. Not a bad year! Over the winter, it snowed a few feet, and Kaya got to go sledding in the back yard for the first time. she loved it when I would pull her down the hill really fast and we would crash (meaning the sled ended up on it's side - Kaya really liked to crash. )
Kaya is fully potty trained now (except at nights). But before she was trained, she was very particular about the diapers she was wearing. For example, there was a phase of only wanting to wear the Dora in the Yellow Dress diaper, followed by cinderella only, and now sleeping beauty (those are the overnight ones). Back when she was potty training, she had an accident on the bathroom floor at school, and she looked at her teachers and said "That was NOT cool".
These are the things I like to remember.

The year of age 2 to age 3 has been such a fun year developmentally. Physically she's lost alot of the babiness about her and looks like a little girl now. Her face is slimmer and her legs are so long. but mentally has been the best. The conversations we have are fun, and it's evident that her thought processes are more mature. She says things like "someday" or "not yet". And she argues every single point - if I say the sun is up, she'll say it's down. If I say her hair is wet, she'll say, "It's not wet, it's dry!". And she can be quite a drama queen about things, but we love her anyway. ha ha.
Favorite shows right now: Dora, Diego, Bolt, and Up. And Blues Clues.
Favorite foods: Pizza (but only the take-out kind), Popsicles, Italian Ice
Favorite clothes: Polka dot dresses (one is getting waaaay too small) and dresses in general.
Favorite activity: Art. She loves to paint with brushes, and she also has filled up about 10 Dot Art books too.
Favorite Color: Yellow and/or Purple (she seems to alternate, but we love the way she says "YellYo".
Her cats: "Guig-giss" and "Fifi". Too funny. They are less afraid of her now, and actually play together.
In the shower: she has a zillion toys, and talks to them constantly the whole time she's in there - she likes to make them all wear necklaces. She calls the cat's collars "necklaces" too!

what I want to remember

"Dis, Dis, Dis, Ha ha Ha".

"Mommy you were running! Go Mommy Go! Go Mommy Go"

"Put your ponytail on"

"Big Hugs"

How she always wants to grab my pony tail.

she draws pictures with soap on the walls of the shower

how she wants to jump everywhere like a frog, saying ribbit ribbit

how she plays with her hair, or mine, when she's sleepy.

carbunny and moose are her best friends. sometimes they have to wear diapers. lately carbunny gets wrapped up in a tiny pink blanket.

how she calls diapers "Biapers"

The Barnstormer and Disney

Kaya got to ride her first roller coaster in Disney on this trip! She went on Goofy's barnstormer. Kaya was very excited to ride and was so behaved while in line. Then, while she was riding with Mommy (Mommy held her very tight) she was so quiet with this huge smile on her face the whole time. When we were done, the first thing she said was "I need more!". We knew she was related.

She also loved meeting Princess Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle (while wearing her Cinderella dress). She loved dancing the to futuristic music in tomorrowland - she'd get out there in the square and really start to boogie it down and run in circles. And she loved meeting some of the other characters at Epcot when we took her there for the late night meet and greet. She ran right past Goofy though!

this particular disney trip was very cold however (and mommy had just run the marathon) so we spent a fair amount of time in the hotel room watching Nemo the first few days.

Mickey's Marathon Kid Fest

I'm writing this after the fact, but Kaya ran in her first kids race today. She ran in the 1-3 year old race at the Disney Marathon kids fest! It was 100 yards, and Kaya and I got to run while holding hands, while daddy took pictures and video. Mommy also managed to capture a video using her phone while running. Kaya was very cute while running (but very cold, as it was below freezing and drizzling that day - crazy weather for FL)! She got a T-shirt, mickey ears, a certificate, and a race medal. Great job Kaya! Mommy was so proud.