Songs

I remember one thing I wanted to mention: Kyra loves to do the hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider and also When You're Happy and You Know It. It's adorable!

Updates

I know that everyday I think, "I have to put that in the blog." and then I finally remember to blog and can't remember any of the things I had planned to put into the blog... The past couple of days have been sans rain so we've been playing outside in the afternoons. Today is almost 60 degrees sans rain so we'll go digging and chasing the ball outside. This summer will be lots of fun since Kyra will be able to really play out there. Right now, she stands and watches and tries to chase the ball but the road slopes and is a little uneven so she falls if she goes too fast. She enjoys sucking on/eating rocks so that doesn't make playing in those areas too fun for me.
Basil's sick and has spent the last 24 plus hours at the vet while they try to determine what's going on. He's had crystals in his urine in the past and less than a month ago had a similar episode to what's going on now. So he spent the night at the vet and is getting some x-rays today. Poor thing.

More Snow

I keep complaining that the cities around here keep thinking that the snowy weather is a fluke but each year it gets more snowy. For me, that isn't a problem so much as the fact that they don't have the equipment to handle it so schools (and daycares) and businesses are closed for days on end. Eventually they'll have to fess up to the fact that it's no longer a fluke -- whether it's global warming or some other climate change phenomenon, it's happening and Seattle is snowier than it used to be... deal with it.

Ok, enough ranting... here's our attempt at a snowman. Being from Panama, I have no idea how to roll the balls of snow so that they get larger and larger until you have a life-sized snowman. So this will have to do -- and Daniel was happy with him. Also, he played with some of the neighbor kids who had sleds and sledded down the hill near our house. The kids loved it. Of course, afterwards we had to go looking for a sled and since we've had so much snow, everyone was fresh out of sleds... not such a good mommy! Daniel had a fit right after Christmas that he didn't get a sled -- that was the first I'd heard of it and we don't get enough snow usually to use it. This year has been more than usual with 6 days of snow and multiple inches on the ground! I'll have to check next week and see if anyone has gotten a new shipment. I'm sure we won't get any more snow if I buy a sled, though. My mom and the boys are coming up in Feburary to go tubing at Snoqualmie. I think Daniel's big enough to ride with someone else. It should be fun!

Turns out Kyra's fussiness and wakings were an ear infection... she didn't have the fever that usually goes along with it, though. Her 1 year appt. was cancelled due to snow but she went in with Daniel and Dr. peeked at her ears and sure enough, icky. It's her first -- of course she's only been in daycare 8 weeks. Welcome to Germ City!

You say it's your birthday...

I was bummed this morning when one of my 'maybe' invites cancelled because the little girl was sick and then one of our confirmed invites arrived with only the baby (Kyra's age), not the older child because he and his mom were sick... plus one more sickie that called earlier in the week. I did call some of those who didn't RSVP and our old neighbors planned to come even though they hadn't called. So we had a few kids which made me feel better. I was more bummed because Daniel had been so excited about the party -- Kyra obviously doesn't know the difference. Daniel helped me decorate the tablecloth by putting the stickers on, set the table, and tie the balloons. We really had a very nice time and Daniel did, too! Kyra seemed to enjoy the birthday song and the cake. Daniel helped Kyra blow out the candle (after Kyra made her wish, of course). I hope these new teeth come in soon -- she's been up at night, fussy during the day with a wet shirt all the time from the drool. Poor baby! Big 1 year old baby!!

Kyra's birthday

I'm feeling very badly that things just aren't going right for Kyra's birthday. First the cake thing plus we probably will only have 2-3 guests (families). Then tonight we did a cake and gifts thing and I took tons of pictures -- without the memory card in the camera. So much for flinging cake. The red icing for the ladybugs stains pretty well, too, so her face may be all red tomorrow. The redness is partially the winter weather and drool from her teething but I think icing stains will also contribute. Good thing I took some pictures earlier this week.

I do realize she doesn't care now but one day she'll wonder why Daniel had 3 first birthday parties and hers seemed so much less.

She's crying so I've got to run. Teething...

Snow

We got to spend 2 hours in traffic last night trying to get home as 4 inches of snow fell. Matt's car (the Prius), along with about 6 other cars, wasn't equipped to make it up the steep hill to our house so it remains parked in the ice at the bottom of the hill. The Passat is a trooper and has handled beautifully in the poor conditions with one minor incident of sliding down said hill above. All were okay, just a tad shaken (well, Mommy anyway).

Daniel enjoyed the snow today -- since there was no school. Kyra's not so into it. It makes her hands cold and she can't walk in it. Daniel's favorite was licking the snow off the trees -- always thinking food, that kid.

Kyra's birthday is tomorrow so Daniel and I made cupcakes. It will be a small party on Saturday and our neighbor who was going to bake the cake had a death in the family and had to leave town. With 1/2 of Seattle not working due to the road conditions, it's tough to find a replacement anywhere except Safeway or Costco... not exactly what I had in mind with the 5 Little Ladybugs theme. Anyway, the cupcakes turned out really cute. Hopefully, I can keep Daniel's fingers off them until Saturday. We'll have a couple tomorrow night to celebrate the real birthday! Hard to believe it's been a year! She's walking like crazy and has great balance now so she can use soled shoes and can turn around and switch directions. She says "Book" "Ball" "Boo" and tries others. She also signs "More" and sometimes "All Done" I was trying to get her to sign "All Done" as she was climbing out of the bathtub tonight. She is a climber... and so adorable.

Daniel was playing Super Daniel tonight -- diaper on the head as a helmet and blankie as a cape. Nothing else but a diaper on his bottom. Not sure the photos are appropriate for posting!

Kyra in Socks

Kyra enjoyed wearing her socks as gloves this evening. Matt says she looks just like her Aunt Ra Ra (as a baby) in this picture. Thoughts? She was so funny with these and then learned to take them off which was even MORE fun for her!

Daniel spent much of the day cutting out ornaments with his safety scissors. In just one day, he's gone from chopping straight lines to making curves. He cut out a piece tonight and said, "Look, I made a semicircle." He is so enthusiastic.

I'm planning Kyra's birthday party for next Saturday. It's a ladybug theme since she loves the "5 little ladybugs" book. I thought I'd have the kids all decorate their own party hats with ladybug stickers and stamps but I'm having trouble finding party hats that aren't completely covered with a theme. Otherwise, I'll have to come up with something else the kids could decorate... or another party hat concept...

Tomorrow's a trip to the aquarium with friends...

New Year

We really enjoyed the visit from Bill and Rachel over the past weekend. I think they enjoyed the kids and of course, helping to put the Christmas decorations away! Daniel says "Christmas is over so Halloween will come." A friend of mine's little girl has the same sentiment -- funny what they remember. Of course, Kyra's having a birthday in a week and Daniel wonders when his birthday is, too. His first comment, though, was "And we'll have a cake." We also visited the aquarium which was a hit.

Kyra's walking all over the place now and is transitioning to the toddler room at daycare. She spent almost all day there today and seemed to do well. She's also talking up a storm -- we're certain she said "I want that" at brunch mimicing Daniel. Daniel is also moving up to the 2.5 - 3 year old classroom where there's more focus on preparation for pre-school (i.e. potty training). His memory never ceases to amaze me -- he recited about 2 paragraphs from Peter Rabbit with no prompting recently.

Our New Year's was spent at the restaurant which was very full and lively with a great band.