Andrej, Jessica, Kaiya and Tobi

Lately, Kaiya stopped using "Yes" and "No" as answers to yes-or-no questions. Examples:

Andrej: Would you like some of this apple?
Kaiya: I would like some.

Andrej: Did you take a nap today?
Kaiya: I didn't. I played!

What's next? "Thank you, I don't care for any?" :-)

About two weeks ago, I went in to get Tobi up from his morning nap and I found him standing up in his crib leaning over the top rail with a huge proud smile spread across his face. My heart dropped at the sight because he could have easily fallen out of the crib. I immediately scooped up Tobi and called Andrej to tell him about Tobi’s latest accomplishment. We agreed that Andrej should come home for lunch and lower the crib mattress to keep our little man safely contained. I then recreated the scenario and snapped the cute picture to the left. What a proud boy he is! (Read more …)

I thought I would add a few more Kaiya funnies to the list that Andrej started a few days ago.

When Kaiya wakes up in the morning or after a nap she almost always calls out for us with something like this: "Mama, Daddy, Tobi…come in here! Maaamaaa, Daaaaddyyy, Toooo-biii…where are you? It's time to wake up! Somebody…come in here!"

A few nights ago we had a dear friend over for dinner and at one point us adults were all laughing pretty hard. Kaiya, feeling a little left out of the conversation said, "Hey guys! Calm down. Calm down guys!" (Read more …)

One night after dinner, Kaiya was in a silly mood so I grabbed the camera hoping to capture some of her antics on video. The video is a little long, but really cute. Kaiya answers my questions about Santa, sings, at one point breaks into Baa Baa Black Sheep (I'm still not exactly sure why), demonstrates her spelling skills and ends the video by wishing you all a Merry Christmas! You can also hear Tobi jabbering away as he shares his thoughts on Christmas as well. Enjoy!

Christmas was such a special time for our little family. Experiencing it through a child’s eyes is for some reason so much more fun. From decorating the tree, to singing Christmas carols to talking about baby Jesus and yes, even the guy in the red suit made this Christmas with our two year old and seven month old very special. (Read more …)

In keeping with what has become our Thanksgiving tradition (three years in a row) my parents rolled into town following my dad’s annual hunting trip in South Dakota. They arrived the Monday night before Thanksgiving and it was all I could do to keep their excitement at bay and not wake up the kids. They reluctantly agreed with the promise I would let them go in to greet Kaiya when she woke the next morning. (Read more …)

We pray with Kaiya every night before bedtime and she is getting more and more creative with her prayers….

• Thank you, God, for this wall and door that open and close
• Thank you, God, for a bunch of things
• Thank you, God, for you daddy (followed by a hug)
• Thank you, God, for these guys (followed by hugging her bear, bunny, kitty, and meh meh (blanket))
• Thank you, God, for Santa Claus.
• Thank you, God, for mama, dada, Tobi, Kaiya and mama and daddy
• Thank you, God, for buggies (don't ask :-) )

And some other gems authored by Kaiya:

• (standing on a chair) I'm gonna reach up to the skies…….and get something.
• I'm not Kaiya! I'm mama.
• (Jessica: eat your dinner, pooh-bear) I'm not pooh-bear. I'm Kaiya!
• Don't cry, Tobi! It's ok! I'm right here!

You'll probably see more and more of these funny statements.