Super Kai

Mom confession:  it really is true that your younger children don’t have their childhoods documented in the same ways as your oldest.  Truth be told, Kai is the most comedic of my kids but I rarely write down the things he says.

Today's funny happened when I asked him to get ready to go to his friends house and he emerged from the bathroom, zooming around, proclaiming he was Superman and that he had made his hair just like superman’s.  Can you see the swooping curl in the center of his forehead?  Just like Superman...

A week ago, it was a literal interpretation of the figurative.   Kenson accidentally bumped into Kai and said, "Sorry, I didn't see you there."  Kai looked at him with furrowed brows and replied, "Yes you did!  You have two eyes!"

Taking a quick picture while he brushes his teeth seems appropriate.  He's always saying and doing something.  No time for posing with Mom.

Four Year Old Genius

Four year olds definitely have their own sense of genius built right in.  Take for instance this Monday, when it was raining and Kai was wanting to play outside.  He was not willing to believe Mom, that it was too rainy to go out so we went out to investigate.  As I was telling him it was too rainy for anyone to be outside, he quickly replied, "That squirrel is outside!"

And then today as he was getting ready to go to our babysitter's house, he wanted to take a football.  I reminded him that Joni's rule was "no toys from home."  Kai's words?  "That not Jesus' rules."  Followed by "God older than Joni!"

Snapshots from the Night

Tonight, while sitting with Kai on the couch, he told me to "buckle up your eyes!"  Um, what?  Then he held his hands over his eyes.  "Like this!"  Oh!  Apparently buckle up your eyes is the same thing as cover your eyes when you are three.

In other funny notes, I walked into the bathroom to check on Conleigh when she was taking a bath and found her face down in the water, googles on, body stretched out.  I reminded her that the bathrtub is not for swimming and she told me that she wasn't swimming.  No she was actually practicing for when she searches the Bermuda Triangle for lost ships.

Sweet Boy

Don't let that sweet grin fool you!

Just today he tried to negotiate a trip in Dad's truck.

Dad said that he couldn't go with him and Kai's first response was "You give me pop." 

That was then followed by "You give me pop and money."

As in "I won't throw a fit about not going if you meet my demands."

Such a conversation is only bested by his random comments about 15 minutes later of

"Me going to pop your head."

In Need of Accessories

Can I tell you that this kid below cracks me up?  Yesterday, for no apparent reason, he decided he needed to wear winter hats.  All day long.  He probably tried on ten different hats and ten different pairs of gloves throughout the day.

This is the hat that started things off.
Yes, he's wearing it sideways which is part of why I took the picture to start with.
I think he liked wearing it sideways since he could pull the flap down and mutter under his breath, "Turn the light on!"

Then we moved on to the shark hat which was appropriate since we were making Play-Doh sea creatures.

After nap, we swapped things out for the frog hat.
No need for pants when you've got a frog hat.

And this is how we went to pick up Zeke from school.
I told him I had to grab my purse and we'd be ready to go.
He ran off, yelled, "Me too!" and this is what I found.

Hola, Baby!

Kai is currently obsessed with babies and the word "Hola!"  The babies part is pretty natural.  He often will say "Oooh look!  A baby!"  However, he took it to a new level the other day thanks to his older siblings who often say "hola" as they greet one another or D and I.  

D took Kai to Walmart with him where Kai spotted a baby in a shopping cart.  He shouted a cheery greeting of "Hola, baby!"  Cute little bug, right?  Made even better by the fact that the baby was Hispanic and his mom was nearby.  D said she just looked at him and said, "He speaks Spanish?"

I'm sure D's response of "Nope, just knows how to say 'hola, baby!'" was equally perplexing.

Upon hearing their dad tell that story, my big kids all made it their mission to teach Kai a bit more Spanish.  So now his favorite way of telling me hi or getting my attention involves the phrase, "Hola, Mamacita!"

Yep, we're bilingual.

The Peacock

Who knew our local zoo's peacock would be the source of entertainment today?  We squeezed in a trip to the zoo today, in between the last day of school and the first day of swim team practice.  Zeke was quick to tell me before we left that he was going to collect things while we were at the zoo, things like rocks but not peacock poop.  

And since boys love poop, Kai followed suit with his conversation at the zoo.  Considering a peacock's close ties to bathroom words, I probably should not have been surprised to hear him call it a 'poopcock.'  Honest mistake... 

Randrom Kai Pics

Butterfly cheerleader?  Maybe the Easter hat means it's an Easter ensemble?

Playing Little People, eating cereal, just another day in the life...

That Time of Year

My kids are nuts for Christmas right now.  Unfortunately, that seems to be rubbing off into all aspects of life.  Zeke yesterday yelled from the bathroom, "Mom!  I just went poop and it looks like a candy cane!"  Perhaps we could not be quite so excited...

Then on the way home from school, Zeke started asking the big kids how Santa got into our house.  Kenson was the all knowing older brother who explained that our roof has a very thin pipe that Santa uses, that Santa pokes himself with a needle and squeezes all the air out, so that he can slide down it.  Conleigh then interjected that Santa was plump and full of blubber.  Kenson continued that Santa then pumped himself back up with air and put a patch on to cover up the hole.  Kai was not going to be left out because he actually knows what a hole is and is somewhat fascinated by holes of all kinds, from belly buttons to holes in the dirt to holes in clothes.  He grinned like he knew exactly what the big kids were talking about and added emphatically, "Hole!"

Ending with a cute kid pic as the two little boys enjoyed the snow on Monday morning...

Kai update-How to turn off the light switch

Climbing is really a great hobby.  Yes, I know I had to go the ER because I pulled one of these stools down on myself a few months ago.  No, that doesn't influence any of my thinking today.

Hidden Gem

Our local college's early childhood department invested in creating a nature playground in their "backyard."   I'd say in some ways it's a hidden gem because it doesn't always get a ton of use despite it being a pretty entertaining place to hang out.  It's the sort of place I would design if I ran a day care center and similar in a lot of ways to the elements I put in our own backyard space.  Sand and dirt, stumps used as stepping stones, piles of discarded sticks and trunks and wood to build with:  there's just something really engaging about those types of materials.  This week, I let Zeke take his bike and we walked over.  Such a small thing but he was so excited to pedal instead of walk.

There were lots of plastic animals hiding in the sand so Zeke's plan was to bury them all in one place.

Kai helped.

After they were all buried, you must make an "X" to mark the spot.

Playing the wooden xylophone

Gotta keep up

Jump!

And a little bit of cheese!

From Son up to Son Down

"Mamas of little boys work from son up to son down."

Perhaps true of all children, not just of boys, but Kai has us on the move.

A sample of our words from Saturday and Sunday...

"Get off the gate."  Said as he had climbed up on the wooden garden gate and was almost all the way over, to the other side.

"Don't hang on the drawers."  Said as he pulled out the kitchen cupboard drawer and was pulling himself up, with the drawer extended, literally hanging off the end.

"Get down from the fence."  Said as he was about four links up on the chain link fence, getting ready to do his Spiderman moves across it.

"Don't stand on the swing."  Said as he stood on the glider on the swing set, feet up on where you should rest your hands, hands up on the chain that suspend the glider from the top bar.

"You can't ride your bike down the stairs."  Said as he attempted to scoot his little bike down the two front steps.

"You can't bring your bike up the stairs by yourself."  Said as he tried to drag his bike up the stairs on the back porch, all ten of them.

"How did you get outside?  And stop riding your bike on the back deck."  Said as he tried to ride his bike on the small grill deck we have just above those ten back stairs.

"No climbing over the couch."  Said as he flopped one leg over the top edge of the sofa and jmped down.

"No jumping on the equipment."  Said as he tried to jump not one, not two, but three stairs on the middle of the playground equipment, where there was much potential for disaster.  (Okay, that happened on Friday but it's still fresh in my mind.  For the record, he succeeded.)

If we manage to keep him out of the ER this year, it might be a miracle.

Kai is 2!

Kai turned two a week or so ago but it was the same weekend as our local Women of Faith event which I planned to take my mom to for her Mother's Day present earlier in the year.  So we shifted our party plans and waited until Labor Day weekend.  We partied at my mom's and were able to enjoy the day with my grandma, my aunt, uncle, and cousins, including our North Carolina cousins.

Kai is all boy, constantly on the go, running, jumping, and climbing.  He usually have multiple contusions somewhere from all of his exploits.  He hates to be left out, hates being told no, and wants to do things all by himself.  "I do!"  So basically he's two.

He still doesn't say a ton of words but is slowly building his vocabulary.  He knows our neighbor's name (Bruce or Boo) which may mean our neighbor, his wife, or their truck. Over Labor Day weekend,  he learned to say kitty (key), meow (m ow!), and Mia, which is the name of Grandma's dog.   After saying Kenson was one of his first words, he now refuses to say it and thinks it's a big joke if people try to get him to say it.

He loves animals, trucks, cars, trains, and construction vehicles.  He is starting to enjoy a few shows on the tv, including Thomas the Train and the Wiggles.  He can "sing" several songs including "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Rockaby your Bear."  He also loves anything to do with water and is quick to find puddles or standing water.  He's also starting to show an interest in potty training and has gone potty on the toilet multiple times at his own insistence.

A few pics from the weekend..

Driving Grandma's riding lawn mower

Kai did not want to get off but once Kenson appeared, he was quick to slide over and share the seat.

Our Thomas cupcake cake

Making homemade ice cream with Grandma

Blowing out the candle with cousins-I was surprised he actually knew what to do!

Playing with one of our new birthday toys, a car track.

Ha ha

The two year old who has a pretty limited vocabulary even as two year olds go crawled up on a box to use it as a stool to reach a full glass of water and dump it.  His reaction?  'Ha ha!'  Mom's reaction?  'Clean it up.'  So thankful that we cannot say milk or cup but we can say "ha ha!"

True Confessions

And so it begins.  Kai stuck d's toothbrush in the VCR today.  None if my other kids put things in the VCR.  Perhaps the best part if this story is that I just confessed to D that Kai likes to use D's toothbrush while I am getting ready and that most times, I don't make much effort to stop him.  Perhaps the husband should stop storing his toothbrush under the sink.

19 Months-Kai

Missed the milestone, 18 months.  (Or at least I think I did.)

I love the way he giggles when you tickle around his collarbone and the inside of his thigh.  It's a wonderous belly laugh.

I love how his face lights up when he sees his siblings.  He is quick to run to them and give them a hug too.  While it is easy to doubt your sanity when you have four clustered pretty close together in age, seeing them love each other is one of the true joys of being a parent to these four.  They are not so much older that they are too busy for him but not too young to really "get" what it means to be siblings.

Kai is really interested in Bo.  He often pets him (pat, pat) and will deliberately interact with him by sitting down beside the dog on the floor.  If Bo is sitting at the patio doors wanting out or in, Kai will come get a grown up and show them that Bo needs out.  He also loves balls and climbing.  He is a dare devil who is always trying to figure out how to climb higher and who doesn't have much fear.  The bath and water are also still favorites of his.  He rarely gets out of the bath without a tantrum because he is not ready to get out.

At his check up this week, the short genes have apparently caught up with him.  The kiddo who was in the 75% for height is now back into the 35% which seems much more likely given who his parents are.  He is also in the 25% for weight, weighing in at not quite 24 1/2 pounds; he is just not a chunky guy at all.  He only has seven teeth.

He is definitely getting to be more of a two year old.  When he's mad, he's mad.  When he is mad, it is almost always over being told he can't do something.  When he is doing something questionable, he looks to see if a grown up is looking.  When he likes a food, he likes it.  When he has decided he doesn't want that food anymore, he is so over it.  He likes to eat eggs, yogurt, cheese, and raisins.  (Nothing you want your toddler eating in great quantities.)  He was also quite fond of graham crackers but that love affair appears to be waning.

Kai is still kind of a man of few words.  He babbles constantly.  He has said about 15-20 words (Bo, dog, woof, no, owie, Nay Nay for Conleigh, Kenson, Papa, Mama, hello, bye bye, more, ball, and all done) but may only say one word during any given day.  And some of those words that he has previously said, he hasn't used in months.  He understands lots of things and it's fun watching him understand more and more, to be able to tell him to go get his shoes and see him pull open the right dresser drawer or to ask "where's your head?" and have him point at his head.

The hair is still in question.  It's much thicker in back and he doesn't have much hair across his forehead.  In the sun, it is decidely redder.  But inside it often looks dirty blonde.  His blue blue eyes often get compliments.

Sibling Complexes

This kid has a long road ahead of him.

The picture accompanying this post was taken minutes after Zeke created a mohawk hair style on him...using spit.  I suppose is appropriate that Kai is playing with a hair brush.  For the record, I did wet down the mohawk so that it would lay flat.  And I did not use spit.

Also for the past two days, several children around here have been convinced that Kai's name ought to be Max.  So far no one has actually called him "Max" to his face.  But at least one has asserted out loud, "Now I will call you Max."

Just a little snack

Parenting Fail

Kai + toilet + cup = epic fail

As I was getting ready this morning in the master bathroom, I heard Kai coughing so I headed out to see what was going on.  Sure enough he was coughing.  Holding a cup, standing in front of the toilet with the lid up, coughing.  Because he apparently dipped the cup in the toilet and drank it.  Yes, it was clean water.  No, I did nothing other than move him out of the bathroom, shut the door, and use hand sanitizer on his hands.

What's It Like to Be One?

Because who doesn't like cute baby pics?

Weight-21 pounds, 25 percentile
Height-29 inches, 75 percentile  (Still not sure this kid really has our DNA)
Favorite foods-yogurt, cheese, animal crackers,
Favorite activities-taking a bath, climbing, trying to hang off the oven door handle
Words-hmmm...sort of says Kenson and Mama
Talents-clapping on cue and putting his arms up when anyone says, "Reach for the sky!"