A visit from Cousin Jeff

Cousin Jeff is in Portland for a conference this week, and was able to come spend Monday evening with us. Kaeli immediately took him by the hand and led him into her room to play. They read for awhile, and then we went out for dinner. We went to a restaurant where Kaeli was quite taken with the restroom. The first couple of times (out of 7 trips) that we went in, she said loudly "Oh, NICE!!!" and touched the wallpaper and tiles. After we went back home, Kaeli sat with NaiNai and "Mr. Jeff" on the couch for her bedtime story.

"But I thought the only rule was that I couldn't get out of bed!"

This is Kaeli NOT taking a nap! I took this picture after going into her bedroom and turning on the light to find out what all the noises were...

She is going to be a great lawyer someday. We discovered that she follows the rules to the letter, but that we need to expand the list of rules. She now has a "big girl" bed, and has explicit instruction NOT to get out of bed unless someone is there and has said that she can get out of bed. We didn't, however, specify that she couldn't reach under the bed and pull out a toy bin and play with toys in bed instead of taking her nap. We have now added that clause to the contract.  

Kaeli & JioJio Saying Goodbye

JioJio had to say goodbye and leave for home Sunday afternoon. Kaeli told Miss Kim and Miss Mary at school on Monday all about her weekend with JioJio.  

Two-fisted Eater

Kaeli sang "Happy to You, MaMa!" on Easter for my birthday and helped blow out the candles on the cake. Then she dove into it, using two spoons!  

Kaeli's First Easter Egg Hunt

Kaeli's school held Easter egg hunts for all the classes today. NaiNai, YeYe and MaMa visited to watch the treasure hunt. Kaeli was very particular about which eggs she picked up - several did not meet her standards so she put them back down.
After the hunt was over, it was play time. Kaeli loves to ride the tricycles and drive the cars.
 

Monkey See, Monkey Do

After quite a bit of maneuvering and pulling and squirming, Kaeli was able to imitate NaiNai's position on the couch. 

Next on the Agenda - Table Manners!

At dinner last night, Kaeli suddenly had the need to share a healed "owie" and show us all that it was "all gone". She's sitting on her new Stokke chair, which is adjustable as she grows. It gives her a footrest while she's sitting - in addition to the tabletop!

 

Kaeli's First Hair Cut

Yesterday Kaeli had her first hair cut! We went to see Mel, NaiNai's hairdresser, and Kaeli sat in a high chair and wore a cape with elephants on it. She was really quite good and sat quietly for the trim. You can see "Sog" sitting on the wire shelf to the left, supervising the session. 

More from the Playground - April 9th

David miracously caught both girls sliding down the slide - with big smiles on their faces!







 

Kaeli & Madison Together Again - April 9th

Madison and Kaeli spent the morning together with Madison's BaBa while their MaMas went shopping. They played at the Oak Hills playgrounds with their babies, their tricycles and Kaeli's new stroller.

David, Madison's BaBa, took photos while they were having a great time sliding, swinging and playing.
 

Kaeli's Chores

Kaeli actually does several chores around the house now. She helps set the table, being very careful about where the napkins and silverware go. She really enjoys Thursday nights, which are "garbage" nights. She helps YeYe get the garbage ready for the garbagemen the next morning. She is in charge of bringing the wastebaskets from YeYe and NaiNai's bathroom and from "her" bathroom to the kitchen where she and YeYe combine them with the kitchen trash. She helps YeYe "compact" the trash, too. And she always has to be up on the kitchen counter looking out the window every Friday morning when she hears the garbage truck coming so that she can watch them pick up the cans and empty them. She used to say "foof go bye bye!", but since she is now potty trained, there is no more "foof" to go out in the trash! 

The Stroller

Kaeli received a stroller for Baby, along with her sunglasses. The stroller has been the first thing she asks for each morning since then, and it goes everywhere with her. She has already logged quite a few miles on it on her afternoon walks with NaiNai and MaMa. For some reason unknown to us, Baby always has to have her pajamas with her, but not ON her! On the walk today, Kaeli suddenly stopped and announced "It too hot!" and pulled the "jamas" out from under Baby and hung them on one of the handles of the stroller for the rest of the walk. Baby seems to be quite content being without clothes most of her life so far - they're always very near, if not ON her. 

Kaeli and her Shades

Kaeli has new sunglasses, which she is trying very hard NOT to break (like her first pair, and Laurie's, and MaMa's...). She even wears them during bedtime stories... 

Motorcyle Mama

Kaeli's friend Tom came by this past weekend on his motorcycle, and Kaeli got to sit on it and sound the horn, which she got quite a kick out of. A local neighbor also came by to "kick the tires" with Tom and share motorcycle stories for awhile. 

Kaeli and Her Train Hat

YeYe was able to score a major coup on their train trip home from California - he got the LAST Amtrak California paper hat on their train for Kaeli! Kaeli has enjoyed wearing it, both with the brim in front and in the back (the cool option). She is also wearing her new Getty sweatshirt, from the museum YeYe and NaiNai visited on their trip. 

Bedtime Reading Decisions

Kaeli and "Sog" (Frog") contemplating their choice for bedtime reading.

Day of Fun (continued)

After the playground, we piled into our cars and drove west to have lunch at Chang's Mongolian Grill. True to form, the two girls were fairly nonchalant around each other at the Japanese Garden and playground, and then were best buddies at the restaurant. They had to sit next to each other and giggled and chortled and sang and jumped after we finished eating. When lunch was over (and the volume level was rising!), we went outside. Madison and Kaeli jumped and sang and played ring around the rosie. Then they joined hands, waved good-bye to us, and took off down the sidewalk... We probably spent half an hour following them around the business complex watching them giggle and dance and hug and chase each other - it was an absolute delight!

Weekend Fun

Laurie came down from Seattle to spend the weekend with MaMa and Kaeli while YeYe and NaiNai were in California at the Getty Museum elderhostel. The three of us went for a hike in Forest Park, and Kaeli has now decided that "a walk in the woods" is a great thing to do!
We saw lots of trees and flowers and dogs, and even a man walking his dog and two miniature goats!



We also went to the Japanese Garden with Amy, Baba and Madison. The two girls hiked all around the garden and looked for fish in the ponds.



Kaeli posed on one of the Chinese sculptures in the garden with MaMa. (Yes, those are CHINESE "Fu Dog" Lion sculptures, also known as "Lions of Buddha". They are highly admired in Japan, hence their being in the Japanese Garden. In Japan, they are called shishi, which means lion in Chinese. Please see http://www.foo-dogs.com/newfoo/eLions/fd1.htm for more information. )











After the garden, we went to a playground where Kaeli and Madison were able to run off more steam. They enjoyed going down the slide together.

I love these two silhouettes of Kaeli and YeYe on the last day of kite flying. The weather was my favorite kind - gray and stormy and cold! Kaeli and YeYe braved the elements to get a last session in, and had a great time!


This is our second visit to Camp 18, a wonderful huge log building in the Coast Range between the beach and home. We stopped here for breakfast on the way to the beach and on the way back. The first time we visited, Kaeli would have nothing to do with "the man" - she kept saying "go away, man!" to the sculpture. On our way home, she finally agreed (reluctantly, though) to sit on YeYe's lap on the man's lap, and then by herself. Her smile in the second picture with YeYe clearly shows her exasperation with having to humor MaMa who insisted on having a picture taken with "the man"!