Kaiya Jo Update

Alright, so I know I have slacked BIG time on our blog recently. Holidays are fun but very stressful!! I'll try to get back on track.

Kaiya is doing great, she is almost 18 months old and just a bundle of joy!! She is so observant, it just amazes me. Josh and I can do things, just everyday things that we aren't specifically showing to Kaiya and the next thing we know, she is mimmicing them. Just tonight the things I can point out. Josh and I were trying to move her HUGE dresser, so Josh was pushing it - next thing we know Kaiya is next to the dresser pushing and grunting like daddy did. TOO FUNNY. Or - she LOVES to unload the dishwasher with us (I told Josh tonight we need to get it on video so when she is older and says how much she hates doing it we can show her that at 18 months she LOVED helping mommy and daddy! His response was if we get it on tape she will demand back pay for all the help she did without an allowance!!) So tonight, after she got all the tupperware out of the dishwasher, she pushed the drawer back in, closed the dishwasher and then started to push the buttons on it as if to start it - and even went to the start button to push. Josh and I just stared in amazement, NEVER have we showed her how to do it, just saw us and figured out that was the next step!! One more example, I was dusting earlier - tonight Kai grabbed my rag I didn't put away and started dusting things as well.

She is such a little helper. She LOVES helping us whenver she can, unloading groceries is one of her favorites. She is a great gopher too - if we need to pass stuff to each other in different rooms Kai is up for the challenge! Can give her something and say, go give this to daddy or mommy and she is off! We can tell her to do things like to go put shoes away, or clothes in the hamper, or get my a book from under the chair, or go get her giraffe, or shoes, or milk, etc (pretty much ANYTHING) and she will do as we ask. I just am amazed at how much she understands.

I was just telling Tiffany how I was worried about Kaiya because other friends tell me how many words their 18 or so month olds know and I was saying that Kaiya didn't know many. However, I then sat down and wrote down all her words she knows AND signs and I felt MUCH better, as she is doing better than I thought!

Words she says: Bob, Doggie, Hungry, mommy, daddy, kitty, meow, woof, up, stop, tickle tickle

Signs she knows: bath, more, thank you, please, water, milk, elephant, eat, juice, bird

Body parts she points to: hair, tummy, toes, mouth, eyes, nose, ears, head

Actions she knows: kick in the water, splash hands in the water, blow bubbles in the water, clap hands, high five, touch down!, hugs and kisses when asked - and I'm sure I'm forgetting some - Josh is currently working on pound with her :)

She feeds herself now with spoons and forks, infact if you try to help her she pitches a fit! She is trying to put her own shoes on, usually can't get them but she tries. She does get her own slippers on and loves putting her hat on herself. She likes drinking water from a normal cup, we usually just put a little in as a lot does end up on her but she does get a good amount in her mouth too.

We bought her a potty - and really all we are doing right now is letting her sit on it while we go potty (more so mommy than daddy) and just get used to it and see it. There is no formal training going on.

She is constantly into everything - she LOVES to climb, climbs on our bay window all the time - even moves her chair over to the window to climb up on it. Will climb on our dinning room chairs or pull herself up onto our corner table/bench in the kitchen. She has NO fear. Here is her standing on her tippie toes on top of a heater exchange pulling herself up on the window to see mommy coming home.

She is a VERY independent little girl and is starting to test mommy and daddy's patience. If you tell her no or take something away from her, she lets you know she isn't happy. Will fall on the floor and start crying. I try not to laugh or smile because its cute - right now - until she does it in a store!! 18 months and throwing mini tantrums already - YIKES!!! We are gonna be in for a long 'terrible twos' considering they have started already!

But all in all she is a great child, we can go anywhere with her and she is very relaxed and just goes with the flow.