The Birthday Party & Granddaddy's Visit

So much to blog about!  We've had a tremendous amount of help visiting, Romeni and Dad, and even with that I still didn't have anytime to post about Reina's birthday party, Kaiya's two month check up, or Granddaddy's visit.

I'll start with Reina's birthday party, since it comes first sequentially.  On Saturday, January 14th we had over Ako, Rana (our Japanese neighbors), Manaka, Miri, and Ichika (our other Japanese neighbors), Joe and Skyla-chan (Kazumi and Kaori's little ones) and Amy and Kimi (Reina's friends from daycare).  I had originally meant for it to be a small party, but then I ran into Amy's parents at the store coincidentally and the other neighbors, so they all got invited.  Reina loved it of course.  Obachan and Hiromi came as well as Granddaddy and Romeni of course, so it was a full house.  I went with a "zoo" or "jungle" theme and it actually turned out pretty good. I bought some masks and sun-glasses and I think the kids really enjoyed them.  Kaiya hung out with Chris the whole time and really was a champ while Reina got all of the attention.


Later that week Kaiya had her 2 month check up.  She was 9lbs 15oz and just under 22inches long.  She took three shots with what I considered little resistance and didn't seem to be bothered by them much (save about an hour in the evening where she whaled the whole time!).  Kaiya has been off and on at night, sometimes sleeping relatively well, with one wake up, and other nights with two wake ups and lots of tossing and turning.  This makes for a rough day at work for Chris and I, but last night she did pretty good so I'm hopeful the trend will continue. Kaiya actually rolled over from her front to her back three time last week, which is much sooner than Reina did.  She still prefers to lay on her back, so I don't get to see her roll too many times, but boy does she get her head up high. Kaiya has also had about three great days in a row, with lots of smiling, wakeful time, rather than fussy, constantly needing to suck on something times.  Chris and I have mastered the getting ready for bed routine, and the last two nights I've been able to bring Kaiya into bed while I read to Reina.  Reina really likes this. She pats Kaiya, tries to hold her hand, and will ask for her to "nap" with her when its time for me to leave. So sweet.

Granddaddy and Romeni left today.  They were a huge help, doing laundry, washing dishes, and cooking meals.  It was nice as Chris and I are so tired after not sleeping well at night and then working all day.  I fear this next week is going to kill me (and don't even remind me that soccer season is right around the corner).  Since the baby-sitters have left, Kaiya will head to daycare next week.  I think finagling two kiddos in the morning is going to be a whole other level of challenge for us, so we'll see if we actually make it to work on time!

Since Reina is now three, she is moving up to the preschool gym class. I'm a bit anxious, since this means she has to listen to a teacher without me, and while she is actually a pretty good listener, she's not always good at trying new things without me nudging her on.  Hopefully when all of the other kids are doing it too, she will give in - peer pressure working at its best, right?  Since Dad was here, I was able to get a few shots with my camera at her last few gym classes (in mommy and me).

A Year Makes a Difference

October 2010

January 2012

Ok.  Its a little over a year.  But that tree grew a lot more than Reina!  We just measured her and she grew three inches!  

Happy 3rd

We had a little celebration for Reina's real birthday on the 4th last week.  Reina got to open all of her toys from relatives and us, and then rather than going to the indoor park, she chose to stay home and play with all of her new toys.  Favorites included her new sweater I picked for her (shown in all the pictures), her new easel from Grandma, and her microwave and mixer from Grandpa.  After that Reina picked soba for dinner (I swear Chris must have coached her on this!) and then we went to get ice cream for dessert. I think she rather enjoyed herself. 

Granddaddy and Romeni arrived yesterday (Friday, January 6th) and then when Chris came home he had at least 7 boxes (the Xmas/Birthday rush we missed!). Most of them were presents from Grandpa for Reina's kitchen (which she loved) and some stuff that I purchased for Reina and us from our gift cards.  She also got her first barbie from Romeni and Granddaddy - which she has since dubbed Liz (perhaps I had somethign to do with that), since she has long dark brown hair like Liz does.  

Her first painting - she drew a rainbow

We're excited to spend the next two weeks with Granddaddy and Romeni and for Kaiya to adjust to days without Mama's milk. 

Mmmmm. Soba

Her very first OWN ice cream cone.  She chose pink.

Just Kaiya

Since tomorrow is Reina's birthday and I haven't spoken much about her little sister, I thought I'd get this little post in just for Kaiya.



A little about Kaiya.  First off, she is an excellent sleeper.  She still doesn't drift off to sleep by herself, but when she goes down for the night (which can be accompanied by some screaming, which I'm trying to figure out..dairy?) she is down for about 6 hours straight.  This is MUCH better than Reina when she was her age, so we'll take it. I hope I don't jinx myself, but this long stretch which results in only one wake up is magical compared to little Reina.  Kaiya tends to sleep more in general compared to Reina, with at least 3 naps during the day.  She is also much more lax about eating....four hours in between isn't un-heard of.  She probably averages about 3 in between nursings and will go down to two for her last couple in the evenings, which tend to be the "hardest" part of the day for her.  Its rough being a newborn, right?  Kaiya has also been smiling and cooing at us. I remember lots of smiles from Reina, but not much cooing.  Kaiya will literally stare me down after nursing, smiling and cooing at me.  It evens appears that if I coo back at her, she gets it and thinks its pretty cool to be communicating with someone.  As Kaiya is now a bit more alert during the days, she definitely follows people with her head and eyes and she is also starting to show an interest in what Reina is doing, which I think will slowly increase as she gets older.  Kaiya is staying home this week with Dad and took her first bottle today with little argument.  She only took 2 ounces, which I think is unusually small for her, but hopefully she'll get the hang of it as the week goes on (again, much better than Reina, who refused to use a bottle for several days).  I took a half day today, so she only needed one bottle, but the rest of the week, she'll be getting at least two.  Hope she maintains the lax attitude!  I'm not sure exactly how much Kaiya weighs, but we know she is 10lbs +.  This seems to be right on track with Reina.  When I looked back at Reina's stats, she gained weight pretty quickly, so even though Kaiya was bigger at birth, she has gained weight slower than Reina. Looking at her (and back at pictures of Reina) it seems to me that she is a bit leaner looking. Reina was CHUBBY!  We have her 2 month appointment next Tuesday, where she'll get her next set of shots and of course all of her stats taken again.

This Friday Dad and Romeni fly in to watch little Kaiya for her last two weeks before starting daycare.  I'm not sure what Reina is more excited for....Granddaddy and Romeni or her birthday!  She talks about them both a lot.