Happy Valentines Day

We never really made a big deal about Valentines Day in our family but I think my mom always bought us some chocolate. I remember in university she mailed me a valentines card once. Anyway, hope you all have a great love day...you don't need a special someone either (I know, easy for me to say) because it really just celebrates all those that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. I will be spending my Valentines day hugging and kissing my little man Kai and making a nice dinner/dessert for Gary.

Happy Heart Day! Wow, I miss teaching the chambers of the heart!

Remote Control

What a great weekend. Yesterday was so nice and sunny! In the morning, my sister Jackie came over and we went for a run...in shorts!!! Apparently I have a ways to go because when we got to my house, she took off again to do the exact same loop. Just wait til you have a baby Jackie, just you wait....
We took our first family bike ride to the park with Kai in the bike trailer. We felt a little dorky taking Kai on the swings, slide and teeter totter as he was the smallest one to be enjoying all the stuff but what do you expect with first time parents?!
I just finished reading the book `A Sunday At the Pool in Kigali' which was the hardest book I've ever read (in the emotional sense). It's about the genocide in Rwanda. I couldn't read it and couldn't not read it at the same time. It makes me angry seeing all the coverage about Anna Nicole Smith right now on the news...yes, her death is sad, as is the fate of her baby. However, we are so wrapped up in our own little worlds that we are missing so many other tragic things occuring all the time. It's taken from the the perspective of a Canadian reporter who lived in Rwanda during that time and how the UN and the rest of the world did practically nothing. You know, kind of like we do now. I really don't know what to do about it so I'm just as bad, but it bothers me. I recommend this book, but am warning you in advance of the content.
On a much lighter note, last night, Gary went to the bball game at TWU and the power went out here at home. I had nothing to read so I started reading energy saving tips in the front of the Yellow Pages. Some interesting stuff, besides, someone has to read it! Also did the crossword in the Surrey Now newspaper. Then, I went to bed early.
Here's Kai with his favourite new toy; our remote control. Now, I know you are not supposed to let them play with things that you will later NOT want them to play with but its perfect for soothing his gums, so for now, its fine with me!

This is the before picture when he is enjoying the remote.

This is after daddy takes it away to change the channel. Now I know where they get the saying `you're such a baby!'. He'll cry like crazy and then look at me to see if I'm paying attention. He also coughs to get my attention. Babies are pretty smart. This little guy went to bed at 7pm and we hope that he'll sleep til 8am. The past 3 nights he has been crying at 11pm and 4am...not a real cry, just an `I'm awake' cry. We'll see what happens tonight.

Playing This Morning

Our neighbour's dog woke us up nice and early this morning so we had a lot of time to play (and be tired).

Kai loves looking at the doggies but probably loves eating the book just as much!

This is his favourite toy right now. Lots of pieces to play with that make noise and feel good on the gums.

Smiles for mommy. You can see his nose is just about all healed right now. The doctor says that this is just the beginning of many injuries to come and Gary says `Chicks dig scars'. Oh boy.

He's starting sucking his thumb a lot more now and its usually the indicator that its time for a nap! I accidentally dress him like Gary (okay, not in shorts all the time but I love the little plaid shirts!)

Water

So, to all the homeowners out there...I recommend having a water meter put in! I don't know if all cities offer it, but Surrey does. Everyone pays a flat fee of something like $700.00/year. I called them to ask where they get this amount from and they say that they base it on an average family of 5. We are not a family of 5!!! So, a water meter was installed and in 4 months, our bill came to $64.00!!! That's about $190.00 a year and much cheaper. So ya, that's my recommendation to y'all!

Diapers

Quick question: what kind of disposable diapers are best? We use cloth half the time (which I must say are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier to use now that he is on solids..won't provide details) and have been happy using the Costco Kirkland diapers the rest of the time because they work well but I know there are cheaper ones out there. So, what's got the best quality/comfort for the cheapest price?

6 Month Shots

Yesterday Kai got his 6 month shots, here are the stats:
Height: 29 1/4 inches
Weight: 20lbs 6oz
Height: 45 1/2 cm
Def. still in the 97th percentile.
I redid this post because someone left a weird comment...how do you delete a comment?
Everyone enjoy watching `Lost' tonight!

Date Numero Quattro

Gary and I went to the Boathouse last night for a very good meal; steak, shrimp, halibut, mousse, keylime pie...we always eat half of everything and then switch so we get to try a lot more. It was such a nice night and it was fun to get a little dressed up too. Thanks to dad/opie for babysitting last night, he even put Kai to bed! I always get in a little of a panic (according to Gary) on the way home because I'm not sure if Kai has been screaming the whole time we've been gone or not. Of course, he was sleeping soundly.
Just finished `Sweetness in the Belly' and I give it an 8/10 so that's a pretty good recommendation. I think that it helps that a lot of it is based in Africa as it brings back some great memories for me.
I tried 100% tea tree oil on Kai's nose but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I think its more for relief than for healing. He's such a happy boy which makes me so happy. A happy mom also makes for a happy daddy:)
Two things I've noticed that we've been doing since Kai was born:
1. Every word now ends in `ie'. Does Kai was a new diapie? What happened to your sockies? Oh daddy, your dinner is yummies. Should we go for a walkie?
2. Gary and I often talk to eachother through Kai. `Kai, doesn't daddy look nice today?' `Kai, did mommy make a yummy dinner?' `Kai, should daddy take the garbage out' `Kai, should mommy do the laundry?'. As you can see, its used for compliments and suggestions:)
Well everyone, have a great time watching the Superbowl.

Happy 1st Birthday Annika

The birthday girl and her first taste of icing.

Kai loves doggies so this was obviously quite fun for him!
Wow. I can't believe a whole year has gone by since Annika was born, to me it feels like it was just yesterday. It's weird to think that mom was so happy at this time last year, celebrating her first grandchild. We went to Annika's party which was full of little ones running/crawling/rolling around and Annie got her first taste of cake. Kai just ate pureed pears and he seemed okay with that, although, he was reaching for Gary's chicken wings!

Our Big Little Boy

Before and After the `incident'

Kai is turning 6 months tomorrow. He'll get his shots and we'll figure out how much he weighs on Feb. 6th but I'm guessing he is about 21lbs right now. He has made a dramatic change this week. He goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps all the way through until 8am. He does wake up a bit in the night but just sticks his thumb in his mouth and back to sleep he goes. This probably goes along with his love for food now! I've been trying to get him to eat some pureed solids for the past month but just this week he has been starting to pound it back. Every time I get excited about a stage, there's a little glitch but boy, he is so easy right now! He loves bath time where he will kick his legs everywhere and anywhere while chewing on his rubber froggy. This picture was taken yesterday as our little guy had his first accident and it was kind of my fault. His little nose and forehead are pretty banged up but he seems to be in good spirits so I think he's okay. I've finally got over thinking `I'm the worst mom in the world' and come the realization that accidents happen, I can't protect him from everything, we learn from our mistakes and most importantly, he's okay. I got nurse Jan and Jackie to check it out and they said he looks okay too.

First Park Visit

Our new double jogging stroller/bike trailer. Annika and Kai were really good together and played nicely while inside of it.

Kai kept watching Annika walking in circles around him. Annie kept giving him toys, he would eat them and then she would steal them back. They just had a little arm wrestle over Kai's favourite one and I won't say who won:)

Kai's first time in a kind of big person swing!

So today Kai and I are babysitting Annika, my one year old neice. We took our brand new double stroller/bike trailer to the park and went on the swings. After the park, they just napped at different times which is quite convenient because then I can take turns with each one feeding them and playing with them. However, I think twins would be craziness. I'm making a yummy whole chicken right now in the crock pot as we're having a Dekens' dinner tonight...hope it tastes good cuz it sure smells good!