Kai's first blog

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhi m y nameiz k AI

I told him what letters to look for and he found them. He learned quickly that you don't hold down the letter. I guess he thinks a z is an s. not bad. The `I' confused him a lot because it doesn't look liked a regular captial I (if that makes sense).

Thursday morning

(Auntie Janny teaching Kai about plane crashes)

This morning, my sister Jan came over at 8am (who does that?!) and then Maria, Ani and Bbelle came at 9am. Kai and Ani have such a blast together and play nicely for hours without our supervision. I'm so thankful that they have eachother. Our little guy won't have a close buddy as Bbelle will be a whole year older but maybe once they are 3 and 4, it won't matter so much.

(Auntie Janny playing farm with Kai. She lives in Mission so Kai prob. only sees her once every 2 weeks or so).

Kai has been blinking excessively the past 3 days. It is worst when reading books or watching tv but does happen throughout the day. I really don't think its his vision as he can read letters that are across the room very easily. I checked a bit online and they said that in most cases its just a phase that will prob. pass in a month or so. Other possibilities are vision problems, dry eyes due to the air or heat in the house, Tourettes, or allergies. I'll def. keep my eye on it anyway. TV is the worst, he probably blinks/grimaces every 2 seconds. Maybe its having too many camera flashes in his face all the time:)

Conversation yesterday:

Me: Kai, what is your favourite letter?

Kai: M

Me: Why `M'?

Kai: Cuz M is for mommy!

Yesterday, he also said, `Mommy, do you want a big hug?'. Do I ever!! He has also been saying `thanks' most of the time without me asking him too. Love it. One last thing he said, `Mommy, I'm just joking! I'm not serious!'. Where did he learn that? Okay, one more thing that he says that drives me crazy and is not tolerated anymore is saying that certain people are dead. He will sit there and say `Mommy's dead! Mommy's dead!' over and over. If you ask him about it, he can explain that when you are dead you go to heaven with God. I think he's just looking for a reaction which I no longer give him. I just say that I will not talk to him as long as he is talking like that.

School wise, things are good as I've had 3 weeks in a row of just teaching 2 days. Love that. Picture wise, things get busy around this time of year and I'm trying to figure out how much we want to do and when we want to stop for a few months off. Pregnancy wise, I feel like I have more energy than before and I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by. I would like to have one more child...its just convincing Gary that I/we can handle it:) One at a time. I am really excited to get my body back into shape and its hard to completely commit to it when you think that you could have another baby because then you just get stretched out all over again. We will see. Okay, I better utilize my free time a little better:)

Sleep in!

Kai slept at gramma's last night. Gary left at 6am. I was curious to see how long I would sleep in. I slept until 9:30am! Wowzers. I haven't slept that long in over 3 years. It was amazing to have the day to myself. I felt so....free. I didn't do anything exciting. I just cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, and got my hair cut:) I took Kai with me to vote tonight. It was terrible. It took an hour. Kai was grumpy and tired and sick. I had to hold him half the time. Holding a 32lb kid that wants to run away while you are pregnant is not fun.

You prob can't tell that my hair is cut. The front is actually the same length as before, they just shortened the back a few inches. The reason I took a picture is because they straightened my hair and i've never had it straightened before. Not too different but just a bit:) It's not the easiest taking a profile shot in the mirror I tell ya so deal with the overexposure! I drank 1L of chocolate milk this afternoon. I have a feeling I will get sick of it soon:) Well, back to work tomorrow morning after a whole week off of teaching. I only have 23 more teaching days (and then several meetings/parent teacher nights etc). I feel bad having a countdown but I think that in a month or so, I will be ready for the year long maternity leave! Although, the other day, I was so excited teaching my grade 9's about the difference between ionic and covalent bonds after they had learned about Bohr models. Most of them seemed kind of interested too and had really good questions. I will miss that:) Teaching Kai the alphabet doesn't seem as exhilarating. By the way, I love our van!

Third Trimester...27 weeks

Here I am. We're going to take some `real' shots prob. this coming weekend as we may have our new camera by then!!! Tomorrow, I have the entire morning to myself (Kai at gramma's!). We just finished editing the wedding photos (yay for both of us having today off to work at home instead!) so tomorrow I'll just pick up the prints and then who knows what I will do?! Get my hair cut/styled maybe? I wonder if I will be able to sleep in?! I know I need to buy more chocolate milk. I think that's what's keeping my leg cramps away. Bon nuit.

PS This baby's kicking and moving is way more painful than Kai's ever was. Well, as far as I remember, AND, he/she is just going to get stronger!

Thanksgiving weekend

Gary and I are so thankful for all we have. I'll bet Gary is thankful that he is lying in bed right now while I'm going to get back into photo editing and Kai is watching a little Diego:) Gary never stays in bed past 7am so he must be tired, I hope he isn't getting sick! We are a little pictured out right now but I should include a 27 week picture soon...wow. Time is flying! Quick update on `stuff' and I'll write more later:
1. Kai saw the giant hay bales in the white plastic while we were driving and exclaimed so excitedley, `Toilet paper!!!'
2. Kai is coughing non stop. Grrrr.
3. We had a wedding on Saturday and I'm currently going through the 1700 pictures:) The weather was perfectly cloudy and I think we got a lot of gooders.
4. Thanksgiving dinner #3 tonight.
5. Kai is funny. He usually is allowed to come into our room in the morning and hang out with us in bed for 5 minutes or so. He likes to climb `Mommy mountain' and `Daddy mountain', turn on our music, and just be silly. I asked him why he was up so early today (6:15 am) and he said very contemplatively, `Well, because....I waked up!'. He is still curious about each new word he hears and is quite happy with the explanation for things like `pal'. HOwever, daddy's explanation for `election' was a little over his head!
6. I have gained 15lbs and its all belly. I'm suprised how many people have said that I'm still quite small. I think because its just a ball upfront it may not look that big? All I can say is that this baby is big already. I can feel the full length of it stretched out and kicking about 3 inches above my belly button. I find that the most comfortable position is lying on my side and I try to lay on the couch for 1-2 hours each evening. This makes me feel like my abdomen/uterus has ample room. Sitting is not comfortable as the baby pokes out in all directions.
7. Well, Kai just asked me to play puzzle with him so I better be a good mommy. Oh ya, I forgot to mention that Saturday morning I got more mad at him than I have ever been with him. He needed a diaper change before we dropped him off at gramma's for the day and he refused. I had to pin him down and then he started spinning (with a dirty diaper) and `stuff' went everywhere. I was so frustrated! I didn't swear or anything but the tone I used with him was quite harsh and the feelings of anger I had in my head did not diminish for a good hour! I would say that my hormones have def. increased my ability to get angry fast. Gary can prob. attest to that!

More Daddy Time

Kai loves helping daddy. This afternoon they mowed the lawn and Kai's job was to collect all the leaves and put them in the bucket to be composted. You prob. can't tell but we got a `new' (craigslist) lens today:) It's a 50mm 1.4 prime lens. We also bought a monopod. Fun times in the Chapman household!

(the fall season is here as seen by...Kai's continuously runny nose. His hair is a disaster but his dimples are cute!)

'Monica's

For the past 20 minutes, I've been listening to Kai and Gary play the harmonica together. He stops once in a while to say something like, `Daddy, isn't this fun?' `Mommy, listen to us play!' `Mommy, we're playing `monica's!' `Mommy, I'm making lots of soundses!'

Two Vehicles

(The only picture I have from the last couple days...we threw some rocks in the river at Derby Reach. We were checking to see if the leaves had changed colour there for future photo shoots, but alas, they were just green and yellow)

I thought i would post quickly since we have a busy week ahead of us. I have realized that having 2 vehicles is awesome HOWEVER, it may lead to less exercise and spending more money. I hope not! It's def. nice being able to run errands while Gary is at work, rather than rushing out when he gets home. The van drives very well and is now nice and spiffy inside:) I somehow have more school work then I did last year and I'm not entirely sure why. It could be that I have classes that are a bit harder to manage and so I collect everything for marks to ensure they are working the whole time (rather than just doing a lab/activity for fun). It's crazy to think that all the work I'm doing from Sept-Christmas is going towards the van....oh well, at least I like my job!

I am now at a stage where I am really putting on the pounds and my belly is expanding almost painfully. Last night, from 1-2am I was in quite a bit of pain. I'm not sure what it was but it was like my uterus was just holding one long contraction. Everything is fine today but I'm kind of at a stage now where I get a bit nervous. I just need this baby to stay safe and sound inside of me. I haven't had the painful leg cramps at night yet and I am def. dreading that. My newest craving/love is chocolate milk. I LOVE IT!!!!!! We are set on our boy name and our girls first name flucuates daily with all similar type names....all start with either E, A or M:) I want a cute short name but I think we are going for a `longer' name with a cuter nickname?! As of today, we may have it. I keep anticipating that this baby will behave perfectly. Everyone seems to have a really good 2nd baby and Kai was pretty nuts so I'm thinking it better not be worse!

We now have a conference for the next two days, then a wedding, then thanksgiving celebrations. I'm trying to think if Kai has said anything funny over the last few days. Kai now asks what every word means so i have to watch what i say. Example: `Mommy, what does turd mean?' Yesterday, he held up his chewy fruit snack that was shaped like a banana or something and he said `Look mommy, a penis!' and then he found another one and said it was another part of the male anatomy. He's such a boy. His fish Kiki died this morning. We were honest this time and explained that he had died. He is very curious about why it died. I tried to explain that it was old and sick. He wanted to know how it got sick. So hard to explain. Now, when he doesn't want something he says that its dead. We'll have to work on that.

Well, better get marking before the pile gets too big. Gary and I are def. planning a mini weekend away before the baby comes so I really hope we follow through with that. It will prob. just mean getting a hotel in Vancouver to eat yummy food and take some photos which sounds good to me! Bon nuit.

Our weekend in the Fraser Valley:)

On Saturday we went to a Corn Maze in Chilliwack with our friends Mike, Haley and their son Finn. We didn't actually do the corn maze part (due to a crazy down pour) but we hung out in the petting zoo area and the boys went nuts on the ride on tractors. We haven't seen them since Kai was born (because they lived in Calgary) so it was great to meet their son! Mike and I were friends while teaching at the same school and he ended up being roomates with Gary. Mike was able to see first hand our `interesting' dating history:) They have recently moved to Chilliwack so it was fun to hang out again. These boys def. have similar interests so I really hope that they will have many more opportunities to hang out in the future!

(15 (?) month old Finn above, Kai below)

When we left their house, Kai said that he really liked Chilliwack and that he had a lot of fun. He felt bad because he closed the toy box on Finn's fingers just as we were leaving, but I assured him over and over that Finn was okay. I think Kai may be a senstive fellow.

Kai is actually hugging Finn in this picture and he did give him a kiss. Not sure what's going on with my hair but ya, these guys had some fun today! On the way home, Kai asked me questions about the day (usually I review by asking him questions). When I had replied with all the right answers, he said `Good remembering mommy!'.

(B-belle in her running/crawling gear)

Today (sunday), we did the Run for the Cure for the 7th year in a row (something like that). The weather was perfect and Kai was so pumped to race. We got to take our van and therefore were able to carpool!! We had 6 people in our vehicle...so nice! We arrived early which meant that Kai and Ani were practicing their racing and basically tiring themselves out.

(Kai practicing with my dad beforehand)

Gary, Jackie and my cousin Tammy ran it while the rest of us walked. I did run a bit of it and it actually felt okay:) Gary did very well, and although I don't know his time, he was prob. the 7th guy in:)

(Kai just had a pink headband...he wishes he owned more pink!)

(Ani's shirt showing that we are running in memory of oma...)

(Jan did the 1km walk with a broken foot and finished ahead of me!)

The whole group! It looks like I have a 5th sister. That's our cousin Tammy who's living with my dad right now while she tries to find a place in the Vancouver area.

We arrived at the finish the same time as Gary (Kai had found some ice by the rink and had preoccupied with that for a portion of the `race' so that's why we were so slow!). So, we all ran in together. I felt like teary eyed because i felt like it was a precious moment...crazy pregnancy hormones! Afterwards he said `That race was fun mommy!'. Afterwards, we went to Joanne's place (my dad's girlfriend). We had our Dekens family thanksgiving dinner so that was yummy and my tummy is still in pain. Kai played really well there until 1:30 or so and now he's home napping.

Here's Kai in the new van. He loves it. I love it. Gary loves it. Yay! He's still such a chatterbox and today he said, `Mommy, what does `serious' mean?'. He has never asked the meaning of a word before and he asked the meaning of a different word later. This is an interesting stage! One thing that is driving me CRAZY is that he says he has to poop on the toilet so I put him on and he sits there for 5 seconds and says he's all done. So, he comes off and then says he wants to go back on. Up, down. Over and over. It gets to the point where I'm demanding that he put his diaper on and poop in it. Reverse psychology? We did put the timer on yesterday and he had to sit and try for 3 minutes. That is the new rule. Grrrrrr....he is also having a lot more `No!' moments and irrational crying. At least around others he is generally quite well behaved:) Okay, time to relax for an hour or two!!!!

Samosas!

(helping roll the dough)

Here are just a few pics of Kai helping me with dinner. To be honest, I do not enjoy having him help me in the kitchen. I would rather do it quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately Diego is only 20 minutes long so he was around to help me for the last 30 minutes of samosa preparation. I think it's cute when he helps, but, its def. messy and time consuming!

(filling them with potato/pea mixture...he would eat half and then put half in the dough. If we were cooking for anyone but ourselves, there's no way he'd be allowed to help!)

Okay, I'm supposed to be doing some school work since my brain feels better tonight. So, I will be brief:


-glucose test tomorrow morning. I'm going right at 7 am so hopefully there is no line?
-
(he sticks his tongue out when he's thinking, just like Gary. By the way, we baked them, not deep fried them. Not bad, not bad.)
-my brain has been feeling like I just wrote a Calculus exam. You know that feeling? Where your head hurts because you've worked so hard mentally?
-I visited my friend in the hospital tonight who had a baby on Wednesday. I'm nervous about the first week of C-section recovery but she seems to be doing well and baby Seth is happy, healthy, and content so that is good!
-went to a funeral for a friends dad today (Frank Kooger). He was just 55 years old. Brought back a lot of memories but it was so great to hear laughter there as people shared funny stories about him. I fear loss again. You never know.
-Sunday we have the Run For the Cure again. We do it every year and this year, I am not running. I'll just do the 1km walk with Kai. I think we'll take our van there:)
-we have a wedding next Saturday, I'm hoping the rain will be gone by then and the leaves will very autumny!