A Sleep Over, Parks, and the Aquarium

Koa loves his food! He has been out-eating me lately (and that's hard to do)!

Sunday afternoon lunch in a special spot!

Breakfast for dinner! Koa was quite pleased!

Koa and Gaine enjoyed their sleep over (and so did their mommies)! It was rainy, so we built a fort (thanks Aunt Ashley) and the boys had a blast reading books and playing in (and ON) their fort.

Fingerpainting with my buddy!

When Koa gets up in the morning or from a nap, he has to have all of his buddies with him. I used to be happy that he had three "snugglies" so we could just grab any one of them and he would be happy, but now he wants all of them with him...and his blanket(s), and "dogdog" and "belle." When I walk in his room, he is standing there in his crib with all of his "friends" in his arms waiting for me to break them all out!

Koa and I went to visit Amy and the boys and ended up eating a picnic at the park! Koa was so tired, but enjoyed a push in the swing from his buddy! Needless, to say, he slept all the way home!

Koa loves playing with his kitchen!

He oganized all of his food in his fridge...

Our friends, Jenn and Chris, invited us to go to the Food Truck Meet Up where we got to eat lots of different yummy foods!

I asked them to hug for a picture and they refused! In fact, they wouldn't even smile for a picture together! I think I got the first "you are embarrssing me, mom" look from Koa!!

Jenn and I are both expecting our second baby within the same week!

After the cold spell we had, our garden is done for the winter...except for the carrots, apparently! I forgot about these things until the other day, and Joey and I were shocked to see a bunch of mini carrots growing! We weren't sure what to think of them until we tasted this one. Delicious!

More eating and around the house...

Mom, this kitchen is way more fun with real food!

Breakfast: yogurt, strawberries, milk, and TWO waffles! Really?!

Getting a good stretch in while wearing Dada's shoes...

He loves putting our shoes on and walking around!

Koa is a dipper...here he is enjoying bacon dipped in yogurt!

We enjoyed a family walk to the park...Koa loves the slides and swings!

Aquarium Visit

Koa literally RAN through the aquarium. I think we were only there for an hour--we aren't even sure if he saw any fish! He loved dancing over the flashing lights on the floor. Joey and I are just glad we have an anual pass and didn't feel we needed to stay long enough to "get our money's worth!" Oh, and he just happened to see his bear hat in the stroller and wanted to wear it...why not?

He loves "Reef" and "Windy," the penguins!

Dancing on the lights...

Where are these lights coming from?!

I think Joey and I looked at the marine life more than Koa!

Koa has been working on counting to five. I needed a way to teach him patience because I couldn't handle hearing "morepleasemorepleasemoreplease" over and over until I gave him another snack! So, we started counting to five after he asks for moreplease in order to give me time to finish what I am doing or hand him another cracker/snack/whatever it is he wants! It's become a game and I love how he tries to use his fingers for counting! Joey is eating guacamole and giving Koa bites...







January Beach Day

We were supposed to meet a friend and her little boy at the beach, but she couldn't make it. That didn't stop Koa and me from heading out! The weather was beautiful: high 70's, no clouds, and a light wind. Koa played and played and played in the sand...funny how kids don't mind being covered in the stuff! And there definitely is no such thing as a "sand free zone" anymore! I packed a picnic lunch and ended up feeding Koa's lunch to him bite by bite as he played (his hands were too sandy). After lunch, I dusted him off as good as I could and took him for a long walk which resulted in a Koa nap. Koa played some more after lunch and then we headed home. We ended up getting a four hour beach day in--I was thrilled!

And he's off!

I love that he had his snuggly with him while he played in the sand!

(By the way, that man in the background had a little dog in the baby stroller that he was wheeling around behind himself!)

Nap time!

Checking out a helicopter...once it flew over he wanted "more" and I had to try to explain that I couldn't make it fly over again!

We definitely missed Daddy on this trip...hopefully the weather will cooperate soon on a day Joey has off!

Once a teacher, always a teacher...

This post spontaneously deleted, so here it is again!

I love staying home with Koa and watching him learn, and he enjoys coloring and reading books. So, when I found this website (abcjesuslovesme.com) that has a curriculum for two-year-olds, I was really excited! Now, we have fun ideas to do during the week! I know Koa is too young to sit down for long periods of time, so we use it more for when we want to do something together. Each week we have a book of the week (with crafts to go with it), color, shape, number, group of letters, Bible story (and crafts to go with it), music that goes with the Bible story, and even gross and fine motor skills to practice. Here is what we have done the first two weeks:

Week One: Llama Llama Red Pajama (we love this one)
Week Two: When the Elephant Walks

Week One: Color-red, Shape-circle
Week Two: Color-blue, Shape-straight line

Week Two: God made the plants finger painting craft (I love that the leaves are his feet!)

Koa and Gaine playing with the finger paints after making their flowers!

We have been learning about Creation. You can see the pages for the book he is making: Day One-God made night and day; Day Two-God made the water and sky (he got to glue cotton balls down for clouds); Day Three-God made plants.

After I helped him glue down the tree and paint a couple of flowers, he is using his "marker water colors" for the first time to decorate his picture!

Happy New Year! & January so far...

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for as we reflect back over 2011! We have made so many great memories with our family and friends...even though we are spread all over the world! As we watch the news and look around in our own community, we are even more thankful for Joey's job...and the fact that he enjoys it is even better! I have truely enjoyed spending my days taking care of Koa and our home. He is growing so fast and learning so many new things. We look forward to what 2012 brings (especially our new family member who will be here half way through the year)!

We enjoyed New Year's Eve with Scott, Becky, and Gaine at their house watching football. Koa and Gaine played outside in the sand box, rode the four wheeler, and Koa even raked a few leaves! Joey and Scott enjoyed a bonfire in the backyard after the boys went to bed!

January Pictures

Koa loves his art easel! He is always asking to color!

Koa gets his tag junior out, turns it on, grabs a book, and starts "reading!" He may not be reading the pages in order, but he definitely interacts with it: he will repeat the letters when it tells him to! I love it!

Lemon coffee is his favorite thing to make right now!

Koa heard the marching band performing a half time show during a bowl game and stopped what he was doing. After watching for a couple seconds, he picked up his recorder and started "playing" as he turned his head from side to side. I was in shock watching him imitate what he was seeing on TV!

We have had one cold spell so far!

Bath Time!

Writing his thank you notes!

Ham and cheese sandwich with apples...Daddy makes lunch so fun!

Christmas Celebration from England

Grandpa and Grandma Kaleikini sent Koa a Christmas celebration from England. We sure did miss them during all of the family festivities, but we were happy to be able to skype with them on Christmas day and return home from Ohio to a fun filled box! I made sure I took lots of pictures of Koa opening his presents since we couldn't be together...so here they are! What a great Christmas we had...Koa is so busy playing with all of his new toys