Obsession

Last night we went to ShopKo to pick up a couple of things and check the price of diapers. We'd been cooped up in the house all day and wanted to get out but couldn't spend a lot of money. So since we needed a few things anyway we went "out" to ShopKo. I know, the things we do in a small town for fun on Saturday nights. Anyway, we browsed a bit after we'd picked up what we went there for, and somehow ended up in the game aisle. We saw a game we'd played and enjoyed with Lorin and Katrina over Christmas, Blokus Trigon, and the next thing I know it's in the cart. It's not like Jason to make impulsive purchases, so I looked up, surprised. It was on clearance for $8. We'd looked online for it before and couldn't find it for under $25. So we bought it. That meant that all day today we played Blokus Trigon. During Kayla's afternoon nap Jason and I played a couple of times and then we decided to try and fit every single piece on the board. Here he is trying to get the last few pieces on. I'd already given up. It is quite difficult!

It's....Green!

Today Kayla had her first taste of veggies. We started her on rice cereal at the beginning of the month, and now it's time to move on to vegetables. The first one we decided to try was peas. She made a couple of funny faces (as can be expected) but she came back for more and ate almost all of the bowl we'd prepared. I'm excited about trying new veggies with her every week now. Not sure what we'll do next; maybe squash?

Halfway There

It's crazy to realize that we've had Kayla in our lives for half a year now. She turned six months old today; here's her six-month photo with the teddy bear. Every month we take a picture of her with this bear and eventually I'll make a collage of her first year, month-by-month, of the pictures with the teddy bear. She's so adorable. And I'm, uh, not biased at all...

Blue or Yellow?

We tried a new recipe tonight: Broccoli and Potato Soup. It was a creamy soup that used blue cheese instead of just cream or sour cream. TASTY!!! We'd never cooked with a full brick of blue cheese before, though; it was wrapped in paper and then in a layer of yellow wax. Weird stuff, but it broke right off. Kind of fun to do, actually. Here's what the soup looked like before we blended it (note that the blue cheese was crumbled into the pot):

Buddies

We spent the afternoon and evening at Jake and Merrie Beth's house today. Their daughter, Chloe, is one day older than Kayla. I like this picture because it accentuates the beautiful colour of both of their eyes. I really wanted a picture of them looking at each other, but every time they did it and I'd pull out the camera they'd get more interested in me than each other. So I gave up. They get along okay so long as they aren't pulling on the same toy. And Chloe tends to be way more tolerant of Kayla than Kayla is of Chloe. Kayla is rather greedy and whiny. I hope this doesn't continue into their toddler years...


FYI - Kayla is on the right.

A First Time for Everything

Tonight Jason and I got to experience what it's like watching after a toddler and an infant. It could definitely come in handy for the future, and it was pretty fun! Our friends Rachel and Charley, who have babysat Kayla for us a few times so we could have date night, wanted to go to Rachel's office Christmas party (yes, in late January) without their 21-month-old son. It was at a fancy restaurant and though they would've taken him, it was more enjoyable without having to worry about him, I'm sure. So we agreed to watch him and decided to go over to their house where all of Levi's toys are, and be in his element. Kayla doesn't care where we are; Mommy and Daddy ARE her element right now. So we packed up and headed over there, bringing a frozen pizza with us for dinner. For a little over two hours we read multiple books (some all the way through several times, others a few pages at a time), learned what sounds different animals make, rode on the bouncy horse, and hid from the stuffed doggy around the corner. Levi is a great little kid and was easy to watch. Kayla just sat there and chewed on things and watched. The only challenge of the evening was when Levi needed his diaper changed. I've never changed a boy diaper. But I was successful (I think!). All in all, not a bad night!

A Rebuttal

In response to my supposition that Kayla would be a percussionist (see yesterday's post), Jason took this picture of her preparing to become a woodwind player. She obligingly drooled down the length of his clarinet. But she'd be the cutest clarinetist ever, right?