July 2006

This July has been the hottest I can remember (we're really enjoying the air conditioning in our new house), however the weather managed to turn cold and rainy on the evening of the fourth. Typical Seattle. Regardless, we had fun riding in Uncle Tom's boat and playing with sparklers before the rain came.

Thomas the Train came to Snoqalmie, and we took Kyla to ride the rails. She had a lot of fun sticking her head out of the window. Fortunately she isn't as obsessed with Thomas as Asher, which has turned into an expensive hobby for his parents.

Kyla is growing more independent, and wants to do more activities herself. When she's done eating, she pulls a chair up to the kitchen sink and washes her dishes. It can be a long process, but Becky and I encourage it hoping that it will continue. She is also able to dress herself now, though her clothes need some adjusting afterwards.

Jumping has become her favorite sport. Whenever we go to Papa and Nana's house, she loves jumping on their trampoline. It makes us very nervous that she's going to jump off of it one of these days, but she's getting better at staying in the center. At swim class she loves doing safety jumps into the pool, where she jumps in and I turn her underwater to the side of the pool.

Kyla is beginning to develop a devious side to her personality. One of her buddies was playing with her toy stroller, which she is possessive of, so she went and got a cup of water, handed it to him, said "thank you," and walked off with her stroller. When she was at another friend's birthday party she really wanted some cake, but Becky wanted her to eat some pizza first. Kyla took a bite of pizza, spit it out, and then demanded cake. Becky eventually worked out a compromise where Kyla had to eat (and swallow) a bite of pizza and then she would get a bite of cake.

Only one month to go before the official start of the Terrible Twos, though with Kyla's strong will we often feel like we're already there. Becky and I are still debating which one of us she inherited that trait from.