August 2006

It's official, Kyla is now two.

She's managed to get a head start on the whole terrible twos thing. On one occasion, Kyla was throwing a big fit and after Becky sent her to her room Kyla slammed her door, opened it, screamed at Becky, and then slammed it again. We've also had to go rounds to get her to brush her teeth now that Becky and I have committed to getting her to brush twice-a-day.

Kyla has been speaking in clear, full sentances for a while now, and it can be tempting to use this ability for mischievous purposes. Cassie really enjoyed teaching Kyla the lyrics to Baby Got Back ("I like big butts and I cannot lie"), though Becky wasn't laughing. However Becky has taught Kyla to say "Grandma drives like a maniac" and does find this to be quite amusing.

Becky and Kyla went to the coast for a weekend with Linda's family. Kyla got a kick out of running into and out of the waves as they rolled in. They also made sand angels and flew a kite on the beach. I stayed home that weekend and really enjoyed my alone time, but by the end I was excited for them to come home.

We went to Lake Chelan for a long weekend with my mother and sister Lexie. Kyla enjoyed riding on float toys and jumping off of a platform into the lake. All in all the trip was very relaxing and we ate really well since Grandma Jan was there. On the way back we went blueberry picking at Mount Si. I had Kyla on my shoulders and I didn't end up with too many berries as she ate them almost as fast as I could pick them.

Every night I try to read a story to Kyla before bed. Her favorite book is The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss. Whenever I come to the page where the cat drops the grumpy fish out of his bowl and the fish lands in a teapot, Kyla becomes very concerned and asks "Where did the fish's bowl go Daddy?"

Two years into this parenting thing and so far so good. Becky and I both knew raising a kid would be a lot of work, but I think we were still surprised by just how our lives were taken over by it. An outsider might see parenthood as a condition where you only give, but it's the little things that happen everyday like getting a hug, hearing her say a cute phrase, or even just a smile that reminds me that I'm getting so much more out of this than I'm putting into it.

Kyla's 2nd Birthday Party

We had Kyla's birthday party at our new house this year (we've been here 10 months, can I still call it new?). There were more than 50 guests, over a dozen of whom were kids, which made for a big crowd.

The most interesting guest was Elmo. The children were pretty evenly split between those who thought Elmo was cool and those who feared the big red monster. Kyla was in the latter group. Luckily, our neighbors the Neels brought over a big bouncy house that all of the kids enjoyed.

Last year I created a movie showing pictures and video from Kyla's first year, this year I did the same covering her second year and gave a screening at the party. Again it took more hours than I care to count to create it, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

Kyla received more presents than is practical to list here, but it consisted of a lot of toys, books, and clothes many of which are themed after Dora and Elmo. So far her favorites are her new Power Wheels scooter and Big Sister Dora doll (how appropriate).

Putting this party together was no small task for Becky and I (with a lot of help from our parents), but everyone seemed to have a good time, including the birthday girl... especially after Elmo left.