A different world of eating

Kaia cut her 2nd tooth on top a few days ago. That makes four teeth, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. The opposing teeth have opened up a whole new world. Kaia is figuring out that she can actually bite things and is loving it. We are excited that we will soon be able to move onto some foods that don't have to be completely mashable.

Music plays such an important role in Kaia's life. It might have something to do with the fact that I danced and performed up through the end of my 8th month while I was pregnant. And it also might have something to do with the fact that from the day she was born we played music a lot. Even in the hospital we had the ipod running non-stop. She requests music to be played or sung all day long. Whenever she is playing with a duck she immediately asks for me to sing the duckie song from sign class. She has loved her music class and has enjoyed getting to see Mr. Christopher performing over the summer. We have also been taking her to a variety of outdoor concerts here. On Tuesday night we went to Sweetberry Farm for a bluegrass concert. As soon as we put her down, she ran right up in front of the musicians and started bouncing, clapping and snapping. That was her favorite spot all night. I have held her and danced around the living room in the past and now she comes up to me and to Bryn and asks "please, please, up" with her signs. It is her request to dance with us around the room. She squeals with delight while we are dancing.

Her word count is crazy. We are somewhere between 120 and 125 words between her signs and spoken words. We have a crazy smart kid on our hands.

Since Kaia is healed up we have been going to the beach almost every day again. Her favorite activities here are having her lower body buried in the sand and having us dig a big hole and filling it with water so she can splash and play. She will also help by putting sand into the hole by the fist full.

Another favorite thing that we have discovered is bubbles. Kaia had seen bubbles and played with them before, but nothing like she does now. The funny thing is that Squirt (our cat) loves them even more. Kaia will ask for bubbles and Squirt is immediately in the room. She (Squirt) pops the bubbles and Kaia loves watching her do it. Squirt has been known to jump quite high to get the bubbles. Kaia is also learning to pop the bubbles to, but not quite as well as Squirt.

This week Kaia and I drove west of Boston to an audition for her. She was cute and adorable as usual, but I don't think they cast her because we haven't heard anything and it is shooting next week. She was a trouper with the 1 hour and 45 minute drive each way. I was dreading it since she hasn't always been a big fan of the car, but she did great. Once we got home and she got an afternoon nap, Kaia and I headed to the beach for our first solo beach experience. Bryn was at school for a long day and wasn't home yet. Yet again I was amazed at how well we did just the two of us.

Sleeping is still a big issue and we are prepping ourselves to start some sleep training for Kaia next week. We are all going to be pretty miserable and sleep deprived for a number of days. Bryn and I are figuring out our complete plan so we can be consistant once we put it into motion. Please send us good energy and vibes because we will all need it. Kaia's communication skills allow her to understand a lot, but I don't think she will understand this.

Kaia is so full of love it is amazing. She not only gives kisses and hugs, gives eskimo kisses, blows kisses and says mahh (like she is blowing a kiss) even without the motion. She has been kissing her stuffed animals for awhile and giving them hugs and loves, but she has a few new ways of kissing. If Bryn and I kiss she immediately has to come over and give each of us a kiss. It turns into a never ending round robin of kisses and we love it! Yesterday she decided to give Squirt kisses. So while Squirt is laying down Kaia will sit down next to her and lean over and kiss Squirt on the back and Squirt takes it. Today I went to pet Squirt after Kaia had been giving her kisses and the cat had a pretty big wet spot on her back:)