Kaia is 3!

It is amazing the things that Kaia has learned and accomplished in three short years. Sometimes talking to her you would think that it has already been 16 years:)

Kaia had a great birthday. Bryn managed to take the day off of work and Grandma (Bryn's mom) flew in the night before to surprise Kaia. And she did:) Kaia keeps talking about it. That morning after she came out of her room and went downstairs to wake up Grandma she had a big present waiting for her in the living room. Didn't want to unwrap it and told us that it was too big. She wanted the small ones that people had sent instead. That won't happen for very much longer I'm sure:) We finally convinced her to open her dollhouse and she played with it for awhile before we headed out to the spray ground to meet some friends. Kaia and Kamea had a great time playing in the water with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Anna and Casey. That afternoon after her nap, Kaia got to make a cake for herself. That is a very important part of birthdays to her. She also had to make herself a picture and a card. Kaia doesn't want to rip open present after present (we love that!). She wants to play with what she opens and we have to try to convince her to open more. So birthday gifts lasted for quite some time.

The weather didn't cooperate for Kaia's pool party that Saturday so we rescheduled to the next day after another friend's birthday party. This years party was so much different from last years. Kaia was so into having her friends there to play with and we all got to watch her play more than play with her. She is getting so big and has a great group of friends from school.

As a result of her birthday and gifts she has entered the world of princesses. Snow White is currently her favorite and she will not share her Snow White doll with anyone. Well, she has let Kamea touch her every once and awhile, but that is rare. She loves reading the princess stories so we bought her the whole Disney collection and a bookmark and are starting to make our way through the huge book.

Kaia is still scary smart. She is going to surpass our knowlege very fast and is going to require challenges. She corrects us and calls us out on things all of the time. The other day she was climbing onto Bryn and jumping off. When Bryn asked her to stop she said, "I have to jump Daddy." We asked why and she told us that it was exercise and she needed to exercise. Can't really argue with that logic:) She is starting to spell and sound things out. She can also write Kaia like a pro. Drawing is something else she loves and she has been drawing stick figures, trees, flowers and her repetoire is growing. Kamea is into everything all of the time so it has been a challenge to find seperate space for Kaia to do some of her art projects and things we use to do.

We have spent a lot of our summer at the pool. Kaia did a couple of weeks of swim lessons to get her more comfortable in the big pool. Now all she wants to do is go to the big pool. She is great at jumping in and being caught by someone. Today she used her kick board by herself and I didn't have to hold it to keep it balanced. Kaia is getting so much better at throwing and catching and has a strong kick. She is a lefty through and through. She also loves jumping and will jump everywhere forwards and backwards.

This summer also marked her first day camp. Last week she went to dance camp for the morning with some of her friends from school. She ran out afterwards to meet me and couldn't stop talking. She had a blast and has obviously missed her time away at school. Kaia has been asking since the spring to start dance class. I promised her she could start when school was over, not knowing that the summer is full of camps and not regular classes. We did go to the dance store and buy her her first leotard, tights and ballet shoes. She is my perfect little ballerina:) She already knows dance steps by name (coupe, passe, arabesque, etc). She picked them up at an open house we went to. She also picks up choreography so fast. The other day she was dancing and Bryn had to point out to me that she was doing choreography from a piece she had seen on TV. For the record although many of you won't believe me, I have not tried to get her interested in dance and was actually trying to put it off for a bit. I guess dancing and performing into my 8th month of pregnancy with her must have had an effect. She loves singing and dancing and makes up songs and dances all of the time.

I know I have been singing the praises of Kaia, but she is three and really smart. That also means lots of battles and not listening too. And of course she has learned some lovely behaviors from her friends. Her teacher actually told me that she enjoyed watching Kaia learn how to misbehave. But that all means that she is doing the things she is suppose to.

Kaia is a great big sister and loves Kamea incredible amounts. She loves teaching her and showing her things. When Kaia wakes up she loves for us to put Kamea into her crib with her for some sister time. We are entering the world of Kaia not wanting Kamea around too. But every girl needs some of her own space and time.