tuesday

Kalia's 1st dentist appointment!
OK, probably wouldn't have taken
it with my camera, but I was there
and I had my phone...
She did great!

Swim Lessons
Lahaina Aquatic Center
Coach Maya
"Floating like a Pancake"

Coming up for a breath
6 weeks ago she would not let her face get wet,
let alone go under water.
Tuesday she swam by herself up to 8 strokes!
She can now hold her breath for 10 seconds under water!
Coach Maya is my hero.

This is what Maya does during Kalia's swim lesson.

Cruising...
We went in the water a little- but it was pretty cold that day!

Great day on Tuesday: Kalia's 1st Dental Appointment, Playdate at Scarlett's House (Scarlett was on vacation and Kalia was seriously missing her friend) & Swim Lesson. It was a good day!

lily's birthday - marriott pool

sunset swing in the hammock
we were all in a one time- but i had to get a photo!

I picked Kalia up from school today and we went
straight to Lily's birthday party at the Marriott pool

Kalia was amazing in the pool. She asked for her goggles and after a couple of "jumps" - me pulling her off the ledge and into the water, she quickly progressed into swimming out to me. She was kicking her legs and moving her arms. We will definitely need to keep a very close eye on her! Kalia has really gotten some confidence in the water. Maya was sitting on a chair enjoying a slice of pizza a little boy named Tyler gave her and I was having Kalia
and every kid at the party swim to me. Then I told Kalia not to swim- I had to get out and check on Maya. I turned around and she is swimming back from the middle
of the pool and I jumped in to help her to the ledge- she was OK and might have been able to do it- but it really scared me! I'm not used to her doing things like that!

Anyway, great fun party. The girls had so much fun. Today was actually cold and rainy - so we spent some time in the jacuzzi and it was fun! The girls had fun running around with the kids
and of course the cake.Kalia patiently waited to give Lily her present, but really wanted Lily to see the card she made her. She was a little sad when Lily didn't seem interested in her card...

busy days

The girls drinking smoothies at Leilani's
Erik worked 10 days in a row-
so to visit our daddy we spent a little time
at "daddy's work".
It helps that there is always something
yummy to eat or drink at daddy's work.Mike & Ruth Braunwalder were in town
with Mike's daughter Jaime & niece Megan.
We had a fun time at Leilani's with them
while Erik worked.
The girls had so much fun dancing with
the girls and playing on the grass!

Made this diaper changer clutch,
since Maya really doesn't need a full diaper bag anymore.

Inside with changing pad, place for wipes
and diapers.

Kalia & Maya's coloring
from Barnes & Noble storytime on Tuesday

The other morning Maya wanted to
be held like a baby,
after I held her, she wanted Kalia to
"hold the baby".
Kalia was more than happy to
hold her baby- like when Maya was "our baby".
Look how huge my baby is!!!

On friday- Kalia had school and Maya
didn't have childcare, so we had a Maya & Mommy day.
I did run some errands, but we had so much fun.
We went to the mall, since I needed some
items to finish a lunch bag I'm making for Maya.
She played in all the coin operated vehicles,
then we went up and down the
escalator (never could do that with 2 kids right now),
and had lunch. Maya was so great shopping,
makes a huge difference when your big
sister isn't around. We had so much fun!

Our fun weekend!
Erik worked 10 days in a row and finally
had Saturday & Sunday off!!!
We had adventure weekend,
and even though we really pushed Maya's
nap, it all seemed OK. Which means
we've hit the next stage and we can do more.
Saturday we went to the Olivine Pools.
I carried Maya down the steep climb
in the backpack and Kalia walked both ways
and even finished sprinting up the hill!

Maya finally out of the pack,
Daddy showing her the view.

Erik's friend Mark came with us - group shot.

Maya doesn't want to pose (she's tired)
but Kalia does!

Sitting watching Daddy dive in the deep tidepool.
We all got in - this tidepool had a ledge and we
were all able to go in!

Hi Daddy!

Post swim snack,
get ready for the uphill climb!

Sunday - all day at Slaughterhouse Beach

Low tide and we walked left toward the rocks/caves.

Climber girls

Scaring Mommy & Daddy!

Look - we're in a cave!!!

Mermaids

They have gotten to be such little buddies.
At one point they were walking around talking,
well, Kalia was talking and Maya was repeating.

Mark made a chair,
so we made a couch for the girls

Rides on the boogie board
this was really hard to pull.
I tried and will probably be sore tomorrow!

Mark pulling the girls,
we spend two days hanging out with Mark.
The girls really had fun!

So after a long work stretch (long for everyone!) we finally had a fun weekend and made the most of it. The girls are pooped! Today at Slaughterhouse immediately after I was saying that my girls never fall asleep at the beach - I got Maya down for a nap and she took a long nap on my chest. It was really nice- I got set up in the shade and got to relax, people watch, watch Kalia & Daddy play & catch waves on the boogie board and watch my little baby sleep. At one point after about an hour she woke up and looked at me and said "hi Mommy" and went back to sleep. I never get to do stuff like this - especially since Kalia was perfectly happy with her undivided Daddy time!

It was miserably hot last week. So bad that I was looking forward to trips to the grocery store - with the super cold air conditioning. I even blew up our little kiddie pool, although every time I do it, I'm reminded of how much work it is to get up and put away!

So Maya has her first love - it's Dora. I guess she watches it at Celena's house and when she was sick we watched a couple episodes. Anyway, she loves, loves Dora. Kalia doesn't mind it either- since we never watched it before and in fact is starting her first little tricky ways. She asks Maya (at really horrible times, like bedtime!) "Maya do you want to watch Dora?" Because she knows Maya will relentlessly ask for it or even sometimes throw herself down on the floor for it (and admittedly on some trying days I give in (not to the tantrums)- would never have done that with Kalia! Did I mention Erik just worked 10 days straight, yes, Dora is sometimes my friend too!) But I have never seen her so excited to see anyone, like she is excited to see Dora. Maya has also been getting a couple of timeouts and they seem to be working. After 2 times, she now sits there until I get her - although she does not like it. But I had to start to do something, she's really been getting away with so much. It's helping Kalia to be more understanding too, when everyone is being treated fairly. She definitely stands up for Maya a lot. She told me the other day when I lost it a little with Maya- while trying to make dinner (raw chicken all over my hands, screaming child, clinging to both legs) "I think you need to apologize to Maya."

funny stuff

OK I could literally write a book on all the funny things that Maya says and does, but here's some from today before I forget.

Tonight at dinner Kalia spilled all her corn on the floor, so Maya pretends she's spilled all her corn on the floor and says: "Oh no, Maya corn on floor, oh man!"

Then we had this conversation:
Maya: Mo chicken
Mommy: More chicken? Where are you putting it?
Maya: My mouf (mouth)

The other night Kalia said, "whoops, my bad". She's definitely picking up some scary phrases from me. She said to me today, "that was gnarly, wasn't it mommy?"

October Fun

Ironwood rock climbing

Fun afternoon at Ironwood
sliding down sandhills & rock climbing

Errand day
letting the girls run around after
a hard day shopping
Matching hair clips - Maya wants her hair like Kalia's

Monday was Discoverer's Day
and Kalia didn't have school, but
Celena was planning on watching Maya.
So I surprised Kalia with a fun day-
just the two of us- Aquarium & Lunch!
I didn't tell her until the morning of,
but she suspected something was up
when I let her wear her pink tutu skirt,
she asked "am i going to school today?"
We had so much fun!
We literally looked at each and
every display and ran around!

There were 3 things she was looking for:
Turtles, sharks & pufferfish

Sting Ray

Us in the tunnel

Classic Maui Aquarium Shot

We played all the games

Pufferfish
Kalia took this shot and about 50 others

Tiger Shark!
We watched the entire presentation
with the diver and sat against the glass.
Kalia took a bunch of photos
and answered a question to win an urchin spine

Lunch at Leilani's after the aquarium.

Maya's new backpack

Kalia's new backpack

It's been crazy at our house lately-
and we had to get out this afternoon.
We spent the morning at the Library & Lahaina Park,
but it just seems easier to get everyone out
lately. Maya has entered a very tough stage
right now. My only solution today was exercise
and fresh air. It seemed to help us all!

Look at Kalia's outfit - purple rainbow dress,
snow white head band, pearls, blue ribbon belt
from a tutu and her new backpack.

Maya went in the backpack and it was perfect.
Otherwise she would have been asking me to carry
her the whole time and this time, she asked
to walk and when I finally let her out -
she walked a good portion by herself.

OK - Kalia's swim class has been amazing. This past Tuesday, Erik's friends Mike & Ruth Braunwalder are in town and we took them and their daughter and niece surfing. After the surf session we went straight to Kalia's swim class in Lahaina and Maya was sleeping - so I finally got to see Kalia in her class (she chose Daddy to go last time, plus not running after Maya the whole time). Kalia went under about 50 times and stayed under about 3 seconds and swam a little underwater on her own to the wall! She's also doing great floating- with coach Maya just holding her head! Then after we went to the kiddie pool and she just stood under the mushroom waterfall - for a long time! She would never have stood and let the water pound on her head before, then she kept putting her face in the water. We went for celebratory ice cream after. Then to the Bay to hang out with Uncle Greg - it was a long day.

So we have definitely entered a new stage with Maya. The phrase that is constantly coming out of her mouth is: "That's my _____" (fill in the blank with: book, chair, water, diaper, arm, shoe) Anyway, you get the picture. I've been telling her "We don't take" because I'm trying not to say "no", since it's already her favorite word. So when she wants something now, she has been telling me, "Mommy, I want to take". So that sort of backfired on me. But it's hard not to laugh because she says it with such a serious face. It's pretty cute- sometimes she will say to me, "Mommy, can I hab that?" I did work on it with her one afternoon, but then she reverts back to "I want to take" or if she's really upset just "I take, I take!"

But it's such the two extremes, she's either being so cute and funny or such a crazy pre-2. She asks Erik every day after he gets home from work (after she's helped him with his shoes), "Daddy how your day?" and if he goes into the other room she follows him and says "Daddy what you doing?" She's also been singing a lot - head, shoulders knees and toes, old macdonald and anything we've had playing the car a little too long.

The other day it was time to pick up Kalia from school and I think Maya might be enjoying the couple hours we have before we pick Kalia up and after I pick up Maya. I asked her "Do you want to go pick up Kalia from school?" Usually she gets so excited and runs to put her shoes on, but she said, "No, I want to stay here." So to clarify I said, "Do you want Kalia to stay at school?" (thinking she would change her mind), but she nodded and said, "yes".

Kalia really is a good big sister and really protective of Maya. We were up at the Bay for sunset and there was another little 2 year old and they were all trying to "take turns" pulling this turtle around on a string. But the little girl didn't want to give it up and Kalia finally went up to her and said, "I think it's Maya's turn now!" Kalia told me later that she will always stand up for her little sister.

Oct news

Ironwoods Hike with Sarah

Kalia tree climbing at Sandy Beach

Art project from school

Kalia was sick during the weekend -
so we did pumpkin projects.
She wanted to make a new wreath for the door.

Maya with the glasses from Auntie Kim
We found some left over Halloween stuff from
last year - of course, only one pair of glasses
is whole and it's a hot commodity right now!

Kalia posing with her wreath.
She had a fever with the beginnings of
croupy cough ...home all weekend.

Picked up some mini pumpkins for painting.
This year instead of just painting all over them,
she painted a picture on one
and did rainbow colors around the other.
What a difference a year makes.

Surfer girl outfit
this was short lived.
Kalia doesn't do shorts right now
and insisted on her little bikini for swim lessons.
She had a great swim lesson!!!
Maya was sick, so Kalia chose daddy to
go to swim lesson with her and she had a great day!!!
She went under and swam (with coach Maya's help) to
the ledge, then once she swam to daddy.
Her and Scarlett are the only two in this class-
we totally lucked out and Scarlett was sick
and now is going on vacation, so we will
have 3 weeks of private lessons!
She also floated with coach Maya only
holding her head and has impressive
straight leg kicks. We are so proud,
Erik said he was getting a little teary!

Maya was sick with a cold
and waiting for Kalia to come home from swim lessons.
Erik treated Kalia to some ice cream
after her epic swim class...so we waited.
Kalia & Maya cuddling on couch
after Kalia got home.
Maya not a happy sicky girl that day!

Stayed at home from work
on wednesday wtih Maya -
she just seemed too sick to go to Celena's.
Watering the plant, you can keep this girl
down for long!

OMG!!! We just got back from a pumpkin painting party at the park for mom's group and Kalia literally did an un-intentional full backwards flip off the swings! I just about had a heart attack. I was pushing her pretty high and she said that her "finger was itchy" so she let go and she literally (in slow motion) flew off the swing, flipped backwards, feet over head and landed back on her legs (not standing, but in a pretty safe position). Of course she was screaming (that is Kalia's style), but she was more just scared and one finger got a little caught on the other hand. But she was OK. It was seriously radical - she did a perfect back flip.

Sometimes I feel bad for the second kid because they are always following their older sibling around, always trying to play with the big kids and usually getting shut out. But then I see Maya going to Kalia's school and she's saying "Hi Devyn, Hi Scarlett" and everyone know Maya and is saying "hi" to her and trying to play with her. Then I think - the second kid has it made, they already know everyone and how things work.

Maya has been calling me "KC" again. Maya has been having a little bit of separation anxiety lately. Although at the park today, she was running with the big kids. She was trying to climb this tree with the boys and going down the slide all by herself. I only had to jump in when she was trying to go up the ladder.