by Papa K on December 31, 2014
New Year’s Eve seemed like a good time to check in with both our girls in turn. First, Lauren. Just a few days shy of two years old and the best way to sum up Lauren these days is through three words: “I do it.” Lauren is very focused on these days on being independent. If you help her do something (like get in the car or put on her shoes), she’ll say “I do it” and then back up to the beginning and do it again (yes, this means if you already have one shoe on, it’s coming right off).
And the range of things she tries to attempt for herself grows every day as she watches and learns from her big sister. Every move Maile makes she tries to immitate … and she increasingly does a good job too 🙂 So far Maile finds this hilarious. So far.
But despite her independence – she still is a ball of laughs – as long as she isn’t saying “I do it” – she’s often laughing and keeping a smile between those big cheeks of hers 🙂
After pulling the cart that far, a girl deserves a rest in the sun 🙂
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 30, 2014
The girls have been having lots of fun in the sun! Between playing in the backyard to the beach to the pool at GG Kiyoko’s there are very few moments when the bathing suits aren’t on and the water isn’t flowing.
The Slip N' Slide we bought a couple years ago is still a big hit with the girls!
Katie, Maile and Emily posing post slide. (Lauren was inside napping...)
Maile loves playing in the sand at the beach...
... Lauren not so much - notice how her feet aren't touching the ground? Yeah, she doesn't like how the sand feels...
Maile and Uncle Steve doing some pool gymnastics...
A big jump for Maile GIrl - can't tell you how awesome this was to see - it wasn't so long ago that she was afraid to do something like this - swim lessons are paying off big time!
by Papa K on December 26, 2014
As you might expect, it’s been an exciting couple of days around here. The big man, Santa himself, made time during his rounds to visit the girls. And then this morning we got to see what all those colorful packages contained under the Christmas tree.
Earlier in the week, Maile made it known that there were four little girls waiting for a visit from Santa...
After dinner on Christmas Eve, Maile began her stake out...
Santa called Maile's name first and she jumped right up to see him - no more running for cover like years gone by...
Even Lauren was (pretty) brave - Mommy still came along, but no tears!
Lauren is really just wondering how much longer she needs to hold things together in order to keep her gift...
Christmas morning the girls were up bright and early and ready to rock!
Katie (8), Lauren (almost 2), Emily (6), Maile (5.5) - one last picture in front of the tree with all the presents before tearing it all apart...
Just a little bit excited...
... this one too!
Thank you to Grandma Gail and Papa Cal for making it a very special Christmas for the girls!
by Papa K on December 24, 2014
(Dad note: Apologize for the lack of posts the past couple of days – landed on Kauai on Sunday and then promptly got rocked by the flu. Got me pretty good – but I’m feeling much better now!)
On Saturday, Papa Cal was asked to be in a Christmas parade. He agreed under one condition … he wanted to bring one of his elves along with him. Maile Girl got the nod (and Lauren dressed up to, but watched from the side lines – her little legs aren’t quite there yet to walk the full route).
Our favorite Christmas elves, Maile and Lauren
Getting. So. Old.
Lauren taking it all in - she LOVED watching the parade!
On the parade route - passing out candy and bring Christmas cheer everywhere!
We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!
by Papa K on December 18, 2014
Mommy and the girls headed to Hawaii today (I’ll be following along in a few days). Christine sent me the pictures below of them goofing around in the Costco. #imissmygirls
Maile Girl checking out some frames...
... and, of course, whatever Maile does...
by Papa K on December 17, 2014
Maile went to a jewelry making class over the weekend with some friends from school and Lauren was definitely the beneficiary when she came home and dressed her all up. Check out the earrings!
Look how old she looks with earrings!
by Papa K on December 16, 2014
We had a lot of fun tonight celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. Our celebration actually started a couple days ago when Mommy whipped up some delicious latkes. Tonight we lit the lights and had fun opening and playing with our presents from Grandma and Papa Boston, Aunt Suzy and, of course, Mommy and Daddy. (We’re packing the presents into a shorter number of days this year due to our impending trip to Hawaii.)
Happy Hanukkah!
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 14, 2014
Last week Maile’s after school art class held an exhibit. And Maile had a very special guest in attendance – Papa Cal needed one more trip to achieve status for the year, so he booked a one night trip to come see us in San Francisco (and somehow managed to dodge all the bad weather we’ve been having too!)
The artist at age 5
Explaining all her influences to Papa Cal
The artist and her Papa
A Girl Walking in the City by Maile Girl
The starting point for each piece was a chinese character - here you see tree on the left and home on the right.
The front side of Maile's portfolio
And the reverse
by Papa K on December 10, 2014
If you haven’t heard, we apparently have a big storm coming our way tonight and tomorrow. This led me to go searching the blog for old posts I’ve written about the girls playing in the rain.
And while I found some good ones, I also found this video – which gave me a good laugh…
(Click here for the video.)
It’s been awhile since we’ve posted a family picture. This one was from Boston over Thanksgiving – we headed into town and explored Faneuil Hall for the day.
Mommy, Lauren (23 months), Daddy and Maile (5.5)
