5 Teeth!

Here she is! Five teeth and all! Still missing the front left. Mr. Left Tooth...where are you? (click on the picture to zoom in and get a really good view of the teeth!)

Sunday Skype

Kayla LOVES Skyping with everyone. Here is a shot of Kayla Skyping with Grammy! I remember thinking, as a kid, that there were people living in the TV. I think Kayla thinks that Grammy, Papaw, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Sami, Gab and Greg are all living in our Mac Book!

The Promes Walker

Thanks to the Promes Family for Kayla's new walker. I thought the post title was appropriate because there is so much "Promise" that Kayla will be walking by the end of February without assistance!

Kayla was determined to help her dad put together her new toy. She even helped him interpret the directions and then got to work helping him assemble the parts (see pics above). We were not able to capture the best part though...Kyle had a couple more screws to put in and Kayla stood up with the walker and stole it away from Kyle and started pushing it around the room. She was so confident and happy with her head held high, her diaper butt sticking out and her toothy grin sparkling. We finished everything up and then were able to capture her walking down the hall. She is still practicing with the walker daily. Expect some steps soon!

Balancing Act

Kyle was out of town on business so we headed back down to Aunt Libby's for a sleepover. When we arrived, Cousin Mia had a huge, soft, cozy, pink blanket laying on the living room floor. Kayla went crazy and started laying her head down and snuggling up all over the blanket. This was just the beginning to a VERY fun night. Mia was very patient (while Aunt Libby cooked us dinner) and played with Kayla ALL night. She got Kayla to stand on her own for long periods of time. We have seen some balancing but not this long (how about the picture where it looks like she is in the Army standing at attention...so funny...the concentration)! Kayla stood long enough for me to take several photos. Please note that Mia is holding on to the laundry basket and not to Kayla. At the very end of playtime, Kayla took a tiny step toward Mia while still in the basket. It was AWESOME! I have not seen Kayla take another step yet but I have been waiting for Kyle to return from his business trip so I have not been encouraging it either. Maybe this weekend?? We will have the video camera on standby and we will be Skyping everyone if we start seeing some steps!

On the Road

Kayla and I headed down to Stanford Shopping Center on Tuesday to meet Barb for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We also met up with Barb's parents, Murray and Hilda, for some playtime at the mall! After lunch, we headed over to Aunt Libby's for a playdate where Kayla got free of her pants and toured Libby's house with her chubbies showing! Needless to say, diaper changes are Kayla's LEAST favorite part of the day and once I get a fresh diaper on her, she is off and running...hence, no pants!

Golden Gate Park with the Hylands

We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday at Golden Gate Park with Cortney, Tommy, Hanna and Paisley Hyland. Kyle's cousin Stephanie and her dog Lola joined us too! This is the only picture we got though...bummer. We went to the playground where Hanna loved all the fun climbing structures and Tommy took Paisley down the cement slide. Kyle pushed our little peanut in the bucket swing while Stephanie let Lola run around and make some new friends! We ended up grabbing steamed chicken buns at the Academy of Sciences Museum Cafe...they were very yummy...we were all glad that Tommy read about them and was craving them! We ate outside on the grass and the only reason Kayla was sitting still for this photo is because she doesn't like crawling on the prickly grass.

Birthday Outtake #2

Sometimes all the Birthday emotion just gets a little overwhelming...awww.

Kayla's First Birthday Party at the Ackley's

Kayla's Birthday Party was a blast! Thank you to Libby, Steve and Mia for hosting the celebration! Kayla was overjoyed with the food, cupcakes, decorations and generous gifts! She was a little tentative when her alien relatives, Uncle Brian and Aunt J, posed for a picture with her in their outerspace glasses but she soon got over it and was caught wearing her own pair of sunglasses later that night!

Birthday Outtake

It's tough turning 1!

Happy 1st Birthday, Kayla!

Kayla's 1st Birthday celebration was filled with fun! Since she was sick the week before, we had to reschedule her official family birthday party from Friday to Sunday. Kyle and I took her out to Beach Chalet on Friday evening for dinner for our own mini-party. Kyle got an Elmo balloon for Kayla. As you can imagine, the BIG EYES and HEAD made for an immediate LOVE/HATE relationship as Kayla could not decide if it was the coolest or the scariest thing she had ever seen. We were able to capture her and Elmo in a LOVE moment though on film!

Kayla had fun at dinner, squirming in her high chair and eating french bread. Her Dad picked her up after we were done and she started pointing at everything in the restaurant. Her favorite thing to point at is any light, light fixture or light switch so that is probably what got her attention in the photo above. I am convinced that LIGHT is going to be her first real word.

When we got back from dinner, we prepared the cake, put Kayla's hat on and got the Strand Family logged onto Skype. We were able to do two cake ceremonies including lighting the candle and singing Happy Birthday...one with the Yareds and one with Papaw. Since we were so close to bedtime, Kayla was having several meltdowns so we spared Grammy the birthday blues and put Kayla to bed. Kayla had already had an early morning phone call with Grammy so her day was complete!

With our Birthday lunch downtown and our Birthday dinner at the ocean including all the Birthday wishes from family and friends, Kayla had a GREAT 1st Birthday!

Kayla's First Birthday Lunch at Dad's Office

Kayla had a very special birthday lunch with her Dad at his office. She put on her bright yellow celebratory sweater and we headed downtown. While her Dad and I ate our lunch, Kayla got right down to business. First, she had to calculate some numbers for her Dad to show him that her underwriting skills are just as good as his. Then, she pulled out her red pen to point out his mistakes just so Dad doesn't get in trouble giving the wrong information to his clients. Kayla barely even noticed the view of the Pyramid from the window...our girl is very focused at 1 year old!

McGoo is Back

Kayla hung out on the sofa with her Dad yesterday.  As you can see, she is almost back to a full recovery from her stomach flu. Her smiles are back and I just noticed today that a fourth tooth is coming in.   We will try to capture it on camera for you soon!

Sick Day

Kayla had a rough day yesterday having come down with a stomach bug.  Poor little peanut was listless and sleepy.  Mom and Dad were heartbroken as this was their first real experience with Kayla's sad face. We didn't realize how much she smiles until she stopped smiling:(  The one thing that made her feel better was the porcelain piggy bank that Michele gave her (see pic above and note the little fingers holding the pig).  Who knew that such a non-snuggly pig would lift her spirits?  Thanks, Michele!  

We set up a "sick bay" on the living room floor yesterday evening until bedtime (see pic above).   Kayla went to bed around the usual time, woke up several times in the night just cooing and then called for us at 7am this morning.  Kyle snuck in at 5am to feed her some Pedialyte so we were sure that she wasn't dehydrated. This morning we actually got a few "three tooth" smiles and Kayla is back to about 85% health.  Yippee!!

Little Cesar!

So far Kayla looks mostly like the Strand/Kyle side of the family but we are starting to see some Perez mannerisms peak their way through. Well, specifically, we are starting to see CESAR in Kayla. Look out!

Here it is:

-Kayla raises her arms when trying to get a point across (see picture above).

-Kayla sticks her tongue out to the side just like Cesar did when he was concentrating on something. (also see picture above)

-Kayla points like ET when she wants something...so did Cesar although this was very late in life for him.

-Kayla LOVES french bread. We even took her to Baker St Bistro and made little balls of buttered bread for her just like we did for Cesar.

We are keeping our eye out to see if more similarites emerge like:

-love of salami?

-tennis player?

-debater?

Only time will tell!

Let the Music Play

Kayla had her first day of Music Together today! I think she had a ball.....crawling around the room and participating in her own activities. The 45 minute class began with me joining the circle and Kayla being the ONLY little one to climb on top of the drum in the middle of the room. She was definitely a free spirit today and my favorite part of the class was when they removed the drum from the circle and Kayla took its place just sitting in the middle watching everyone. All the other kids were on their mom's lap or at least near her. I was glad to see that Kayla does not have separation anxiety...she didn't turn to look at me once...not during the whole class! We played with instruments, scarves and egg shakers and I decided this class is more of a test of mommy's coordination and singing skills than anything else! The real kicker came during the very last song when Kayla was supposed to lay on my belly...fat chance...this 7 month pregnant belly was not receiving visitors today...not that Kayla minded, she was off crawling across the room before I could even sit back up. Kayla's friend Hannah is also taking the class so they had a chance to bond a little as well. We are looking forward to more classes and, as you can see from the photos above, we even did some homework tonight! (I will try to get some pictures during the actual class now that I got my feet wet today.) Special thanks to Aunt Cindy, Uncle Sami, Gab and Greg for the accordian and jingle bells pictured above!

Kayla in the Sky with Diamonds

In her usual fashion, Kayla unloaded the laundry basket and spread the clothes all over the floor.  I have finally learned not to fold the clothes when Kayla is in the direct vicinity.  She inevitably tackles each and every one one of my piles and drags the clothes to all corners of the room.  In this particular picture, Kayla decided to take a break from fluffing laundry to make a diamond with her fingers.  This prompted me to start singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and to join her in making a diamond in the sky. It is truly amazing to watch what her little mind comes up with from one minute to the next!

Does Kayla like Target?

Need I say more?

About Face

The Strand family was well rested today so we decided to hit the town and get some errands done.  First order of business was to get Kayla's car seat in the forward facing position.  She has been staring at the backseat long enough.  We took her to Citikids, our favorite SF kids store, where we had one of the store clerks switch the seat out for us (why read the manual when you have people two blocks away who will just do it for you!)  While we were there, Kayla also got a new pair of shoes (see photo above) - these are much easier to squeeze her round little toes into! Kayla was quite happy with all of the activity and was beside herself with joy that she can finally see out of the front of the car.

Happy New Year!

Kayla is sending a big wave out to her family and friends while eating her New Year's Day Lunch!  After a fun filled night with her friends, Reese and Hannah, Kayla decided to go to bed at 9:30 pm - her latest bedtime yet!   Her parents followed shortly thereafter.  

Now that 2009 has set in and Kayla is almost officially a "toddler", she can eat real food and not just mashed up mush.  As you can see, she has a selection of turkey and avocado on her new monkey plate (thanks Aunt Libby!) although moments after this, her food ended up in her lap because the monkeys were far more interesting standing up than laying on her tray!

We hope everyone has a FANTASTIC 2009! We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Strand #2!