Leah

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Many faces of Leah

I asked Leah to pose for the camera today. This is what she gave me.

What?

Sly?

Head tilt/smile

SMILE!!! Major Cheese Smile.

Aww, I know I am soo cute.

Surprise!

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Playdate

Delilah came over for visit.

Here are many pics of the beautiful Delilah.

I like torture little children, especially girls. How? By styling their hair into pigtails. I know. I am horrible. I got hold of Delilah's hair, poor child.

Then her dad took em out. Here she is sitting all by herself on a chair. Got up and down on her own. Too big-it is pure craziness how quickly she has grown.

Then it was Guy's turn at the torture thing.

Leah is looking on.

Leah's turn.

Leah's Love Affair

Leah has a love affair with the pool. She loves it more than anything and anyone.

Potty Time

Cause I have no life. And would like to embarass Leah to the fullest extent (and because I am a proud parent)...

Here is Leah on the potty.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Ruth brought over some home made chocolate covered desserts. Leah went immediately for a chocolate covered pretzel so now we have a chocolate covered Leah.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Went to the doctor today for Leah's well baby visit. I tend to skip most of them but we needed to get some vaccinations because she needs them for daycare.

Afterwards the doctor gave her a lolly pop. She sat at the bus stop enjoying it.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Today Matt turned 26 years young.

We went out to dinner. Had a great mean at the Black Forest Brewery.

Leah ate her food then decided to go to sleep. She found a comfortable spot.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

22 Month Milestone Update

-Can wash and dry hands, and brush teeth with help
-May know when she needs to urinate
-Will pretend feed a doll
-Can take off own clothes with help
-Learns words at a rate of 10 or more a day
-Can walk up stairs
-Searches for hidden objects
-Names all body parts
-Enjoys helping around the house
-Can set simple goals (e.g. decisions to put a toy in a certain place)
-Can kick a ball
-Can throw a ball overhand
-Can name cat or dog when you show a picture
-Can make short sentences (Me go)
-Can kick a ball forward
-Follows two-step requests
-Understands opposites
-Might be ready for a big bed (already in one)
-Can name a simple picture in a book
-Can use 50 single words
-Can sing simple tunes
-Can make two- or three-word sentences
-Takes more of an interest in playing with other kids
-Talks about self (likes, dislikes)
-Asks "Why?" (god help us she already asks why about 2 million times a day)
-Half of speech is understandable
-Starts talking about self
-Begins to understand abstract concepts like sooner and later
-Becomes attuned to gender differences
-Learns to jump
-Can put on clothing
-Is using the toilet on a semi-regular basis. Dry diapers at night and uses the bathroom every morning :D

Leah continues to make us rather proud. She is learning a lot, very quickly. Couldn't ask for more.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Anniversary

Matt took us to Benihana's for our 4 year anniversary dinner. It was a surprise. It was a nice one.

We sat with really nice people.

We got one of the trainee chefs who you could tell was nervous. And the woman to the right of me was complaining a lot. But I think the guy did a great job. She was partly complaining he wasn't Japanese. But little does she know they have all kinds of chefs on staff there. Even the head guy isn't Japanese. Even though she thought he was. *rolls eyes*

The food was great. And lil Miss Leah was well behaved and ate EVERYTHING.

She ate shrimp, zucchini, onions (her favorite), soup, salad with the dressing on it, chicken, steak, mushrooms. She couldn't get enough. She loved the rice. She ate like everyone else, even with chopsticks! She managed to get them together the right way and picked up some onions with them. So proud of her!

Her manners are better at the age of nearly 2 than some adults I know. She is also polite, sociable and a budding conversationalist. She spoke to the woman and her daughter to our right. She asked the daughter for her name and the girl said Samantha and right after Leah said "Hi Samantha" clear as day!

Right before they sang the woman Happy Birthday they asked her name, she said Trish and Leah sang along with them and she said "Bye Trish" as we were leaving.

When the cook was doing the volcano with the onion trick Leah sat there and said all bright eyed "Wow! That's cool!".

*sigh*

I am quite proud of her. Her disposition when we are out is unbelievable. Even with the terrible twos approaching, she is still pretty manageable. :D

Monday, May 15, 2006

New Stuff

I am working on some updates to Leah's website. Going over dead links/pictures and so on.

A new photo viewing program I am working on putting on here. Sort of like this one.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Puerto Rico

We went to Puerto Rico for the week of Easter. Had a ton of fun, took a bunch of pictures. I will have them up soon.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Ava Jane

Another baby was born! Except its finally another girl for Leah :D Ava Jane. I am not 100% sure on all the birth info but as soon as I get it there will be a proper announcement.

In the meantime, Congratulations to Gaby and Michael!

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Meet Landon Nickolas Skylor Kjer

Landon Nickolas Skylor Kjer born March 28 at 11:52

Coming in at 7 lbs 10 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.

And for comparison's sake, here is Zackary Maxwell Michael Kjer, coming in at 6 lbs 3 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long.

Amber and the baby are doing well. Can't wait to see them in person!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Updates!!!!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Seltzer & Lime

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Fridays!

Ruth & George got us a gift card to TGIFs for Valentine's Day.

Tonight we went to dinner there.

Leah was perfect! She ate all by herself. And did a pretty well on her own.

She also asked the waitress for more orange slices and said PLEASE...all on her own.

Monday, February 20, 2006

18 Month Milestone Update

Just went through the milestone chart for 16 months - 22 months old.

I'd say Leah is doing just perfect :D Thanks to all the incredible people we have helping us out. We have more than just extended family, we have a village.

Will “read” board books on her own
Can pedel when on a trike *though she has a tiny bit more growing to do before she can ride it well)
Scribbles well
Responds to directions (e.g. “Sit down” in English and Spanish)
Brushes teeth with help (and reminds me when I forget to tell her to)
Builds a tower of four cubes
Throws ball overhand
Takes toys apart and puts them back together
Shows sign of toilet training readiness (only a tiny bit will probably be a few more months)
Feeds doll
Talks more clearly
Uses a handful of words regularly
Enjoys pretend games
Likes riding toys
Dances to music (and picks up dance steps)
Sorts toys by color, shape or size
Kicks ball forward
Takes off one piece of clothing by himself
Gets finicky about food
Switches from two naps to one (not really)
Can draw a line
Runs well
Adopts “no” as her favorite word
Puts her fingers to her mouth and says “shhh”
Walks up stairs
Walks backwards
Can use a spoon and fork
Can run
Can throw a ball underhand (only sometimes)
Half of speech may be understandable
Recognizes when something is wrong (calling a boy a girl)
Can wash and dry hands with help
Can point to a picture of a cat or dog when you sa the word
Will dump an object in imitation, such as throwing garbage away
Searches for hidden objects
May start exploring genitals
Names several body parts
Enjoys helping around the house
Can set simple goals (e.g. deciding to put a toy in a certain place)
Can make short sentences (me go or go away, or up please_
Follows two-step requests (get your coat and bring it to me in English and Spanish)
Can sing simple tunes (too cool! I love it!)
Takes more of an interest in playing with other kids (though kids Leah’s age don’t take much an interest in her, which frustrates her.)
Asks “why?” (Mind you this isn’t supposed to happen for MONTHS and she is already on the why stage! Soo annoying and sooo cute at the same time!)
Can name at least six body parts on a dolls.
Has temper tantrums when frustrated
Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g. The telephone)
Drinks from a cup
Tries to lift heavy things
Enjoys gazing at his reflection
Points to body parts when asked
Says please and thank you
Takes bribes :D (How else would I get her hair into pigtails?)

List of words/phrases:

Mom, mommy, dad, daddy, papi, grandma, grandpa, abulela, abuelo, Bert, Ernie, Julia, Toni, Louie, Laurie, Lindsay, Delilah, Kitti, (and knows the difference between a kitti cat and Kitti) up, down, dog, woof, hi, hello, good-bye, bye-bye, hola, night-night, goodnight, pescados, light, bed, cama, Sol, banana, orange, apple, manzana, cracker, cookie, galleta, arroz *totally boricua when she does it, she can’t roll her rr’s to save her life :D), please, thank you, more, sleep, nap, book, Leah,boy, girl, nene, nena, baby, boo boo, bobo, pacifier, car, vroom vroom, train, choo-choo, meow, moo, quack, duck, Matthew, Matt, music…and a whole lot of other stuff. She picks up a lot of new words every day. Soaks it all up.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Wake Up Time

Now that I am working full-time Leah and me have our morning routine. We wake up, hang out in bed...then at 7 we put on Sesame Street. Then there is breakfast, getting dressed by the time Elmo's World comes on, then she brushes her teeth. Yes you read that right, she brushes her teeth. And does a pretty good job at that.