I don't want it!

The kids were horribly jet lagged when we first got home from our Big Trip and had both gotten used to sleeping with me and Nik while we were traveling, so sleep has been a struggle lately. I think both kids are finally back to normal. Sora may wake up once in the middle of the night, but that isn't too bad.

Last week, we went to Abby's birthday party at Pump It Up. The facility is very well-equipped and efficient at throwing birthday parties for kids. Kai had a blast running around although some of the slides were a bit high for him and he sometimes wanted Nik to accompany him.

Kai's always following Evelyn

Chris and his girlfriend, April, have been staying with us for the past week while they've been looking for an apartment. It seems that they've already found a place, so they'll be moving out soon, but it's been fun having a full house and having some extra hands to help out.

Perhaps now that Kai is almost 2 1/2, we're starting to hit the terrible two's. We hear a lot of "I don't want it," "I don't like it," and whining nowadays. Nik and I think it's funny that when he says he doesn't want something, he'll that he doesn't want it over and over, increasing his volume with every time he says it. Kai has more of an awareness of the world around him and for better or worse, he now understands the concept of something being scary. There are some books that we can't even get through because they're too "scary". Ever since we got back from Greece, I feel like he's been more vocal and you can have a (somewhat) intelligible conversation with him (usually about Thomas). Sadly (for me) a lot of his baby talk is fading away.. he used to call little things "baby" (i.e., baby chair, baby light etc.).. we don't really hear that much anymore.

My little climber

Sora's two front teeth came out while we were in Greece. I'm still getting used to seeing her with front teeth and I miss her gummy smile. She's also getting more mobile, she pushes up and you can tell that she wants to crawl, but she can't quite do it and she usually just ends up rolling towards whatever it is that she's interested in. She also still tries to stand up and walk.. not sure which will come first: crawling or walking. Kai likes bossing Sora around, saying, "Sora, look at me," (as if Kai is such a great example) or "No, Sora!" Not realizing that he (usually) doesn't know what he's talking about, Sora looks at Kai with wide-eyed adoration.

"Yum, yum toes."

Now that we're back home, we're trying to settle into a rhythm at Rock Canyon. There's still a lot of unpacking and organizing left to do. One helpful thing is that this week, Kai started attending a new daycare. His teacher, Miss Sun, says he's getting better and better every day, although he still cries when we drop him off. We do miss having him at home sometimes.. it's so quiet! But I think we need him in daycare for the sake of our sanity and so he can get some much-needed socialization outside of the house.

Back to our old routines, like doing chores..

.. hanging out at church..

.. or at Popo's house..

.. or playing with the uncles.