Gualloween 2010

We had a pretty good Halloween. Went to a friends house up the street where tons of kids usually visit. There were about 150 or so throughout the night. It was pretty fun. An unusual experience for all involved. My favorite costume was probably Santa Clause. But the kid dressed as the Japanese Tourist was not too shabby. Some kids really got into dressing up but lots had no costume at all. Kind of a money thing for some families. It was good to see a diverse set of kids all coming together for the same goal.... free candy.

We weren't prepared for Kyra to be so into it and didn't even plan on taking her around the neighborhood, but she soon wanted to join in the fun and excitement. There was a haunted house that Kyra mustered up the nerve to go into. It was a bit scary with lots of music and crazy people roaming around, she did a really good job. One guy jumped out at her and surprised her so much that she fell over. It was pretty funny actually, she got right up and headed for the candy. We thought she would maybe wear her Yoda costume for about 5 minutes, but we couldn't get it off her. At the end of the night she

finally took off the cloak but wouldn't part with her big green ears until bedtime.

From time to time she goes and gets her costume and puts it on. She seems to like to play dress up. It was a good first Halloween. For now, Yoda has gone into exile. Perhaps next year will be the opportune moment to return, who knows???

Kyra scoring some candy from Mike, our security guard.

Haunted house

Walkin' down the street.

Kyra is 1...holy moly

In May we were in San Clemente with Matt's family where we made the obligatory stop by the Rainbow Sandals factory and picked up Kyra's first pair of high quality footwear.

I bought Kyra her first ball to play with during the World Cup. It was a proud moment when she dropped her doll and picked up the ball. She's a good kicker. I see potential in her game, although she tends to pick the ball up a lot. Its a work in progress.

Below are a few videos. One is of her dancing. She likes to get down, sway side to side and shake her booty. The other is of some of her first steps. She is walking like a champ now days and has pretty much abandoned crawling.

We still go to the pool a lot and of course the beach. She really likes playing in the shallow water. On weekends there are usually other kids around for her to play with and she really seems to like interacting with them. The other day we were playing with a few Chookese girls and they made a pretty funny comment. After about 10 minutes of playing around in the sand one of them blurted out "Hey, Shes really white", and then laughed at me for being bald. Ahh kids. Gotta love their brutal honesty.

Kyra the Problem Solver and Natural Born Eater

So, Kyra is pretty much a blast these days...she gets cuter all the time...cuter noises, cuter facial expressions, cuter reactions, and the fact that she's sleeping regularly 9 hours each night increases the cute factor exponentially.:) Here's some recent Kyra happenings...

I never wanted to be the parent who thinks their kid is a genius just because they are marking off the same developmental milestones every kid does...but she problem-solved yesterday all on her own and I thought it was pretty cool for 6 months old...didn't know that kind of thing would come so early. I had her sitting on the counter while I brewed up some delicious coffee my parentals had sent, and she was having a blast playing with the bag of coffee filters (whatever works, right?), picking it up and putting it down, and shaking it all around with gusto. Well she got a little overzealous and threw it into the nearby basket of fruit, out of her reach. She stared at it for a second, tilting her body toward it but realizing she'd topple over if she reached for it. Then she just grabbed the basket instead and pulled it towards her so that the filters were within her reach, picked the sucker up and started playing again....I'm one of those parents, aren't I. It's happened. Another one bites the dust. (You know what's worse? The other day I actually SMELLED HER BUTT--without even thinking about it--to see if she needed a diaper change. Oh my dear Lord what has happened to me!!)

Other stuff...she was a crab for Halloween which was totally freakin cute, although I felt terrible for torturing her purely for our own pleasure, and she had her first day at the beach last week and loved it! Even with the water being a little chilly and kind of choppy so that it would kind of slap up against her, she dug it the whole time--smiling, splashing, and squealing. But then really what choice does she have, right? If you're gonna be born on an island, you'd better like the water. The other big change for her is she's started eating from a spoon...took right to it, no training necessary...guess we all know who she takes after in her zest for food. It really is

great fun to watch--that girl takes bites like she MEANS it...a big open mouth as she lurches towards the spoon. Ahh, like looking in a mirror.

Some recent videos...

More Videos!

Kyra' first swim lesson...sort of (just getting her feet wet, our camera ran out of battery)

Kyra's second swim lesson...

Wild horses couldn't keep Kyra awake...

Kyra is sleeping, Matt is playing soccer, time to blog.

I am so sorry to our Kyrathebaby blog followers...I know I said 'check regularly for updates' and in true Vic fashion I am totally slacking on that promise. In my defense Matt has been working a lot more than usual the past few weeks, which means I've been on full time baby-duty, and we've been out of town...Kyra and I met him for 5 days in Honolulu (I know, we suck. I took a surfing lesson--Matt's 9th anniversary present...isn't that a great present?! It was a blast.). Kyra has her struggles--going to sleep without a tearful protest and, most recently, bowel movements--but she is a hell of a flier. Seven hours each way and she rocked it, fussing maybe 5 min., much to the relief of our fellow passengers, and me. She's a huge people person so being stuck in an enclosed space with several hundred strangers for 7 hours is her version of heaven. She'll pick out targets--she'll check out the people around us, turning her head this way and that, and then all of a sudden I'll see her zone in on somebody who isn't even looking at her and smile her biggest most charming open-mouth smile at them. Suddenly they look up to see this big blue-eyed baby smiling at them and of course have no choice but to smile back.:) I love her openness. Anyway, we really really appreciate you guys checking out the blog, and I promise to be better about posting!

Here are some semi-recent videos...playing a little 'catch-up' since I've taken so long to get this thing up and running, so one is a little dated but will help you know Kyra better!

First I'll write a quick update (while I am waiting for this damn video to download! aagh!)....Kyra is holding her head and shoulders up easily during tummy time and has even started rocking a little. She's rolled over from her front to back a few times, but not back to front yet, and she's getting better and better at sitting and 'leaning/standing' (with help from daddy). She is GRABBING EVERYTHING all of sudden...forget peacefully eating or drinking something with her in your lap, she'll pull your plate right down on top of it. She LOVES touching faces now, which of course is about the sweetest thing in the world. She enjoys surprising physical sensations like 'flying' over our heads and being swung from side to side and dancing crazy around the house with mommy. Looking in the mirror delights her (we've been doing 'near and far' like Grover) as do kisses on her feet and zerberts on her belly. Everything's going in the mouth, her feet being the favorite...although Sophie Le Giraffe runs a close second. She loves little kids, but for some reason our neighbor's baby's attempts at reaching out both hands to 'hold' her is not something she's all that into (for such a smiley kid, she just sits there straight-faced, looking at him like 'why are you doing that? Did I say you could do that?' :) ). She likes dogs! We were at a co-worker's house the other week, and when their big mutt came up to sniff her little hand she just smiled and watched him...she wasn't scared at all! And best of all, every time either of us walks in the room her face LIGHTS UP--isn't that just the greatest thing?? Good stuff.

Kyra San...

Kyra getting a playgym workout...

Kyra's Blog Debut

Hey all! As you know we had a wonderful little person enter our lives about 4 months ago. Since we want you to know her as much as possible, but she's currently living on Guam and you're there, we decided to start this blog where we can regularly post new videos, pictures, or just every day little Kyra-isms that we think are worth sharing. Planning to update regularly so stay tuned! We miss everyone SO MUCH and CAN NOT WAIT for Kyra to get to see you in person!
(FYI--the actual date of this post is September 2...the last month or so blogging took a backseat to travel and a visit with my sis...sorry for the confusion!)

Thought we'd start out with some Kyra fun facts...

Born: April 30, 2009 at 7:59 am

Weight at birth: 6 lb. 2 oz.

Length: 19 in.

Birth location: Tamuning, Guam

Conceived: on Guam, or in a spacious camper van in the Outback

Parents first thoughts: she is sticky, warm, and wrinkly, and doesn't look a thing like either of us, but we'll love her as if she looked like one of our own

Favorite pasttimes: EATING, spitting up what she just ate, baths, facial contortions, "talking", animal impersonations (baby elephant, baby squirrel, and baby flipper), breakdancing on the diaper table, peeing on dad

Nicknames: Poops McGee; Stinky; Stinky Pants McGee; Sweet Baby Girl; Muffinhead; Sugarpants; Angelbutt; Angelhead; Poopyface; Hungry Monkey


Kyra thought her blog debut called for a little dancing...