Officially 2!

Yesterday Kali finally turned 2! Everyone around us has been counting down the days and it came and went with a bang! As much as Daddy and I didn't want to have a party for her, we are now sooooo happy that her Godfamily INSISTED that we do something to mark the occasion. We truly didn't think she was ready for a party and after last year's flop of a party, we just didn't want to make a big fuss this year. But after weeks of prodding, we agreed to have a lil something at the park. Since Spongebob Squarepants is her show of choice lately, we decided to go with it for her theme. She was soooo happy to see Spongebob on all the accessories and her cake. Actually, she was just sooooo happy for every little detail and she could barely contain herself! *LOL*


After playing on the playground with Ariel & Brooklyn, we gathered her up to open gifts and eat cake!

Everyone did a great job with her gifts. Her Godfamily gave her some learning toys, a new toy laptop and her very own chapstick! *lol* Brooklyn even framed 2 pictures of Kali and her together...I put them on her shelf in her room and she loves to point at them and say "I like Brooklyn". Trychel and Taylor gave her the cutest Old Navy outfit and Dee & Lucy gave her some really cute clothes from The Childrens Place...including some super cute sneakers. Oma sent her an Eskimo doll...bigger than the 1st one and I found Kali cuddling up with her today. Nana & PawPaw sent her some really cute outfits. By the way, the girl's wardrobe is OUT OF THIS WORLD. I don't think she has to wear the same thing twice for at least a month. She also received cards & a gift card from Uncle Felcie and Grandma Barbara. Daddy and I gave her a Baby Alive (she loooooves to play 'mommy') and a new book and some puzzles to keep her brain going! Daddy also made her drawings of her 2 favorite tv shows: Dinosaur Train and Spongebob Squarepants. They are gorgeous and are being framed right now. Unfortunately they weren't ready for her birthday but as soon as I get them, I will definitely include a picture here.

We are so thankful and blessed to have so many people around us who love Kalissa as much as we do. We were pleasantly surprised by how well the day went and how happy she was. Pamela insists Kali knew it was her birthday....I still don't think she gets the concept of birthday but she definitely had a very Happy Day and didn't stop smiling!

For that reason, I can't wait to do it again next year!

Countdown to 2!

We are just a few days away until Kali turns the big 0-2! She is learning the Happy Birthday song and while I would love to say that she sounds so cute...she doesn't. She sings it completely dry and it sounds anything but happy! *lol* She does know that she's turning two and she loves to yell it out when you ask her how old she's going to be.

We have gotten her to be about 90% potty trained when she's at home. She maybe has 1 pee pee miss per day but other than that, she tells us when she has to go #1 & #2! Goooo Kali! Notice I said 90% when she's at home....well, she has yet to tell us when she has to go when we're out and about. The difference now is she doesn't even like to go in her pullups. Today when I had her out, as soon as she went she started tugging at the back of her jeans and kept telling me that she pooped (even though it was just pee). So at least she's showing a preference to being clean and hopefully she will start telling us that she needs to go potty every single time and not just when we're at home.

We're not going to have a party for her again this year. We still think she's too young to appreciate the effort and money that goes in to a party and it's not like she has any little friends. So we will have a small gathering at a park with us, her Godfamily, a Spongebob cake and a few small presents. No muss...no fuss!

Here are the rest of the pictures from her photoshoot. These don't really do the actual pictures justice because they had to be cropped to fit into these little squares, but you get the idea. Overall I'm very happy with how many good pictures were in the bunch. I definitely prefer the yellow outfit pictures for a number of reasons. First, they were the 1st pictures of the day so she was very energetic and happy to be at the park. Second, bright colors really suit her. By the time we changed over into the olive outfit, she was tired and cranky. Plus, her hair puffs must have gotten smashed during the outfit change (and we didn't notice) because they ended up pointy as if she had pine cones on her head! *lol*

Sneak Peek

Kali had her 2nd-birthday photoshoot today and lemme tell you....it was no easier getting her to cooperate with a professional than it is when I'm behind the lens! There were a lot of cute pictures!! I'll have to go through them and make a collage but for now, here's a couple of my favorites:

I Pee Pee Potty! & Other Adventures

We have had a major breakthrough in Kali’s potty training. I can’t honestly say we were training her, because we would only sometimes put her on the potty and there was absolutely no consistency on our part or hers. But all of a sudden last weekend, she just decided she would start telling us when she had to go. In one weekend, it went from hit or miss to about a 75% success rate. Yesterday, the sitter said she only used 2 diapers – and one was during her nap! And since Kali has always been motivated by praise, she is MORE than happy to tell everyone in her loudest voice: “I PEE PEE POTTY!!!” *lol* She also told me, “Mommy I no want a diaper! Ever!” *lol* I had to explain that she still has to wear a diaper until she can tell us every time when she needs to go potty. Her sitter, Jeanette (or Nettie as Kali calls her), is ready for phase 2. She told me to bring her training pants today with extra outfits because she was going to not use diapers today. We have the best sitter ever! Kali may just be potty trained by her 2nd birthday after all!

We also went to the Children’s Museum this weekend. Once again, Kali made us proud with her stellar behavior even when others were behaving badly. Kalissa was playing in the huge doll house when all of a sudden a little girl (probably about 4 years old) came up to her and pushed her! With both hands! For absolutely no reason. But what did my baby do? It took about 10 seconds for her to get her thoughts together and then she yelled out “NO PUSHING! NO PUSHING!” It was so cute because she was acting out a push as she was saying it. And I responded, “That’s right Kalissa. You have great manners and you know that pushing is bad manners. You’re a good girl.” Yes, I was pouring it on thick! *lol* Only then did the other kid’s mother say, “She’s right, no pushing.” Uhhhh….save it, lady. Your kid has no home training. That’s something maybe a child Kali’s age would do. I wouldn’t expect that from a 4 year old. Daddy was just proud that Kali didn’t stand there and cry. *lol* Such a man.

Here is a video of her from last week with her “Record a Voice” book that Oma gave her. She loves this book and has even memorized some of the pages so she talks along with the book as if she’s reading. Too bad the audio muffled out most of her voice. But she did say "I miss Oma" : )

We go for her photo shoot on Thursday! The weather is supposed to be overcast here so I'm a little worried about how the pictures will turn out. Then again, she's all the sunshine we need, so what am I worried about??

Camping Out!

With Kali turning 23 months old last week, Daddy felt it was time to take her on an adventure. Camping. As much as I love spending quality time with my family, I'll admit that I was NOT looking forward to this excursion. I was like, sleeping in a tent? With Kali? For 2 nights? I was fully expecting for this trip to be a complete disaster. But, once again....Daddy knows his baby girl. Kali was absolutely picture perfect! She loved being out with all of our friends and their families. She seemed to like every single experience....including her first trip to the beach! At first, she wanted no parts of the waves but once she realized the waves weren't going to hurt her, we couldn't keep her out of the water. She had a blast from start to finish!

Believe it or not, the little girl that she's leading by the hand is only a couple of months older than Kali! Kalissa was so happy to have another little person to play with. She immediately went up to her and starting saying, "Hi girl! Hi girl!" I think Kali was expecting her to have a conversation since she was so much bigger than her, but she doesn't communicate as much as Kali yet. So Kali just took her by the hand and started walking her around saying, "C'mon girl! We're walking!" It was the most adorable thing.

We had such a great time that we will officially add camping to our roster of family activities!

I Love Giraffe

Woo Hoo! The sun finally peeked out today after another week of cloudy skies and cold temperatures! What to do, what to do?? Daddy was game for the zoo, so that's where we headed. And as soon as Kali spotted her favorite animal of the week, she yelled out "I love giraffe!" I guess she was just in a lovable mood (even more so than usual) because moments before she declared her love for the long-necked animal, she was asking strangers for hugs!!
Now that's an all new level of friendliness, even for her!

....I really hate that her hair bows photographed so "orange"!! When I put them in her hair, they did look much more peach to me. Then again, I'm getting old.

Hello Sunshine!

While the rest of the country is scorching hot, we are freezing over here in San Diego. By freezing, I mean 64/65 degrees...in the middle of June! We are definitely experiencing the infamous "June Gloom" and I'm starting to get irritated by it. I'm sure Kali will second that. But today, the sun peeked out and we immediately ran for the park so that Kali could get out some energy! One would never guess that she is actually just getting over a 24-hour bug. She had a fever of 102 on Friday night, which had Daddy and I tag teaming to keep her comfortable and hydrated all night long. By yesterday evening she was her normal happy-go-lucky self. Turns out it probably wasn't a bug afterall...her second molars are coming in, so that just may have been the culprit. Poor baby.

She has a pretty nasty looking gash on her left cheek. And that's because she landed face first on one of my high heels!! On Thursday, she was clip-clopping around in them and left them in the middle of the floor. Next thing ya know, she dove onto a palette that Daddy made for her, but somehow misjudged where her pillow was and instead, landed right on the heel of my shoe. I was at work but Daddy sent me this photo to lessen the shock of seeing our baby's face like this:

It took everything I had not to immediately leave work and tend to my baby! Of course the fresh picture looked 10 times worse than what it did by the time I got home. Maybe the insta-picture wasn't such a good idea. *lol* After I made sure she was fine, my concern turned to, "I hope that bruise is gone in time for her photoshoot for her 2nd bday next month!" *lol*

Needless to say, my shoes are now off limits. But unfortunately, she's such a daredevil that I know this is just one of many more scrapes to come. *sigh*