Singing her ABCs... kind of

The second attempt turned into a freestyle song about Mommy-

Dancing, Singing Xander

Xander was hanging out with us yesterday evening while his Mommy caught up on a few things at work. To entertain him, Grandpa took out the singing donkey named "La Bamba." Xander not only wanted to attack the singing stuffed animal and slobber all over it, but he also wanted to join in on the singing and dancing fun.

Visiting with Friends

One of my bestest friends came into town this week with her daughter Madeline. Though Maddie is five months old, this was out first meeting. Anna, Maddie, Cairo, Xander, and I spent some time going to the arboretum and just hanging out. There were enough kids to have out own little playgroup. I am sure as time goes on, this little playgroup will not only grow larger, but also grow more rambunctious. I can't wait for our kids to grow up playing together. How great is it to have close friends with kids the same age as your own!

Humboldt Honey

Cairo has spent about a quarter of her life up at our house in Humboldt County. It seems to be just enough time to wear off on her fashion sense. More and more Cairo is taking control of what she wears for the day. This week, she decided on a colorful dress, with a blue and white polka-dot skirt, tan pants, and lots of colorful necklaces.

Easter Day

Last Sunday Cairo had fun opening up her Easter Basket and searching for Easter eggs. Last Easter, Cairo enjoyed pounding her eggs together and chewing on them. This year was a lot more fun. Cairo looked at all the eggs on the lawn, squealed "eggies," and ran after them. She must have had her eye on one particular egg because we watched her run half way across the yard, past about 15 eggs, to one particular purple egg. Then, she went back and picked up the rest. Once her eggs were collected, she helped Xander gather his eggs.











Cairo got a cute little dress from Cousin Jamie and Carri. As soon as she opened it, she insisted on putting it on. We convinced her to take a few pictures in her other Easter dress first, though. (Note: Her Easter dress was supposed to be her Christmas dress, but at Christmas she ended up in bed with a fever instead of wearing her dress)




Cairo also spent some time playing in her NEW sandbox Daddy built. She loves digging her toes into the sand. We also look in the sand for what Cairo calls "ladybugs". In reality, they are earwigs (aka pincher bugs). We are going to have to find some real ladybugs so that she knows the difference...

Getting Ready for Easter

Holidays seem to have a whole new meaning when your baby turns into a toddler. Though Cairo doesn't know what Easter is and no clue who the Easter Bunny is, she has still been enjoying the fun activities associated with the day.

To begin, Cairo used stickers, card-stock, and crayons to make her Easter cards.


Then, today, the City of Monrovia and the YMCA held a spring time (Easter) carnival for kids ages 1-16 at the park down the street. Cairo and I made the trip down to the park to check out the fun. The carnival was PACKED. We got there too late to do the Easter Egg hunt and we opted out of the $6 picture with the Easter Bunny, but Cairo did enjoy playing on the toddler toys, playing games (bean bag toss and football throw), and arts and crafts. Cairo left the park with two foam decorated eggs (one for her and one for Xander) and a prize from each game she played (a bouncy ball and a whistle... Cairo picked out both items herself).

A quick view of a small portion of the carnival, about 10 minutes after it ended and people started to clear out.

Playing on the toddler toys-





The foam eggs Cairo decorated at the Arts and Crafts booth-

Cairo's prizes- the bouncy ball help firmly in had, and whistle around her neck


Of course, one can't fully prepare for Easter unless eggs have been decorated. So, tonight, before dinner, Cairo and I decorated 12 hard boiled eggs. Cairo could have stood there and dipped the eggs in dye for hours. Any activity where a object has to be transferred from one container to another, over and over again, holds Cairo captivated for LONG periods of time.

High heeld shoes and nail polish

Last weekend my parents had to dress up and go out to an awards dinner to celebrate my Dad's 35 year anniversary at his job. While getting ready, Cairo discovered her Grammy's sparkly, high heels and just HAD to take them for a spin around the room.




Look close and you will see Cairo's light pink painted nails. Mommy and Cairo had some rare girl bonding time. Mommy even painted a few of her nails!


Please note: Cairo picked out her outfit. She has been quite insistent lately on what she wears (and normally something has to be pink). While the leggings and the skirt matched nicely, the shirt didn't quite make it. The funny thing is a little less than a week later I came home to find Cairo in the exact same outfit. I asked Erik if Cairo chose her outfit and he said, "No, I did, why?" Lord help me if Cairo has the fashion sense her father has (Mr. If-I-like-the-pants-and-I-like-the shirt-they-must-match-guy)

Do chonies make good hats?

Cairo seems to think that chonies (aka underwear) make good hats. She got some big girl chonies a few weeks ago. The first thing she did was take them out of the package and put them on her head. This past week when Erik was doing laundry, Cairo walked into the dining room with a pair of mommy's chonies around her neck... she was just as happy as can be. I hope she figures out where they go by the time she gets to kindergarten!

Cairo's Independent Nature

Cairo likes to do things herself. Many times when we are out and ask Cairo to hold our hand, we end up with an empty hand. When we look down, though, Cairo has taken a hold of someone's hand- it just happens to be her own. "Tairo do it." This is cute when we are walking through a store or in a large open area, but it doesn't work so well when we cross the street or walk through a crowded area. Someday she will get the concept...




On Cesar Chavez day my mom, Erik, Cairo, Xander, and I headed for Disneyland. We weren't the only ones with this idea, the place was packed. The great thing about having season passes is that we can turn around and leave the madness after two hours and not feel too guilty. Before we headed out, though, Cairo got to drive a car. Though she couldn't see over the steering wheel, she still got to steer. Thank goodness her daddy was there because her legs were too short to reach the gas pedal. I know Cairo is anxious to take Grammy's Toyota out for a drive, but I think that she may need to wait a few more years.


You can just make out her white hat over the top of the dashboard.


Cairo And Xander posing for a shot in Toon Town-

Cairo Cam of Daddy-

Xander, hanging out in a window, looking cute-

Making a Sandwich & Setting the Table

Cairo is a big help around the house. She is very independent and wants to do everything that we do... by herself. She does pretty well with the limits we set into place, but on occasion, she pitches a fit when she doesn't get her way. One of her favorite things to do is help out in the kitchen. If you are at the counter making anything or even doing dishes, Cairo pushes one of the kitchen chairs to the counter, climbs up, and is ready to help. I am getting good at cutting up vegetables with a butter knife, that way little fingers don't come in contact with sharp blades. Here are a few pictures of Cairo making herself a sandwich for breakfast (she insisted on the sandwich):


Step 1: Push the chair to the counter


Step 2: Lightly spread the mayo and add the meat


Step 3: Add the cheese (look closely and you will see cute little bitsy nibbles off the side of the cheese... one must always taste test what they are putting together)


Step 4: As Cairo said when doing this,"put the lid on" (aka put the top piece of bread on)


Not only does Cairo help fix meals, but she also helps set the table. When dinner time comes and we all sit down and hope that we sit in the proper seat. Each night Cairo seems to have it all figured out. Sometimes Mommy has to sit on the left, but sometimes it's the right. If you try and sit in the wrong seat, she may say something like, "no, dat's gammy's chair, sit dere." Sometimes we humor her, but as much as Cairo may want to be the ruler of the world, she isn't and she has to deal with it (although she doesn't hesitate to throw out the crocodile tears).

Here are some pictures of Cairo setting down napkins, spoons, and forks. As she set each item down she would say out loud whose it was. "Mommy's 'poon", "Tairo's 'poon", "Gammy's 'poon", "Bapa's napkin", etc. (At this time she is still calling forks spoons about 50% of the time.)





All Done!


Xander also likes to help whip up a few meals from his highchair-