Apologies for lack of posts lately, I've been pretty tired and lazy. Here is a video of Kira watching her "words" dvd. Grandma Rose got her the "Your Baby can Read" DVD and book set, it is supposed to help kids learn to read before they go to school. Basically, it runs a series of 30 words on repeat with pictures, songs, and rhymes. Honestly, there are some words now that Kira will shout out before they've said what they are on the DVD, so I guess that it works (of course, one of the words she can 'read' is No). At the very least, it's really helping her vocabulary. Though it is difficult to understand her, she is starting to say a lot more words now, which is very exciting for us. Anyhow, here is the video - I had to take it off the side of the table during her breakfast so that she wouldn't be distracted by the camera...

Next weekend we are going to attempt potty training. A friend recommended this 3-day potty training method, and it has worked for a few friends so far, so we'll see how it goes for Kira. It's not the ideal way to spend a long weekend, but I'm hoping that the results make it worthwhile!

Kira has started back at her gymnastics again. Her class this time is a mix of 1 and 2 year olds, which suits her just fine as she tends to do her own thing instead of following the circuit given by the teacher. The 1 year olds do the same thing.

Kira's first 2-year molar cut through her gums last weekend. She was pretty miserable for the first bit of the week, but she seems to be back to her normal self now. 1 down, 3 to go...I can't wait till this teething thing is over.

The last couple of weeks we have been hit hard with colds and norwalk-type bugs. Kira picked up a cold from daycare, which she then kindly shared with Jon and I. After that she picked up a norwalk-type bug from who knows where and shared it with us as well as her entire daycare and now her cousin Marcus. It was a doozy and I'm glad that it has passed! Unfortunately, it meant that we missed a final playdate with my friend Maya and her 2 boys. They have now moved out to Ontario, hopefully we will catch up to them this summer if we make it East. We'll miss you guys!!

Otherwise, Kira is doing well. She continues to develop her words and has learned to count to 1 - 5 in sequence. She can read and identify the numbers from 1-9 but is only just learning what order they go in. She is also getting very good at reading letters, here's a great video of her reading the letters off Jon's t-shirt.

Here's a photo of Kira and Jon, she really loves being around her Daddy.

Ready for a bike ride with Daddy

Cheeeeeese!

Daddy's favourite outfit, thanks for the shirt Eliana!

This is Kira's new run bike that she got for her birthday from her grandparents. It's a bike without pedals, it is supposed to help kids learn to balance on a bike earlier and hopefully eliminate the need for training wheels. She seems to enjoy it so far, we'll keep trying to get her outside with it this summer.

Kira's birthday pics! (Finally)

Ok. so things have been super hectic around here, and when there is a free moment, I've been sleeping. Sorry. Kira's birthday party was held last week Sunday, on her actual birthday, March 28. We rented out the gymnastics place, invited a few friends and family and let the kids run wild. We had some cake and snacks as well, I think the kids had a good time. Here are a few pictures...

Oh boy, why do I get the feeling that I will be seeing this face a lot when she's a teenager...

Hanging out on the bar with Daddy spotting

A few of her buddies that came to the party

There were 11 kids + 4 babies at her party, everyone seemed to have a good time and left good and tired. Hurray!

Kira had her 2 year check up earlier this week, she passed with flying colours. She is 25lbs now, about 6 pounds heavier than when she turned 1, and is about 88cm in height. This puts her in the 25th - 50th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. She continues to see the opthomologist every 3 months, her eyes seem to be getting a little bit worse - we'll see what the doctor says at her next appointment on April 12.

Hope everyone had a great Easter long weekend.

Gymnastics Pictures

Hanging on the rings

Jumping on the trampoline with her new boyfriend

Climbing the ladder into the ball pit

Hanging out in the ball pit

Heading down the slide

This has been a busy week for Kira. She attended her friends first birthday party last weekend, she had a lot of fun and played very well with the other kids -- even sharing with them (thank goodness). We had her gymnastics again this week, but I didn't take photos as she managed to lose her glasses at daycare (!) and was a little cranky during gymnastics, likely as a result of a headache from not being able to see properly. We ordered her a back-up pair of glasses and daycare managed to find her glasses the next day, thankfully.

Today, we went over to Victoria for Nicholas' 4th birthday party. Kira played on the ferry the whole way over, then played with ten 4-year old boys and 1 girl her age with no issues (she even attempted to play simon says with them, so cute), and then played for most of the ferry ride home. Poor kid is exhausted! It was a lot for her to do in 10 hours.

Here are a couple of pictures of Kira that were taken this week...

Playing with the car at her cousin Nicholas' 4th birthday party

Bath time with cousin Marcus

Her new way of checking out what we are cooking

Vegetables?? Boo!

Hiding under her umbrella from the bubbles

The Olympics are over (sigh) and now things are starting to get back to normal. Kira's gymnastics started up again on Wednesday evening, she has graduated to the 2 year old class now, so we have to take her a different time. Most of the kids in her class are 2.5+, but she didn't even seem to notice. She had a blast with all the "older" kids. I'm amazed at how much difference a few months in age can make, some of those kids are potty trained, talking in sentences, and able to do some pretty remarkable things. As for Kira, well she blew me away with her progress. I haven't taken her to gymnastics in about 3 months (Jon has been taking her Saturday mornings while I sleep in, heh), so I was shocked to see her walk up to the rings, grab them and then lift her legs up and start swinging. After that she walked up a ladder and jumped into the ball pit --- she couldn't figure the ladder out last time I was there and was terrified of the ball pit! She also stepped up to the balance beam and walked across it on her own! That was the first time she had done that, so the smile on her face was extra wide. I will try to take some videos next week when we are there. The best part about this new class is that the teacher is a friend of mine from soccer, she just started her job yesterday and was very excited to see Kira in her class; Kira took an instant liking to her.

This weekend begins the month of birthday parties. We have one every weekend, all month! This weekend it is our friends daughters 1st birthday party. Next weekend is Nicholas' 4th birthday party, then the weekend after is Marcus' 3rd birthday, and then the last weekend is Kira's 2nd birthday party. Phew! She is going to be partied out, but it should be a lot of fun for her. Maybe she'll even start eating cake.

Here are a couple of pictures of Kira with her umbrella that she got from Uncle Simon and Auntie May - she loves walking around the house with it but still won't use it outside for some reason...she's a strange kid sometimes.