We have been pretty busy lately with Kai's birthday party and preparing for Christmas. The kids have been a constant source of entertainment (not intentionally though I don't think) and have provided some much-needed comic relief while we are running around getting organized.

Kira decided this year to ask Santa for a "bike with pedals and 2 wheels" (she has a run bike right now with no pedals), I think Santa will deliver for her! She's very excited to see what Santa will put in her stocking and has been counting down the days until Christmas. She is much more into Christmas this year and it's fun to see her excitement and joy.

Today Kira + I had our dentist appointment. This would be her 2nd checkup, last time was ok, the dentist was only able to clean 2 of her teeth but did get most everything else done. Today she was so excited to go see the dentist that she actually started to pout and cry when she learned that Momma would be going first. She sat beside me for my entire cleaning with her lower lip quivering and her eyes damp. Hilarious. She brightened right up when the dentist took her to her own room ("with my own chair!") before I was done. The dentist managed to clean all of her teeth this time, Kira was even giggling during the process (she said it tickled). Afterwards she got a new toothbrush and toy - she was super stoked. Here she is in the dentist chair - she kept grabbing the dental assistants arm while she was cleaning her teeth.

Here are a few more pictures from various parties we've been at over the last couple of weeks. These include Daddy's company Christmas party for kids, Kai's first birthday party, and a potluck dinner with our friends and their kids. Merry Christmas everyone!

Walking around at Daddy's Christmas party - heading for the bouncy castle

He sure loved this stool

Yep, still loving it

Such a little character

Happy birthday little dude!!! It's not a party until Kai's removed a piece of clothing (he's a lot like Daddy)

Yummy cake, thanks for baking Grandma Rose

He looks a little like his cousin Isabel in this picture...

First pineapple tart!

Daddy is teaching Kira a very important lesson - all 9 members of the Wu-Tang Clan. She's got 2 so far, and somehow "Uncle Brian" made his way into the group. Well done Uncle Brian!!

Oh, this box looks like fun...

Maybe I can stand up....

Haha! Yes I can! Now how do I get down.

Kira fixing her hair while posing for the camera

Today is Kai's first birthday, naturally, he has no idea whatsoever, but we celebrated for him. After I picked the kids up from daycare we went down to Richmond and I got their hair cut, now Kai looks like a little man and Kira's hair is shorter and less likely to be eaten along with her meals. While we were in Richmond we stopped in for a visit with Santa, got a great picture of the kids (surprisingly!) which I will scan at work and try  to post next week. Kira also went for a ride on the little train and merry-go-round that they have in there. She had a blast and Kai loved running around and playing with all the new "toys" in the mall. 

Tomorrow we are having a little birthday party for Kai, I will post some pictures of the party later on. In the meantime, here are some older ones that I finally got around to uploading...

Kai LOVES sleeping with this green monkey, at any given time during the night his monkey is  under his belly or within arms reach. So cute.

Kira helped to decorate the tree this year....

....there were about 15 ornaments per branch which Kai knocked down as soon as he woke up from his nap

Jon purchased a chariot trailer for behind his bike so he can take both kids into daycare on his bike. Obviously it's too cold for this right now, but we did manage to give it a test run back in October. 

Kai heading down the slide with a little help from Mommy

looking at the wood chips and thinking it's dinner time

mmmmm, wood chips

The kids and Daddy heading off to the park

 

I love this picture! Kira loves to dance, but she'll only do it if she's in a "pretty dress". So here she is playing dress up and rocking out to the music. 

More adorable sleeping baby pictures. This purple elephant toy was reclaimed by Kira shortly after this photo was taken.

Kira loves this new swing at the park, she'll lie down and yell to go "HIGHER" and "FASTER", she's a little fearless sometimes, but she has a lot of fun.

So I've been pretty lazy lately and haven't gotten around to updating here. Not much going on out of the ordinary. Kids have been sick, both got their flu shots (Kira didn't even flinch with hers, which was amazing) and I've started swimming in the mornings before work (hence the laziness at night when the kids go to bed).

I have a couple of videos that I'll get around to uploading this weekend hopefully, in the meantime, here are some new pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Baby Camryn, our friends daughter - she's just under 2 weeks old in this picture. 

Kira's "light reading", heh.

Kai gearing up for streaking through the house, while Kira settles in with another light read.

Ready to steal the camera away

Her balloon that she got from her friends birthday party. It was her first birthday party that was  for a school friend, she had a blast. It was interesting watching her with the other kids, she definitely prefers to do her own thing...

Kai eating the camera lens cap

Such a happy kid

Happy Halloween!!

Baby Enzo (11 weeks) dressed as batman for his first halloween

Kira, Aubrey, Leyna, Everly posing with their loot

Kira the princess, Aubrey the mermaid, and Leyna the unicorn

Looking for places to trick or treat

Trick or treating with Aubrey at The Flying Pig

Kira and her cousins, Marcus and Isabel, fascinated by the tv.
Yes, Kira picked this outfit out herself, she has red tights on under her dress. classic. 

Kai playing with new and exciting toys

Kai is a full-time walker now. This is a great shot of the joy he gets from walking "long" distances  He squeals with delight too.

Pumpkin Patch hayride with Auntie TV and Momma. Her friend Leyna is in the foreground

Kira loves spending time with Auntie TV and was thrilled to have her come to the pumpkin patch with us

Kai is getting very good at walking now. In a few short weeks he graduated from one or two steps to being able to walk across the room. This week he figured out how to stand up without assistance. It won't be long before he is no longer crawling. Here's a video of him figuring out how to stand up on his own.

Kira has loved to sing to Kai since the day he was born. She sings to him when he is crying in the car, crib, house or wherever we are and it will always calm Kai down; it's quick remarkable. Thanks to his love of music, Kai has also developed a love of dancing - he and Kira will often dance while we are playing downstairs.Here is a video of Kai rocking out to the music from one of his toys. 

Later this week Kira has her first field trip with her preschool, they are going to the pumpkin patch. We won't be able to join her on this trip, but we will be trying to make a family trip out next weekend if the weather holds up. Kira is so excited for Halloween this year; she's not sure if she wants to be a bear or Thomas the Train again. She's already counting down the days to Santa coming - well, maybe the events before Santa comes...."Halloween, Mama's birthday, Conner's birthday (her cousin), Kai's birthday, Santa!!".

This month has seen Kira begin pre-school, which she loves, and Kai begin daycare, which he is still getting used to but seems to enjoy. I have also returned to work, which I am surprisingly happy to be back at; four days in and I can barely remember being away for almost 10 months.

I managed to sneak away for a quick trip back to Ontario before returning to work. I was able to catch up with some good friends as well as their kids. It was nice to live like I had no kids, but I missed them terribly. When I returned home they were there to meet me at the airport, there were tears shed - all mine. Sigh. I used to be tough, these kids have made me into a big softie.

While I was gone these two seemed to develop exponentially. Kira all of a sudden can sing 5 songs in their entirety and Kai is damn near walking. Here is a video of Kai using Kira's suitcase to walk around the room.

Preschool is really helping Kira's language development. Besides learning a bunch of songs, which she loves to sing to us, she is beginning to speak in proper sentences now. It's remarkable how quickly she picked all of this up.

Both kids are now in gymnastics on Saturday mornings. Now that Kira is in the 3 year old class, she is able to do the class without a parent supervising, so it freed us up to bring Kai along. Kai does his baby class (which is really just letting him crawl and climb everywhere without fear of him hurting himself when he falls) while Kira plays in the "waiting area", and then she goes to her class right after while Kai plays in the waiting area. I'll try to grab some pictures this weekend.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the kids...

Ready to come along with Mommy on vacation

First day of preschool!

Picture taken by Kira in the backseat of the car

She sure loves taking pictures