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Tidbits

I finally uploaded the pictures from the camera and wanted to share them.

I'm not really sure how this happened, but I found it hilarious. It took her a good five minutes to get the keys unhooked.

Here she's trying to pull them off. I should have gotten video of it rather than pictures.

This shot shows the accumulation of snow up to the 17th of February. I think this was the day after school got cancelled for a snow day.

This is a 12 inch ruler that I've put in the window. You can't see the car because of the pile of snow, but it's there.

I made Chicken tortilla soup and she loved it. She kept asking for more. She might have eaten more than me.

I think this is a great shot of her practicing her balance. She's bending down to crawl.

And this is the face she made at me. I love it.

Now a happy face from my happy girl.

This photo needs a bit of introduction. Tristan had been studying in the back room and Kalia was playing with a chair. I guess she bent down and lost her balance hitting her temple. She started crying and Daddy came running from the other room to comfort her. I couldn't miss the photo op. This shot was my favorite.

Yesterday I took Kalia to have blood drawn for a lead screening that I understood to be routine at 12 months. While they were at it I asked them to check her blood type. I believe They also tested her for anemia. Poor little girl! Though I must say it was just as hard for me to watch. I will admit that tears were on multiple faces during the procedure. When we got home she was quite interested in her bright pink tape that I snapped the picture right before removing it.

Well, here ya go.

I guess I just feel like I've got a lot to say recently. Three posts in as many days? This is new... Maybe it's because my husband has barricaded himself in the bedroom to study and I'm left out here with a computer and not much to do. Maybe it's because I just have too much to share. Life with a one year old is becoming one story after another. Of course, I might be the only one that is truly interested while the rest of you smile and say, "Oh, she's telling another Kalia story, nice." and skip over. But I've decided to make this more about me and having a chance to learn to express myself more clearly and effectively.

I always wanted to be a writer. Though I don't like my writing. So often I feel like my voice is so fake or so presented to appear more academic or professional that it becomes fairly boring to read. I'm working on a conversation sound without becoming too lazy or casual to loose my English skills. It really drives me crazy to try and decode some of the writing I encounter online. I am stoically going to avoid such laziness. I'm sorry, I digress... where was I going with this?

Back to everyday life. We've had an interesting past few days. Poor Tristan has been stressed to the breaking point. He'd planned this week to study Wed through Saturday for a big Pharmacology test Monday. Yesterday he called me from school mildly panicked to inform me that he'd made a mistake. The test would not be Monday of next week but Thursday of this week, therby loosing his best study days. Oi oi oi! Though this was good news for me, meaning we'd get more family time this weekend. This comes with the sacrifice of seeing him through the beginning of the week. After his study session could go no further last night he had me pick ten drugs of his list that he would tell me about. So much information! I certainly don't envy him and I'm so proud of all his hard work. I know he's doing this for us and for our family. I just hope it pays off in the long run!

Now to Kalia. She's getting more daring in her attempts to get around. With this has come numerous bumps and bruises. I can detect her tiredness level by the level of the response to the bump. Just a few minutes ago she bumped her temple on the back of the chair and immediately lost it. Following this, I'd put her on the floor next to my chair. She tried to roll over but rolled into to chair. Poor kid! We've had bloody lips and pinched fingers. I know it's just beginning. But I do hope it slows down. I want her to walk and explore and I hope all these bumps don't deter her much. I'm off to go play dollies!

Kalia's getting smart

Saturday we let Kalia play on the floor while Tristan and I were watching a video online. Kalia kept crawling under the desk to play with the power cords. We'd twisted them around the legs of the desk to take up the slack, but now she's heading for the actual plug and trying to pull it out. Tristan was getting tired of pulling her back so he thought he'd block her access using the chair. He laid it on it's side touching the legs of the desk thinking this would solve the problem as the side bar would block between the other legs. Kalia figured out that she could crawl underneath that side bar to get to the cords behind the chair. So much for a good idea! Parents 0 Kalia 1.

Kalia's 1st birthday

Finally! After numerous attempts I have successfully loaded the video. I hope you enjoy it!

1 year

Some interesting points over the last month for Kalia:

* She is 30 inches tall and the 75%ile.

* Her weight is about 19 lbs. She wouldn't hold still. This is in the 25%ile.

* She has 5, almost 6 teeth and the cutest smile.

* She loves to say "da-da" and sign milk (almost constantly through the day).

* She thinks she should stand all day and will pull up on anything, especially mom's legs.

* She hates being on the other side of the baby gate during dinner prep and usually gets goldfish bribes to stop whining.

* She's a good eater and self feeds. Though she also tries to share with the cat. ie- drops food.

* She wants what mom's eating.

* She's a great sleeper at night and will take two naps during the day.

* Chasing Saphira is a favorite past-time shared with daddy.

* Says "mom," "uh-oh," "wow," "dad," "hi".

* Waves 'bye bye', and signs 'milk,' 'more,' and 'please'

* Will ask for food by signing 'please'.

* Identifies head and nose with 100 % accuracy.

* Learning to identify mouth, eyes, and ears.

* Gives hugs and cuddles to the cat, stuffed bear, and her blankets.

* Needs to work on her gentle touch and not hitting.

* Melts her parent's hearts with her antics.

We like her and think we'll keep her a bit longer.

Now the part you're really looking for:

Fun bits

So I've got some fun bits to share:

Kalia in her new car seat. We upgraded in January.

Kalia shares her lunch with Saphira. Right before I got the camera out she was offering pieces to her. It was pretty funny.

Why shouldn't I carry things in my mouth? They stay now that I've go teeth to hold'em there.

These two get along so well. Well, may be not. Notice the position of Saphira's ears and the angle of her paw. Not so friendly of a swat. Now the aftermath:

Kalia's expression says it all.

We've had a few big storms this winter. Tristan found his hands more efficient than the snow brush. I believe we got about 10 inches for this storm. They didn't give us a snow day... of course it was Saturday.

This was Sunday afternoon, some fresh snow as well as some drifting. Check out the pile in the background. That's about 4 feet high.

February 12 Tristan and I attended the dental school's prom The MandiBALL. It was so much fun. One of the guys in our ward was actually the organizer and he planned it well. It was located at a reception hall. (They had bridal magazines in the women's room). They started the evening with appetizers. We were able to locate many friends to sit with. We filled three of the round tables. Dinner was served and it was delicious. They had salad with your choice of ranch or italian dressing with rolls and rosemary potato bits. They also had a garden veggie mix and penne pasta to accompany the white wine sauce chicken. After dinner they gave away prizes from various donors. Our table was pretty lucky with all the couples winning something. Of our 4 tickets, three won. It was a lucky night for us. We won the comedy club tickets first then the electric toothbrush (for me, yay!). When they called for the Coke we laughed when we won, since neither of of drink much soda pop. (The next day we called up Target and exchanged them for a Wii game) The best part is that they called for the 42 inch plasma TV right after we got the Coke. So close! Though our good friends did win the TV. We're pretty excited for them. After the drawing they changed the music and increased the volume for dancing. They didn't remove the tables so there wasn't much room on the dance floor. We didn't dance long and decided to head home. It was a lot of fun.