Wolfie and Kanoa have so much fun playing football! Kanoa wants to keep playing and playing! Gives them both a great workout too!
Kanoa's latest new words he is saying: "Roll" (when he wanted to eat one..has added this to his reg vocabulary) and "No" (he said "No" one night in repetition after hearing it, but hasn't said it again yet). I think he might be saying "fumble" too. He gives a cough when he wants water (probably because once when he had a cough I offerred water to him almost every time he coughed!). He has probably learned other words too, but I can't think of them now.
A couple days ago Makana was sitting on the couch watching tv. Kanoa and I came downstairs and sat by her. Kanoa climbed onto her lap facing her and gave her a huge hug. He looked so big in her arms. She loved it and embraced him. That was so nice to see! Kanoa truly loves playing with Makana especially - maybe because they are closer in size and enjoy many of the same things.
Kanoa also likes playing "Woooooo!" - This is when we go into Li's bedroom and turn off the lights and say OOOOoooooohhhhhh! as we look at the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling and somewhat run around with or without flashlights. I turn back on the lights a little when I think someone might be close to a wall or person and then someone yells to turn the lights off again and we do it all over again.
When Katie was a baby she used to love to turn on and off the light switches. I would hold her for long periods of time and she'd flick the switches on and off smiling each time I shouted "It's off!" or "It's on!" Kanoa also loves to do this. I used to hold him most often, but now he usually climbs on a chair by the lightswitch and manipulates the switches on his own. He does this for a while. He used to love making the ceiling fan go too, but now seems more into the lights. It must be so cool to realize you can control things like lights!
Favorite shows: Dora the Explorer, Jay-Jay the Jet Plane, Scooby Doo (who can resist that "Woo Woo!")
Until very recently, when I prepared or cooked or cleaned up in the kitchen I made sure Kanoa was within my eyesight, watched by an older sibling or was napping because he needed supervision. If I couldn't cook because he was very active, then I would try to bring toys into the kitchen that he hadn't played with in a while. That would work for a short period, longer if Makana and/or Li played too. Play Doh was another fav thing to do while I chopped veggies or prepared meals. Feeding him O's or snacks also kept him busy in the kitchen. Bringing out a big soup pot and some big wooden spoons also made being in the kitchen more fun. There were times when I just couldn't cook...thank goodness for cereal and fruit or toast and carrot sticks! But usually we could scramble something together and I tried to cook so we'd have leftovers in order to minimize preparing food every night. As Kanoa got to be about a year and a half or more, he began to like to watch the dvd player in the dining room while snacking. He would watch for a longer period of time and that helped me to get the food going more quickly and I could easily check on him since he was just around the wall. When Jim isn't home, I still do cooking and cleaning when the time feels "right" to me and luckily one of his older siblings is usually willing to entertain him or hang out with him for a while. I am sure I'll feel even more at ease as time goes by and he gets older.
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| Kanoa playing the drums in a new spot ..the kitchen! |
A couple of weeks ago (12/20/2010) in the morning Kanoa wanted to play the "boom booms" (drums) which are upstairs in the guest room. The guest room's temperature is held at 50 F degrees for the winter unless we're having a sleepover. I really wanted to make breakfast and to stay warm. To create a win/win solution, I asked Kanoa if he would like me to bring the drums down to the kitchen and he liked that idea (he doesn't say "yes," but has this intonation that he does that we all know means "yes"). I at first only brought down two drum pieces. He let me know he wanted more. So I brought down the rest. Kanoa now plays the drums very often in the kitchen and has the biggest smile on his face. I am so glad to have them available to him as I know he gets such enjoyment out of them. Maybe I can find a picture of him or a little video. This has worked out well for me too as it is yet another thing to keep his interest while he is near me as I do things in the kitchen. Sometimes if it feels loud I take one look at Kanoa's face and see how he loves playing and I am happy inside. It is pleasurable to me too because I notice Jim enjoying watching Kanoa play and be so into it. Kanoa uses so much energy to play the drums and has a huge smile on his face. Nice all around!
Here is a video from the morning we first brought down the drumset.
Christmas: Kanoa called decorated Christmas trees "Ho Ho's." He didn't think anything of a "Santa" before this year that I know of. However, I think after this season he now understands Santa is related to the decorated tree as we've read about Santa in Clifford books, saw Santas frequently and talked about "Santa" over the past month. But Kanoa calls Santa a "Ho Ho" just like the tree.
On Dec 28th, Kanoa turned two. The night before his birthday I lamented about not having a little one year old anymore. However, I know it was just a moment I was having and I do look so forward to all the fun times ahead! Makana and I made a chocolate vinegar cake for Kanoa's birthday. It would not come out of the pan in one piece...so I molded it together with my hands and put on the buttercream frosting...hey, it will still taste good, right!
When Jim came home from work, he brought a package that had come in the mail. Kanoa (with help from Li and Makana and I) opened it and we all played a bit with the new toy. Then we brought the cake to the table and lit the candles. Kanoa enjoyed the blowing of the candles alot..so we lit and blew them out a few times. Then we had cake. And now...a new year...I wonder what adventures lie ahead?!
