Numbers!

So out of the blue I found out Akasha is already recognizing numbers! Seems like it is much earlier than Orion did, but I guess they all go at their own rate. Here is how it happened: We were playing the Hungry Caterpillar game, and it has a spinner with numbers. Akasha and I were playing as a team, and she was doing the spinning. She took her turn and said, "I spinned a two!" I was like, Whoa! So I started asking her what the other numbers were, and she knew them all! Amazing what they pick up all on their own, eh? :)

Penthouse!

Just a cool thing Orion built with Duplos:

Akasha has started getting really into Duplos, which meant Orion had to get BACK into them, which meant he needed to use ALL of them, which meant I ended up buying more off somebody on Craigslist. I could go on, but you get the picture. :)

Happy actual bday...

... at least by the calendar. It seemed like you were born on the night of the 13th, as that is when active labor kicked in, and you were born in the wee hours, when it was still dark. And I loved the idea of you having a bday on the 13th. I bet I will always confuse those dates.

Anyway... your bday was a rather quiet day. Then Orion remembered the cake and thought we should do the whole candle thing again! So the following cuteness was all his idea!



Later on that day... Akasha started building these towers to the sky!
She was really into setting the blocks so that they would be as tall as possible. When she couldn't stack them from the floor anymore, she got on top of the table to keep stacking them. It all seemed very impressive at the time and is just now striking me as funny that this is a perfect snapshot of a developmental stage on her birthday.

And in other news...

... Akasha knows her colors! Or she is starting to anyway. And how did I discover this? At the park, she was happily swinging in the red swing until another mom came and put their child in the blue swing next to her, and... you probably guessed it. She started yelling, "I want the blue swing!" :/

Yes, we have entered this phase in full. Everything Akasha picks up, Orion tries to grab away and everything Orion picks up, Akasha screams that she wants it. These interactions are such a bummer for me. I know all the "right things" to do in such situations, but it still saddens me. They fight over toys, food, which chair to sit in, my lap of course, seems like everything!!! I think what bothers me the most is it is such a representation of *scarcity* thinking. These kids have been raised with so much freedom and an effort to find a way to say yes to their desires, so why? Whywhywhy?

My friend Lyla pointed out that our family is experiencing a "Daddy scarcity" right now with all the hours Ron is working, which is pretty insightful, and indeed I think there is an aura of time scarcity as well. I think I have a bad habit of getting caught up in time scarcity even when everything else is going great. It gets me to wondering if it is impossible to completely get away from the culture of scarcity our society seems to promote. I guess the first step is awareness. I want to teach my children that life is joyful and full of abundance! So yeah, *I* have to be the model for that, and I don't think I do a very good job of it alot of the time. Hopefully I am moving in the right direction though....

Akasha is Counting

Another random development post. She has done it a couple times before, and I was wondering if it was a fluke, but last night during hide and go seek she did it a bunch of times. She is particularly enamored of 5,6,7,8,9 for some reason. has never yet said 10. just says, "9", then "here we come!"

Long Day....

Phew, long day today it seemed like, with lots of ups and downs.

Ron and Orion started out the day with some errands and had a really good time. Then we had Kai's birthday party to go to, and somehow the leaving process got really stressful. He had a rough time there as well, and an even rougher time leaving, but there were some highlights.

Akasha saw this picture when I was working on this post and said, "Daddy holding baby Akasha!" That about sums it up. She is really talking these days!
She had alot of fun playing with Ciara
Beep, beep!
Wheeee!
She was quite popular with the older kids. Xander loves babies too!
But of course the best part was cake. Notice the chunk taken from the yellow and red balloons. That was the exact piece Orion wanted, and Mama Rachele was happy to oblige.
Then Orion went home with Daddy and it was on to Lyla's birthday bash for Rachele, Akasha and I. What a lovely photo of Corina and Akasha this is! I love her colorful hair!
Group shot! Normal....
... and the make a face shot, with only some participating lol!
Love a good aftermath shot....

Apparently things went better for the boys at home as well. We all had our ups and downs this day, and Orion captured it really well. Ron told me when we got home, Orion had said a little earlier, "This was a day with all the feelings."

Jumping!

Just a little developmental note to myself that Akasha is jumping! I think Sarah really got her started playing on the bed when she was here, but now she is trying to do it on the floor too, and sometimes gets a bit of air in there! Video coming soon....

Towers Galore!

Just a few days ago, Akasha started stacking some toys together into towers out of the blue. She does it every morning now, and sometimes more. I finally got some pics of the action! She makes some pretty cool stuff, sometimes with something bigger on something smaller, and will often sit an animal or something on top lol. It is like she went from 0 - 60 overnight in the building skills!

You Spin Me Right Round Baby

Akasha's new favorite hobby.

A Sentence!

Akasha is in love with bugs these days, especially crane flies. She has said, "Where'd it go?" about things, but I think she is usually just imitating the sounds after I have said the same thing. Last night, we were watching a crane fly, and it buzzed out of sight. She said, as clear as day, "Where'd the buggy go?" Little cutie.

Spinning, Stomping, Running and Kittying

That's what has been going on around here.... :) Oh, and lots of talking! Don't even think I will bother with the lists anymore. She is just well on her way to speech, including a few sentences.

The spinning is the funniest by far. She will get going around, usually only about two full rotations, then stop and get very still to feel the sensation. Sometimes she will walk and fall down. Then repeat the whole thing. Other times she does this stomping thing that is also pretty funny. Not sure I could classify her as officially running, but she will for sure get a fast patter thing going for several steps now that is really close to a run.

But what is the "kittying" all about you may be wondering. Well, Akasha is becoming a professional "getinthewayer". No matter what Orion is doing, she gets right under foot. He wants to move a blanket - she sits on it. He wants to ride a car in a certain pathway - she stands in the way. I couldn't help but think to myself, she reminds me of a cat! LOL So Orion was getting quite frustrated the other day because there is a little cement ramp in the backyard he likes to ride down, and Akasha likes to sit right at the bottom of it. I said to him, "She is being a kittycat!" He was confused. I explained to him about the stereotypical cat behavior of getting in the way of whatever you are doing, and it has really helped lighten things up I think! Now when she gets in the way, he calls, "Mom, sister is being a kittycat again!" Which means I need to come move her. He seems to find this idea quite amusing, and I find it much better than him just pushing her out of his way. :)

Little Walker

I finally got some more footage of Akasha walking. The beads she is playing with belonged to my mother. Then I couldn't resist trying for a few other cute things. :) I don't usually overdo the thank yous like this, but she has been imitating me saying it, and it sounds kindof like "tankoo!" it is so cute so i was trying to get her to say it. Ditto with "meow".

It's All About the Bent Knee

AKA out with the zombie and in with the drunken sailor.

Are you wondering what the heck I am taking about? LOL Akasha is officially almost a full time walker now. For awhile, Ron has been laughing, saying she looks like a zombie because she keeps her legs totally stiff when she walks. Then all of a sudden the day came where her skill seemed to make a major leap. I mentioned it to Ron, and right away he notices she is bending her knees! I never realized this before about the progression of walking! Maybe not all babies do it. But once she made that slight adjustment, it was like she "had it". She almost never crawls now, except for on uneven surfaces. Sniff, growing up so fast.

My Clever Baby

This is going to be one of those full of updates posts. Akasha has been walking and talking up a storm. And she has settled on a word for milk. I have always called it milk, but all of a sudden she is calling it "moomoo". She doesn't even know what a cow is! Very funny child. I will not be encouraging this.

She has several distinct words now, including

mama
dada
bubba (brother)
baby
poopoo
hi
go
uhoh
ow (getting good at that one - stupid molars)
peeboo
ball
book
num (for food)
dee (i think means drink)
dog and boof
kitty kat and meow
and of course... no, said with a whole body shake sometimes lol
But my favorite is thank you, which she says when you give her something, or sometimes when she gives me something haha. She says it more like "tankoo", but it really is surprisingly clear.

She is also starting to respond to simple requests. A couple times I have asked her to go get something, not really expecting her to do it, but she did!

She has three of her four one year molars broken through. Boy will I be glad when that is done!

ETA: Oh, and how could I forget?! She made her first sign language "sentence" last weekend. She has been signing more for a long time and also has separate signs for food and milk. Sometimes when she starts signing more, I will ask her, more food or more milk? She usually doesn't answer. But when we were at the beach she signed more, then milk! Exciting. :)

A New Animal Has Entered Akasha's Vocabulary

Well, we are finally past everything being a "boof". For a couple days, she has been saying "keeka" (short "a"). I wasn't really sure what it was until I saw her holding a card with some cats and saying it. Oh, kitty cat! I don't think I say it that way, but somehow that is what she picked up. She also says "meow". So cute! The hilarious thing, now everything is getting called keeka, even dogs sometimes LOL. Also quite humorous is the fact Orion is convinced she is saying Kit Kat.

You know you are practicing EC when...

...one of your baby's first words is "poopoo". Akasha loves to say this now. She says it whenever she sees a toilet, whenever anybody sits down on the toilet and the best part, when she actually goes! I have no luck with teaching her that "peepee" is a different word. Apparently, like "boof", this is going to be another all purpose word. She also says it when she passes gas, and I have just started realizing in the last few days she is saying it when she pees also! She has no interest in sitting on the potty these days as she is much too busy practicing walking, but it is great that the communication part is still happening, which means I can get the diapers off her quickly when she is wet.

Wobbly Park Baby

We went to the park with some friends today. Akasha practiced her walking a bit and continued to be generally charming.

She made a good impression on Samuel by picking flowers for him.
"May I have this dance?"
Mouth stuffed full of dried apples and not sure what all was on the rest of her face!
And now for some exciting video action of those first tiny baby steps!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

... we have our first steps! Yes indeed, Miss A took a few tiny steps tonight. Wonder how long before she is running across the room? :D

Bonus cuteness:

And now for all the sappy birthday stuff...

My sweet little girl! A year ago today, I was snuggling with you in bed, settling in for a babymoon and falling more in love every day. You have brought me so much joy every day of your life. Your darling smiles, your silly dances, your funny sounds, your peekaboo hands, your kissy lips, your pure soul. You are so full of love and light!

Right now, you are very into pushing to standing in the middle of the room. You like to cruise on things, but haven't taken a step. I am expecting it any day! You are fairly stable when standing though, and like to shake your booty at any hint of music! You have recently started pointing at things and are also very into waving and playing "peeboo".

You still like to make your "digglediggle" sound the best, but was are also recognizing mama, dada, bubba, ball, book, baby, peeboo, numnum(any food), whoa (for falling down haha), poopoo (LOL), and the everpresent BOOF, which is still being used for all animals. You also say something that sounds like thank you sometimes!

Every day, we are learning new things about being together in family. You are coming into a personality of your own, and get quite angry with your brother when he takes something away from you now. I am glad to see your strong will coming out to match Orion's, although I am sure it will be challenging much of the time. I am growing so much as a parent as I never had to consider all these sibling issues before. You adore your brother more than anything, and he is often the only one who can get you laughing. You are full of kisses and pats for him every day, even 5 minutes after he has pushed you down.

Thank you for choosing me as your mother. I feel blessed to have your beautiful spirit in my life every single day!

Wolf Themed Mini Vacation

Warning. Very Youtube heavy post ahead! :)

We decided to treat our family to a few days of something fun after a pretty terrible year. We probably shouldn't have spent the money, but oh well! Maybe time for some abundance thinking. :) I kept hearing about Great Wolf Lodge, and then found out a place called Wolf Haven was close by. So I couldn't resist going to both.

Yet another time I didn't notice a sign.
Ahem, Orion was all over these rocks, and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

A good way to abide by the strict no running rule.
Sometimes this rule is silly, if they are just worried about your kid falling down, but when we are talking about not upsetting wolves, who probably already think it sucks to live like this, well, sometimes it is for a good reason.

A couple relaxing. This pair was a father and daughter iirc.
All the wolves here are rescues from some situation where they were in captivity. Some take to it better than others.... This guy below is not so happy. :(
This is actually a crop since we didn't get near this fellow. If you look closely, you can see the snarl. Quite impressive in real life I tell you. He also has some fur missing above his tail - evidence of recent fighting. The folks here are very respectful of the wolves. If they ain't in a good mood, the tour steers clear of them.

This fellow was a bit more relaxed. :)
What a beauty.
Orion kept asking so many questions, and all of them were relevant. From what I remember, he asked what the wolves ate, why we weren't seeing certain wolves, why there were two sets of fences, and lots about what was going on with anything that remotely resembled construction LOL. He also wanted to know what the name of this flower was.
The guide didn't know. I told him we would take a picture and try to look it up. Guess I should get on that.

Lucky close ups.

Strange faced boy.
And then it was on to Great Wolf Lodge! By way of review, this place exceeded our expectations beyond anything we could have imagined. The place itself was fun, the rooms were spacious, and the food was surprisingly wonderful for the price, but most of all it was the fact that *every single* staff person we interacted with was just above and beyond nice and helpful. And they all seemed sincere. Not that icky, over the top resort type personality that is dripping with fakeness.

We got in a little water time the first evening. Here is our first view of the park:



Orion absolutely had a blast in that wave pool. I wish I would have gotten more pictures and video of it! When we first walked in, Orion kept batting his ears for quite awhile. All that rushing water was LOUD. I was pretty worried to be honest, but the FUN of the place weighed out, and he actually never did it again the rest of the time!

Orion also enjoyed the basketball area quite a bit.
The GIANT water dumping bucket... not so much... at least at first. We didn't know about it, and Orion and Ron got nailed. Orion was quite upset. But he quickly grew to love watching it from afar, and insisting Daddy stand under it.



Just after the dump.
This is one of my favorite memories of the trip, and an example of how great the people are:
It was getting toward sunset and the sun was coming right in the window where we were sitting. Ron asked the hostess if she could check for blinds. She did, and there were none, so she taped up a menu! Just wow.

Later in the room, Ron and Akasha got into this game of her "running away" and him grabbing her back.
And of course, some video to go with it:


Akasha also had a grand time gnawing on raw carrots while practicing her standing.



Somehow the next day I didn't take a single picture or video! But we had plenty of fun with more waterpark, the arcade and finally deciding to succumb to the lure of Magic Quest! OK, granted, the website makes it look way more intense than it is in real life, but it was still pretty cool. There were scores of kids everywhere with the wands, and we just couldn't resist.

Also, I have to mention, Ron and I managed to take some turns going on the bigger waterslides, and whoa! The Howlin Tornado is just that! The others were great fun too! This is a place with delights for younger and older alike! I loved the way one of our waiters put it (who was male).... To Ron: "Have you been on the big slides yet?" "No, but I hope to soon!" "You're gonna scream like a little girl." hahahaha

The big excitement of the last day was that they opened the area designed for very young kids, which had been closed up until then. Orion was disappointed, but I can't complain because they gave us complimentary day passed to come back! We are thinking it would be nice to come in the middle of January or so! I tried to make up for my lack of picture taking today. :)

Akasha LOVED crawling around the edge and in the shallow water!
Fascinating texture!
Orion was so looking forward to these!
They don't actually go anywhere, but you get to have squirt wars with the other kids.

Akasha met another little girl almost exactly her age! This scene was cracking me up as they looked like little sentinals on either side of the steps!
Cuteness overload...



Oh, the floor is so engrossing!
Heading in for more water crawling!
You knew there had to be a Youtube coming!



Fun shot of Orion standing under one of the sprays.
I only had my little cheapo autofocus. Wasn't about to bring my good camera into the water, so I was thankful for whatever I got that was good!

And last, but not least, the crowning moment of the whole trip! Orion decides to go for the grand dump. Here are the boys, waiting....
He did it!


Needless to say, we can't wait to go back! Orion has said he wants to come for his birthday even! Better start saving our pennies now!