CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Johns Christmas Letter 2012

We did our Christmas Letter electronically this year (saving trees, postage, etc.).  You can access it here if you would like to read it (it's a .pdf).  Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Hotlink to Johns Christmas Letter 2012

Fall 2012

 Hello again.  This fall, we've had a lot of fun hanging out with friends, and still exploring new parks.  We've also had a few trips to the library, and had a lot of fun watching Kaylee expand her social skills and verbal skills.  The things she comes up with really make us laugh sometimes...  :)

Here we are swimming at her friend Cahlil's pool.  She learned how to float, to get off and on the floats, and she even started going underwater all by herself! 

She could even get in and out of the pool by herself!  We can't believe our daughter is big enough to walk around in the pool by herself now!

We had a visit from Auntie Coco this fall.  Kaylee adores Coco and Chris, and here Kaylee is playing on Coco's iPad, which Kaylee also adores.  :)  Mama just got a Kindle, so we'll have to find some apps for Kaylee.  Some learning apps, and some busy apps (She loves to pop bubbles!).

Once in a while Kaylee decides to sleep in a little nest with her toys.  LOL!

Kaylee is kind of obsessed with seat belts right now.  She uses the pengin's velcro legs as a seat belt and gets up and walks around with the penguin on her butt like a seat.

Like so.  

We got to go to Orlando for a few days in October to meet up with a couple friends at Disney.  It was good to see them, they're from Vancouver and it's been years!  While there we had a few adventures.

First of all, our hotel room had a surprise for Kaylee.  The BIGGEST. GRASSHOPPER. EVER. was on the screen for the patio door.  Here's a photo next to Ian's hand for size comparison.  Blech.  Mama hates bugs.

 

A close-up.  Ugh.

We had some amazing food while in Orlando.  We dined at the Flying Fish cafe, Season's 52, and Roy's Hawaiian.  Wonderful!  If you go for lunch at Season's 52 and Happy Hour at Roy's, the prices actually aren't too bad!  The food is TOTALLY AMAZING.   And of course the Flying Fish was wonderful, as usual per Disney's high standards!

Kaylee had a period where she was obsessed with having everyone clap for her, and would loudly proclaim that it was time for everyone to clap for Kaylee.  It was so funny.  It happened this summer at the truck pull at the Presque Isle Fair.  While we waited for our table at the Flying Fish, Kaylee got to participate in a busker's act on the Boardwalk. 

 She had to stand very still...

 She was given some dowels to hold perfectly still, as well as a hat....

 Then the busker started spinning items to place on Kaylee's dowels...

 She was so excited and did so well!  She stayed very still and all the items stayed up on the dowels.  Afterward, everybody clapped for Kaylee!  She couldn't stop talking about it all evening....  :)

 The next day, Mama went factory outlet shopping with her friends and Kaylee and Daddy hung out.  The next evening, we went to Downtown Disney after dinner, and explored the stores there.  There was also a dance contest which Daddy and Kaylee participated in.  They didn't win, but they had a great time!

 Kaylee posing with some of the toys from Toy Story at the Lego Store...

 Kaylee posing with one of her princesses...

 We also spend a considerable amount of time at the library, at least 3-4 times a month we go in for a couple hours.  Kaylee loves to read all the books, play with the busy box in the kids section, use the kids potty (tiny toilet, lower fixtures), and she tries very hard not to make too much noise.  She also loves to check out the books with the self-checkout scanner system.

 "I dressed myself, Mama!"

 Here is the entrance to one of Kaylee's favorite parks, Wills Park.  :)

 Here's Kaylee posing as Ariel with her toys...

 Just hamming it up with Mama's pink hat...

 One of our park trips - this was Morgan Falls Overlook Park.

 Going across the rope balance bridge...

 Climbing the rock wall...

 Chilling out as a family on the big park swings in front of the lake...

 Posing on the fence in front of the lake...

 We used candy necklaces as potty rewards for a while.  Here she is stringing her own... which worked well, as it kept her busy for about 15 minutes and she had fun doing it.  :)

 Kaylee the Butterfly...

 So tired she fell asleep with her legs crossed...

 another day she was so tired she fell asleep on the floor under a pillow...

 with the pillow on top of her head...  :)

 The kitties snuggling in Mama's closet.  They seem to like the box of handbags best...

 Daddy the tattoo artist, drawing a tattoo of Ariel on Kaylee's arm...

 The finished tattoo!

 Daddy is actually quite talented!  Here is Ariel on Kaylee's chalk board.

 Kaylee and friends having some OCD swimming time.  She uses my measuring cups for her Fisher Price Little People.  Hahaha... cute!

 We've been giving Kaylee "cooking" lessons for a couple months.  She likes to crack the eggs open into something to stir them in, since she eats them scrambled.  Here she is mixing them up!

 Playing catch with Raggedy Andy...

 Wearing her "dobok" to play catch with Raggedy Andy...

Kaylee as Ariel the Mermaid, with Merida's hair and her pillow for Merida's tail.  :)

Kaylee also had her 4 year well-visit with her new pediatrician here in Georgia.  She is 40 and 3/4 inches tall and 38.5 pounds!  She had some blood drawn and was very brave, and she only cried for a second with her shots.  She's such a big girl now.

Hope you've enjoyed the latest installation of Kaylee's Kapers.  We'll have more to post after Christmas!