2012 Recap

Wow, a lot happened this year! Just as Micah and I were beginning to feel more like normal adults and less like toddler-handlers, young Kai Lucas came along. True to his nature, he knew what he wanted and there was no stopping him. Forty minutes after Micah and I got to the hospital, he arrived, and immediately, our lives were upended and sleep became a distant memory.

Kai Lucas Ledbetter, December 5, 2012 around 11 pm.

Xander meeting Kai for the first time.

 In January, we started Xander in preschool at Rockridge Little School (check out the blog to see what the kids do each day--question of the day is a favorite.) After a week or two of screaming, tearful goodbyes, he got in the swing of things and now absolutely loves school. I'm so proud of how much he's grown. I can see him transforming into a kindergartner right before my eyes.

Xander and his good buddy Kazuya making secret gifts for parents in late December.
(It was a candle holder. Very classy.)

Question of the Day is my favorite part of the daily blog.
Xander is clearly an introvert and knows it.

I was able to take four months of maternity leave and started back at work on a reduced schedule in mid-March. Unfortunately, February and early March were not kind to me. I had several minor infections and the week I was to go back I developed pneumonia. I tried to take it easy after that.

We started Kai in daycare in March, and it quickly proved to be a problem. He is persistent, and tells us exactly what he wants and doesn't want. He literally cried all day at daycare, only stopping to drink milk and sleep. After several weeks of this, in which he had some good days and some bad, we came to the mutual agreement with the daycare provider that he could not be in daycare. We started to search for a nanny share in May.

Finally, after two months of ad-hoc childcare, including two days with a nanny who ended up being allergic to our cat, in July we found Clelia, who has been a lifesaver for us. Kai took to her immediately, and he greets her with a big grin and open arms. He's learning Spanish (which means I'm learning it and Micah is relearning it). He shares his days with a little boy about a year older than him. Every so often, we come home and Clelia has cooked us chicken soup or beans for dinner.

Clelia and Kai at the Oakland Zoo

Clelia, Kai, and Kai's friend at the Temescal Library story hour

The rest of the year, well, you can go through the archives and see what we did. A trip to Portland to see family, several trips to Humboldt, awesome Halloween costumes, Xander turning four, a low-key Thanksgiving, Kai turning one, and a Christmas at home (so low-key I didn't write a post.)

And no retrospective of  2012 is complete without a list of the top whatevers. So I bring you 2012's greatest parenting moments:

10. Kai's giggly grin. 

9. Xander learning how to spell "on" and "off"

8. Xander says to us, "I love you to the moon and back!"

7. Kai starts saying "uh oh" and doesn't stop for four hours.

6. Kai jumps out of his high chair while on Mom's watch, but is OK, say the ER doctors.

5. Every morning the whole family, including the cat, end up in Mom and Dad's bed.

4. Xander reprimands Mom for yelling at Daddy to get her a towel after Kai spit up on his newly changed clothes. "Next time Mommy, you should just get the towel yourself."

3. Getting locked out of the house and asking Xander to go through the cat door to let us in.

2. Xander announces after a BM "Who wants to wipe my butt?"

And the best parenting moment of 2012:

1. Kai spits up on the floor. And licks it up before we can get to it.

Changing Lives

Living with two under five years old means there are always big changes underway.

Reading on the couch, a typical Saturday morning activity.

Kai: Here's what babycenter says  about thirteen-month old development:

• Picky eater (check)
• Waking up at night (check)
• Screaming (check)

There's good things, too. He's saying some words pretty clearly, but half are in Spanish so I don't always catch them. (Leche, purple, milk, gato are some recent ones.) He understands a lot, and has very expressive and dramatic body language. He will flop to the floor on his tummy to let you know just how much he doesn't want to give up that toy. He also is one of the best huggers I know, resting his head on your shoulder and squeezing with his little arms. He occupies himself by "reading" board books (we've had to hide the libary books, otherwise they get destroyed). He also has climbed onto chairs, low tables, and has tried to do pullups on our desks. And, drumroll....he's starting to WALK!
Here's the 13 to 18 month milestone chart.

Xander: Here's what babycenter says about four-year old development.

I've got to say, that this age so far is my favorite. I just spent an hour playing card games with him: Go Fish! then War (but we call it--hippy alert-- "The Contest Game"), and then UNO. Midway through, I thought, wow, I'm really enjoying his company. I truly like spending time with Xander, and not just because he's my son. (Parents, you must know what I'm talking about.)

I've also said this before, but Xander has a sharp sense of humor:

X throws a foam block at my head.
Me, angry: "Xander, don't throw blocks at my face. Are you going to do that again?"
Xander: "No, there's no more blocks nearby."

Happy New Year 2013

I realize I'm remiss in posting lately. Christmas, school break, New Years, wanting to get enough sleep, etc... typical excuses. Here's a short one.

For New Years Eve, we put Kai to bed at 7 p.m. and then built a fire in the fireplace. I made oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and pecans (yum!) while Micah and Xander read books in front of the fire. We toasted the New Year (at 9 p.m.) with champagne, hot chocolate (Xander's beverage) and cookies fresh from the oven, while our bare feet got pleasantly warm in front of the fire. It was delightful.

The Ledbetter House is rockin on NYE 2013

Mommy & Xander after too much chocolate/champagne
Yes, that is a diaper on X's head, and yes this is not the first time
you have seen this happen.

The next day we got cracking on our resolutions.

Xander cleans his rug while Kai studies some Spanish.

And to end this post, a video demonstrating Kai's mad scaling skills. We are calling him Danger Bear.

 Wishing all a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2013.