Unpacking...

For the past couple of days (well, actually the whole of last week), we've pretty much been living out of boxes and garbage bags AND without TV. I think it's going to take us at least a month to settle in, to know where everything is and to really be comfortable. As of now, we have a broken cable box the cable company has yet to fix, windows that need blinds, curtains (I'm hoping our budget allows for plantation shutters), and a garage that's filled with unassembled furniture and boxes and boxes of STUFF.

It took us two whole days to move and it'll probably take us two whole months to unpack. Other than that, the new place has been fabulous. Gilroy's colder than San Jose and that takes some getting used to. It's a lot quieter (some of my neighbors haven't moved in yet and maybe that's why). And there's more wild life. Just this morning, we saw a family of deer taking a morning stroll in the hills behind our backyard - nice.

It took Kayla a couple of days to get adjusted to the new place, though. We packed her off to Grandma's for about four days (Friday to Monday) while we moved and made sure we had the basics set up at least (ie diapers, diaper changing table, her toiletries, clothes, crib etc). She was cranky and kept throwing tantrums. We figured she was upset about moving from one unfamiliar place to another...and she probably misses her old digs! But things are better now, and she's having fun exploring every nook, crawling on the much softer carpet (nope, not walking yet) and leaving her toys everywhere (some things don't change).

We took her to the playground nearby today and she had a blast. Will post some pictures once we figure where the stuff to upload the photos are.... :)

Below Average

No, I'm not getting lazy, we've just been super busy. The big move is this weekend and I'm ashamed to say we're still not halfway packed! Arghhh......................

Anyway, we took Kayla to the doc's today for her shots and as usual, she wasn't happy. She cried before we entered the building, then cried some more after we went into the doctor's office and continued crying when they gave her her shots. We chose to stagger the shots so she wouldn't be in so much pain.

She also got her regular checkup and here's the report: Head (bigger than average), height (25 percentile, shorter than average - uh oh!), weight (she's dropped below 25 percentile but the doc doesn't seem too concerned.) In a nutshell, we have a tiny baby with a big head.

But here's the funny part: The doc was asking what I assume was the usual string of questions (is she drinking whole milk? from a cup? started walking?) and when it came to: "Has she started talking? How many words can she say?", Mike, the over-enthusiastic Daddy replied in a very matter-of-factly manner: About a hundred. And the doc thought he was joking. I quickly corrected Mikey and said, "Not a hundred, probably 50." Still the doc thought we were kidding.

"Babies at this age usually say only three to four words," he mumbled. And we left it at that. No point trying to prove our point when all Kayla would do in front of him is cry. :)

But we did make a list of all the words she knows, just so Mikey can prove that he was right about 100. And guess what, he's right. Her vocabulary's about 120-strong right now. Something tells me she's gonna be a real chatterbox!

Picture perfect

She's clapping to her own birthday song.
Bubbles in the park
Siew mai, please.
Told you she loves her Ernie
Sunday best.

Way overdue.... but better late than never. :)

On the Move

You know you're in farm country when you encounter a couple walking their pony at an outdoor mall. And I'm not kidding. We decided to spend the afternoon at Gilroy today after checking out our new place (it has RED doors..i wonder if the designer's color blind). We stumbled upon a pretty cool outdoor mall that has pretty much all the big box stores and just minutes after we got out from one of the stores, we pass by this couple tugging their pony to the PetSmart. Totally bizarre.

We're about three weeks to the big move and packing to date has been just nightmarish. It's just been overwhelming. So let's not even talk about it, and hopefully when the time comes, everything will work out the way it should.

Back to baby, Kayla got an Elmo today at the mall and loves it to bits, as she does Ernie and her 1,000 other soft toys. Her toy collection is getting ridiculous and we've decided to pack a box of toys to donate to Goodwill. One good policy I think would be to give away one toy each time we buy another. Maybe even two.

Gotta keep this short. Work beckons.