Kayla's first Christmas
24 December 2005
We flew to Florida for Chirstmas this year. Kayla did great on the plane ride. Much better than her mom did when we hit some pretty scary turbulance. It is such a loooong way to Florida from here. Why won’t anyone answer my call for that transporter? I’m telling you, it would be a winner.
Florida was nice and warm, not hot enough for much swimming, but pleasant. We did take Kayla into the pool one day, and after some initial trepidation she enjoyed herself. Somewhere along the line she has developed a bit more fear of the water including the bathtime. Having started out as such a little water baby I didn’t expect it.
Kayla liked opening all of her gifts.
She somewhat got the hang of ripping the paper and certainly had plenty of practice. Thank you everyone for such sweet gifts for Kayla.
We all went out on the sailboat a couple of times. Kayla didn’t take too well to the life jacket, but who could blame her. The first time out on the boat she pretty much slept most of the trip. The second time Oma took Kayla below where they could be lifejacket free. Kayla had a lot of fun standing at the window (porthole?) and waving to us.
We got to see at least three dolphins swimming in the water and tons of pelicans.
Tim, Opa and I took a couple of bike rides around town. We also played a game of golf where Tim had the winning hole for the most dangerous shot. We watched his ball narrowly miss the lake after richoceting off what we thought was a stump. I then hit my ball slightly past where his was, and we both set of for the next shot. A few steps towards the lake (our balls were right on the edge) and my dad quickly called us back. The “stump” was an alligator. Yes, Tim bounced his ball of off that oh so docile of creatures. My dad reassured us by telling us the alligators only eat people when then want to. Anyhow, I never did get to retrieve my ball. Only the 4th or so lost that game. See, those people that actually got their balls to or near the green would never have noticed what dangers lurked on their golf course. When we got to the hole on the other side of the lake we could see that alligator taking a big yawn. Whew, I’m glad my dad noticed the alligator before we walked right up to it.
Kayla played it safe and stuck to activites such as piano playing.
We also went to Venice beach for a day. We collected a few sharks teeth along with the serious teeth hunters. It’s hard not to stop and pick some up when they wash right up on shores. Kayla had great fun sucking on the shells and looked like such a little lady in her (still too big) sunhat and dress.
Kayla’s biggest feat this trip was getting to a sitting position from laying down. She practiced that one over and over. She also started to pull herself up on our legs and can stand holding onto the table for short bits of time. She also began bouncing with gusto which looks almost as though she could propell herself in the air, which she sort of does. It is very cute. Though she’s not crawling, she is able to move here and there and it’s a good idea to keep an eye on her for sure. There were a few times she said ’ma ma" and possibly pa as well.
Before we left home she started saying what sounds like “kitty” very static-afied and impossible for me to really try to sound out with letters. She says this to many familiar object not only the cat, but it certainly comes out when she sees Aris.
