Some little things

Just thinking about Kekoa makes my heart swell and my whole face light up...I know, corny right? I can't help it. He is SUCH a cutie pie, such a sweet boy. He is so full of snuggles, kisses, and love. Here are some of the little things he has been doing lately..

-Kekoa loves to give forehead kisses. What I mean is that he leans in and gives you a little bump with his forehead. He is now doing this on his own, without me having to prompt him. Today when we were leaving Michele and Gavin's house, he gave Gavin's grandma a forehead kiss. She was very excited about it! :)

-Kekoa loves to clean up messes! (is he really my child?) It is so cute. This week I have trained him to take his dirty clothes and put them in his hamper. Tonight before his bath, he saw his sweater (which wasn't really dirty) folded on the floor. He immediately picked it up and ran into his room to deposit it in the hamper. He then helped mama pick up some of her clothes and put them in the hamper too! Thanks Kekoa.

-Continuing on with cleaning messes....tonight before bath, Kekoa picked up all his trucks and put them in his toy box! As I got the bed ready, I peeked out and saw that he was also putting away all of his books back on the book shelf...completely on his own, I hadn't even asked him to do it!! I am SOOO proud of him. Now if I can only get him to do the dishes! ;)

-Kekoa has started chewing on his fingers. He started when he was teething, but his molars are now in. I think he is just chewing now out of habit, to soothe himself. He gets drool all over his clothes, all over his face, but the best is the drool that drips into the folds of his neck...it doesn't smell too good in there by the end of the day! We tried putting a little handkerchief bib on him today, but he wasn't having it. I keep reminding him gently to not suck on them, but he can't just resist slipping them in his mouth!

-Kekoa is really good with directions. He knows his way to the park, will throw a fit if you make a turn in the wrong direction and he doesn't think you're headed to the playground! It is pretty amazing actually. Today when we got off the freeway exit to visit Gavin, he said "Ga Ga", like he knew we were almost there!

-Kekoa loves vegetables, all vegetables (so far). Given a choice, he will choose his greens over meat. He points to the steamed broccoli or zucchini or carrots or cauliflower or green beans or tonight it was bok choy, and says "nem" (more)! I am loving it and savoring it because I know any day it could change. He also loves barley and quinoa. Tonight I made a mushroom barley dish and he just gobbled it right up.

-Kekoa has a new love for his "smoothie pouches". Scott and I went a little crazy and bought a ton of them before we went to Hawaii. Kekoa didn't end up really eating any of them, but Scott and I did. They are really delicious. Well, now Kekoa loves holding them himself and sucking up the smoothie. He'll say "baby" when he wants one because there is a picture of a baby on the package. They're great because they come in flavors like pumpkin and banana or blueberry, carrot, and pear...and it is all organic! A super healthy, portable, snack! Perfect. Plus he looks so cute holding the pouch and sucking up.

-Kekoa does not like to brush his teeth. And when I say he doesn't like it, I mean he tightens his two little lips together and won't let you get into his mouth! We have decided that if it means some crying for Kekoa to have healthy teeth and gums, then we can handle that. What is it with kids and brushing their teeth?

-Kekoa started saying another two word phrase today. The first phrase was bye-bye su (bye bye tree). This morning he walked out of the bedroom, pointing to his blankie, saying "this blankie" (but in Chinese)! Then he also started saying, "zhe-ge car" (this car). Yesterday at the park he also tried to say "all aboard" after he heard another kid saying it, while they were sitting on the wooden train. At Trader Joe's, he heard the cashier say "All right brother" to the man in front of us in line. What did Kekoa do? Try and copy, saying "All righ bra" So cute!

-I love watching Kekoa say "choo choo". His little upper lip poofs out and it is so sweet. I also love to watch him try to say "ribbit ribbit". He puts his top teeth over his bottom lip and really tries to make the sound. I've been trying to get it on video, but no luck yet!

-Kekoa is very opinionated about what shoes he wants to wear. Right now, he is all about his tan boots. He'll go to the door and point to them, saying "zhe-ge". I'll bring out his red Vans, he shakes his head, keeps pointing at the boots saying "zhe-ge"! If I want him to wear some other shoes, I have to hide the boots!

-Kekoa doesn't mind right now when he is playing with something and another kid comes and takes it from him. He is just super mellow about it, finds something else to do. I'm waiting for this to change. Or maybe he is just used to Kaiwei and Jordan taking whatever he's playing with! :)

-Kekoa doesn't get upset when I leave. As much of mama's boy that he is, he has figured out that I always come back. He'll come and give me a kiss at the door, and go off an play with his toys. It makes leaving a lot easier! Funny though, sometimes he freaks out if I'm just going downstairs to put in a load of laundry. I think in this case, he thinks I'm going to the park without him.

-As you can see, it is pretty hard to keep up with all the cuteness happening every day!