Reading Keia a Story

Magnolia asked me to put her and Kaleia in her old crib so she could read Kaleia a story. This is what happened...

Notice the finger lick before turning the page at 0:56.

Gorillas in Our Midst

After being pummelled by hail, we find refuge in the warm and balmy Tropical Rain Forest house. Pausing before each glass enclosure, Magnolia scans the jungle before letting out a shriek of discovery in her exotic animal version of Where's Waldo.


Magnolia loved her first visit to the zoo.

Now that we are card carrying members of the Woodland Park Zoo (and others!) (Thanks Mum and Dad Rush!) we are free to take our time and enjoy the animals instead of feeling like we have to race around to see everything to get our money's worth.

This time we choose to visit the gorillas because the timing of our visit coincided with a special gorilla talk.

We were hoping that would mean the gorillas would be more active and they certainly didn't disappoint. I'll let Magnolia tell you all about it...

Afterward, we headed to the indoor Zoomazium, a Zoo themed learning and play area. Magnolia and a newfound friend pretended to hatch out of a giant egg.

Maggie definitely didn't want to leave but Brian and I try to follow the maxim we learned at summer camp: "Quit while it's still fun."

The 3 R's: Reading, Writing...Rinsing?

L and N still don't get any love but she's filled in a lot of gaps since December. Note the lovely words she "pelled" in the background too.

Yeaaah...

Brian and Maggie (age 2) called me during my lunch break at work. He asked Magnolia if she wanted to say anything to me. She said yes.

B: What do you want to say?

M: Uh-huh

B: What do you want to say?

M: Yeeeaaaahhh.

B: Do you want to say hello? or hi? or Hola?

M: Ola!

B: Wanna say anything else?

M: Yeaaah....

B: (sighs with exasperation - microwave timer goes off in background) There's your timer! What does your timer mean?

M: Time up.

B: And what does it mean when time's up?

M: Yeaaah, time night-night...

We haven't hit the "why" phase yet, but we're starting to wonder if this "yeah" phase is worse.

Saturday Morning at the Rushes

A little peak at a Saturday morning at our house

and why Kaleia has the nickname Gremmi-bear.

Hungry Canucks

"Playoff hockey has started!"

Round 1: The Canucks are playing the Kings.

"We eat Kings for breakfast!"

Happy 9 Month Birthiversary!

At 9 months, Kaleia's days are filled with three things. Her sleeping is angelic most of the time, so there's not much to talk about there, and her eating is best conveyed with a photo or video. Her locomotion on the other hand is something else. Kaleia will crawl from the moment you put her down until the moment you tell her it's time to do one of her other two activities. Purposefully exploring every floorbound object and exercising her newly learned skill of transitioning into a sit, her favorite is the toy basket. Bare carpet to toy minefield in 30 seconds flat!

Recently, in our church's toy minefield, Kaleia is exploring the doorstop when a slightly older girl crawls over and slaps her on the head. The incident epitomizes a big part of Kaleia's chill personality, because rather than crying, as many babies would--it was a pretty good slap, and out of the blue too--Kaleia just kinda looks at her, as curious about the slapper as she is the door stop. Her eyes don't stay dry for long though. As soon as the offender's mom comes over and gives her a little thwap of her own, Kaleia loses it.

As exciting as the floor and all its treasures can be, Kaleia, aware that there are many goodies lurking just out of reach, has just learned to stand. Grunting and straining, she pulls herself up at Magnolia's kitchen. Proudly she stands, surveys, and swipes everything to the floor grinning from ear to ear. Luckily, her sister is napping.

If she weren't, Mama and Papa's mediation skills would get a little more excercise. Increased mobility has meant many more sibling battles. So far both girls are appeased quickly with our "trade" system: if Magnolia wants what Kaleia has, she can bring Kaleia a different toy to exchange. I don't think this is gonna work much longer.

It's not all toy battles and animosity though. The girls' sister bond is growing all the time. Even at this young age I watch the girls look at each other with great love. It seems like Kaleia already looks up to her sister, and Magnolia, for a two-year-old, is incredibly in tune with her sister's emotions and needs.

Maggie gives Kaleia the giggles pretty much everyday. The back seat of the car, with Mags facing forward and Leia facing back, is a prime location for toddler comedy. "Peek(-a-boo)" is a guaranteed giggle. Or better yet is the faux reprimand, when, after informing us that "Keia looking you at," Maggie narrows her eyes, shakes her head and says "No Keia. No Keia." Usually the initial complaint is sincere. Maggie is genuinely upset that her sister is looking at her (oh man, future roadtrips are looking scary) but at Kaleia's first giggle, Mags is thoroughly cured of her grumpies.

Speaking of the grumpies, Kaleia's tears, while relatively rare, have made more appearances this month as she struggled to push out her top front teeth, had a really bad diaper rash and dealt with her first cold.

We haven't gotten her to swimming lessons or any other special activities to fight the second child syndrome yet, but we've definitely increased one-on-one time with our Kaleia-leia. Mama is still her favorite and her go-to when tired, sick or in unfamiliar settings. But she's reacquainted with her Papa and even recently initiated a kiss with him in spite of the beard she normally avoids. Having just learned to sit up and stand up she seems to be on the verge of even more developments. Her personality is emerging and we can't wait to get to know her better.

"Mama holda you"

"Mama holda you" was the soundtrack to my spring break. Two sick girls was not in my plan for my week off from work. While Magnolia was the only one using words, Kaleia conveyed her message with screams and out-stretched arms, flinging her body in my general direction.

The first few days it was music to this working mom's ears. All the snuggles and hugs filled me up. Soon the protests for "Mama do it" whenever Brian tried to help became ridiculous. By the end of the week, I was exhausted and the once sweet melody of "Mama holda you" was tiresome.

I still struggled to go back to work, heading to another group of whiny toddlers--I mean teenagers--that want me to do everything for them. Monday morning Magnolia struggled too. She sat in bed protesting getting out of bed until Mama came to do it. She eventually gave in. The balance is being restored. It has to.