Independence

Kai's seems to become more independent every day. He understands most things we say and is usually happy to help do something when we ask. He also has a mind of his own and loves to organize his toys (and our things too), or push them around in his toy-stroller. When he wants something he will try to get or do it himself first and only if this doesn't work out he will ask for our help. Well, ask..........sometimes he will get a little temper tantrum as is quite normal for his age, but those are usually solved quickly.

In the past week Kai has started daycare.So far he has been there for one morning and two full days and it is going really well. We did expect that he would like it eventually, but we never would have thought that he would LOVE it from the start. Granted, he still doesn't like it when I leave and will cling to me and cry, but according to his teachers that only lasts a minute or two and at pick-up time he is always happy and relaxed. He does seem to be a bit worried that I will leave again, but he wants to show me all the toys and isn't too eager to leave the daycare center. We can't blame him: there are a lot of nice toys, lots of kids his age and his teachers are very sweet. It is amazing how much he has already learned in this first week. Appearantly he has said his first French word (bouche), and spending so much time alone in an English-speaking environment doesn't seem to be a problem for him. To improve communication his teachers do have a list of the Dutch words Kai uses a lot, but when they use those words he stops what he is doing and looks very surprised. We'll see if he will start using more English at home now. For now it's still just "hi" and "bye bye". Another very cute thing that he has learned at daycare is to blow a kiss. Today while saying goodbye to his teachers he was smiling, waving and blowing kisses non-stop!

When it comes to food Kai is becoming more and more independent too. He will ask for certain foods, or food in general, when he is hungry or just feels like snack. And when he asks for it we have to move quickly, or he will very loudly let us know that he wants it NOW!! He prefers to use his own spoon and fork when he eats and we let him do this whenever possible. Things can get messy, but hey, what can you do?

Here are some pictures of Kai eating his paste with tomato-sauce (his favourite!)