Here we are 3 months later. It is incredible how fast time marches on. Tori continues to grow physically, emotionally, and we think, spiritually. Her vocabulary has increased from learning new words to creating multi-word sentences and she is capable of actually having a conversation. She amazes us daily with what she remembers even from almost a year ago. She is very loving and shows it through "big hugs." She hugs all of her teachers and aides when she leaves school for the day and says thank you. Today she said,"See you on Monday!" Tori has learned so much at school, and from what we are told is a natural leader. She even has a "best friend," Athena, and they are always together. She LOVES to sing and has many songs in her repertoire now. Her favorite is still "Itsy Bitsy Spider," but she also likes to sing her prayer before meals, especially the part she adds on at the end, copying her teacher,"Now go wash your hands!"

Tori loves to play and will entertain herself with her toys or drawing for quite a while. Her newest love is having someone read to her and doing puzzles. She is pretty good at putting them together without much help. Here is a picture of a flower she drew the other day and we could even tell right away that it was a flower.

We had a "staycation" in Waikiki over the Labor Day weekend and had fun walking around, playing tourist, and swimming in the hotel pool. It's great to get away even if it's just for a couple of days.

Jaydee's school participated in the Nike 5K Run foi Kids on September 20. Tori fell asleep about a quarter mile into the 3 mile walk and woke up at the EXACT moment we crossed the finish line. She must have sensed she needed to receive her participant's medal. We had fun while raising money for the school. Tori liked the bananas at the end of the race and running around hiding in the plants.

After the race we went to the opening of the new Babies R Us store and Tori got to meet two of her favorite charcters, Dora and Wubbzy. She was SOOO excited!

I have attached a few random pictures of Tori eating s'mores for the first time and some shampoo pictures that show just how much hair she has now! We can even do pigtails! She also likes having a spa foot treament in Tutu's bathroom!

We are excited about the holidays, and again, Tori is surprising us with what she remembers from last year. She loves Halloween and this year she wants to be a pirate. She has been very taken with pirates ever since we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. She practices saying "Aaarrrr, mateys!" and sings "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" We went looking at costumes the other day and tried to entice her with fairy princesses and dancing girls, but she wanted the pirate costume. Now she tells us we have to find her a boat and a parrot. Mommy went shopping today though, and found an adorable flower costume on sale. Had to buy it, and Tori really likes it, so now we have 2 costumes! We will have to find two events that require costumes or Tori will have to change halfway through! But what fun we are having!

Have a great fall and I hope to at least post pictures before another 3 months goes by!

It is mind-boggling to think that it has been seven months since I updated the blog. To say that it has been a VERY busy seven months would be an understatement to say the least. As in all of our lives time seems to whiz by. Our baby is growing from a toddler to a little girl. Her personality has changed so much, and she talks in complete sentences for the most part. Sometimes it is hard to remember her just a year ago with no hair (she still is lacking that a bit) and just learning to talk and understand English. It seems as if we have always had her and we forget how long we waited for her.

I decided to catch everyone up in pictures with a bit of text. It would take me too long to go into every detail. I hope you all forgive me for this long overdue post, but our jobs and being parents don't leave us much time for anything else.

We celebrated Tori's 2nd birthday in February with an outing to the Punahou Carnival. She had been sick that week and we all ended up getting sick right after, but we had a fun afternoon/evening going on rides, eating carnival food, and daddy winning Tori her first carnival toys.

Tori was very excited about Easter and the prospect of the "Easer Bunny" (her pronunciation) bringing her eggs. It was great fun decorating the eggs, and she even sat there for an hour decorating them. Loved to see them change color.

The day after Easter we were off to Los Angeles! I had a Catholic educator's conference in Anaheim and I just couldn't see being next door to Disneyland and not taking Tori. We are so glad we went! We had an amazing time and Tori loved everything about it. She loved riding in the airplane and got to bring Goat & Duck. She can still sing parts of "It's a Small World." She really enjoyed the rides and did not get scared. We got to see the fireworks and Tinkerbell fly every night and she loves Mickey and Minnie. Besides Small World, her favorite rides were the train (#1) Pirates of the Caribbean, teacups (with Daddy only) and the rocket in Tomorrowland. Her godfather was also at the conference and joined us at the park. Tori loves being with "Michael, Michael." We can't wait to go back to Disneyland!

Tori came to my school to watch our annual May Day program. She was quite taken by the all the beautiful leis and she was happy to wear one too!

The biggest adjustment by far has been Tori starting pre-school. She is starting her 5th week and likes it very much. She is so independent that we were really surprised by her crying for the first 3 weeks when it was time for us to leave. We were glad too, because it shows that she is really bonded to us. She is having a great time at school and has friends that she plays and shares with. She is very happy to see us when we pick her up and greets us with "You came back!" This does pull on the heartstrings a little. She shows much affection to her teachers and hugs them at the end of the day. She has even decided to use the potty since everyone at school goes at the same time. Slowly but surely she is asking to go at home too. Like I said, leaving toddlerhood and becoming a little girl.

On Father's Day we took Tori to the "theatuh" to see Elmo Makes Music. She loves music and dance and Elmo is one of her favorites. She wasn't quite sure what it was all about at first, but soon she warmed up and was dancing in the aisle! Daddy was a great sport about spending HIS day with the Muppets!

I finish with some random photos mostly of Tori playing with her water table. I promise to be better at posting, hopefully right after we take photos of her. May you enjoy the rest of your summer or winter, depending on what part of the world you live in!