Kai has reached a whole new level of independence in the last few months. Because we practice Montessori-style at home, Kai has been able to do a lot of things for himself at an early age. From baby-led weaning to cleaning his own messes, to giving him tool to problem-solve on his own, mama and daddy have worked hard to give him as much independence as they can (when appropriate). Recently, Kai unlocked a new skill. Kai can now dress himself! Shirts and pants may still be backwards but he is so proud of himself, we don’t bother correcting him. To think, in just two and a half years, he went from a wobbly-necked poop machine to a walking, talking big boy who can dress himself and get mama snacks while she sits on the couch. Since he is a big boy now, it’s only fair we crank up the speed on his truck.

Even though the Liu’s do not celebrate many holidays, they seem to be doing lots of holiday things. Kai decorate cookies on Wednesday, went to Hiwi’s birthday party on Friday, the Makawao Town Christmas Celebration on Saturday, and Joshua’s birthday party on Sunday. So obviously, the theme this week is “party’.

Cookie Party
This year, Kai decorated cookies with his friends. Kai is slowly coming out of his shy shell. He told everyone he could he was making cookies with his friends and they party did not disappoint. Even though there was a terrifying amount of sugar, the kids didn’t wreck anything! Auntie even turned on the sprinklers so they could run around naked in the backyard (a favorite pastime).

Hiwi’s Birthday Party
”What’s Hiwi’s mom’s name?” “Auntie Vero” “What’s his dad’s name?” “Uncle Matt” “How is Uncle Raja called?” “Uncle Raja” “Are we close to Hiwi’s Dance Party?” “Almost” “Now are we close?”… Many questions later, Kai made it to the dance party he was hoping for. He danced, played games he didn’t understand, ran with kids he didn’t know, ate cake and donuts, and closed the night out dancing with a stool on his head…

Auntie made his day when she brought this game out!

Hiwi did get one present that was opened at the party. Kai loved it. So much that he was a little creepy weird about it.

Ok, so this video is super dark but I will explain what is happening. It was Kai’s turn at the piñata. He saw Hiwi. He knew what to do. He was very excited. Then everyone got excited for him and he powered down like an out-of-battery robot and picked grass for the remainder of his turn.

Makawao Town Christmas Celebration
Free books! Free arts and crafts! Free face-painting! FREE PONY RIDES! FREE! So, yeah. we had to do that. We did all the things, including face-painting! Mama even learned Kai can use scissors while doing arts and crafts! Kai had lots of fun doing everything, even if he was a little scared at first.

We started out with Mama holding Kai on the little pony and graduated to Mama just holding hands on the bigger pony. 6th times a charm!

Joshua’s Birthday Party
Kai has gotten the hang of birthday parties. HE LOVES THEM! Especially when it’s one of his closest friends’. This weekend was Joshua’s Winnie the Pooh themed birthday party! He jumped in the bounce house like a maniac, ran around with his friends, ate pizza and cake and all the party goodies, then it was time for the piñata… Looks like this time around, he got the hang of it.

He may not be great at opening the piñata but he definitely knows to get everything! Even the stuffing…

Even with all this partying, mama did squeeze in some school stuff.

Kai can draw one thing now! It’s a smiley face! He also attempted a flower after he watched mama. He drew circles next to circles, a stem, and then a line across for the leaves. Mama was pretty impressed.