Kai Hamilton Lokey

Who's a big two-year-old!

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Kai's Blog

Revisiting our comments about the little man.

Kai is Almost 2 Years Old!

At 22 months old, Kai has settled into his new Durango, Colorado home quite easily. Lots of space to run around, tons of rocks, to throw, and new friends to play with (though we do miss our old ones). At any given time, Kai can be found in workmens' overalls, big stick in hand, walking on our property like he owns the place...which he pretty much does.

The cool thing about moving to a fun place is that you get lots of visitors! We've had Kai's cousin Kaydn and her family, Auntie Sara and Uncle Bryce, both sets of grandparents, a a set of great-grandparents to stay with us! We also got to see Kai's great Aunt, Uncle, and second cousin, who flew here in his own airplane from Texas, and let Kai be a pilot! Thanks Cousin Jim! Kai is not lacking attention or love, to say the least, though when certain relatives get back from a year in Australia, he will be even happier (you know who you are and what you need to do). He's been to Telluride several times now, and enjoys riding the Gondola ("Gaunna!") to the Mountain Village over and over. Also in Telluride, he has helped Daddy fly-fish in the San Miguel River. He has been on numerous hikes, during which he both rides in the backpack and hikes himself (with a big stick in hand, of course.) He seems to be happiest when he is outside, dirty, and in the presence of his dogs River ("Fur-fur") and Sam ("Doggy"...Sam still hasn't gotten his own name yet).

Kai turns out to be a very verbal little guy. Who knew?! He is constantly talking, whether it is to his parents, the dogs, or his toys. He has countless words, and speaks in sentences, most of which we understand, but some we still cannot decipher. He is very clear about his favorite things: trucks, cars, busses, bulldozers ("diggys"), airplanes, and trains. We have watched the Durango Narrow Gauge Steam Engine leave the station so many times in the morning that the conductors and railway workers know Kai by name and also call him "their future conductor". He worships them with feverish intensity.

We have made some great friends since moving. Somehow, even though we live in an area where no two houses are very close together, we lucked into having some of the world's greatest neighbors, with kids Kai's age! Hannah, Nellie, Hatch, Ivy, Bennett, and Izzy are among his little baby gang. We've had some great adventures with them: playdates, hikes, climbing trips, pumpkin carving, library runs, swimming, hot springs trips, birthday parties, and a weekly music class, at which Kai (and Jen) have met even more buddies. Because Durango seems to have the friendliest people in the world, even when we get out to the park or river, we usually either see someone we know or meet some new cool folks! We feel freakishly lucky to have moved to such a welcoming, awesome place to raise Kai. He is one happy little dude.

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Pre-Move to Durango

Wow, it's been awhile since we've updated....lots going on the world of Lokey: we're moving to Durango, Colorado! Why? Because we really really like it there, and dream of a house with acres of forest in the backyard for us all to play in. Kai will be able to grow up a skiing-hiking-fishing-rafting-climbing-river-dude in a small, beautiful town. Or else he'll hate us for choosing a small town and upon turning 18 he will immediately become a Republican, depart for NYC, become an investment banker on the 65th floor of some building, and wear a tie every day to work as he earns millions of dollars.

So here we are playing catch up with photos: Kai had his first airplane flight on January 25 with Mommy and Grammy to visit his Great Grandparents in Florida. He did great on the way there, but the seven-hour nonstop on the way back was a little long for all involved. In Florida, Kai discovered that he loves airports, gravel, sand, and the ocean. He marched right into the semi-cold Biscayne Bay, and if Mommy hadn't held him back, he would've completely submerged himself. He did lots of swimming in the pool and had his first encounter with lizards and tropical plants. He loved his Great Grandma and Grandpa and got an incredible amount of attention. For those of you who were concerned, Kai did NOT break any of the myriad of glass art that decorate the Florida penthouse. (Not for lack of trying.)

Kai just got to come along with Mommy and Daddy on a ten-day trip to Colorado, scouting potential places to live. We also snuck in visits with Grandpa Ham, Grandma Jude, Auntie Alison, Cousin Kaydn, Auntie Sari, and Uncle Bryce. Whew! He had a ball, despite our dragging him from place to place, long car rides, looking at real estate for hours on end...couldn't ask for a more mellow, easy-going, happy dude. Of course, he did spike a 104 temp before the plane flight home, and threw up all over Daddy with two hours yet to go. We all survived, despite the fact that he soiled his blankie and we couldn't find the backup (!), Tod had to take his puked-on shirt completely off and was therefore half-nude on the plane, and the looks of death we got from virtually everyone around us on the plane. Good times. He woke up the next morning giggling, with no fever.

Kai has begun saying lots of words, most of which we don't understand with the exeption of "Uh-oh" (meaning: I dropped or lost something), "Rah-Er" (meaning: cracker of the graham, ritz, or goldfish variety), "NO" (meaning: NO), "dada" (meaning: dad and sometimes mom), "Mamamama" meaning: mommy, or I need something", "Tah" (dog), and "Mil" (if you don't gimme milk this second I'm going to die).

This kid certainly has the ability to walk, but he seems to like crawling and pulling up on things so much, he doesn't bother to walk. Without realizing it, when he's distracted by a cool toy or phone, he'll stand in the middle of the room without any support and perhaps take a few steps, but as soon as he realizes the training wheels are off and there's nothing to hold onto, he sinks down to all fours. Any day now, people. He is taking his sweet time!

Overall, we're loving our little guy with outrageous intensity. Every day he seems to learn something new and we couldn't be happier.

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The Little Man is 1 Year Old!

Kai's first Christmas has come! Apparently he was a very good little boy, because Santa brought him a really nice haul. Of course, it was all we could do to keep Kai's attention long enough to open an entire present. He would start out interested in the shiny ribbon or noisy paper, but would bail half-way through in favor of something (anything) more interesting. After several hours of attempted package opening, we eventually opened the rest for him. He definitely had fun playing with his toys later in the day, however. We figure this is the only Christmas that Kai will be bored of presents, so we might as well enjoy the novelty of it.

Really, if we're being honest, Kai's favorite present is his newfound ability to crawl, which really overshadows any toy no matter how colorful or noisy. He is anywhere and everywhere. He is not polite, shy, or afraid. Of anything. If it's within his reach, he will get it, he will examine it, and he will jam it in his mouth, attempting to chew it with his one tooth. He crawls so fast that he actually trips over himself and bumps his head on the floor. He doesn't mind, though....as long as he is unconstrained (within the confines of the living room) and feels the wind running through his...nearly bald head as he zooms around, babbling loudly and constantly, he is a happy man.

Kai turns ONE year old on the 30th, and will taste cake for the first time and have some friends over in addition to the family members that are visiting. He saw Uncle Bryce and Auntie Sara in October, Grandpa Ham in November, and gets to see Grandma Jude, Grandma & Grandpa Bollinger and Uncle Jesse this month. Mr. Popularity! We cannot believe it has been a year since he entered our lives...seems like five minutes ago we saw the doctor lift him over that curtain, and yet it seems like we haven't had a decent night's sleep for a decade. Huh. Funny how that works.

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The Little Man is Ten Months Old!

ended December, 2007

The verdict is in: Kai Hamilton Lokey is the cutest human of our species...we are not biased, just honest. For his first Halloween, he dressed up as a man-cow (no udders, horns on head...very masculine). He was pretty overwhelmed by the costumes and commotion of his first holiday, but he held his own and made the bovine species proud.

Kai is quite close to crawling, and seems to be close to saying words that mean something: mama when looking at Jen, dada when looking at Tod, and "dah" when looking at the dogs (though when it really comes down to it, it is quite possibly all just a coincidence). He is easily frusterated by not being able to move and get to things as fast as he'd like right now. He so badly wants to pull things down off of shelves, and cause general mayhem in the Lokey household...for the moment, however, he is stationary, which irritates him to no end.

Kai has been really enjoying playground visits and especially loves the slide (assisted, of course). He is continuing to outgrow his pajamas faster than his parents can buy them...he currently wears 12-18 month clothes to accommodate his height. He is also getting more hair, but he continues to be toothless! He has been hanging out lots with his best buddy Jackson Swanes (pictured in the Halloween batch of photos as the Mariachi), and his friends at daycare that he attends about once per week. Lots of action in and around the Lokey household...but all that's just par for the course in this family!

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The Little Man is Nine Months Old!

ended 11/10/07

Kai is growing like a weed...getting taller and rounder at an incredible pace! While he seems to have little interest in attempting to crawl at the moment, he is very interested in different textures (fuzzy and bumpy things can capture his attention for hours) and making loud noises (earsplitting screams, actually). He lets out deep, full-body laughter when the dogs are around, when we play Peek-a-boo, and sometimes, for no reason at all. His idea of reading is still jamming a book directly into his mouth to taste the pages. Mealtime involves at least two bibs and is always followed by a full-body wipe-down; his favorite foods include peas, bananas, and lentils.

He has had a lot of new experiences lately, including one day per week at daycare so mommy can substitute teach at her old school; he is learning to play with the big kids! He is still taking swim lessons twice a week with a class full of his buddies and loves every minute of it. His favorite possession is his red and white blankie, which he curls up with each time he naps and goes down for the night. All in all, Kai continues to entertain, amaze, and amuse us constantly!

 

 

 

 

 

©2006-2008 Tod Lokey. Animal Artwork by Jennifer Lokey
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For more of Tod's work, please visit todlokey.com