"Grandma" & "Grandpa"

My parents came into town late Wednesday night. Craig and I met them for dinner (after their adventures at LAX). They came over to the house Thursday morning. I gave them a quick tour of the house. I'm told it looks bigger in person than in pictures, but I think that might be because all the pictures I've taken included unpacked boxes. I need to get on that.

While Courtney is at school, I have Kai. So she kept us entertained at the house most of the morning. She took my dad up to her room and, in my dad's words, "showed him every single toy she owned." She also showed him how Courtney puts on her makeup (mimicking mommy with her own plastic set of pretend makeup), which was somewhat disconcerting to my father (I don't think he had any idea what a makeup routine can look like).

But having my parents and Kai together, I learned I have a habit of referring to my parents as Grandma and Grandpa - a pattern of speech I learned for my eight nieces and nephews, I'm sure. And my mom has the same speech pattern. So it wasn't long before Kai was calling my parents "Grandma" and "Grandpa" which isn't technically true. But it doesn't seem to bother anyone, so I guess it works.

I took my parents and Kai on a short driving tour of Claremont. I showed mom where I usually walked when I called her on the phone. She was able to see the views where I frequently stop to take pictures for her. We ended up at IHOP for lunch. Kai really enjoyed her syrup-delivery device (pancakes) and bacon; my dad enjoyed Kai's sausage and eggs and strawberry topping as well as his own pancakes. My mom ordered a half-sandwich, but she enjoyed the enormous hot fudge sundae far more than her meal.

When we got back to the house, I put Kai down for a nap. My dad stayed to listen for her (he had a book) while mom and I ran to the grocery store for a few things. When we got home, we started dinner in the oven. After cooking my roast for just over an hour, the oven decided it was done. The roast wasn't done, but the oven displayed an error code and shut down. I ended up cooking the roast on the stove and homemade rolls in the toaster oven. (The oven promises to be another washer-like drama, stay tuned).

After dinner, I found my mom sitting with Kai in the living room. Earlier, while I was making dinner, I had overheard my mom say "I think we might have to ask Laura for help playing that game" followed by Kai's reassurance, "No, we've got it." I didn't follow up because dinner prep was getting creative without the oven. Kai is in a fun "pretend play" stage:

Kai pulled out the lapdesks that Craig and I use for our laptops. She put one on my mom's lap and one on her own. She helped Grandma open her computer. They typed for a bit on their imaginary computers before Kai asked, "Can you help with my game?" My mom leaned over to peer at her "screen" and said, "Oh, I think this one wants you to count the apples." Kai tapped various places on the lapdesk and counted, "one, two, three, four." My mom replied, "Good job!" After a moment, Kai said, "What do you think about this one?" My mom considered a moment before saying, "We have to count the socks!"

Way better than any app!