Taking a break

We've been on vacation! It was so nice to get out of town. Kieran loves to be on the go, so he loved every minute of our trip. He got to go swimming in a big pool for the first time, and take a walk in the snow. Here are a few pictures of our adventures...
We had plenty of time to just hang out in the room and play. Kieran and Mike played catch for quite a while. It was so cool to see Kieran improve in his catching and throwing skills. I love to watch him interact with his daddy. Notice Kieran's grin, he is so proud of himself that he can do big boy things!
We went to a park near our hotel and played in the snow. Thanks to the delay feature on my camera, we all got to be in the picture together.
The boys climbed a hill to get a better view of the park. It was a challenge for our little "oompa loompa" since he was bundled up in all his snow gear.
Footprints in the snow. I wanted to capture the difference in size between Mike & Kieran. This photo is my "pause button", a way to capture a moment in time because I know our little guy is going to be a big guy like his daddy sooner than we think.
Our little oompa loompa says, "See you later!"

A Family of Three

Kieran is growing so quickly. (He just turned 28 months old!) I'm now buying size 3T shirts for him. Last night when I was attempting to rock him to sleep (it was 9:30 and he was still awake in his crib) I realized how tall he's getting. Rocking him while patting his back was rather goofy as his legs had no place to go. We had a good laugh and he tried to convince me to read him, "one book", instead. When I said no, he renegotiated, "three books!" I laughed and replied, "ZERO books!" So much for getting him soothed to sleep. Don't worry, he did get plenty of rest, eventually. Anyway, I digress...it's not going to be long, and he'll be out of the toddler stage altogether. Sometimes the rapid growth and changes in Kieran is a lot for this new mom to handle. Nine months ago, I was childless. Now I have a son that is walking up and down the stairs on his own, feeding himself with a fork and spoon, and begging to drink out of a glass without a sippy lid. Where is the pause button?? However, each stage he goes through has been fun for different reasons. Right now, we are enjoying Kieran's sense of humor. He is a comedian and loves to make us all laugh at the dinner table. Life is so wonderfully different now that we are a family of three.

Baking Lessons

With the winter weather, we've been inside a lot. Kieran was bored one evening, so I decided to mix things up a bit and have him help me make banana bread. He had a blast! After we were done, I realized baking was so much more than a boredom buster. Kieran learned all kinds of new things, from the texture and flavor of flour, to using hand-eye coordination to pour liquid into a measuring cup. Plus, it was a great bonding experience.

More pics from the holidays

A few more pictures from Christmas... My dad took these. Thanks Dad!

I love this picture of Kieran. He's happily playing with his new garage from his grandma & grandpa. Notice our cat in the back snooping in the gift bag?

Kieran got a table and chair set from Mommy & Daddy for Christmas. It's been wonderful for him to have a place to eat his snacks, play, and do art projects. He likes to be a little host and invites people to sit at his table with him. He is usually specific about which chair his guest should sit in. On Christmas day, we had all four chairs out and everybody took a turn sitting on the tiny painted chairs. Kieran loved it!

My boys. I love them so much!

Look how much I've grown!

This morning I put Kieran in a pair of overalls that he hadn't worn in months. I was shocked that they were almost too short. This summer they were too long! For fun, I decided to take some pictures to show how much Kieran has grown. I had him pose by the window today so I could get some shots of him that were similar to pictures I'd taken on June 4th, one week after we got home from Rwanda. In June, he could just barely rest his chin on the window sill. After comparing the pictures, it wasn't the growth in inches that was most noticeable. I was struck by the wonderful transformation that's taken place in him. Take a look and see for yourself...



In this photo, Kieran was not able to stand on his own without holding on to something. Now our sweet boy is walking, running, climbing up the stairs and down on his own, and generally having fun all day long. He's such a happy kid, and so chatty! This morning he woke up at 5:30 am (ugh!) and I went in to his room to encourage him to go back to sleep. I told him it was too early and he needed to go back to sleep. He said to me, "Rock a minute?" I happily obliged and rocked him in the glider rocker for a while. We are so blessed to have him in our family. (Or as he would say, "swamily".)