He is Our Son-shine, Our Only Son-shine

There are times when I am just bursting with love for Kellan.  Don't get me wrong - I always love him, but sometimes I am so overwhelmed with adoration and pride that I actually tear up a little.  It's amazing how much of a combination he is of Mommy and Daddy.  And yet, I marvel at how unique he is.  Having the opportunity to watch him develop and grow is probably God's greatest gift to me.  Being a parent is such a blessing!

 

Of course, there are those times when Kellan drives me nuts.  For example, he's recently developed temper tantrums of epic proportions that begin over the smallest of things (the other day he spent 20 minutes screaming, kicking, and crying - all the way to daycare - because Daddy put cereal for Kellan in a cup... how dare he).  And he's definitely learned a few buttons he can push when he desires some entertainment from Mommy and Daddy.  BUT...

 

...those trying times are balanced by all the precious and adorable moments, like when he says, "I like your nails" (a funny little compliment he's picked up), or gives a hug out of nowhere, or sweetly says, "I love you".  Thank goodness for those bits of time when we're reminded that he won't be this age forever, nor will he always want to share time with us.

 

Anyway, I am droning on, but this post doesn't really have a theme other than to showcase a few of those special moments when Kellan is being his darling self.

 

This photo was taken at the zoo.  Kellan spent about 10 minutes climbing all over the cougar statue, stopping every once in awhile to make a funny face.  This look was one of the few I was able to capture.

 

Yes, another statue climbing picture.  I just knew you were hoping for another.  This was taken at The Park on the Lid at Mercer Island when Kellan came with me to my company's annual softball game.  Kellan saw the deer statue, clambered on, and immediately started smiling for a photo... such a ham.

 

Grandma Pat bought Kellan a bug catching kit, which included a magnifying glass, bug container, bug net, and binoculars.  He immediately put it to use.  I'm not sure if you can tell, but there is a bee in the bug container around his neck.  Daddy had to be quick to take the photo, because Kellan was petrified to have it so close.  I'm impressed - even when he's scared, he can still muster a cute grin!

 

Recently, Kellan went with Mommy and Daddy to the driving range to watch them hit golf balls.  At one point, he bent down to pick up a ball, and on the way back up, he scraped his cheek on the end of an exposed metal pole.  He calmed down as soon as we told him we would put a bandaid on it at home. "That will make it feel all better," is what Kellan always says about putting bandaids on injuries.  We thought he looked like quite the tough guy with a bandaid on his cheek, so Kellan fabricated his most bruiser-esque countenance, and we snapped this shot.

 

This video shows Kellan's mad dancing skills.  Very reminiscient of "Flashdance".  I particularly love the cocked head and crazy footwork.  We don't know where he gets it from, since neither Mommy nor Daddy dances... perhaps it's one of those "skipped a generation" qualities?  Who knows, but it sure does make us smile. :-)

Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere

During one of Daddy's business trips this past summer, Mommy and Kellan took a trip to Pine Lake in Sammamish to visit Connie and Nash at their new house.  It was a gorgeous day, and we thought blowing and chasing bubbles sounded like the best thing ever to do for an afternoon.

 

Connie and Nash don't mess around with boring generic bubble solution and wands; oh no.  They have stuff that makes so many bubbles, I think it could lift a small animal if the bubbles could be contained somehow.  Here's Kellan amidst one of the bubble onslaughts.

 

Connie and Nash had an automatic bubble blower gun that Connie helped Kellan learn to use.  Nash provided a good target and was happy to pop the bubbles as they came at him using the one fingered approach.

 

It didn't take long for Kellan to master the use of the blowing contraption.

 

The key to producing copious amounts of bubbles?  Making sure each of the individual "wands" on the blowing gun had enough bubble solution.  It was a tedious, but necessary task to bend down and dip after each and every firing.

 

There were times Kellan had a look of slight panic - as though too many of the bubbles might get away and cause mayhem unless he caught as many of them as he could!

 

But, mostly Kellan just had a perma-smile on his face while popping and chasing after the bubbles.  It was a lot of fun!  Thanks to Connie and Nash for sharing with us!

RV There Yet?

It's nearly the end of June, and you have yet to see a decent run of summery days.  What do you do?  Pack up your bags, rent an RV, and go camping somewhere sunny, of course!  We recently joined the Freemans for a few days at Lake Wenatchee in an attempt to capture some old fashioned summer warmth.  Fortunately, it was nice weather; unfortunately, the mosquitoes were out in full force.  Also, while the weather was pleasant and warm at the campground, down by the water was fairly blustery and much cooler.  Not to be thwarted, our youngsters dressed in their swimming gear and we headed to the lake, expecting to swim.

Justyn bravely joined the kids as they dipped their feet in the chilly water.

Kellan was none too thrilled with the lake's conditions and asked Daddy to brave the waters with for him. ;-)

The only one who truly didn't mind the cold lake was Finley - what a waterbaby!

Thatcher was happy hanging out on shore, finding interesting sticks and throwing them into the lake.

Kellan tried to warm up under a towel with Mommy... but we needed a bigger towel.

The Freeman Clan, circa June 2012

Despite the nippy conditions, Kellan maintained a cheerful smile.

Of course, maybe it had simply been frozen that way.

We took a jaunt to Leavenworth one morning and enjoyed the Bavarian-themed atmosphere.  We spent time in a Christmas store, bought some jam, creamed honey, and candies, and stopped by Jared's favorite hot sauce shop, where he tested the hottest sauce they had and survived to tell the tale.  Before leaving, we had lunch at the Freemans' favorite bratwurst stand.

Kellan and Thatcher, hamming it up while waiting for their food.

Mommy and Kellan

I'm not sure who's the bad influence or if it's a shared title, but at nearly every meal we share out with the Freemans, Kellan and Thatcher end up under the table at some point.  I don't know why I thought it would be different in an al fresco situation...

A statue near the eating area featured a man playing an accordian and a dog dancing at his feet.  Kellan thought it was pretty funny to sit on the dog and pretend to ride it - as you can see, Finley thought it was silly, too.

We may have come home with a combined 13 mosquito bites (Justyn outmatched our combo single-handedly), but the trip was really fun.  As demonstrated by Kellan's three pocketfuls of sparkly rocks he HAD to take home and his "I don't want to go" meltdown just prior to our departure, I think he had a great time, too.  Hopefully, we'll have another chance to take pleasure in the great outdoors with the Freemans soon!

There He Grows Again...

June was packed with activity and fun.  The first weekend, our PEPS group celebrated everyone's 3rd birthday by having a gathering at Om Culture near Gasworks Park.  The venue was great and reminded me of a being inside a big top circus tent.  There were piles of pillows, several tunnels for crawling through, bars for hanging on, and interesting swings dangling from the ceiling.  There was even a huge trampoline!

Here's Kellan in the biggest pile of pillows he could find.

Each PEPS group birthday party has included some sort of "craft" for the kids to wear.  The first year, it was birthday hats.  Last year was customized t-shirts.  This year we opted for the "superhero" theme and made each munchkin their own cape.  I honestly feel they turned out fabulously - we have such a creative bunch!

A photo showing everyone's cape - you'll notice Kellan sitting second from the right.

It was hard to get the kids to all look in the same direction at the same time, but one of our more industrious (and hilarious) parents stuck a giraffe head out of the top of his shirt, and it provided just enough of a distraction to get a somewhat face-forward photo of each of them. 

The annual Mommy and Me photo (yes, I am wearing a cape)

The annual Daddy and Me photo

The party included a book exchange, where Kellan received a collection of Curious George stories (a new favorite).

The weekend after the PEPS birthday party we had another birthday party honoring Kellan.  This time, it was at home.  There was a perceptible Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme, complete with appropriate party hats and birthday cupcakes... see below:

Grandma and Kellan, sporting their uber cool Mickey Mouse birthday hats.

Finley and Kellan were having a good time looking at pictures on Grandma Jean's iPad.

It's Super-K-Man!

One of the gifts from Aunt Justyn, Uncle Ian, Finley, and Thatcher was a superhero costume, including the all important identity-masking headwear.

Kellan's big gift from Mommy and Daddy was a Radio Flyer Cruiser Bicycle with training wheels.

Aunt Bun helped Kellan round out the development of his serious biker persona by giving him all the necessary biking accessories - a new helmet (with flames), elbow and knee pads, and super-cool biking gloves.  Her gift also included a horn and a water bottle with holder to attach to the cruiser.

Kellan (eventually) blew out the candle on the special Mickey Mouse inspired birthday cupcake.  I wonder what he wished for?

The day after the party, Kellan took his first test ride on the new bike.

As you can see, he was decked out in his various cycling accoutrements.

We opted to ride to Northacres Park, which was recently updated with new playground equipment - including a big slide just begging for a grandma and her grandson to test out together.

Another piece of recreational equipment that nearly the whole family can enjoy.

Kellan, doing his usual "peekaboo" routine through one of the many portholes.

This is one of Kellan's favorite playground rides - I don't know it's technical name, so I just call it "the bouncer" (it rocks back and forth on a large spring).

The update to the park includes a water spray area that can be turned on at the mere press of a button (which we discovered inadvertently while - you guessed it - pressing a button).

Since receiving his bicycle, Kellan has become somewhat of an expert at riding it and is particularly adept at ringing its bell while in the middle of pedaling.  I'm still a bit shocked at how naturally he's picked up on everything!

May Days

That was me slapping my hands for not completing a single blog post last month.  Shame on Mommy!  And I really have no excuse... so, I guess just enjoy the deluge of photos and posts I'm about to unleash.

In May, we took Kellan on his first train trip.  We hopped on the Amtrak Cascades in Edmonds and headed north to Bellingham.  Kellan loved walking through the train cars, playing in the seats, and especially looking out the window.

The scenery for the first part of the trip was lovely, save for the rainy day.  It's so pretty while the tracks run along the water.

Kellan would stare out the window for minutes at a time, mesmerized.  So cute!

Also in May, we got one of our only three (it feels like) sunny days this year on Mother's Day - lucky me!  We were able to enjoy the outdoors by having a picnic at the Arboretum.

Kellan and Mommy on a log.

Kellan and Daddy in front of Lake Washington.

I would have liked to have more photos to share with you from May, but I think I put the camera in a mini-hibernation for a couple weeks... oh well.  Next up?  June!

A PlayDATE at the Zoo

One of Kellan's closest friends at daycare is Abbey.  They've both been there since they were infants, and they are very close in age (Abbey's just a few weeks older than Kellan).  Since they have so much fun at school together, we thought it would be cool to invite Abbey to go to the zoo with Kellan on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago.  Abbey's parents agreed, and she and her mom met up with us for our first playdate together.

As you can see, Kellan was very excited to see Abbey

While we waited for Abbey and her mom to arrive, we were fascinated by a peacock at the entrance to the zoo

Look at the size of that peacock!  And it wasn't shy, either... obviously.

The first animals we saw were the giraffes.  Can you find all three?

Abbey and Kellan enjoyed looking at the hippos in the water together

The lion was conked out on the rock, as usual

One of Abbey and Kellan's many "discussions" - this one was while we were watching the elephants

We fed the birds at Willawong Station (it was the busiest we'd ever seen it!)

Abbey and Kellan tested the strength of some of the tree limbs at Willawong

Photo op on the rocks outside of the meerkat exhibit.  Don't they make a cute pair?

We played inside for a bit at the Zoomazium, then it was time to say goodbye

I guess it wouldn't have been a true first date without the awkward hug at the end

I hope we get another chance to chaperone a date between Kellan and Abbey... maybe we can end with ice cream on the next outing. :-)