Christmas, Etc - Part I

It's been over a month since our last post, and much has happened.  Where did December go??  Doesn't it feel like it flew by?  I can hardly believe we are in the last days of 2010...  OK, enough pondering.  This is All About Kellan, not "Mommy's Musings".

Kellan is doing wonderfully, and nary a day goes by that Mommy and Daddy aren't bubbling over with pride.  It's mind-boggling how much he understands now.  He's so good about sleep these days, too.  He literally points to the crib when he's ready to go to sleep, most of the time before we're done reading him his bedtime books.  He's learned to say "thank you" and loves to mimic us.  He dances and spins until he gets dizzy and falls down.  And he has a sense of humor!  It's an amazing time in his development, and it really feels like an adventure.

He had his 18 month appointment earlier in the month.  His height (31") and weight (25 lbs) were enough to keep him in the middle of the pack percentage-wise.  They don't measure his head anymore, which is a bit sad - we always liked to see him excel in that category. :-)  But the big news is his he's caught up to his peers, developmentally speaking.  He shines in his motor skills (both gross and fine) and is doing well with problem solving.  It's incredible how much he's learning and absorbing each day!

Additionally, he's eating quite well and (knock on wood) has been illness-free for months now, save for a minor cold here and there.  It seems like his immunity is strong - perhaps it's all the yogurt we feed him.

We have tons of pictures to share, most all from the last couple of weeks and centering around Christmas.  This first group is from our annual Christmas gathering with Great Aunt Betty, Great Aunt Mari, Great Uncle George, and Grandma Pat.  This year we were lucky to have a close friend of Aunt Betty's join us, Shelley.  Hey, the more the merrier!

With Daddy, looking very regal

With Mommy, looking slightly scared

The family!

Grandma Pat brought some playthings of Mommy's to share with Kellan - it was so fun to watch him play with the same toys I played with as a kid.

 

This pushtoy is pretty cute.  It has 3 heads that randomly pop up as you push it, and there's a whistle with each one.  Daddy pointed out that the handle could practically impale a person, but we won't think about that.

Daddy go into the fun as well (with the "safer" toys, at least) ;-)

 

Kellan was fascinated by the little plastic figures he could put on his fingers

Mommy especially remembers this doggie pulltoy - it bounces up and down as you drag it and makes a funny little barking sound.  Seems advanced for a late '70s toy, doesn't it?

Too-big-for-Kellan Santa hat.

With lights!

Obviously the ensemble wasn't complete until we added the Christmas robe

You can tell Great Uncle George has had practice with little ones

It's the Season of Giving!

I guess you could say that Kellan looks up to his Grandma... ;-)

Stay tuned for the next blog installment - more photos to come!

Kellan (He's What It's All About)

Kellan's been developing so quickly lately, we can hardly keep up.  He's running, follows instructions really well, and has an incredible memory for his age.  He speaks several words now (words in bold are current faves): row, no, please, more, up, down, bye, banana ("nana"), dog/woof, meow (won't say kitty or cat yet), ball, duck, uh-oh, yeah, bunny, moon, hi, baby, balloon, wow/whoa, apple, water, milk, and of course Mommy and Daddy.  He also understands many, many other words, but doesn't say them.

In addition to all those good things, Kellan's teething his molars.  Some days are better than others, obviously.  There are days he seems ravenous and constantly wants to eat, and then those where he will barely eat 2 cups worth of food all day.  He's also been waking up in the early peeps of the morning and not going back to sleep, which hasn't been all that helpful to Mommy and Daddy's sleep patterns.  But, we've heard this is par for the course around the 18 month mark.

Here are a few pictures of our quickly growing boy:

That's string cheese in his mouth, not teeth

He loves books.  This one ("Spot Visits his Grandparents") is a story we borrowed from the Library in preparation for his trip to see, who else, his Grandparents in Bellingham while Mommy and Daddy took a trip to Las Vegas.

In case you didn't know, Kellan is a very happy guy.  We get comments from strangers nearly every time we're out with him saying "what a happy boy!"  We totally love it.

Recently, we had dinner with our friends, Steve and Michelle Kleyn, at their home in Issaquah (thanks again, guys!).  Upstairs, they had a room where Kellan found drumsticks.  Trying to get them away from him was a practice in futility.

He thinks these headphones are really fun to put on his head

We can add golf to his roster of sports - here he is practicing his putting.

Mommy has to gush - he's got such a great face!  It's fun to capture different countenances he has.

One of his signature over-the-shoulder looks

You probably can't tell, but this picture shows his most recent haircut

He's still got his blue eyes!  For some reason, this picture sort of reminds Mommy of Ralphie from "A Christmas Story".

And speaking of Christmas, only 31 days until then!  Yippee!

Snow Day

Yesterday marked the first snowfall of the year and Kellan's first experience with snow.  The daycare center closed early, and Mommy and Kellan sat inside the house, mesmerized by the snow coming down until Daddy came home.  We then made a quick trip to K-Mart to get some gloves and boots for Kellan.  I have to say, Kellan looked pretty darn cute in his snow getup:

Notice the oversized gloves (toddlers seem to have poor choices when it comes to keeping their hands warm)

At first, Kellan was happy with all the excitement - Daddy and Mommy getting dressed up in funny clothes... where are we going??

...but, turns out Kellan isn't a huge fan of the snow.

 

He watched Daddy throw snowballs

And he touched the snow when Daddy was holding it ("touched" is a loose term, considering those huge mittens of his)

For the most part, Kellan simply endured the experience.  I have to admit, it was quite chilly and windy - even Mommy didn't really want to be out there.

Today it's still windy, but not actively snowing.  Maybe we'll take a walk later and see if Kellan's impression of snow has improved any since last night.

Charlie Brown

Happy Halloween!
This year we dressed Kellan up as Charlie Brown.  It took some searching, but Mommy eventually found a Snoopy doll to complete the look; however, Kellan wasn't too keen on the idea...

Every time Mommy put Snoopy in Kellan's hand, he would drop it and give her the above (obviously annoyed) look

Mommy thought tying Snoopy around Kellan's waist might make things easier... but it really only created a poor distraction and more frustration

Then Mommy realized that putting Snoopy on a "leash" might make him more appealing to Kellan.

And clearly, it helped.

But in the end, it made it look like Charlie Brown was trying to lynch Snoopy, so we bagged the whole thing and tried the football idea.

It was a paltry substitute for Snoopy, but at least we know Kellan will hold on to a football for longer than a couple of seconds.

Now, if only Mommy had dressed up like Lucy Van Pelt... (why do we always think of the good ideas a little too late?)

Visit to Aunt Bun's

After visiting the pumpkin patch (see last post), Mommy and Daddy dropped Kellan off with Aunt Bun while they went to see a movie.  When Mommy and Daddy returned, we decided to take a walk to the home improvement store, to get some fresh air.

Aunt Bun's real name is Aunt FUN

There are so many interesting things to point to in Aunt Bun's garden!

Did you hear that?  Elmo thinks your garden is really funny!

(it's a giggling Elmo)

There was a playground on the way to the store, so Kellan did a quick test of the slide... it passed (apparently)

Thanks for the fun day, Aunt Bun!  We'll be back!

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend, we took Kellan to his first pumpkin patch.  We went to a farm in Snohomish (actually called "The Farm") with the Jorgenson family.

Benjamin, Kellan, and Daddy walking through the flower garden

There was a petting zoo of sorts at the farm.  This shows Kellan pointing to a rabbit in its cage.

Did you see that?  I think it was a chicken!!

We found Kellan's "twin" while we were there (he was very friendly, and wanted to give Kellan a hug)

A couple of cute pics Mommy took while Kellan was eating his snack

Kellan was none-too-thrilled about getting into the wheelbarrow at first, but he eased into it (the snack cup helped)

Brian and Daddy in the pumpkin patch

It was a gorgeous, sunny day

C'ya next year, Farm!

Swim Lessons

Daddy took Kellan to his first ever swim lesson last Sunday.  Considering the last few experiences in a pool have elicited less than enthusiastic responses from K-Man, we weren't sure what kind of reaction to expect.  But happily, we think he rather enjoyed it this time.

The water noodle helped keep Kellan buoyant

Part of the lesson was to practice "jumping" into the pool by standing on a table that was under the water, then having Daddy lift him off

The best part about the class?  Three of Kellan's friends are in the class, too!  Pictured to the right of Kellan are Griffin (the redhead), who goes to the same daycare, and Jackson, who is not only part of our PEPS group, but also the son of one of Jared's coworkers (quick shout out to Jim!).  Not pictured is Flynn, our next door neighbor.  We're sure having so many familiar faces in the water helped Kellan adjust quickly.

They have plenty of pool toys to choose from to keep the toddlers entertained.  Kellan's toy of choice?  A red ball shaped to look like a pirate's head.

Kellan's first swim lesson couldn't have gone better, but the true highlight came when Grandma and Grandpa made a surprise appearance at the pool!  Thanks for the visit and the family lunch date afterwards, G & G!