Everything But Christmas

I'm sure you're all curious to know what's been going on in Kellan's life the past couple of months.  Well, he's certainly been busy.  He's doing well in the big kids' room at daycare.  He still focuses his friendship energies on Margo, Abbey, and Sena, but the teachers have told me more than once that he's very popular with all the girls in the class.  Tsk tsk, already a ladies man... what's a mom to do?

Anyway, we've got lots to catch up on.  Here come the pics - everything but Christmas, which I'll have to do in another post.

I would not classify Kellan as an artistic type.  His creativity is subtle - for example, when we ask him to name a giraffe figurine he's holding, he always comes up with the wildly unique moniker, "giraffe".  But this triad of photos makes it look like he is an artist in the making with his thoughtful gaze at the picture as he's drawing it.  It encourages me to continue trying to foster the crafter in him.

Kellan and Finley, hanging out on Grandma's chair

At the daycare center's "Christmas production", Kellan dressed up as an angel with the rest of his class (this was before he moved to the older kids' room).  Isn't he cute in his halo?  The girl in the foreground is Abbey, one of his 3 best friends at school.

Many times when we've picked Kellan up from daycare, the kids have been dressed up in animal costumes in the gym.  It's usually a hard sell to get Kellan to come home with us on those days.  Clearly, being in an elephant costume is way more fun that going home for dinner and bathtime.  I'm sure you can guess what his pretend name is when he's in the costume... yep, "Elephant".

We've been to the Lynnwood Community Pool for Open Swim with the Freemans a couple times now.  It's like an indoor waterpark, though the kids aren't big enough to go on the waterslides yet.  That's right, they have waterslides.  I'm so glad Kellan enjoys swimming - those lessons really paid off!

We had a few snow days back in January.  Here is Kellan next to the small snowman we made at the nearby high school.

Kellan, enjoying the snow as it fell.

We joined the Freemans one day to sled down their cul-de-sac hill.  There wasn't much snow, but we made the best of it!

Daddy and Kellan

Mommy and Kellan

I have a funny little story to share about Kellan.  Last weekend, we ended up watching the Super Bowl with our PEPS group.  Madonna's performance at halftime featured many of her popular songs over the years.  When her song "Like A Prayer" began, Kellan excitedly shouted (amongst our otherwise quiet and attentive group) "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" and threw his hands up in the air.  Leave it to K-man to find a way to praise God during the halftime show, huh?

Pumpkins and Owls

Welcome to the belated October edition of "It's All about Kellan"!  As Octobers go, this year's was very nice.  The crisp autumn air descended and the landscape took on a whole new look.  Sweaters and wool coats were pulled out of the closet.  The harvest smells of roasting corn and pumpkin seeds were so heavy you could almost taste them.  And for the second year in a row (which now makes it an official tradition), we joined the Jorgenson family for a trip to "The Farm" in Snohomish.  We enjoyed interacting with some of the animals, made our way through the hay maze, and found the perfect pumpkins for carving.

Mommy and Kellan at The Farm

Daddy and Kellan, just before starting the pumpkin hunt

The Gray Family, circa October 2011

Kellan with Lacey, post-discovery of the practically perfect pumpkins for purchase

Can't wait to go again next year!

When I asked Kellan what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he said an owl.  What's a mother (who had just taken her first-ever sewing class a month earlier) to do but make her son's costume?  I found a particularly cute idea for his costume online and promptly copied every bit of it... then paraded Kellan around like I'd come up with it myself.  Eh, whatever.  He looked awesome.  Here he is, "hoo hoo"-ing it up!

I was thrilled he kept the hat on; he's usually very annoyed by head gear, but somehow understood its integral part in the costume.  Way to go Kellan!

Camping with the Freemans

Waaaaaaay back at the beginning of October, we took a camping trip to Deception Pass.  We rented a travel trailer and shared a site with Aunt Justyn, Uncle Ian, Cousin Finley and Cousin Thatcher, who had their own camper.  We lucked out with not much rain; however, the Freemans did end up dealing with a gas alarm at 5am our last day there (it was a very early morning for them).  The trip was still quite a bit of fun overall, though.

The best picture from the trip was the first one (ha ha)

Kellan and Mommy in a teepee at the beach

Lots of logs, lots of jumping, lots of fun!

Finley

Aunt Justyn and Cousin Finley

Finley sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" for Kellan, complete with all the movements (it's one of his favorite songs)

We brought Kellan's red wagon with us - doesn't it look like they're having a cozy conversation?

Thatcher konked out on the way back from the beach

Uncle "Hot Lips" Ian

It should be noted that no one was harmed by the pebbles Thatcher and Kellan threw over the rock wall...

A couple of family photos to end the trip... 



...and now all Mommy can think about is macaroni salad.  Time for a snack. :-)

"I Did It!"

Recently, we bought Kellan a special clock that has a side display which shows a boy sleeping at night and the same boy awake during the day.  When it's nighttime, the sleeping picture is illuminated.  Once 6:30am rolls around, the display switches to the daytime picture.  We bought the clock because Kellan had been waking up multiple times in the night and very early in the morning not wanting to go back to sleep; we hoped he would recognize that if the daytime picture wasn't lit, it wasn't time to wake up yet.  We incentivized things by adding that if Kellan did sleep through the night, he'd get to pick out two special stickers in the morning.  If he woke up once during the night but went right back to sleep, he'd still get one sticker.  If he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep (or woke up multiple times), he wouldn't get any stickers.

It has worked very well!  Who knew stickers could be such a strong motivator?  About half the time he wakes up once during the night, usually because he can't find his pacifier, but lays right back down to sleep knowing he'll still get a sticker in the morning.  The other half of the time he's slept the whole night through!  Mommy and Daddy are getting more sleep, Kellan is so proud of himself, and stickers are cheap and plentiful!  It's been wonderful.  And in the morning when we go to get him out of the crib, one of the first thing he says is "I did it!".  It's so fun to see him reaching goals and pleased with himself.  We're crossing our fingers this continues!

Here's a random picture we caught one day during Kellan's nap.  It's of the display on his video monitor.  Notice how he's sprawled in the same manner as the sock monkey behind him?  Pretty cute, huh?

There are lots of photos and stories to add, but I wanted to keep up the tradition of having at least one post each calendar month, and today's the last day of November (where did the time go?).  So, keep watch - there's more to come!

The Kellan Collage

Recently, I needed some cheering up at work.  What better way to make me smile than to look at multiple photos of Kellan over his 2+ years of life?  So I put together a collage to add as my computer desktop background at work.  Now, whenever I'm feeling blue, I can see the collage and remember what a special, happy, joy-inducing son I have to come home to.

Incidently, there is one photo above from each month of his life through this past August.  There wasn't enough room to add a photo for September and October - so here's one photo from each month that I would've added had I extra room.

I hope these bring a smile to your face as well!

August 2011

I was reminded today that I have a lot of catching up to do on our blog, so to get started, here's a recap of a few things we did in August.

While Daddy spent a weekend in Bellingham, Mommy and Kellan took the opportunity to check out Cottage Lake Park in Woodinville.  We met up with Connie and Nash for a little picnic and to feed the ducks.  Kellan really enjoyed watching us throw bread bits and having the ducks gobble them up.  He tried a few throws of his own, but for the most part seemed happy enough to just watch.

Kellan, on the dock, watching the ducks

There was a playground on site, so we spent a few minutes testing out the equipment before heading home

Thankfully, that weekend was a very sunny one, so when Daddy came home on Sunday, we ventured to Madison Park.  Kellan was afraid of going into the water (yes, the phobia has reappeared), but as long as Daddy had him well above the water's edge, Kellan was OK.

The safest place when you're walking along the beach?  Daddy's shoulders, of course.

There was a playground full of fun slides, climbing structures, and swings, so we spent a hefty portion of time testing everything out.

Kellan, gearing up for the next piece of unexplored playground equipment

One of the things Kellan loves to say these days is "I'm taaaaaaaall!" - so you can imagine the words he used to describe the above experience

Kellan "hiding"...

...found you!

This wheel-type contraption provided several minutes of dizzying spins and giggles for Kellan

Another weekend, we decided to meet Grandma and Grandpa in Deer Harbor (Orcas Island) when they docked there in their boat.  We stayed the first night on the boat, then spent the second in one of the units at Deer Harbor Resort, which overlooked the marina.

Kellan got to take his first ride in the dinghy while we trolled the edge of Orcas Island

Deer Harbor Resort had a swimming pool, and since it was such a warm day, we readied ourselves for a dip.  Kellan got to put on his new swim trunks and shirt, along with his swim shoes...

But don't let this big smile fool you.  It was all a ruse, as once we actually got to the swimming pool, Kellan refused to get in the water.  When Daddy eventually picked him up and carried him into the water (thinking it would help ease him in), the screams were heard around the entire marina.  So, that was the end of that.

Before dinner in Eastsound, Daddy, Mommy, and Kellan ventured down to a rocky beach and spent some time throwing rocks into the water and enjoying the scenery.

Kellan, sporting his uber-cool shades

Family photo!!

On the ferry ride home (and to the island, actually), Kellan climbed over rows of chairs, finally ending in a "ta-da" stance at the last chair

TA-DAAAAAAA!

We should probably enroll him in gymnastics, as he really has perfected that "end pose"

More photos and catch-up to come...

Hives Update

We have good news - finally, Kellan's hives seem to be diminishing.  After phoning the on-call pediatrician over the weekend, a trip to the ER yesterday, and a visit to the doctor this afternoon, it appears that Kellan's hives are likely to a virus, since it's so prominent and has covered his entire body.  I have to say, the nice thing about going to all these places is they have all said Kellan's hives are significant, so I don't have to feel like I've been overreacting.  Today his regular doctor said we could stop Benadryl (his last dose was around bedtime and he was up all night long, plus it didn't really seem to help at all) and start him on Children's Zyrtec instead.  Within a couple of hours, Kellan's skin looked better.  Less swelling and more discoloration (which we were told meant healing).  Just in case it doesn't continue to go away, we have a third line of defense in a prescription medication, but have yet to fill it since we want to wait and see how the Zyrtec does on its own.  I'm so much more at ease knowing that the hives weren't from something in our home or something we might have to avoid; and what a relief to see something providing him help from the itching and swelling!  So, knocking on wood right now, but it appears that things are getting better.
I have to say, we are SO BLESSED to have such a wonderful little boy that continues to keep his chin up and be a trooper through all this discomfort.  It's amazing what he goes through, all the while remaining sweet, thoughtful, and nearly without complaint.  I continue to ask myself, how did we get so lucky?