Gabe's Birthday that Wasn't

Kevin's and my bed is the pullout sofa in the family room. When I come, Duke and Daisy always sleep with me. Last night, both dogs sometimes laid on top of Kevin! He awoke a few times complaining of a dog on top of him! It's nice to be loved!

Brandy started Band Camp this week. She has to be at school from 7AM to 6PM in the blazing 100+ heat. Tryouts were today, and she secured a position, as expected. Congratulations, Brandy! Her school has one of the top marching bands in the state!

This morning the boys played in the family room.


Kevin shared his beloved doggie with Gabe!

Kevin and Kien are really enjoying each other! They do a lot of hugging and rolling around, sometimes with Kevin's larger body bringing some pain to Kien's smaller body. Kien said to Kevin, "I love you. I miss you." Then he started calling Kevin "Mama." He calls his mother "Mommy," but, when he was younger and learning to talk, he called Karin mama. I am sure he is remembering that and equating Kevin with his former life. A psychiatrist told me that Kien will always remember Karin and his life with her. He was old enough for that to be a memory. However, Kevin was a bit puzzled by Kien calling him mama! ha!

Grandma gets lots of hugs, kisses, and "I love you"s from Kien too, and even from Gabe! He likes Grandma now and laughs for me. Here he is giving me an open-mouth "kiss-kiss."

We needed to take Daddy's lunch to him.

The kids had some playtime after our picnic lunch on a blanket on the floor. Jeremy and Kevin played catch. Kevin is doing much better at catching a ball!



More hugging time before strapping into carseats.

After running party errands, we went to the pool!

Gabe was not so sure that the pool was fun.



Today is Gabe's first birthday! He was sung to and best wishes were expressed over and over again all day. We picked up his cake, bought mylar helium balloons, wrapped his gifts, but the actual celebration never happened... With all the running around of the day, Gabe only caught cat naps in the car. By the time dinner was finished, we were pushing his happy demeanor and decided to postpone his celebration until tomorrow.

After Kien and Gabe were in bed, Kevin took it upon himself to put all the toys away! Cleaning up is one of his talents. Aunt Cathi was very impressed and said the family room had not looked that neat in many days.