Wake up Storytime

Mommy read Kien a counting book this morning. He is such a little smartie!


Something that is obvious to me now is his coordination. He is remarkably adept at climbing, running, jumping, somersalts. But then I remember how he dropped himself over the back of the sofa into the kitchen last fall and climbed on the table all the time. Since this kitchen is not babyproofed, he is never allowed to wander.

Monday Family Fun

8:30 AM is Kien's wake up time. He was very groggy when I went in to lift a whimpering boy from his crib. He flopped on my shoulder, so we sat in the rocker, which he has always loved to do until fully awake. But he fell asleep! So I did too. Jeremy took this shot just before Kien awoke after another 50 minute sleep on my shoulder!


Jeremy practicing his clarinet and doing a very good job!


Mommy loving the boy.


Jeremy and Kien watching TV and having a snack.


Brandy studying her driver's training materials. (Greg is her teacher.)

Arriving in Texas

I arrived in Texas today in anticipation of the big event on Thursday!

Kien came to me right away at the airport but was shy and didn't look at me. After a few minutes, he lay his head down on my shoulder in his expressive, loving embrace as he is doing with Daddy here. In this shot, he had just awakened from his nap and had his socks on his hands!


Daddy put together this little workbench for him. It is ALL he played with for the rest of the day! If I wasn't on the floor with him, he would look at me and say, "Play!" So I improved my screwdriver and wrench skills.

An Email from Steve:

This morning Kevin was doing something risky and I told him he might get hurt. Without missing a beat he said in his cute little voice, “That’s ok. Getting hurt is part of being alive!”

I thank God to have such an adventuresome boy! I hope he never loses that sense of adventure and acceptance that really living requires risking and sometimes getting hurt, and it’s ok. :-)

Steve

Saying Goodbye

Grampy giving his boy some final loving.

Kevin giving Guinness some final loving.

Quick Weekend Trip to NC

Grant, Guinness, and I made a quick trip this weekend to visit Steve, Kevin, and Karin's grave. Kevin was asleep when we arrived Sat. night, but he awakened us with glee at 7 AM. I took him downstairs for breakfast, and he decided that he wanted Grandma to make him some eggs.
Kevin had done a 5 year old caper of sprinkling Play-Doh all over the sunroom a few days ago to his Daddy's chagrin. I spent a good part of the morning cleaning that up with a bit of help from Kevin -- vacuuming, scraping it out of the floor cracks, and mopping. Then I called Daddy and Grampy to come help resettle the room.

Loving James.

Kevin and I took Guinness on a walk to the frog pond. On the way home, I was quite comfortable and loving the warmth, but Kevin was beginning to whine about the long walk, and Guinness was in some distress from needing water when Grampy appeared in the car! We piled in, mainly for Guinness's sake, and Grampy told us that the temp was 104. Yay!!! I was finally warm for once this summer!
At home, Kevin and I decided to make some chalk drawings on the driveway. Though Kevin is talented in many respects, art is not his forte. But he is showing vast improvement in his abilities! He can color within the lines and he can draw recognizable pictures!
Here he is drawing Guinness with yellow chalk.






Ta-da --


This evening we went to Chili's for dinner. Kevin has not lost his charm. Our waitress's name was Heather, so Kevin told her that his nanny was Heather also. It was mentioned that Kevin likes blondes (both Heathers are blondes). Heather asked, "But you don't like my tatoo; do you? I saw you staring at it with a funny look." He said the politically correct thing: "I like your tatoo! I have tatoos too." Each time she came to the table, Kevin had something to say to her. When the meal was finished and she walked away for the last time, he called out behind her, "I love you, Heather!" She stopped in her tracks and came back saying, "Did you say what I think you said?" Too funny! He had made another friend.

Mother's Day cards

It is July 2nd. Is it time to put my Mother's Day cards away? Soooo hard to do that... Here are my cards from Kevin last year and this year. Too cute!!!!