April 2-15, 2018 - 3 years 9 months

Yay!  Spring is (sort of) here!  Warm weather and lots of daylight… some snow to play in still but also some open dirt, water, and pavement to run and bike and boat in!  Good times…

Video:  We went biking in the woods with his Strider bike (no pedals) and stopped at a fun snowy hill to play with Bucky.  Kadito is often fairly conservative with risks, but not today!  He also often cries and gets mad when he falls, but not today!

We made newspaper boats, just like in the Curious George book, and floated them in an icy puddle.  It was Kadito's idea to tie a "rope" to his so he could pull it along. 

After the boats got soggy and sank, we met up with another little boy named Cruz, about a year younger than Kadito and they raced back and forth on their bikes.  Too cute!

Video:  Kadito's first day on his bright green pedal bike.  He still needs a bit of a hand getting started and then… off he goes!  He's too fast for me to walk with so in the future, I'll have to have my bike with me too.

I tweaked this photo a bit to bring out the wispy hair and baby-red lips.  I just can't stand how adorable he is and it reminds me that he is still so little (which is hard to remember when he is racing around on a pedal bike or climbing giant hills or getting into things he shouldn't!)

Video:  I broke down and got Kadito a little remote control car that was on sale.  Of course, he loved it, but what was even funnier was how much Bucky loved it too!

Video:  One more video, especially made for Abuela Baiba (BaBa).  

Lunch at the Flying Squirrel Cafe and Kadito is always serving up yummy muffins, ice cream, and pizza.  We were biking before this and once his helmet is on, he never wants to take it off…

April 1, 2018 - 3 years 9 months - EASTER DAY

Easter was a busy and fun day!  So busy, it's getting is's own blog entry.

We started the day with a hike with Laura and her dog, Ricca.  During the hike, we ran into Mark, Laura's husband, and Kadito took a spin on his snow machine, helping Mark clear some down trees.

Towards the end of the hike, we explored a snow cave that Laura's teenaged daughters had built over the winter.  It was a little sunken and a tight fit.  Kadin wouldn't go in it until I did and then he loved it.

Kadito wouldn't leave the snow cave until Laura was coaxed to go in there with him.  She's a bit claustrophobic but didn't want to disappoint nor scare Kadito so in the cave she went and then they both crawed out.  Thanks Laura!

Back at the house, we pulled out the EasyBake Oven and made some M&M sugar cookies to bring to Mia's house for Easter.  They are teensy!

I actually didn't get a chance to put together Kadito's Easter basket this year, so I was happy that Abu Baiba had sent him one.  So was Kadito!!

Yet more candy at the Easter egg hunt at Mia's house.  They were mostly the little red and white mints… Thank you Mia!

After Easter, Kadito was a little candy monster, searching the house for hidden sweets to the point that I finally had to give them all away or eat them myself and completely rid the house of candy.  (At least until Halloween, I guess.)
When I told him no more sweets, he said, "Mi sabo (Me knows), me eat candy, me loco."  Ha!

April 16 - May 3, 2017 - 2 years 9 months

Kadin loves helping me carry things out to the car.

Baby chicks at Mia's house!

Yummy birch sap - and this year, Kadin had his own tap where he could take a drink whenever he wanted.

So much mud!  Here, he lost his shoe for the first time… I think one of the videos is of him losing his shoe the second time. 

Lots of fun in the mud means a mini-bath in the bucket at home.  Which for Kadin, just means even more fun!

Kadin sat through his first movie - watching a bicycling documentary with Sky.  He would burst out laughing whenever the crowd laughed, even if he probably didn't get the joke.  Too cute.

Resting while I carted him home after a fun bike ride.  I think he is wearing a complete change of clothes after all the mud!

After a lot of pleading, I relented and gave Kadin a knife so he could help me cut up the zucchini.  Now if only he liked to EAT the zucchini…

Video #1: Kadin isn't sure he should try to cross a really big puddle, does it anyway.  At the end, when he runs back into the puddle, I (unfortunately) stopped the video just before he fell into the puddle!

Video #2:  Kadin is working super hard (with sound effects, to boot) and gets a bit frustrated when he finally loses his shoe to the mud.


Video #3: The short version of fun with a salad spinner...

April 1 - 15, 2017 - 2 years 9 months

A kid in a toy store!

All that excitement, including a new tractor, is exhausting!

Comparing candy with Soleil after the Easter egg hunt.

Kadin chose Tinkerbell as his stuffed toy gift at the Easter egg hunt - she can fly!  And her feet are fun to chew on! 

Playing with selfies with the computer's camera - and Kadin is showing off his Matchbox police car (that was mine when I was a little kid!)

April 27, 2016 - May 3, 2016 - 21 months and 2 weeks

This is actually the only good photo this week… but it sure is an awesome one!!!

 ––––––––

The rest of these photos were dated wrong and ended up in this week's folder by mistake -      but they are pretty sweet (and funny!) so I'm including them anyway.  

Leftovers from the Family Visit...

We'll keep the rest of this photo shoot private… ;-)

April 20, 2016 - April 26, 2016 - 21 months and 1 week

Spent the day outside for Earth Day, with Kadin just barely still fitting into his Being Green shirt.  Birch the cat LOVES Kadin for some reason and follows us wherever we go outside.  Kadin laughs and chases him and even occasionally grabs his tail (only if I'm too slow!) but Birch just sprints away, turns around, and comes back again.  
Later in the week, having pizza with Nana Baiba and getting dressed up to celebrate the showing of Hairspray with swing dance lessons, open dancing, and lots of kids running amok!

April 13, 2016 - April 19, 2016 - 21 months

Family Visit!  

Super fun week with Nana Baiba, Butch, Teresa, and Linda.  Kadin had so much fun and felt right at home with the Baltimoron gang.

Love this Family Portrait!

Had a sweet little fire by the River, not a bad place for an afternoon nap...

Silly games with Nana Baiba at my place!

 Kadin hangs out at Baiba and Butchie's place, having fun in the tub with Tia Teresa.  He always enjoys his tub-time! 

Yum!  Teresa and Linda cook up some scrumptious Italian spaghetti sauce and Kadin doesn't hesitate to dip into it.

We have an amazing scenic flight in the Alaska Range.   

Baiba is up front, and here's the rest of the crew in the de Havilland Beaver. 

It's a beautiful sunny day on the glacier, and we make snow angels, admire the beauty, and wonder how we got so lucky. 

It was certainly a lot of fun, but not the first time Kadin had ever seen such splendor so he was fast asleep on the way home.

As many times as I see it, I still can't stop trying to capture the massive beauty of the mountains.

And finally, at the end of the week, and a bit late in the season, I tap 3 of my birch trees.  I put two of the spouts low enough for Kadin to reach and he'd grab a spoon and a cup and try pour it out to drink it.  The sweetest yummiest water ever!