October 16 - 27, 2017 - 3 years 3 months

October 1 - 15, 2017 - 3 years 3 months

We went out for sushi and Kadin did a great job with his chopsticks!

ARGGH.  He LOVED the calamari.  He actually ate everything but wasn't too excited about the raw salmon.

As a surprise reward for being so good in the restaurant and in Value Village, I let Kadin pick out a toy and he is super excited about his new pirate ship!

It even has little mini wheels so it can smoothly sail the concrete seas.

Soleil's Birthday Party!!! Soleil is the girl to the far left.  

Mr. Monkey Acrobat in the bath.

In aerial yoga, this would be the orangutan pose.

Throwing rocks and sticks and leaves and watching them sink or float down the coast like a pirate ship.  (Everything is a pirate ship these days!)

It took Kadin over an hour to finally work up the courage to approach Sparky, the fire dog.  Sparky was quiet and patient and eventually Kadin wanted to show him all of his toys and art.  He even started to "read" the fire activity book to him!

We visited Wendy for a lovely tea and biscuits and a fun romp with her dogs.  Kadin found a feather on her window sill and he let me put it in his hair.  I love his facial expression in this picture for some reason.  

Yes, he's still running around naked.  But the awesome thing is that he had watched me mop the floor a few minutes prior to this and then immediately picked up the mop, mopped the floor, and used the squeegie thing to get the water out.  Kids' amazing ability to watch and imitate never ceases to surprise me.

October 27 - 29, 2016 - 2 years 3 months… (very short) Trip to Oakland, CA!

The morning we arrived at Emily and Jen's place, we chilled in their backyard, recovering from the flight.

But that same afternoon, we headed out on a lovely hike with Suzy, Bug, Mya (pictured here), and Emily/Jen's dog Juneau in the Oakland Hills.  It rained intermittently, and Kadin was definitely a bit "fragile", but he loved watched the dogs and the birds and the raindrops.

The next morning, Kadin was eager to explore Emily's garage/workshop and quickly went to work with a screwdriver.  Cole would have been jealous, but he was already off to daycare.

Pre-wedding-ceremony fun, hanging out with the band and meeting new friends.

After the ceremony, there was an awesome puppet show by Miss Butterfly and Kadin skeddaddled his way up front and was enthralled.  More than once he needed some gentle encouragement to just watch and not try to participate by grabbing the puppets himself!
[also note that there are no photos of the ceremony… we lasted about 5 minutes and then had to find someplace else to go and fidget/run around.  Miss Butterfly helped us out then as well, escorting us to the play room where he could run around.]

Kadin was enthralled with a few of the older kids who could blow bubbles for him.

Suddenly alone in the spotlight, he wasn't quite sure what to do and looked right at me in all his adorableness.

Yay, the other kids are back and… with more ba-was!!!!

Oh what a night… 

Didn't even budge as I took off his shoes and jeans….

The next day, I left Kadin with Emily and Cole and went to a post-wedding brunch.  Here is the lovely bride Ama with her daughter Maya.  

Meanwhile, Kadin and Cole had a blast, playing (and fighting) with all of Cole's toys.
[BTW Cole, THANK YOU for sharing all your toys with Kadin – it was definitely a highlight of his trip!]

Emily, Cole, and Kadin spent the morning at the playground.  I haven't gotten any of the playground photos yet, but from this shot, I suspect they had a good time!  

October 16 - 26, 2016 - 2 years 3 months… Trip to Baltimore!

Kadin's first steamed crab!  He loved them so much, he ignored his kid's meal pizza slice. 

All dressed up and ready to PARTY!  

Aw, mama, why couldn't I keep the green glasses and spiky hair?
Actually, I would have been fine with it, but he broke the glasses and his hair just sort of fell into place.  He's adorable to me no matter what his style is!

Brennan entertains Chase and Kadin while the rest of us are dancing up a storm with mom, my 95 year old grandmom!

Nice little playground right in Herring Run Park.

Say aaaahhh!  Like a little birdie, Kadin opens wide, waiting for grandpa Butch to spoon in some yummy ice cream!   

More crabs!  Just after this photo, he had a bit of a shock as the Old Bay Seasoning from the outside of the shell hit his taste buds, but he wasn't really too bothered by it and kept on eating.

Mauww!  Mauww!
That's what Kadin calls the airplanes, like the sound they make as they are zooming overhead.  After seeing the luggage trains and the little towtruck that helps the plane get out to the runway, he went home and tried to attach his little cars to the nose of his planes!

The best part about this video is the running commentary… and Kadin's reaction when Baiba asks, "This doesn't record voices, does it?".

Too funny!

Here's the link, Mom:    https://youtu.be/Fk5DmmC9j1M

October 1 - 15, 2016 - 2 years 3 months

Bubble bath at Mia's house!  Yay!  Ba-was! Ba-was!

Focused, better not fall or you'll bite your tongue in half! :-)

Sharing his bread pieces with another kid in Wasilla.

Yeah, he has some random wound below his eye, but geez, isn't he just adorable!

It's a bit blurry, but note the empty Canine Bordetella vaccine bottle that is serving as a pilot now.

After the balloon filled with warm water is used to compress his eye, Kadin gets to play with it.

Video link:

https://youtu.be/sZGVJ5SObmo