June 1-15, 2018 - 3 years 11 months

Shut yer mouth, kid!
(just kidding, he did it to himself, for fun!)

Munching on some curly fries and at Live at 5.

The dogs LOVE his dump truck!

Mama, me do this?  When me hombre?

Spending quality time with Kadin, catching mosquitos as they feed on me, putting them into the spiderweb, and watching the spider wrap up the tasty morsel.  Kadin now loves spiders and doesn't kill them.  Yay!

Hey Mama, is that plant thirsty? It want agua?
(We had a sudden downpour of rain and he rain out onto the patio at Twister and was essentially showering in the drips from the rain gutter as he filled up the bucket to give to the plants.)

Watch this Mom!  Just like the Dukes of Hazard!

How did he get so big?  Relaxing and reading a book while I go inside and order us some food.  

Happy Birthday to me!  "Jota para ti Mama!"  ("J is for you Mom"

Kadin loves hanging out with Mr. Ernie and his grandkids at the library.

May 1-9, 2018 - 3 years 10 months

Proud Mama moment… I ordered breaded green beans for us at the Sheep Creek Lodge as a lame attempt to provide my child with a vegetable and guess what!  He not only loved them but peeled the greasy breading off and ate only the green bean part and said, "Yummy!!"

Later on, a band started up, playing fun rockabilly and lounge music and Kadin said, "Too loud" and would only watch from outside.  (Can you spot him?!)

My little helper these days… "Me help Mom, ok?"  And he cleaned every window on my car, including the sideview mirrors.  He started to try to wash the entire car, and I managed to convince him that he had already helped out plenty.  

OK, this might be one of my favorites… picturing him as a 30-year-old intellectual in his university office… absolutely too cute!

We must have spent over an hour playing in an old log pile, climbing up and down, "catching fish in the lake" (the bottom of the pile was the lake, sticks were our catch), and getting Bucky to follow him down the rabbit hole.

Buckarooni!

Our new favorite bathing spot on the 2nd floor of the Fairview.  It's my favorite because, one, I can get in the tub as well, and, two, they let me order a drink and bring it up to the bath.  Heavenly!

Kadito, Buck, and I had a great time just playing in the hollow across the street from our house.  Kadin would throw the ball down into it and we would sometimes have to give Bucky directions to find the ball – and he got it!  Gee (right), Haw (left), Uh uh (nope), Da Vuelta (turn around), and Sigue, sigue (keep going).  Kadin won't let me take many photos but he loves showing his talents on video!

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…

February 16-28, 2018 - 3 years 7 months

Kadin's art for his Mama…

And Kadin's art for his Abu Baiba.
He was very specific as to who got which painting.

When we go to pick up our milk, Kadito loves checking out the cows who are giving it to us.
That particular cow in the photo, however, is a beef cow grandma and she's HUGE.

I got a used little car bed for Kadito.  We still share a bed, but it's fun to play in and eventually may even be slept in…

First… the cake…

Then, the cream cheese icing…

Feliz Cumpleaños Abu Baiba!!!
(decorated with a bit acai powder mixed with the icing)

And, a video, of Kadin playing with Bucky in the snow.

February 2-15, 2018 – 3 years 7 months – Fun in the SNOW!

We're back!  Lots of snow and Kadin jumps right in and wants to help clear the car off.  

Yay! Snow!  Let's throw it up in the air!  And have it fall on our head… Yay!  

Snow angel.

The snow was so powdery and soft we could run and jump and land it it and then just lay there like we were in a cozy bed. The warm sunshine was nice too.

Mostly, Kadito doesn't walk too far in the vast snowy world, but sometimes he runs off, turns around, and looks at me… You coming, Mama?

January 19-21, 2018 - Mahahual, Mexico (3 years 6 months)

The next day, it was sunny again, and we went on another boat/snorkel trip, this time with a couple from Homer, Kristen and Fernando.  I didn't get a good photo of Kadin on the boat, but the snorkelling was awesome with lots of sea turtles and rays (I think manta rays and/or eagle rays?)

View of our cozy home, after I had a chance to clean it up a bit while Kadito was napping.

Kadito finds more friends.  The boy in the white lightening shirt was sweet and he and Kadito got along great.  The other two he'd met before and they still have a bit more to learn about sharing toys.  Dito was asking me why they wouldn't share their truck when he was sharing his car.  Eventually, we had to leave and I let the boys know it was because we don't play with kids who don't share.

Ay, que rico! 

Our last night in Mahahual and Kadito breaks open his backpack to show off all of his toys.  I found the key is to try and have more than one of everything to make sharing a bit easier.  However, Kadito made it a bit difficult because he kept losing all of his MatchBox cars in the sand!

June 16 - 30, 2017 - 2 years 11 months

Chilling in a tarp on the phone.   

Proud Mama displaying Kadin's first girth hitch.  He is constantly trying to tie knots and hook his various toys up to ropes/cords.  

You can't really tell, but he is asleep and still hoding his book!
I pulled this catalog out of the recycle bin and it's his favorite book - full of boats and wild animals.  

Kadin is bottle feeding Pinny, the one and only kid that survived Patches dystocia. 

Kadin and I at the first ever Talkeetna Pride Parade.  Not sure why my phone broke up the picture so much but this was the best one of the two of us.  Kadin was happy (he has icecrean, doesn't he?) but he was intently watching all the commotion. In fact, I had to carry him because if I tried to get him to walk he just stopped and turned around in circles watching everthing.  

Eventually Kadin got too heavy and I found a friend of ours on his tricycle so Kadin rode in the back with Bowie.

Can you find Kadin?   If not, there is a clue at the end of this post...

After all the Pride festivities, we went out for pizza, beer, and music at Mountain High Pizza.  Yum!!

Leftover fruits and veggies going into the Ninja.  Best way for me to get yummy greens into Kadin at this point.

Yummy!!

Kadin brings the cat inside for the night.  Birch loves Kadin and is amazingly tolerant! 

Random Talkeetna scene at the library.  Probably Granddad, his baby granddaughter, and his gun.  I love living here.

Video of Kadin bottle-feeding Pinny, the baby goat.

Another video of Kadin and Pinny, the baby goat (Patches' baby)

Clue for finding Kadin and I in the big Pride photo:  
(We are just to the left of the girl with the white hula hoop.  I am wearing a fuzzy rainbow hat.)