January 22-23, 2018 - Playa del Carmen, Mexico (3 years 6 months) - THE TOWN

On the bus to Playa del Carmen, Kadin wanted to play with my hair ties and asked me to put them in his hair.  Too cute!!!  Unfortunately, he says, "Mi niña!" now, and I had to tell him that boys can wear ponytails too but if he wants to pretend he is a girl, that's ok too!  

We stayed in a really nasty hostel only one night, but it's advantage was that it was right next to this plaza (Parque Los Fundadores), where lots of exciting things were happening.  The beach was right here as well, but we didn't hang out on the beach that much in this town.

Our first night in Playa, we watched the Mayan Dancers.  They were super colorful and fun.  You could ask to have your picture taken with them but Kadito was a bit leary of some of the dancers who were dressed up as animals and a skeleton.

Kadito liked the dancers but he LOVED the Voladores de Papantla (Flyers from Papantla).   He heard the drums going indicating it was about to start and took off running to see them fly. 

It's a blurry photo, but this is how Kadin watched the flyers, riveted in his seat, fascinated.  I asked if he wanted to do it and he said, "Mi hombre, me do it." (When I'm a man, I'll do it)

And here they are… Los Voladores de Papantla… This video is from YouTube because none of mine turned out.

I finally convinced Kadin to leave the Flyers and go out for dinner.  Here he is with a mouth full of pizza, watching the musicians play in the restaurant.  "Too loud!", he said.  My little monkey.

Another blurry photo, but too adorable to leave out and I wanted to include a photo of him wearing his surfer-boy necklace made out of a cut shell embedded with crushed blue stones.

The next morning, we left the nasty hostel and walked for about an hour to our new place, a sweet little condo I found on Air B&B.  It was already pretty hot so we got some ice cream… and even with ice cream in his hand, the little punk wouldn't smile for the camera.   He was happy, I swear!

January 1 - 15, 2017 - 2 years 6 months

I finally broke down and trimmed Kadin's bangs since they were hanging in his face.  He actually was really good for it!

What a cutie!

Kadin wanted to pull me in the sled!

Kadin missed a day or two of daycare due to a possible pink-eye or some other eye allergy or irritant.  He could barely see when he'd woken up this morning.

Ahhhh, nothing like a relaxing warm bubble bath!

Kadin was wiped out by another kid sledding down the hill as he was hiking uphill (she lost control and veered to the side where everyone was going up).  He got a nice bloody nose from the impact but after about a half hour of crying and cleaning him up, he said he wanted to go sledding some more instead of going home!  

Here we are, heading back down the hill.  Weeee!
After the collision, Kadin was obsessed about the safety of others below him and would not go down the hill if someone else was walking up!  

Daycare dress up and here's my little bumblebee!

September 1 - 15, 2016 - 2 years 2 months

Kadin wanted to play with a hairband and loved trying to see himself in the mirror with a ponytail. 

We went berrying picking and there weren't any left because someone had arrived before us!  I actually got to see the black bear briefly as he/she was sneaking by, trying to avoid us.

Kadin slept through most of the berry picking and bear sighting!

As we made our way home, Kadin had a big tantrum about something… can't even remember what.  

Best cure for the tantrum blues…. SNACKTIME!

Kadito, el cocinero.  Kadin loves anything to do with cooking!

Kadin and Farah running around naked together… what cute little tooshies!

My mini garden - chives and sorrel!  

Kadin helps in the office at daycare.

More blueberry picking!  This time, we were up on the tundra.  It was still late in the season and we didn't get enough to keep us happy for the whole winter, but it certainly was fun!  Kadin has learned that instead of picking them and eating them, he can just confiscate our jar and eat and eat and eat!!!

It's autumm and all the plants are turning.  This is Kadin's favorite… high bush cranberry.

Kadin "wearing" his undies!   

Gorgeous double rainbow made my day when everything else happening was rotten. Can't have rainbows without rain, right?!

Kadin enjoying the rainbow.

Short attention span! Been there, done that, time to go home now Mama...

Best buds, snuggling at bedtime.

The video is of Kadin chasing a laser pointer… and figuring out it's just a speck of light. 

Here's the link for the video if you can't watch it on the blog: https://youtu.be/GTHtbHjiDkY 

December 30, 2015 - January 5, 2016 - 17 months and 3 weeks

Costa Rica!!  Our first week, arriving in Liberia and traveling to and around Monte Verde, the cloud forest.

First, the long, long flight (5 1/2 hours to LAX, another 5 1/2 hours to CR).  Kadin did great, I was exhausted. 

Then, two buses to get us up to Monte Verde.  Only minor glitches, but we had a great time waiting at the bus stop restaurant!

Sadly, these two were the only Tapirs we saw on our trip.

 Yay!  Finally out hiking in the cloud forest.  Kadin was so excited about everything he saw — leaves, bugs, birds, ants, etc.

 He was even excited to see other hikers!  Everyone was so friendly, he began running up to people, especially men who liked or had kids, and holding out his arms, asking to be picked up.   These two were from Spain.

This hike had some awesome suspension bridges.  My favorite spanned a huge green gorge and the clouds slowly descended upon us as we approached it.

Kadin got all excited and started pointing at the ground.  I went over to see what he found and it was a beautiful walking stick insect!  My little naturalist!

Hiking was always putting Kadin to sleep, to the point where we decided to take a photo during his naps to be able to show him what he missed!

Many of the places we stayed had resident dogs, and this 10 month old golden retriever loved Kadin.  Kadin liked him too, although he was a bit too rambunctious and mouthy for him.

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And now for a few beautiful nature shots… 

This is a venomous Side-striped Palm Pit Viper (Bothriechis lateralis)

And, a friendly Costa Rican Orange-kneed Tarantula.

Tons of hummingbirds at a coffee shop near the entrance of Monte Verde National Park. 

This is a Green-crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula)

This one is a Magenta-Throated Woodstar (Calliphlox Bryantae).

and this is a female Purple-throated Mountain-gem (Lampornis calolaema).  

June 24, 2015 - 11 Months, 10 Days Old

We went to the grand opening of our new library and Kadin had a blast!  Pulling books off the shelves, walking around with the help of a little chair, and playing with lots of kids his age and up.

June 11, 2015 - 10 Months, 28 Days Old

After Kadin ate dinner, he was so messy, we even had to wipe down his head… which led to wet hair which led to sculpting a mini-mohawk.  

May 11, 2015 - 9 Months, 27 Days Old

Another mini-bath in the sink.  He practically jumped in when he saw the sink filling with water and sat contentedly, fiddling with the faucet knobs while I took the photo.