August 1 - August 14, 2018 - 4 years 1 month

Gotta love dem O's!

We met up with Ama, Maya and a friend of theirs and went on a train ride to the Spencer Whistle Stop.  Then we boarded our rafts and got to explore and touch icebergs on the Spencer Glacier Lake.  And finally, we floated down the Placer River.  Kadin loved the class I and II rapids and kept yelling, "more waves, more waves".  At one point, I had to put him in the middle of the boat because he kept leaning too far over to touch the water.  Towards the end, he got a bit bored of the flat water and I had him jump up and down in the raft trying to make his own waves (with the guide's ok, of course).

Mama Ama with Maya.

After the trip, we went to a restaurant in Cooper Landing, where Kadin found a bunch of wild raspberry bushes and was happy to pick some for Maya.  He even offered some raspberries to a random man eating at the restaurant, saying, "They're really yummy… you should eat some."

We said good-bye to Ama and Maya the next day and Kadin was so sleepy, he slept as I got him out of his carseat, put him in the cart, did all my shopping, and then put him back in his carseat!

Instead of going straight home, we decided to camp another couple of nights and Kadin always looks forward to a campfire so he can roast his marshmallows and hotdogs!

The second campsite was by a lake and Kadin was fascinated (and maybe a bit scared) by the crazy energy that these four girls had.  He just stood and stared at them for about 5 minutes before one of them gently brought him into the action.

Conversation in an outhouse (original version in Spanish, mostly):

K: what that say?

J: "Nixon lives" Es un poco una bobada sobre un hombre que esta muerto pero alguien piensa que todavia viva.

K:  Hombre?  No have tetas?  No leche?

J: Sí, Dito.  Los hombres no tiened tetas y no pueden dar leche a los bebes; solo las mujeres.

K:  Tu give me leche?

J: No Kadito, no podia.  Mis tetas no hacian leche.

K: Why tu no leche?

J:  Para tener leche en las tetas, hay que tener el bebe en la barriga, el utero, antes y yo no te tenia en la barriga Kadito.  Otra mujer te llevaba en su utero y como ella no podia cuidarte y te querria mucho, asi que ella te dio a mi para cuidar y ser tu mama.  Eso quire decir que tu eres adoptado.

Conversation in an outhouse (English version):

K: what that say?

J: "Nixon lives" It's a bit silly, about a man who is dead but someone thinks he's still alive.

K:  A man?  So he no have boobs?  He no have milk?

J: Yes, Dito.  Men do not have boobs and they cannot give milk to their babies, only women can do that.

K:  You give me milk?

J: No Kadin, my boobs didn't have any milk.

K: Why you no have milk?

J: To have milk in your boobs, you have to have a baby in your belly, your uterus, beforehand and I didn't have you in my belly, Kadito.  Another woman carried you in her belly. She wasn't able to take care of you and since she loved you very much she gave you to me to care for and be your mommy.  That means you're adopted.

You never know when and where you'll be having these important conversations…. 

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 2-15, 2018 – 3 years 7 months – Fun INDOORS!

Sorry, too many photos again, so I had to split the 2-week period (the fortnight, if you will) into 2 posts, again…

We baked yummy bread shapes using a recipe in a Spanish Sesame Street recipe book.  Kadin loved it!  And the bread was  actually really good.  We shared it that evening with Franny and Jorie during a salmon dinner.

Completely different day.  After swimming we went to eat chinese food and Kadito is adamant about using the chopsticks.  Look at that face of concentration!

This should have been a video, but I didn't get a second chance and only got a series of stills… Fun in his playroom jumping onto the beanbag.

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 30 - February 1, 2018 - Isla Mujeres, Mexico (3 years 6 months) – Last 3 days.

Kadito has already learned to never turn your back on the ocean!  Either that or he just really doesn't want to leave.

Kadito enjoys a strawberry liquado (smoothie) at the beach-side restaurant.

Laughter is such a beautiful thing.  As is that cute little "tickle button"!

He is pointing to some boats in the ocean, I think.  This was when we took the golf cart around the island to check out some other sites.  

At the turtle sanctuary, we saw turtles of all ages getting prepared to be released to the wild.  This is the second stage – outdoor pools.

We bought a little baggie of turtle pellets to feed them (and the gulls).  You can see one little pellet at the edge of the pool between Kadin's foot and the turtle.

This is the final stage for the turtles before they are released – an enclosed part of the ocean.  Lots of fish and gulls and there was even a catshark in there which you can get a quick glimpse of at the end of the video.

We went out for lobster for our last dinner in Mexico and Kadito was the Lobster Monster.  Grrrh!

And Abuela Baiba was the Lobster Eater!  Yum!

Our ferry ride back to Cancun to get to the airport and start the long journey home.  He's such an awesome travel buddy.

January 24-25, 2018 - Playa del Carmen, Mexico (3 years 6 months) - THE CENOTES

Kadin started to get a bit of a sand rash from his sandals so we switched to flip flops!  It took him a bit of practice to walk in them but he would NOT switch back and just kept on practicing.  They have Dora la Exploradora on them.

Speaking of flip flops, Kadito found this one at the cenote and it instantly became a boat… you can see his lips going Brrrroom like the motor.  He almost didn't let me throw it away afterwards - wanted to keep it as his toy boat!

Kadito was amazingly drawn to this girl.  He wanted to play with her and would follow her around the Cenote, asking me, "¡¿La niña, donde está la niña?!" (The girl, where's the girl?!)  Finally, they sat down and Dito could show her all of his toys.  Her name was Anuk.

I was supposed to pick just one of these four photos but just couldn't decide.  So now they are a collage of my little swimmer boy happy in the water.

Kadin is swimming like a champ!  All those Wednesdays at the pool in Wasilla are really paying off.  

There are these little fish in the cenotes that like to eat your dead skin.  Kinda gross but really, more than anything, kinda fun and TICKLISH!  It was hard to not laugh/giggle the whole time!

Our last night in Playa we went to a restaurant that was built within a cave (Restaurante Alux).  We didn't eat there but explored the cave and had a lot of fun.  This video is a bit dark, but Kadin was rockin' out to the music!

Ooops… forgot a photo… my version of a "volante" (a flyer!)… Jumping off the 20' cliff at the Cenote.  Kadito stayed on the pier with Anuk's mom and loved watching me jump.  The first shot is a close up of the second one.

January 17-18, 2018 - Mahahual, Mexico (3 years 6 months)

Kadito found two more friends!   They played for over an hour, running around with "Bebe" the chihuahua puppy, sharing toys, climbing things, pushing me in a hammock, etc. 

Yum!  After you drink the coconut water from a young coconut, you can eat the coconut on the insde.  It's softer and slimier than mature coconut and tastes great, especially with a bit of chile sprinkled on it.  Kadito doesn't like the coconut water but he actually liked the coconut with chile.  This is his first time starting to like a little bit of spice to his foods.

On a side note, with no picture to document it, Kadito found an open bag of Flamin Hot Cheetos on the beach with a few Cheetos still in it and he started to eat them before I could say anything (either about it being "trash" or it being spicy!).  So, I let him eat them, figuring they'd be way too spicy for him, and he LOVED them.  Must have been the MSG.  

Oh, and here's the ingredient list so you see why I don't normally give him these things:  

Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Contains One or More of the Following: Corn, Soybean or Sunflower Oil), flamin hot seasoning (Maltodextrin, salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Artificial Color (Including Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Whey, Onion Powder, Whey Protein Concentrate, Corn Syrup Solids, Natural Flavor, Buttermilk, Garlic Powder, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Diacetate, Sodium Caseinate, Lactic acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, nonfat milk, Sodium Citrate, Carrageenan) , salt.

This was hysterical.  We met a nice woman visiting from another part of Mexico who agreed to take our picture.  I have 6 pictures with various poses of me trying to get him to face the camera.  Ridiculous!  But at least it was silly and fun and he was laughing instead of actually pouting like he usually does.  The woman said she was watching me earlier and thought I looked like the epitome of a woman thoroughly enjoying motherhood. ❤️

Afterwards, we played chase around the letters with me trying to catch him in a photo.

That same afternoon, we took an afternoon stroll along the beach by our camp and encountered two kids by the pier.
One, the girl pictured, was a French Canadian girl who didn't speak English.
The other was a local boy.  He's the one who thought of the great idea to bring a broken beach chair into the water to play on.  Unfortunately, soon after, his father or grandfather showed up, furious that he had wandered down the beach all by himself!!

Our one fully rainy day.  We went on a bike ride, got completely soaked, and then played in all the puddles along the Malecón.  All of the benches were painted – this one had the characters from the Jungle Book.

November 1-7, 2016 - 2 years 3 months… (final week) Bike & Camp Trip on the CA coast!

Bawas video link:

https://youtu.be/k575erSdo4I