May 17-31, 2018 - 3 years 10 months

Birch's favorite time with Kadin is when the little rambunctious boy is sleeping!

Buenos Días Kadito!  He's always a bit grumpy in the morning and especially in front of the camera.

We finally hung the birdhouse Kadin made at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.  We're a bit late in the season, but hopefully a chickadee will decide to make it a home.

Out on a hike in the forest around town and the river and Kadito climbed up on the hump at the base of this spruce and posed for a perfect portrait.  ¡Te quiro tanto Kadito, mi monito!

August 16 - 30, 2017 - 3 years 1 month

Kadin loves climbing up on the old fire truck at the station and can even climb down without my help.  My little monkey!

Kadin wasn't there for loading up the logs onto a trailer, but it is still one of his favorite videos to watch.  The bigger the machinery the better in his world!

Kadin will now put on the googles but still won't go under the water with them on.

After swimming, Kadin and I went out to lunch with Alden and his family.  Here, Kadin and Alden are both using the butter knife to try to cut up the ice cubes.  They are definitely two kindred spirits.

Alden's mom, Nikki, and his sister, Althea, read books together while the other two were playing with knives.

It wouldn't be summer in Alaska without at least one puddle photo.  Here, Kadin's shoe came off in the sticky mud and he just kept on running with out it.  I also tried to keep his cute red Converses out of the mud, but I knew that it was not going to last.

The rains began in August, and along with them, many beautiful rainbows.  Kadin would only pose for the photo if his curly fries could be part of it.

One rainy day, we drove down to the Alaska Transportation Museum and fortunately, it stopped raining intermittently and we enjoyed the outside exhibits.  Kadin sure looks little next to these giant planes!

He was quite disappointed to find out that we were not allowed to climb inside the planes!  

There was a train set up that he could climb into and he would race through each car as fast as he could, jumping on the seats, grabbing any levers he found, and avoiding the scary barmaid manequin in the dining car.

A gift arrived in the mail for Kadin and after opening it, he studied it closely to figure out what it was….

Tinkerbell stickers!!!! Yay!!!!  Thanks Abuela Baiba!! 

June 1 - 15, 2017 - 2 years 11 months

Come on in, Mama!

Stop taking my picture! 

The TRAIN! Choo choo...

Kadin's new tag-a-long bike so we can safely ride on the road and it's so much more fun than the Chariot trailer.

Video of Kadin being a cycling dare-devil and listening for cars.

December 16 - 31, 2016 - 2 years 5 months

I told Kadin these were our Christmas "stockings" and so he tried to put them on his feet and walk around!

Playing hide-and-go-seek with the lockers at the Wasilla pool, where we go occasionally to swim.

Making gifts for others.

All the gifts wrapped and under the tree!  Yay Mama!

Christmas day – train set and table from Grandma Baiba.

Naked chef boy loved his new kitchen!

Playgrounds have their challenges in the winter but they are still super fun!

New Year's eve fireworks!  Oooh.. Aaaah…!
Kadin loved them once I put his ear protection on his head.  Before that, the loud noise just made him cry.

May 18, 2016 - May 24, 2016 - 22 months and 1 week

The frog eggs are now… tadpoles!  Here is one of the little mini pond/swamp aquariums I set up.

And here are two tadpoles!  The one on the left is from May 18th and the one on the right is from May 24th.  Growing fast… just like Kadin!  He is just starting to notice that something is squirming around in the tank.

Kadin does yoga with me!  Downward dog… 

It was Will's birthday so a great excuse for a party.  Kadin got to run around like crazy with Sky and Judy again and was fascinated by the balloon that sang "Happy Birthday".  

We biked around downtown and Kadin got to see the train pass by!  It was his first time noticing the train and afterwards, he loved pointing out the trains in his books and saying, "Chugga chugga, chugga chugga" over and over again. 

We went over to Trapper Creek for Rick Ernst's memorial and Kadin took the John Muir quote to heart and frolicked in the meadow, collecting dandelion tops for me.

This is a portion of the John Muir quote:  

"Let children walk with nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star…" 

September 9 - September 15, 2015 - 14 months

We start our journey, jumping on the train from Talkeetna to Anchorage, admiring the amazing autumn colors as we pulled out of town.

Kadin loved travelling without his car seat - standing up to look out the window, watching the world zip by... 

He could even stand up on the seats and run around in the aisles!

Eventually the excitement wore him out, but he could even sleep in odd positions since he wasn't strapped in a 5-point harness!

At the airport, I found a decent sized rock that Kadin had slipped into his diaper bag - as if my bags weren't heavy enough with all of his other toys!

We finally made it to Boulder, Colorado, for my friend Lia's wedding. It was hot as Hades and Kadin preferred running around half naked most of the time there!

Kadin at the rehearsal dinner, held at a beautiful tea house designed in Tajikistan.  

The lovely bride and groom, Lia and Ben, during their beautiful ceremony.   

And the lovely Kadin, on the day of the wedding, studying all of the guests and their fancy outfits and parasols.

The day after the wedding, when we were both sick as dogs with high fevers and congestion and a nasty cough, having to travel by bike and 3 buses to our hotel in Denver.  Kadin still managed to smile at me whenever possible.  Such a little trooper!

August 12 - August 18, 2015 - 13 months and 1 week.

A few random photos from the week….

Here is Kadin, sleeping with his best bed-buddy, Birch.   Even though Kadin sometimes grabs his feet and his tail, Birch still purrs and loves being around him.  

Another random day, reading his books, and playing with toys scattered everywhere. 

A fun TAT party at Paul's house, with a bunch of little ones playing on the trampoline.  Mostly super fun, with the occasional head-bonk between kids and a few seconds of crying… then, back for more!

Kadin also surprised everyone at the party by sticking his fingers in the cocktail sauce - and liking it so much he went back for seconds!