Finishing up 2018: August 15 - December 31, 2018 (4 1/2 years old)

OK, I'm finally finishing up 2018…

Kadin and Baiba in Rehobeth on the kiddy rides - August 2018

Kadin visits his cousin Maddox - August 2018

We took the flag-stop train to a pretty camping spot along a river.  Nice fall camping trip (September).

Kadin's first school picture - Preschool

Yes, he is repetitively stabbing his pumpkin with knives.  No, I am not overly worried about this.  :-)

Kadin all dressed up for Suzy and Kassie's wedding in November.  This is one of the few photos when he wasn't wearing a mask due to all of the smoke from the Paradise Fires.

Feliz Navidad mi amor

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

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!