July 17 - 31, 2017 - 3 years

We weren't able to keep Sally as a pet.  She wanted to eat our cat Birch and didn't appreciate Kadin's hugs and high energy on a constant level.  But we do still get to take her out for bike rides and forest frolicking which makes all of us happy!

And, we do have a new pet… meet Patch, our 6 year old Nigerian Dwarf goat! 

We went to T-Ball today, where Kadin picked up a bat for the first time and did great!
The "coach" kept trying to get Kadin to do everything just the way it's supposed to be done (one hand here, one there, you stand there, now put the bat here, etc…) and they both got frustrated.  I just handed Dito the bat and said, ok, hit the ball, and he did it – his own way.  It's a good thing to figure stuff out on your own, yet, if that trait sticks around, it might make school a bit challenging… 

Kadin was so excited to help me thin out the carrots that he went a bit overboard and started pulling all of our new-born baby carrots out of the ground and eating them!  They may be small but sure were yummy.

Kadin lined out all of the trucks at the playground today.
If it has wheels and moving parts, he's going to be interested in it! 

Kadito brought all of the mini-carrots he picked with him to show Mia.  I think in the end, Patch ate most of them... 

He was just so photogenic today!  I just can't stand how adorable my little Dito is.
(Of course, he'd correct me: "Dito no pequeño, Dito grande!")

Patch meets Kadin

Third time's a charm

July 14 - 16, 2017 - 3 YEARS OLD!!!

Happy Birthday Kadito!
Abuela Baiba sent him this card, and he put all the stickers on it immediately, starting on the floor of the post office.  

My adorable sleeping baby is now a three year old sleeping child… and still adorable. 

Happy Birthday Kadin!

We spent his actual birthday hanging out at a lake, playing with water, rocks, and mud.  Defintely need to see the video below...

Laura and Kaiya graciously offered to help us make yummy blueberry muffins with cream cheese icing for the party.  Mr. Chef jumped right in with the flour sifter.

Feliz Cumpleaños Kadito!

Calvin and Soleil eagerly wait for Kadito to blow out his candles so they can have some yummy blueberry muffins!  Juniper was there too, watching from her mama's lap.  After we got them all sugared up, we went out in the raft and took turns jumping into the water.  So glad it was a warm sunny day!

July 1 - 13, 2017 - Almost 3 years old…

Kadin meets Wrangell, and it's the classic "boy meets dog"… instant best friends.  We need to make some future play dates with him! 

When I wasn't looking, Kadin grabbed the bottle of Braggs and chugged it.  And loved it.  He definitely goes for the salty stuff! 

Arriba! Arriba! 

As the swing came to a stop, Kadin decided to try to jump off it like the big kids do… but he jumped at the wrong time and belly flopped right onto his nose.  Owww!  After the crying stopped, I asked him if I could take a picture and he smiled and said yes. 

Clean up time! 

A beautiful summer day and we went canoeing on X Lake… Kadito spotted some trolls on a distant beach, so we decided to go visit and share our lunch with them.

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.)

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.

May 16 - 31, 2017 - 2 years 10 months

Can we take her home?  (We ended up leaving her there, although I was tempted… she was as tall as Kadin!)

Arts and crafts at the library.

Popsicles at the library.

Yummy first cake beater - chocolate and peanut butter squares.

Hanging out at the sandbox at the Talkeetna Fly-in.

Balsa wood toy plane flying contest!

Kadin is figuring out how to wind up the balsa wood airplane.

The next day was still sunny and warm, so we tried out our new raft on the lake… Short but fun little trip!

Nice posture, kiddo!

Mama draws a plane at the restaurant to keep Kadin's attention off the t.v.  He helped me by naming all the parts as I drew them.

Marigold planting at the library.  Kadin had planted the marigold seed a few weeks ago and now helped put them in the garden.  

He wasn't the most gentle with them, and may have buried one or two, but he certainly had fun!

Playing on the double swing at Daycare, with Soleil and Judy.  He was having so much fun, I had a hard time getting him into the car!

This time, we had to have a bath at home, not from too much mud, but from the other, yuckier, brown stuff.  :-)
It sure turned an unpleasant struggle into a fun event!

An artistic moment, while he's flying the orange dragon up high in the sky.

Another weekend, another party!  This time, it was a Square-dancing Shakedown Benefit for the Daycare.  Kadin initially was going to have a bunny rabbit face but got distracted mid-paint and ran around for a few hours with just a white face.

In the end, he went with the tiger-face, just like 5 other little boys… ;-)

Swimming in the deep end of the pool… and loving it!

Mi querido delfín.