January 9 - 26, 2019 – 4 years 7 months: Barra de Potosí, Mexico, Part 1

.

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

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…. 

July 15 - July 31, 2018 - 4 years 2 weeks

Those bloody leeches! I can't remember if we kept the one that did this to Kadin as a pet or not.  At least they are kind enough to apply a topical anesthetic first.  Didn't hurt at all.

P.S.  The fun part of being so behind in my posts is that I can relive all our summer fun while it's cold and snowing outside!

July 12-16, 2018 - 4 years old ¡¡Feliz Cumpleaños!!

July 1-9, 2018 - 3 years 11.5 months - Forest Fair Weekend!

I found a leech on Kadin's nether regions and after letting him play with it a bit, Kadin asked me, "Can we keep him?  I want to name him poopie-poopie."  OK… time to Google "how to care for your pet leech."  Wow, gotta love Google.  I am NOT the first Mom to ask that question!

We went to the Forest Fair in Girdwood this weekend and the kids just took over the place, running across the stage and having a blast.

  

Here's a video of him dancing to the live tunes!

And then playing with the corn hole toss game in the beer garden (while Mama sat on the side and had a beer).

After the playground, Kadin wanted to check out the skatepark next door and was fascinated by all the tricks the skaters were doing on the ramps.  I think we spent 2 hours here.  The skaters loved him and even lent him a board to play around with.

Mostly Kadito has way too much energy to sit and do art, but this was a rare after-lunch quiet moment and we spent about an hour at the kid's table, making an octopus and decorating butterflies.

Walking around the festival and randomly finding a few hula hoops to try out.