Here are a bunch of random cute pictures of our little boys (and one of us) from the past couple of months. I’m officially all caught up on blogging… for now.
“They call me Captain Fork.”
Date night! We headed out to our 4th Death Cab for Cutie concert together.
Avery LOVES legos! He and Jonathan built a firetruck together.
A little edamame with your salt?
Avery & Jackson enjoy popsicles together on a sunny day
Ay ay ay! On Cinco-de-Mayo our little Kieron turned one! What can I say that doesn’t sound like a total cliche? It seems like just yesterday… It’s hard to believe… How time flies by… They grow up so fast… Well, you know what I’m trying to say!
Our first few days with Kieron were so magical. Nestled in the safe confines of the birthing center with all the sweet nurses who constantly checked on us, changed his diapers, and remarked, “what a cute baby!” I basked in the glory of new-motherhood. There was nothing to worry about except for taking care of this precious, sweet little gift. He was so cute and helpless, and when he cried, he made a sorrowful “laaa” noise that sounded like he was singing.
So how do I sum up Kieron at one year old? I’m generalizing here, but at this point, Avery is my shy, sensitive boy with the engineering brain. Kieron is more of a brut and a bruiser… and a flirt. He likes to make noise by banging things together, he has an insatiable appetite, and when he hears music, he can’t help but move to the beat. He’s so easygoing, but he likes to get into everything. When Avery was a baby and would get into something he shouldn’t, I’d simply redirect him and he was fine with it. Kieron however, is a little bit more determined, so this tactic doesn’t go as smoothly. He still doesn’t crawl or walk. His main methods of moving are bottom scooting, cruising along furniture, and walking behind his push car. Sometimes he “army crawls.” His main words are “da” (daddy) ga (give me, or I want) “baaa” (bath), and “mmm mmm!” When he eats, he repeats the latter over and over between bites. He even says it with both fists up for extra emphasis. His new favorite place to hang out is in front our our toy kitchen. He opens every cupboard, pulls everything out, and usually ends up waving a toy whisk and mixing spoon. Maybe he’s a future top chef?
Grammy and Papa came out from Texas for Kieron’s birthday. We had a small family celebration complete with tacos, cupcakes, and fake mustaches. I was a little surprised that Kieron wasn’t keen on the funfetti cupcakes, but I’m sure that will all change by next year. Happy birthday Kieron! We love you so much!
Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a month and a half since our last post! We do have a good excuse though. At the end of April we moved! We now reside in Snoqualmie, WA, about 25 min northeast of where we previously lived. Although it was bittersweet to leave our great neighbors and friends, we’re adjusting well. We love our new house, the neighborhood, and the town.
The move all happened very quickly. We’d been trying to sell our house for a long time with no success, and we finally admitted to ourselves that we weren’t going to be able to make the change we wanted to make unless we rented our house out. So on a whim we decided to post the house on Craigslist and see what happened. Within a week we had suitable tenants and were looking for a place to move into. Fortunately, the stars aligned just perfectly, and we found a house we all love in the area we wanted. So it was a very busy month or so, but now we’re all situated and enjoying our new digs.
Move-in day!
Everything ready to go
Avery enjoys a brownie after the house has been packed
Don’t forget the ice cream
Begin the unpacking!
The boys assemble some shelves
We moved Easter weekend, so we had an egg hunt in the new house while it was still empty
Move-in dinner: frozen pizza!
Avery couldn’t wait to take a bubble bath in the big tub
Playing at the park across the street
Our house is the brown one on the left
Avery’s birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, so Jonathan took the afternoon off work to celebrate. We opened presents, ate cupcakes, and spent lots of time just hanging out together and breaking in Avery’s gifts.
That Saturday we threw a birthday party at our local bounce house. About a dozen of Avery’s friends came to celebrate with him. They had a blast wearing themselves out!
Avery is a sweet, sensitive kid with a vivid imagination, even for a four-year-old. He loves playing dress-up, and his favorite roles are: Superman, pirate captain, knight/dragon trainer, and chef. He has a reputation at preschool and Little Gym as a ladies man. I have to admit, this isn’t much of a surprise, as he’s not the rough-and-tumble, guy’s guy type, but is laid back, mild mannered, and (mostly) gentle. He adores his little brother, but also enjoys testing his limits with him. One moment he’ll give Kieron a hug, and the next he’ll pull him over. Avery is all about being a grown-up, and takes offense if we refer to him as anything but. He asks to be measured every day so he can see if he’s grown, and at meals he talks about how his muscles are growing. This works to our advantage, as we frequently find ourselves saying “grown-ups do…..” or “…has protein in it and will help you grow.” He’s very verbal, and often says things that melt our hearts like “I love you so much” or “you’re the best.”
Happy birthday Avery! We love you so much and you’re the best!
The birthday boy
I’m four!
Cupcakes!
Brotherly love.
Our attempt at a group photo
Aaarrgghhhhh matey!
He actually went to sleep with the hook on!
I know parents always marvel at the passage of time, but really, where did the last ten months go? For that matter, where did the past four years go? I can’t believe I’m planning Avery’s fourth birthday party right now!
Last Saturday was one of those beautiful, crisp winter days in the Seattle suburbs, so we took the boys to the park and brought the camera along. Kieron’s still got some time to go before he’s walking, but he didn’t let that stop him from enjoying what the park had to offer.
At ten months old, Kieron’s preferred method of moving around is “bottom shuffling,” or scooting around the floor in a seated position. I’d never heard of this until he started doing it. Sometimes he will slither in circles, and every so often he’ll go backwards a little bit, but he hasn’t worked out the logistics of going forward yet. In the past couple of days he’s begun getting on his knees and forearms when placed on his tummy, so I think crawling isn’t too far off. He definitely likes to get into things, so we’re in big trouble when he does start crawling.
He has an appetite like a horse. I’m not actually sure if he ever gets full. He eats puffs and cheerios, and likes to chew on bread, but he does not like chunks in his baby food. We’ve been trying for a while now with the chunkier textures, and he really lets us know he doesn’t like them. But baby food, rice cereal, yogurt… I think he could win an eating contest with those. If we pause while we’re feeding him he actually starts yelling at us!
Kieron is a sweet, social baby, and is still very smiley. He gets startled sometimes though, and will start to cry if he’s around someone with a boomy voice. He loves to talk/flirt with people, and sometimes catches strangers off guard with his cheerful “hi!” He says dada a lot, and sometimes mama, awee (Avery) and we can tell “uh-oh” is right around the corner.
Back at home
Here’s Kieron right before we woke him up from a nap, so peaceful
And after
Sir Avery, the dragon trainer
Our little teether
