Kennon is walking!!

Maddie and Maddox SHARING the one paintbrush that we have- need to make a Hobby Lobby run!! 

Maddox and Grammy at the petting zoo.

Maddox on Doughboy-only this time she did not RIDE him. For some reason was too afraid and got down before the ride even started which is strange since she rode completely by herself the last time we were there-fatigue factor.

We are weaning Kennon off of his bottles. He just gets 1 in the AM and 1 in the PM otherwise he does well with sippy cups and water bottles. 

Maddox would NOT ride the carousel in addition to not riding the horse so Kennon capitalized on her ticket. His first ride!! 

I have a feeling Kennon will be able to crawl up this by the end of the summer. He tries to do everything Maddox does. 

We have had a great weekend!!  I am really trying to par down the amount of writing I do and focus more on the pictures and the highlights but I tend to be a wordy person ( as most of you know :)  so it is really hard.   So of course by the title, you know that Kennon is walking. Unfortunately I haven't gotten a chance to get any video as of yet but I will. He is still pretty wobbly and prefers to crawl of course but he managed to string together about 6 steps on Saturday night at church.  So he is walking about 3 months before Maddox did!!  He is going to be an active boy. We also discovered ( thanks to Peg Mineck:)   that he is getting another tooth, up on top....which maybe explains the completely ERRATIC AND UNDESIRABLE sleeping pattern he has had of late.  It is on the top left and just barely pushing out.  Hoping once that is out he will be a happier kid.  But, I should say he has been generally happy, although a definite Mama's boy still!! He loves to crash toys together to make noises as well as giggle hysterically at Maddox through the mesh on her bed rails. I think he is going to be a happy kid once we get his sleeping figured out.  Let's see what else.  Maddox is learning how to SPIT her toothpaste out ( much like her buddy Hannah up the road...funny Jody and I didn't talk about this milestone with our girls but it just seems we are always on similar paths of development and discovery).  So we started using the REAL toothpaste. She had decided she likes Eric's flavor more than mine for some reason. But, either way I don't care, it leaves her with nice minty fresh breath ( a step up from the fruit flavored fluoride free stuff that does nothing for her pacifier dragon breath:)    She still has a bit of coordination to work on getting her spit into the bowl and not her hair but we are making steps.  Grammy came last week for a visit so we headed to the zoo and played outside in the HEAT with the bubbles and the water table. I got a few pics although it was pretty hot and Maddox gets tired so quickly in the AM as we are still trying to transition her to one nap in the afternoon.  She is actually down at Maddie's house this morning which is a great way to keep her awake and  happy. Maddie will be 3 in August so there are close in age and play abilities. Maddie came to our house last Monday morning, I got a few pictures of them painting!!   We hired a sitter Saturday morning to stay with Maddox so Eric and I ( and Kennon) could go test drive some mini vans. With the big Colorado trip coming up and our basement project on hold to make way for The Planning Center's exciting move and massive RENOVATION project we decided we'd go ahead and purchase a mini van. ( Not sure how that all equates but it does make sense to Eric and I in case you are wondering how that all works out to equal the need to purchase a van:)  But with any car purchase it is a fairly large undertaking and even more so now because a van is more money and has more bells and whistles and we have the kids to consider as compared to before we were basically just buying the vehicle for Eric and I. So we are still in the process and will be for a few weeks I fear but that's ok. The end result will be that we have a cool new ride that will last us for years!!  Eric and I were already talking about the great road trips we are going to take with the kids.  Maddoxism for the week-  I'd say probably 50% of the conversation around our house is about the subject of poop or pee!!  Eric and I both try to keep tabs on the kids voiding habits and details when the other is gone.  I went to the Y on Saturday afternoon and left Eric with the kids. When I came home I asked Maddox if she had gone poop ( she is having a tendency to hold her poo poo when she is busy playing, a typical 2 year old thing to do....too much holding stops the system up though....not good) She replied 'Yes', which didn't quite suit the detail I was desiring.  So I asked her if it was a 'Big poop or a small poop' and she replied 'It was a HHHUUUGGGGEEE poop'  with the emphasis on the HUGE and she even curled up her lips when she said the word HUGE.  LOL!  Then today we were having lunch.  I said after lunch we are going to go upstairs and take a nap.  She replied very quickly with her tired looking eyes 'I'm going to take a REALLY GOOD nap'!!   How can one almost 3 year old be so happy to sleep....as I now hear Kennon waking up after just 30 minutes of sleep grrrr....!!  Really Kennon can't you take any lessons from your sister??  Oh well,  I guess I'd be bored if they were exactly the same right?? One of my favorite pastimes right now is putting Maddox and Kennon in front of the numerous bookshelves we have around here ( thanks for all the great books grandparents, aunts and uncles) Maddox practically knows all her books by heart, but Kennon doesn't.  She LOVES to read to him in her own little Maddox version.  They will sit and read books together for what seems like a long time, although it is probably 15 to 20 minutes or so..... it is music to my ears.  Kennon repeatedly turns the pages while Maddox talks aloud to him. Priceless. One more funny note just to let you know how we roll around the Kies house on Mondays and Wednesday when I am home.     We were having a great morning this morning.  The kids ( mostly Maddox) had managed to pull EVERY book off of the bookshelf in the living room and drop them right in front of the love seat. But they were playing nicely laughing and reading.   I listened to them converse while I cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast. The next thing I heard was 'Mom, Kennon has poop!!'   ( sorry another poop story...I told you it is a common topic of discussion).  At that exact moment I witnessed Maddox pulling open the back edge of Kennon's diaper to inspect and feel his poop!!  I threw down the kitchen towel and ran over to rush her to the bathroom to wash her hands before she touched herself or any books OR KENNON.  I got Maddox's hands cleaned up and then proceeded to wash mine when she left the bathroom and I heard 'Oh no buddy...MMMOOOMMM' come out of Maddox's mouth.  I came out of the bathroom to find Kennon sitting on the carpet with my coffee cup with I'd say probably a quarter of the contents on himself and the rest of the coffee on the carpet. I had to laugh at that point!!  Luckily I use a lot of cream and milk so #1 the coffee wasn't hot and #2 it was really light in color so it blended right into the carpet which made for easy clean up (shhhh don't tell Dad)!!  Kennon is very quick and knows just what to get into when you aren't looking.  I learned my lesson :)  There is always something fairly significant to clean up on Mondays and Wednesday around here now that Kennon is mobile.  But I just think, the more mess the more fun right??