Carter's Birthday party, puzzles, tea party and SUPERHEROES!!

So I received some feedback from family and friends that the bullet point/list technique I used for my last post was easier to read and more user friendly. So I'll keep it up for now. Enjoy!

1.   I sat back and watched Kennon as he picked up his blueberries off his plate yesterday morning.  He was like nose to the plate, one hand and then the other with a happy little smile on his face.   I could almost imagine what he was thinking 'man, life is great when you're eating blueberries'.  He caught me watching him and gave me a big toothy grin.  He was very focused on getting each BLUE, as we call them, with just his pointer finger and thumb.

2.  Kennon went for an unwanted ride in the shopping cart at Target last week.  I put him in the cart and then turned my back to get Maddox out of the van.  She shouted 'Uh Oh' at me in a very profound and scared voice and pointed over my head as Kennon rode the parking lot hill down about 6-7 feet before the cart came to rest in a snow plow.  Ooops.....

3.  I witnessed the cutest moment of sharing in my rear view mirror last week.  Maddox is doing a dinosaur unit at Kcare.  She had excavated a 'fosil' IE small plastic dino in the sand table at school.  I watched in my rear view mirror as Maddox politely offered to share her dino with Kennon. He reached his little hand out across the aisle of the van and snatched up the dino and then gave her a big smile. Maddox then claimed 'Kennon you can snuggle with my dino in bed...that'd be a good idea'  So proud of her. Kennon then dropped the dino down into the depths of his car seat......

4.   After the above sharing of the dino Maddox then said to me 'Mom, did you know dinosaurs eat underpants?'.....  I wasn't quite sure how to react to that one.

5. Maddox has been coming downstairs after her nap dressed in various costumes. Last Wednesday she had on Cinderella glass slippers and one white glove, Snow White's top and Rapunzel's skirt. She was as happy as a lark.

6.  Kennon seems to be just as happy watching Cinderella as he does any other cartoon. We may have to have an intervention soon....or send him to the Wentland home to get in on some boy cartoons.  (the Wentlands have 3 boys under the age of 4 1/2)

7.  Kennon is very emphatic about 'THOSE'.  Once he decides he wants 'THOSE', whatever those are, he runs to the kitchen pointing with his little pointer finger and shouting THOSE THOSE THOSE to get our attention. It usually works....amazing he has figured out how to make us jump at just 20 months old.

8.  We had our first wiffel ball casualty last week.  It was super warm one Wednesday ( the day we went outside after nap and Maddox rode her bike....on the snow....) Kennon loves balls and found the wiffel ball in the garage. He was throwing it and it inevitably ended up in the road.  An unknown truck was coming down the road at just the right time and accidentally ran over it right in front of Kennon and I. ( I was like 'really lady....you couldn't wait until I retrieved the ball from the road??? c'mon)  I felt so awful for him. His little face was deflated when I handed him back the flat ball.  I'm sure the first of many ball casualties.

9.  Maddox and I were in the bathroom in our master bedroom last week.  She pointed to a sort of imperfection ( a little bump) in the paint on the wall and asked me what it was.  I said ' it's a paint chip Maddox'.  She processed that for about 5 seconds and then politely asked  'can I eat it?'    LOL

10.  Too cold to be outside today.  -19 wind chill 2 degree temperature!! We will be doing lots of indoor projects. Maddox does not have Church School today in celebration of MLK day.

11.  Kennon, Maddox and I made blueberry muffins last night.  Maddox put the paper cups in the pan and just as she did Kennon would reach over and take them out.  Finally Maddox got annoyed and said 'Really Kennon?'....in a very frustrated voice.  She sounded exactly like me....I say that quite often to both of the kids. 'Really'.  She nailed the tone and inflection just like her mother.  Not one of my shining moments and definitely a learning experience for me.

12.  KTKs ear tubes looked fine last week.  We just wait till they fall out, but have a return appointment scheduled with his ENT in May.

13.  We are to 'wait and observe' KTK's tooth. The dentist told us last week it may or may not turn brown or grey and it may or may not get infected and need to be removed. However all the above scenarios could or could not happen anywhere from one month to one YEAR past the accident.

14. BOTH kids slept through the night last night...and Kennon is still asleep as I type this at 7.45AM. This is a MASSIVE blessing as BOTH kids have been up a ton in the last week. Kennon teething and with a cold and Maddox....just up super early and Kennon waking her up in the middle of the night at various hours. We are hoping for a better week. Mom and Dad are tired!! I seriously don't know how single moms or dads do it!!

15.  We had a fabulous weekend in Waunakee, WI celebrating Carter's second birthday at an awesome indoor swimming pool with lots of water slides/chutes. We also got to stay at Aunt Brooke Uncle Tyler and Carter's new home. It is AWESOME!! Beautiful,  warm and inviting, with a fabulous cook's kitchen and a finished basement for the kids to run and play.  We had so much fun and are looking forward to making lots of memories with the Knowles family on Cardinal Way.

The kids have really gotten into puzzles in the last 2 weeks.  It'll keep 'em busy for quite a while.  Good fine motor skill  work. 

Most of you know I borrowed an idea from my friend Megan and made Kennon, Maddox and Carter superhero masks and capes. I even had a little help from Uncle Tyler and Papa Dick...who knew they were so crafty. The kids loved them and ran around both our house and Aunt Brooke and Uncle Tyler's house this weekend.  There were too many cute pics to leave any out.  

Going to have to splurge for a new helmet....getting a little small.  Course it is on top of her stocking cap snowball. 

Maddox having a carpet tea party with Kennon and I with her porcelain tea set from Grandma Doris. 

Hands up superheroes!!

You can just see KTK's chipped tooth if you look close. It is the front tooth on the right from your view. 

Sunday morning cartoons and milk in Wisconsin. 

Carter got a cool tricycle from his Grandma Ellen ( Brooke's mom).  Maddox and Carter took turns ridding it around the house. 

This was the first evening I shared the masks and capes with the kids. We had so much fun. They are watching a video on my iPhone of themselves running around the home in their capes.

Kennon playing at Carter's awesome train table. 

A Thomas the Train cake for Carter...of course!! 

Grandma Jean and Kennon.. Thanks to Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim for playing/entertaining all the kids this weekend so the adults could have a little kid free conversation. Couldn't get the red eye button to work very well with these pictures. 

Aunt Brooke even got noise makers for Carter's party. She thinks of everything. 

Aunt Brooke and Carter....and a wrong date!  Need to look into that. 

Superhero vs wooden snowman puzzle.....

Aunt Brooke, Carter and Maddox. Carter got lots of cool toys and books for his birthday. 

Tidbits.....

Just a quick list of some things I've been meaning to jot down

1.  Maddox's new favorite thing to watch on TV..... the Cinderella movie. Thank you Aunt Brooke :)

2.  Kennon is saying tons of words....thank you, milk, cookie, yogurt,  Maddox, please, teeth, ball, socks, shoes, boots, coat, scarf, hello ( even with the L sound!!) chair, bench, Grammy, Papa Dick, Jim, Jean, candy and ELMO....yes there might be another ELMO birthday cake in the works for the Kies house.

3. Kennon weighs 24 pounds 3 ounces and is 32 1/2 inches tall from his last appointment at the Dr, his 18 month well-check. He checked out well and Dr. Anderson was happy to hear that he is no longer lactose intolerant.

4.  Number of Lexus, Cadillac,  and Mercedes SUVs lined up to pick up their kids at Maddox's church school.....too many to count....!!  Mom and Dad are gonna work very hard over the next 18 years to keep you both grounded.

5.  Registration for OSLP ( Our Savior Lutheran Preschool or 'church school' Maddox so comically deemed it ) for the 2013-2014 is THIS WEEKEND. I will be signing BOTH Maddox and Kennon up for the Monday Wednesday AM program.  What does that mean....a free morning for Mom.  Yahoo!

6. Maddox visited the pediatric orthopedic physician, Dr Pyevich last Friday.  I am still concerned about her frequent tripping ( the over concerned physical therapist). She checked out fine, just slightly uncoordinated for her age.  IE she is kinda clumsy.  Nothing to be concerned about and he recommended signing her up for Tae Kwan Doe....hmmmmmm how about dance class instead??  :)

7.  Kennon chipped his front tooth sometime yesterday. We will go visit Dr. Matt ( our pediatric dentist) in a couple of weeks to have him check it out.  My little baby's smile is now tainted.

8. Kennon goes tomorrow for his 1 year check up on his tubes.  We will see what Dr. Dvorak sees. They were still intact a couple of weeks ago at his baby well check appointment. They should be falling out any day now.

9.  Maddox is sleeping in her twin bed on the floor WITHOUT any rails now. She is doing well, no falls and is even using her new Lady Bug twin quilt that I bought when she was practically still in her crib. She sleeps under the sheet and quilt just like a big girl. Way to go Maddox.

10. Maddox is finally STARTING to understand the need to stay in her room until her new clock turns GREEN in the AM rather than coming down to our room at the crack of dawn.  YIPPY!!

11. Our new cleaning lady starts tomorrow. The old one had to quit us because she was too busy. Just one time per month, but I'll take it.

12. Eric and I have started our new healthy eating diet.  Lots of veggies, little to no carbs, red wine ( which I am actually learning to love or well like), 70 to 80% cocoa chocolate bars and lean meat. Not a diet to lose weight but a diet to boost both of our GOOD cholesterol levels and to just be healthier.  Both of our bad cholesterol levels are great but our GOOD cholesterol levels are too low which Dr. Petre ( Eric's really fabulous family physician) says is really just as bad. If you would like a medical explanation feel free to chat with Eric. He is an expert at this stuff right now. Way to go Eric!

13.  Kennon's favorite toy right now....anything that he can throw....and HARD.

14. Kennon finally has more than 2 teeth on the bottom in the front.  Number 3, of 4, is finally poking it's way up.  You gain some and ya loose some ( reference to number 7 :)

15. I don't have any examples, I'm always meaning to jot them down, but Maddox's critical thinking skills are really emerging.  She comes up with stuff that I"m like 'whoa....she is totally getting this concept...that I had no idea she really understood'.  I"ll try to think of an example for the next post. She is a smart little cookie. And so is her brother...but then again I"m their proud mom and slightly biased.

16.  Number of times we've used Kennon and potty training in the same sentence in the last 2 weeks....at least a hand full!! He told us he had poop yesterday and pointed to his diaper.

17. I got up enough nerve a couple of weeks ago to chat with my boss about an alternative position for me at VNA in the future. More to come on that. But, happy with myself for being a bit aggressive with him. Life is too short to do something you really don't like to do....

18.  How excited are we to see Aunt Brooke, Uncle Tyler, and cousin Carter's new home in Waunakee WI?.....too excited for words!! So happy to have you back in the midwest.

19. Kennon is no longer taking morning naps.  If we run errands he just snoozes in the car and or if we are at home we just play through the morning. Then he usually takes like a 2 to 3 sometimes 4 hour afternoon nap.

20. I finished the first book that I've read since PT school this weekend....Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander MD.  Recommend it. 

21. We are so happy to have so many wonderful friends and family.  Our kids are surrounded by love. We really are a blessed family.

I find I"m using the vacuum after almost every meal.  Lots of food on the kids and lots of food on the floor. But, he sure looks happy doesn't he.  Hummus burgers and couscous.  He devoured it. 

Christmas day....I love KTK in he background. 

'Peek'...check it out on the next picture. He has yogurt in the same spot on his nose on two different occasions. Too cute.

Kennon is getting an M&M in this picture. You can see the excitement on his face. He has now figured out that Maddox gets M&Ms when she goes potty and is quick to throw a fit if he doesn't get on and KNOWS to run with Maddox to the drawer after her potty time. Hmmmmm we are gonna have to figure out something different for him  when he starts training.  I broke the seal, gave in and gave him one last week and now he is hooked. He just gets a half at at time but you'd have thought he was getting the whole bag. He gets so excited. But, then again who wouldn't :) 

YES...Maddox is in the high chair. They made a switch for some reason a while back.  I'm ready to just get rid of the highchair. Kennon does fine in the pink portable chair and Maddox can sit on the bench. 

There's the M&M....

Kennon is really good at just sitting and playing with his cars and trucks, and even puzzles if he has his paci and his belly is full.  No entertainment needed.

Yesterday Maddox came downstairs from her nap wearing her Cinderella dress up costume and her Hello Kitty PJs from Aunt Brooke.  I"m not sure how long she was up there playing but hey she came down happy ( which is a rarity) so we were diggin' it. She even had the glass slippers on  IE silver ballet shoes.

Kennon's morning nap...waiting in the car line at church school to pick up Maddox.  Just before we left the house he very quietly crawled up the steps and got, not just his BLUE BEAR but Maddox's PURPLE BEAR.  I had no idea he had gone up there. Probably trying to tell me he needed a snooze.  He was asleep before we practically got off Judge Road. Maddox was happy to see her PURPLE BEAR when she hopped up in the van, especially since she had tripped while running at school ( reference to number 6) and bruised her cheek.  Poor thing.