My first Thanksgiving

I had such a good time today with the whole famly. I really have no idea what the day is about yet but I really like all the attention I get. I didn't get to try any of the yummy food daddy cooked but I did try baby food chicken. I am not so sure I like it. Mommy said it reminds her of cat food! Whatever that means?! Grandma suggested that I get a cleaned turkey leg bone to chew on and I loved it. But I dropped it on the floor and we weren't paying attention and Kettle ate it. She loved it too! Well hope everyone else had a Happy Thanksgiving too! I love you.

I am thankful for my two new teeth! Do you see them in the picture?!

End of soccer 2009

This is the first year Isabel played soccer. It was so much fun. I wish the season was longer than 7 weeks. The kids are just starting to understand what is going on and the season is over. Isabel did great for being the first time playing. She came al ong way in seven weeks! The first few practices she would play then get distracted and lay on the ground "watching stars". At least that didn't happen during the game :-)

It's interesting how polite they are when playing. Time after time the ball gets kicked to one kid, then they all wait while he takes his turn kicking before they go for it. It is such a hard concept to get them to get in there and take it away. They are all so used to taking turns.

This age group doesn't have goalies but htey have two kids that stay back as defenders. This was not Isa's strong point. She would get very distracted/bored. However, when they put her in to play the other positions she did great. One of the funniest thigs that happened was when Isa tried to retrieve a ball from the net and managed to get herself stuck in the net. Actually, I think this happened two weeks in a row :-). Good times!

A runner/triathlete in the making !?!

We signed Isabel up for the Kids Rock marathon being held in conjunction with the Las Vegas Rock and Roll marathon in December ( http://las-vegas.competitor.com/lv-kids/). The kids have to run/walk 25.2 miles at their own pace before the event, then they all meet and run the last mile together. They get a race number, t-shirt, medal, goodie bag...the whole nine yards.

She is very excited and tells anyone who will listen that she is running a marathon. (Every person then responds with... are you going to win? WHY oh why do people have to say that! Drives me crazy. Ughh!) Anyway, she's excited. We made a chart for her to keep track of her miles and decided we would tick them off in one mile increments.

Sunday night I took her out for her run and we had a blast. We ran around the neighborhood and she ran the majority of the mile with a few water breaks and a small walk break towards the end. She also talked non-stop for the entire time, she apparently was in a comfortable zone! She talked about how fun this was, how I was the BEST AUNT ever for running with her and it should be "our thing" that we do and how lots of Aunts would just sit around and never run with their nieces (very cute!). Then she mentioned she wishes this was a race where she got to do all three things like you and Izaac do. When was she going to get to do that?? I think we have a little triathlete on our hands!

The best thing about the whole experience was to witness her absolute excitement and happiness just from running. She had been in a pretty grumpy mood before we went, I think we basically forced the shoes on her. The little girl that ran with me and the one that we enjoyed the rest of the evening was a completely different person than the one we had for most of the day. She was so happy, chatty and smiley the whole rest of the evening. Made me realize that exercise is therapeutic for the kids as well. Let's hope the remainding miles go just as well :-)

4 months

Hey little man,

You are four months and two days old! The time is going by so quickly. You are growing and developing so fast. I miss the little newborn, but I enjoy you so much right now. I love the huge smile you give me every morning and the 30 minutes or so of snuggling we get before I have to go to work. Soon enough, you are going to be on the go from the moment you wake up but for now I can usually convince you to take a little morning cat nap.

Just this week, you have discovered your feet and are very interested in them. You can't quite get them in your mouth but I'm sure that is a matter of time. You still love to clasp your hands together and usually have them that way, then you try to shove both of them in your mouth. You are a very cheap kid, because your favorite toy is a blanket, bib, burb cloth etc... not very interested in real toys :-). You're a drool monster and always want to chew on something...maybe a sign of teething?

I found you this morning sleeping on your belly...I think this has happened a few times, but today I am positive. You rolled over from your back to belly. We have never seen it...just find you like that. After your first day of rolling from belly to back you haven't been very interested in doing that again. I wonder why?

The doctor has us starting you on baby food and that has been fun. You like it ok as long as it doesn't interfere with a bottle feeding. If you are hungry, you want nothing to do with real food and scream until you get your bottle. We have become very good at timing it so your in a happy mood. Your first day of eating peas was a huge success and you ate the whole container! It's funny to watch you because your mouth starts chomping up and down whether there is a spoon in there or not...kind of like a little machine.

Lately you have been throwing huge fits that break my heart. 20 minutes or more of top of your lungs crying with tears and you just stare at me as if to ask why I'm not doing anything. Really! It's not fair. It happens a lot when you are ready for bed but lately it's been very random. The rest of the time you are a happy, smiling baby.

Did I mention that already you would prefer to be sitting or standing, not laying down or cuddled in my arms. You very much want to see what is going on. Your favorite new "piece of furniture" is the bumbo seat. It allows you to sit up on your own and very supported. Oh, and you still hate the swing. Why is that? And you're starting to hate being in the car seat too. The 2 things that are suppose to calm and soothe you. On the other hand, you LOVE laying in your crib and talking to your mobile :-)

4 months old...15 lbs (50 percintile)

Love you Kian!

A letter from Grandma

Hello dear grandchildren,

How is the first grade Isabel? Tell me about lunch and what you play, You are such a big girl now. I love you very much.

Little Kian Jacob, you are growing so fast. I love your smile, your beautiful eyes and chubby legs. Looks like they are taking very good care of you. I love you and want so much to hold you and teach you peek-a-boo.

Forever your Ohio Grandmal

hi

i love you grandmal and grandpal.

love isabel

**Isabel wrote this all by herself. She asked if she could right something on "her dot com space."
She is convinced the you put a "l" on the end because she pronounces it like grand-mall. :-)

Fun at Lake Las Vegas

Weekend of fun! We went to Lake Las Vegas for Izaac's birthday and got to spend some time in the pool. Kian and Isa loved being in the water. Kian had his first experience going under and seemed a little shocked but didn't protest too much. Can't wait till he is old enough for swim lessons. Isa is a fish. I think she would spend all day, everyday swimming if she could. The non swim video is Kian trying to eat his fists :-). That is what he spends most of the day doing. One of these days he is going to manage to get the whole fist in his mouth, then what is he going to do!

A note from Grandma

Dear Kian,

How handsome you are! I love your beautiful smile and joyful smile.

I am getting Great Grandma a print of this. She will love it also.

Love,
Ohio Grandma

The first 3 months

Hey little man,

I wanted to jot down some thoughts and memories before they escaped me...which some already have.

You have been with us just over 3 months now but it feels like you have been with us always (in a good way). I'm already missing the little newborn baby and all the quirkiness that comes with one. You were so tiny but perfect, a perfect little man. Some of my fondest memories where all the cute sqeaks and sounds you made. Like a doggy squeak toy and a sheep baa-ing. Those sounds are gone, replaced with your new version of talking.

I was also amazed at how when I held you on my chest those first fews days, you moved exactly like you did in my tummy. Now i could identify the parts that caused all those weird sensations. You also love to snuggle up under our chin, almost to the point that it feels like we are going to hurt your soft spot with our chin.

I miss those first few weeks when all we could do was stare at you, for hours upon hours! What did you do today, oh just stared at the baby:-). We snuggled in bed and slept and just got to know each other. I'm hoping you like nap as much as I do. In fact, many people wondered if you ever opened your eyes in that first month. You also raise your eyebrows really high and crack one eye open when you're trying to wake up, just like daddy. It looks like "if I can just raise my brows high enough, maybe my eyes will open."

I also loved your "turtle" look. You had all this extra skin on your neck and when you stretched you head up you looked like a turtle emerging from a shell. Come to think of it, you still have that same stretch.

What else, see so many of the memories are already fading. You still make us laugh with all your grunting when you have to go potty. Just like a guy! In the last few weeks you are able to get your hands in your mouth, and I mean hands. No fingers, no thumb, the whole fist and sometimes both fists. You act like it is the best thing you have ever found. You still like to eat every three hours during the day and have since day 1. You can be sound asleep at 2:59 and wake up screaming for food the next second. A very relaible alarm clock. You attack the bottle like you haven't eaten in days :-).

You are starting to become very aware of your surroundings and want to sit up or stand all the time. Isabel has become one of your favorite people. You are starting to smile so much and love to "talk" with us. You are sleeping about 5-6 hours straight at night but still want that middle of the night snack. And you absolutely LOVE to be outside, even in the 110 degree heat.

I love you little man,

Your mamma.

Kian's first roll over!

Of course this happened in my first week back to work! I am lucky enough that Amanda caught it on video though. He was 12 weeks and 1 day on Aug 21st

Kian at 3 weeks

Obviouly from a while ago but I still LOVE the pictures.

Kian Singing

This is for grandma...now you can hear him "sing" anytime

Pictures from Ohio visit

We took Kian to visit all my family in Ohio (his second plane trip in his first 8 weeks!). He met so many friends and family, and totally got spoiled by grandma and grandpa. We are still, 4 days later, trying to get him to nap in his bed. He prefers a lap, a chest, a walk or a rock to sleep now. The trip was great and we wish we could have spent more time.

Kian was such a trouper on the flight. Sleeping pretty much the whole time. We did have a horrible hour waiting for the flight where he cried almost non-stop. The thought crossed my mind that we might have to take a later flight once he calmed down, but he settled right before we boarded. I think grandma must have told him to behave that way so we could stay longer :-)





Greatgrandma Abrams. Do you see our wedding picture in the bottom left:-)



He loved his sink baths!


I am obssessed with his feet


Greatgrandpa Abrams


Greatgrandma Abrams


Huge smile