The Birthday Party

Ky's b'day went very well. Uncle Adam and Aunt Liz actually drove from Indy on Saturday and were able to spend a lot of prebirthday time with him. He had a great time with them and they helped prepare all the birthday stuff including make the cake. Thank you so much for all your help Liz and Adam! It would not have gone nearly as smoothly without your help.

In honor of Kylan we made a banana cake (banana being his favorite food.) And what loves bananas--monkeys of course--thus inspired the monkey cake with yummy chocolate cream cheese icing. Thus also inspired the Curious George birthday outfit. It was a monkey of a time!We also made a mini cake with whipped cream for Kylan ( a little healthier and a little more fun for him to eat.)

The day of his party Kylan was awesome! He did great. WE were a bit concerned with the large crowd of people coming over, but he took it all in stride. So let's get to the good part--the cake!

So we sang happy b'day-Ky just seemed a bit mystified by the ritual chanting. Then we placed him in his chair with the big cake in front of him. He slowly poked at it and played with the frosting. He did not seem to understand that it was food. Eventually somebody stepped in and helped by giving him a fingerfull of frosting. Then Ky was like--"Hey this is good!" and hopped to it. (the pics above pretty much tell this story.) He even shared some cake with Dad and cousin Devan. (We've raised such a fine boy!)

Ky was pretty good with opening presents on his own--though slow. Good thing Devan was there to help him out He got some pretty neat things like clothes, a pool and accessories, bath toys, a hammer/ball set, and a talking bear.

We gave Ky a bubble lawn mower the next day as a present. He loved it..well until he realized that it would not support his weight--thus the crying baby on the ground. He has since learned not to put all his weight on it--and once again loves it. (I had to put these pics in because they are hilarious and just show his personality. He gets really mad and throws tantrums when things don't work the way he wants them to.)

Alas, my baby is one--and now officially a toddler. I like this age. He interacts and does so much more with us now. Did I mention that Kylan can say please..well not really, but we taught him to ask instead of cry for things he wants. So now if he sees something that he wants he points at it and says "BA". And if you ask him to say please, he will say "BA". OOOhh a couple more milestones to quickly add--

Ky will grab your/his mouth/nose if you ask him --where is Mama's/Ky's Nose/mouth? (He is so smart.)

He has also officially learned to stand up on his own without grabbing on to anything. Before he would always crawl to something and use it to stand up, but now he will stand up on his own.

And have I mentioned my little boy hugs! I know I have, but I just have to reiterate...he will run up to you, wrap his arms around your legs and go "AHHHH" and look up at you with the biggest smile. Gotta love this little guy.

More to come soon!

The Big ONE!

On Birthday morning, Ky was greeted by mom and dad with a birthday song. He seemed pretty please about that--especially since dad was able to take the morning off of work. We then got ourselves ready to head to the zoo. Before the trip, we turned his carseat around--so he faces forward. It was funny putting him in. It was clear that he knew something was different--but wasn't quite sure what it was right away.

The Madison zoo is very cool. We had a fun time (except for all the kids on field trips) looking at all the animals. Ky especially enjoyed the animals that moved. If they didn't move, he wasn't very interested. I think his favorite animals were the Bears. The bears were pacing, and one even decided to take a dip in the pool. The only thing Kylan did not like so much was the big fish. We had him walking on the ground by the aquariums and when he saw the giant fish he ran to daddy's arms and insisted on being picked up.

After the zoo, we decided to give Ella's Deli a second try (See feb blog entry). They have a lot of neat gadgets and games to keep kids occupied so we thought it would be fun for Kylan. Plus we figured there shouldn't be too much of a lunch rush. We were right, there were not many people there---however we still waited 45 min to get our food. And we ordered simple items that do not need to be cooked, just merely assembled and heated. Yeah--I don't think we will be returnng anytime soon. We ordered a kid's meal for Kylan--that was too small for him. He ate it--then ate part of mine and Rob's food. Prior to arriving, we had considered getting some ice cream for the b'day boy--but dad had to get to work, and I think we were all a little irritated by the experience.

After Ky's mid day nap he spent his time playing in the driveway. We grilled and ate outside--which he loves. He loves to see other people walking--the neighbor kids playing--and cars driving.

Oh-yeah and there was a brief visit to the doctor. (Ky remind me to tell you about this later--I won't put it here--that way I can save you the embarrassment of everyone knowing.)

All in all it was a very nice day. Stay tuned for the next blog--Ky's first b'day party!

prebirthday blog

It's June 6th. The night I went into the hospital. I just tucked the wee one to bed. His bedtime story tonight was of the day he was born. Can you believe that my little guy is turning one!? Rob says, "Can you believe we have been parents for a year?!" Wow!

So--these pics are from Memorial day weekend. We spent Sunday with Nana and Grandma Jan. Ky was able to persuade G'ma Jan to go down the slide. I think she was a bit scared. (By the way did I mention in the last blog that Ky has just learned how to go down the slide on his own? He figured out that he has to scoot his butt.) After the slide, he then went on the merry go round a bit and the tried out a canoe ride. Unfortunately he didn't get very far--since it was anchored to the ground. Ky loves the park, we go at least once a week---often two to three times.

On Monday--we went to a chocolate festival in Burlington WI. We were rather excited however quickly disappointed once we arrived. It was basically a lousy excuse for a carnival. There was only one tent with chocolate--and even some of that was disappointing. We paid for free samples--and went to a cheesecake place that served us a marshmallow dipped in Hershey's syrup--talk about unreal. Anyway they did have a finger painting tent with chocolate pudding--so we took Ky. He loved putting his fingers in the pudding--but did not understand the whole "painting"part. Then when Dad tried to show him (and took the pudding away to do that) --Ky had a meltdown. The picture above shows him in one of his tantrums. Yes an in action tantrum. He is a boy that knows what he wants and will cry when he doesn't get it.

After the tantrum we left. No point in dealing with that any further.

The other pics are of Ky at his table eating. Dad was very impressed by Ky's maturity and wanted some pics. Ever since we started working at the Y--I have always placed Ky at the table for snack time. It is so funny--because at the Y his eyes just peer over the table. If I haven't mentioned this before--Ky is food motivated. He will not move if he has food in front of him. Therefore I never have to worry about him falling out of a chair. So he has been sitting in big chairs at snack time for 2.5 months now.

Well I need to head to bed. Tomorrow is the BIG day. Rob took the morning off and we are taking Kylan for his first trip to the zoo. It should be a lot of fun. The big birthday party is Sunday--I will update with birthday pics shortly after that.