Pwease! More!

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What an interesting month. First of all, yes all the pics are from October. We had some upper 80's days, but now we are in the 50's.

About two weeks ago we went back to Ohlbrich Gardens (since we got rained on the last time we went there.) Ky left a water trail every where he went. He would find pots with water, the little creeks, ponds, fountains, etc...and let's just say we took home one very wet boy. I think his diaper was drier than the rest of him. What a fun place to take kids. We just let him wonder on the paths and followed him. He loved it.

Ky also went to two farms in the last few weeks. We went with Mom's club to Schuster farm, where he played in the corn box (somewhat like a sandbox), the playground, took a hayride, and picked out his first pumpkin. Ky thought the pumpkins were balls. He would yell "Ball" attempt to pick one up and toss it (the best he could). WE took home the one he abused the most.

This past weekend, we took Ky to Treinan farm--which is known for their 15 acre corn maze. Ky loved watching the chickens (and attempting to chase them) while we waited in line. So--rob and I do these mazes every year we are in Madison--and have never had any problem completing the maze. However--we do struggle getting the secret stamps. There are 8 hidden stamps in the maze. We normally get the 6 minimum--but this time with Ky we were only able to get 5. We had to call it quits early in order to keep him happy. After the maze, we let Ky play in the Corn Box--where he attempted to eat the corn! YUCK! He also went down the giant tube slide--which he loved....

The other couple pics I have are of him on his bike--which he easily gets on/off by himself now--and scoots around. The only problem is, he doesn't always get on the right way. And then there is a picture of my friend--who I have yet to name. I have seen these large birds flying around my house but had yet to get a really good look until last week. We have HAWKS! Pretty cool. This one has a baby bunny that it is eating (look by his feet.) They are huge! I was probably within 6 feet of this one when I took the pic.

Okay so other news---my mother is getting married to a long time family friend-Terry. They are planning there wedding in January. I am very happy for her. Jeff, Sarah, John, and Terry are off to Israel for a few weeks. I hope they bring back some great pictures. Rob and I are in the process of ceramic tiling our entryways, kitchen and bathroom floor. A very long process--but it is well worth it. The 1980's linoleum had to GO! Rob just finished his first MBA class! YEAH! Only 10+ to go! and I am in the process of trying to get someone to knock out our kitchen walls---which should have happened a while ago--but my contractor backed out.

So milestones for the big guy...

TALKING TALKING TALKING!!! What doesn't he say!

Meow, Moo, Dog, pee pee (I like this one), poo poo, potty--(Lots of false alarms with these words--but soon enough I am sure he will put two and two together--speaking of which I have tons of cute pics of him sitting on the potty reading--he loves to read when he sits on the potty--but due to BAD internet people I am not going to share them online.) toes, shoes, more---and he signs "more"---

Okay have to pause...So I really worked with Ky from about 6 months to 12 months on signing. Ky never signed--but instead starting talking so I gave up. So out of the blue about two weeks ago Ky says More and does the sign for more. Now I haven't signed more to him in like 4 months! So he must have an amazing memory. So now I am trying to sign words again to see if he figures it out.

Please---he says "Pwease" It is the cutest thing! And for a long time we were just so entranced by his Pwease that we gave him whatever he wanted. Luckily the spell is wearing off.

He says, milk, bath, phone, big bird, up, open, walk, slide, mamadada--all one word--when he would like both of our attention.

Like before i am sure there is more, but it is hard to remember everything...

So everyone is asking--what is ky for Halloween. Well he is going to go as the same thing he was last year--a baby. We figure he is still young enough that he really won't get much out of it. And why introduce him to candy at this age? So instead we'll take the money we would have invested in his costume and throw it in his savings account--and then we will know that we gave him something he can truly enjoy later.

Well that's all for now. Stay tuned....

The Boys!

Ky went to his last baseball game of the season in late September. The Brewers lost, which basically counted them out of the playoffs. Ky has fun as usual. He loves watching the people, the fireworks, and all the lights.

The weekend after the game, Kelly; Karen & Dakota; Melissa, Steven, Dylan, & baby #2 came for a visit. It was a fun time. Kelly arrived late Friday night--and Rob and I were party poopers and went to bed shortly after her arrival--oh to be young again...Saturday morning, the rest of the crew arrived. We played (or I should say the boys played) briefly and then we caravanned to the capital for the tail end of the farmer's market. By then the boys were hungry though--so we spent very little time at the farmer's market and spent more time trying to find a place that could handle all of us and three small children on State Street. We ended up at noodles and were crammed around a small table. Kylan kept stealing Melissa's food off her plate. Good thing she has kids and is understanding! Or else I would have been embarrassed. He also kept trying to see if he could dump his plate on the floor.

Dakota definitely has the best table manners of all of us. He kept to his own food (at least what I saw) and finished his whole plate of macaroni. I think he even added a few pleases and thank you's in the conversation. Dylan was a bottomless pit. Even after lunch he needed more food! Reminds me of when Ky was younger. (Ky is getting to be a picky eater now.)

After the meal, we walked the rest of state street and went to the Union. The boys found ducks there and sat by the water. Melissa fed them some food--and then we had lots more ducks. The boys thought it was pretty cool. Some of them wanted to get in the water--and when we wouldn't let them they resorted to throwing leaves into the water at them.

Throughout the day we tried multiple times to get pics of all of them. They are very hard to get to sit still for the camera--and to look at the camera. Dakota---however--does say "cheese" and flashes a winning smile. Perhaps when Ky and Dylan get a little older we will be able to get better pics.

After the market we returned to the house and let the boys play some more---no naps. Which did make for some characters as the night grew closer. Dakota was trying on big people shoes, Dylan was crawling all over mom and dad, and Ky was--well pretty much just excited that there were so many people that could pay attention to him.

As you can see--after the attempted group picture on the couch (see above pic), I decided for some individual poses. I think I caught the boys' personalities well. It was too bad the visit was too short. We all had a good time just catching up and chatting.

Kel stayed most of the next day--and Ky was excited to have someone to blow bubbles with (yes in that pic above Ky is blowing his first bubbles!) and then in following pics eating the wand. And he had fun picking raspberries with her.

So the latest accomplishments for Ky is basically his talking. He tries to say just about anything we say. In the next entry I will put down all his new words--that I can remember/think of....

Bubbles, Family, Friends, and Playtime

Kylan went on his second annual apple picking expedition. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera. He had fun though. We left him in the wagon to munch on apples while we picked. Nana then took Kylan to go look at the sheep. He enjoyed looking at the animals and playing with Nana.

Kylan has really been into bubbles lately too...Especially since he can say the word "bubble" really well. We have a big wand that makes big bubbles and he chases them around trying to pop them. He's cute.

For my Uncle's funeral we stayed at my mom's house. She has a kitten and Kylan thought the cat was hilarious. It was so funny. He would chase the kitten and then the kitten would chase him trying to grab his bottom. Something about those diapers. Kylan would shriek and scream. It was a good time. We got some on video camera....(mental note...Gotta look into finding out what I need to put the video online....)

We were blessed to have my good college friend Linda, her husband Mike, and newborn son, Noah stay with us for a night recently. We had a good time. Noah is so tiny and adorable. I got to hold him--yeah! I love little babies---but I am glad that Ky is beyond that stage. It is hard when babies are newborn--you just can't comfort them sometimes. You also don't always know what they need or want---yeah I am glad that Ky is older now--though I do miss those cuddle moments with him. Good thing he is a good hugger! Come back again Valentinos!

The other pics are of Kylan at the Children's Museum. WE went with our MOM's Club friends. Admission is expensive, but boy do the little kids have fun. Ky enjoyed all the drums in the music room. He also liked the water feature. Emily, Francesca, Evan, Holly, and Ky did a lot of splashing and boy did they get wet! There was also a construction room where Ky pretended to be a construction worker. He got to play in rocks and operate a crane. Upstairs in the museum there was a farm/garden/store room. Ky loved the cow rocker. In fact I had to make him share because he didn't want to give any of the other kids a chance. Then he threw a tantrum. Yes we are getting to that age! We are definitely going back to the museum soon! I think it will be a life-saver come this winter.

So...Ky's milestones....

LOTS OF WORDS!!! He continues to surprise me everyday. Like the other day we were walking out of the store and he pointed at the door and said "door". I never taught him that. He must have picked it up. WOW....

Other words include bike, hat (sounds like "at"), car (sounds like "ar", bible (this one is impressive), cow (sounds like "ow"), book (sounds like "bock"), hair, ear, uh-oh, peas and cheese...okay I am sure there are others but I can't think of them all...

he can blow bubbles using a wand, he can eat as many pancakes as me, he's doing better eating with a spoon, he can figure out all the shapes on his shape sorter (put the square in the square hole, circle in the circle, etc...), he can climb up on his rocking chair and rock by himself.

The biggest milestone is really the talking...I am waiting for him to say "Mother, I would like a bottle with ice water please." That will be crazy!!! Anyway that is all for now!

Uncle Ricky (1950 -2007)

I think I mentioned in my last blog that my uncle passed away. He died on September 4th. It was not a surprise. He had been battling cancer for years and fought it much harder than anyone I ever knew. What a vicious disease. Anyway--I just wanted to make a small memoir. Uncle Ricky was a very prominent figure in my life. He was very much like a father to me. My mom and him were very close and his children were mine and Joel's age--so we got together a lot and played.

Uncle Rickly loved being outside. He took me on my first camping trip and many to follow. He taught me how to play ping pong (which I am still not very good at) and he put the first pool cue in my hand. He drove my family to Disney World in Florida in his RV so that we could have a first "Real" vacation and get the chance to see my grandma which we rarely saw. He helped us climb tower hill at the beach and helped teach me to swim. He taught me how to body surf waves. He and my mother spent hours discussing their diets and nutrition. I am sure he was a part of the multitude of vitamins I took as well as the nightly doses of cod liver oil (YUK!) He wanted what was best for us.

He attended my graduation, my wedding, and was ecstatic about the birth of Kylan. He helped me with my many car repairs (pre-Lance). In fact he helped me test drive multiple cars and finally pick out my red Saturn--Lance. Uncle Ricky had a great smile and shared it with everyone. He always was helpful to those in need and was always looking for new ways to serve God. I only just learned that he made weekly visits to the juvenile detention center so he could minister to teens.

With Jeff's wedding, I was able to visit him twice. He died two days after we left. I know he enjoyed us being there as well as Ky's presence. In fact Ky learned how to say "BABY" right in front of Uncle Ricky. I know Uncle Ricky hung on so Jeff's wedding and his death would not be associated. He was always thinking of others.

So here is to Uncle Ricky. He will never be forgotten--since he made too big of an impact on my life as well as others. I look forward to seeing him again in Heaven.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/southbendtribune/access/1335543191.html?dids=1335543191:1335543191&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Sep+7%2C+2007&author=&pub=South+Bend+Tribune&edition=&startpage=E.3&desc=Richard+Humpley