Happy Thanksgiving!

Top 3 things Kellan & Zoe are thankful for (in the below order).

Kellan:

1. Baseball

2. Family

3. Food

Zoe:

1. Free things

2. Whole family

3. Stuffed animals

We had a pretty mellow day, Jim cooked, I took the kids to Target; it was closed. Zoe & I went and saw Tangled. She asked to leave through the entire movie. It was a tear jerker (at least I thought so), still a good movie. We are off to Uncle Tom's house today and Sat./Sun. plan to start with the X-mas decorations. I tried to hit one store for Black Friday. I realized I was going to wait in line for 1 plus hours for either 1. A savings of $10 or 2. A bunch of stuff I really didn't need even though it was on sale. How often do I get an hour plus to myself? I figured I'd much rather spend the time with the kids & save the hour for another activity.

A couple weeks back, G-Ma Chloe and Uncle Mike came for a visit. Poor G-Ma was sick most of the trip, but we all still had a great time. Uncle Mike played for hours with the kids. Dexter is really warming up to people and even let Mike hold him...a lot.

Between the warm water and it being nap time, Dexter couldn't fight the urge to sleep.

We can no longer let Dexter out of our sight (Jim probably would have said that weeks ago; I'm not as attentive). The kid gets crazier by the day. He loves to stand up on things; his toy chest, coffee tables, bar stools, toys, his siblings, his dog... He insists on walking down the stairs now, sometimes holding onto the railing, sometimes not. He'll typically put his hand out for assistance from Kellan & Zoe, which isn't always the best assistance. Today he said a new word - "Hot" and will answer questions "Yes" with a nod of the head or "No" with a violent, sideways, shake of the head. Jim and I have been holding him to eat or let him wander around the house with food. That got old and we brought up Zoe's princess booster seat from when she was a toddler. He is very happy to have graduated to the big kid's counter, even if it means not eating anything. He still loves helping himself to food in the pantry. All of our food is going to be only on the top two shelves soon.

At the big kid's counter

Helping himself as usual

I went to parent/teacher conferences for Zoe & Kellan. They remain model citizens and their teachers love them. Kellan has come a long way with his reading and needs to work on fluency & subtraction. He's perfectly average in academics. All the kids love him "especially the girls" to quote his teacher. Zoe is doing great in afternoon pre-school. A little, friend from our block is in her class. She says she's going to marry him one day. Oh No. She's reading a bit and writing really well. The biggest thing she needs to work on his being more assertive??? Other than that, she'e more than ready to move on to kindergarten.

Wearing dad's cap

Zoe doing Wii yoga

Warmer days a few weeks back, only a bit of snow so far.

Labor Day

I know, I am writing a Labor Day post on Halloween, a bit behind here, but for a reason. We went to the Rockies game on Labor Day. During the 6.5 inning they played a little disco music and filmed the crowd for the Jumbo Tron. Kellan and Dexter were dancing away and ended up on the big screen. Jim wrote the Rockies and requested the video. They sent it to us and then I in turn left it on the plane when we went to WA, so we just got it back this past week. When we got the video we realized I was on it and a little glimpse of Zoe, which we didn't know because at that point we didn't know we were being filmed. Jim's been to tons of games all over the country and has never made it up on the Jumbo Tron and here's Dexter, two games in, and makes it. There was some definite jealousy. See link for posting on You Tube - we make our debut at the 1:04ish minute mark. I didn't take the time to edit it since it's for all of about 5 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meN0N4rlvMk

We've spent the last few weeks watching MLB playoffs and now the World Series. Kellan has been really into it - lots of questions and talks excessively. I put Zoe & Dexter down early one night, Jim was at softball and he must have talked for two hours straight - from questions about the game, the plays, the players, the commercials, etc. It was really nice. But I have to ask why, why do they have to play Cialis commercials that are about 3 minutes long during baseball? I get it's the perfect audience and all, but luckily it's one thing we'll find Kellan watching and then we're able to distract him from long enough til the next commercial. None of us are ready for that conversation and honestly if it came up there would be a lot of lying.

Dexter gets into the games too. Jim has a couple of prized baseballs up on our mantle. Dexter senses this since there are tons all around the house. Whenever a game comes on, he points to the balls and says "me, me" - we end up giving him one, he beams it at us a few times and is over it.

Dexter has been really sick these past 5 days/nights - lots of vomiting and diarrhea. He's literally been sleeping on top of me at night and won't let us put him down during the day. He's absolutely pathetic. So we've gone from an ear infection number one in WA, followed by a round of antibiotics while in FL, to come home to another ear infection, followed by more antibiotics, one night he slept through the night, followed by this. We're exhausted and have been taking turns napping on the weekends. We'll be glad, mostly for his sake, when this is over. Since Jim took him in for the flu (glad all kids got flu shots and 2 out of 3 of them got the flu) Dexter also had his 15 month check-up. I don't remember Kellan or Zoe having 15 mo check-ups; is this some conspiracy? Anyhow, he's doing great, minus the flu. Still tall 80% and skinny 12% - no exact stats since I can't find the paper at the moment.

Good news for Zoe (and Jim). Zoe got into afternoon pre-school. No more having to wake her up and fight her to get to school on time. She doesn't have to be there til noon and she has friends from the block and last year in the class so she's very excited. She gets to play on the big playground and gets out the same time as Kellan. Jim just may get a few hours to himself as long as Dexter continues to nap in the afternoon.

Go Texas.

Ralph Wiggum

If Dexter were a Simpson's character...

Jim has a new nickname for Dexter - "Wiggum." If you've seen The Simpsons, you have at one point seen Ralph Wiggum. Dexter's first phrase will most likely be "I'm Idaho" since Jim loves to say that to Dexter.

Dexter's first "words" are below. We can no longer say "bath" - we all, including Zoe, now spell it. Kellan, Zoe and I had to give Dexter a bath Saturday morning because I said the word, he ran to his room, got his towel and headed up to the tub. The boy loves his bath. We also blew it by letting him walk around the house eating. His new favorite thing to do is give himself a bite and give Duke the rest.

Baf = Bath

Duh = Duke

Mommie = Mommie

Da = Dad

Me, Me = He wants something

The kids are back to school Monday. They've been out for three weeks now. I thought winter was for sure here, but we got lucky and have seen some fall weather, even a day or two in the 80's. They've been playing outside every night and are typically the last two to come home.

Last Kid's Quote

After Kellan watched the "Stand-Up to Cancer" marketing campaign commercial on TV.

"How is standing-up going to help cure cancer?"

Fall Vacation Trip #1: WA

We made a quick trip to Tacoma a couple weeks back. Jim, Zoe, & Dexter went out on a Wednesday then Kellan and I took off Thursday after work/school. Kellan had Friday off school which was the deciding factor in the trip. It was a whirlwind, as usual and I didn't get many pictures taken of anyone other than (Dexter as usual). Not even one of gramps this trip.

Coincidentally it was my 20 yr high school reunion. It was great to see old friends, which I infrequently get to do on trips back to WA. Thanks to Debi, Tim, & G-ma for watching the little hellions all day/night since Jim flew out Sat. night to be back in time to coach baseball on Sunday; which left me with the three to travel with on Sunday. It was an adventure; all in all they were pretty good. People say kids get easier as they get older for certain reasons - I've got to say Dexter continues to be the easiest of the three, especially with traveling. Go figure none of them slept, which OK, maybe was tough with Dexter since he was confined to my lap, between Kellan & Zoe. Unfortunately, like previous flights Dexter is now 3 for 5 with ear infections on our return. We missed seeing Uncle Mike & Aunt Jessie.

At one of our favorite places to visit - Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Last Kid's Quote

Because there can never be enough bathroom quotes...

Zoe running toward the bathroom. Kellan coming out of the bathroom (after a long time).

Kellan: "Where's Zoe going?"

Me: "To the bathroom."

Kellan: "She's going to feel my pain."

The Climb

The shirt didn't seem to help the Huskies on Saturday. Unfortunately, nor did it when Kellan & Zoe dawned it in previous years....

Dexter does some serious raiding of the cupboards these days. He used to be satisfied with simply crushing the chips in the chip bags, smashing granola bars, unwrapping small pieces of old Halloween candy - but now he's helping himself to things. We've moved most things out of his reach, but he managed to indulge in his first graham cracker the other day. I knew he was in the cupboard, but he got real quiet, which is never a good sign with Dexter since he's typically competing to be heard. I looked over and he was savoring a graham cracker, not shoving it in his mouth, just taking small little bites. He took one look at me, got up, and ran.

He manages to entertain daily. He tries so hard to climb up the rope ladder of the treehouse to go down the slide. I end up having to climb down, carry him up, let him go down the slide and repeat hundred times. I'm waiting for the day when he tries to get out of his crib. Zoe was never inclined. I'll never forget the day Kellan did. I came home from work and Jim said I have bad news and more bad news; the bad news is we got a full offer for our house today (back when we were half-heartedly selling our house in CA) and the other bad news is Kellan "climbed" out of his crib...he was 18 months old. Dexter is still only 14, so hopefully we have at least 4 more months.

Kellan started a one day a week after school baseball camp. I think it's a national program. It opened this week by our house - The Sandlot. He was there for an hour and a half today. One coach, seven kids learning baseball principles, doing drills and hitting. It's all indoor in an old warehouse. I showed up at the end and they were sitting around talking about the "C" in "Champs" - Coachable. Which is exactly what Jim's trying to get across to the team (especially Kellan) to no avail. Don't get me wrong, we know Kellan is a typical seven year old boy, but I was pretty pumped about him potentially learning how to pay attention in an activity he really loves.

We had some new neighbors move in on the block this past month. The kids couldn't be more excited. A 9 yr old girl and 5 and 4 year old boys. They've been playing non-stop and the weather has been gorgeous. All the other neighborhood kids are still out too playing with all the smaller kids - on a given day they'll be 14 kids out shooting each other with guns, it's just wonderful. The bigger kids shoot the guns while the little kids are spies...I think Kellan is borderline big kid now, however he has no interest in shooting the guns since if you have a gun you get shot at. Glad he's still afraid of things.

Zoe has been wanting me to do her hair every morning. Most days I'm gone before anyone is awake, though lately I haven't been sleeping much, so Zoe has been getting up early just to make sure I am still home to braid her hair. Daddy needs to take some lessons from Uncle Cam.

It's not every day I quote the following singer, but Zoe is a huge fan. Zoe loves to entertain, shouting a.k.a. singing at the top of her lungs. I've tried to get it on video, but no justice has been done to date. How pathetic am I that it brings tears to my eyes every time she sings it? Between the lyrics she's singing as a 4.5 yr old and the pure passion she sings the song with, I wonder if she's really relating? Jeez, I hope not. I will blast the song in my car and she rolls her window down all the way, needless to say some interesting looks. Get Inspired! and try to sing it as Zoe would w/ her Brooklyn accent.

"The Climb"

I can almost see it.
That dream I'm dreaming, but
There's a voice inside my head saying
You'll never reach it
Every step I'm takin'
Every move I make
Feels lost with no direction,
My faith is shakin'
But I gotta keep tryin'
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down, but
No I'm not breaking
I may not know it, but
These are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most
I've just gotta keep goin', and
I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on, but

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb

Keep on movin'
Keep climbin'
Keep faith baby
It's all about, it's all about
The climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, woah

--Hannah Montana

Just because...

Happy 7th Birthday Kellan!

I'm a little late on this one. We let Kellan have a birthday party this year. We were going to have it at the house, but when we took him to check out a local water park (on the small side), there was no going back. Lucky we didn't have to go to the back-up plan due to weather becuase there wasn't one. The attendee list was also cut back, again fortunate for us becuase I don't what we were thinking with doing a b-day at a water park with Jim, Zoe, Dexter and I and a dozen 7 yr olds. We were rescued though. Uncle Cam and Phoebe flew out and a bunch of parents joined us. I think everyone had a great time, Kellan definitely did. I can't believe my little boy is seven. I keep telling him he will always be my baby and he keeps telling me he's not a baby. He's had a lot of smart ass comments lately. He also talks in these little voices that I can only cringe at sometimes because they remind me of his Uncle Mike when I was growing up. Especially when he talks through his butt. Lovely.

It's been awhile since I've talked Legos...they are still most definitely in Kellan's life. I need to find a new system for organizing them since it's just too overwhelming for him to even consider re-building anything. In my "spare" time I try and go back and organize all the pieces by set. I think I've done 1 of close to 100.

Most mornings this week have been in the 50's and then hot during the day. I still can't help but think fall is right around the corner. NOOOO! With that said, we're trying to spend as much time as possible outside.

Kellan had his first fall baseball game last weekend. They got killed. Watching seven/eight year olds pitch makes for a slow game. They basically lost on walks. Kellan only got to hit once. We'll see what the rest of the season brings.

Little daredevil. Watching the big kids ride their bikes.