Clip snip chop chop

We decided to make Memorial Day a memorable one by doing what everyone does on this holiday: getting haircuts! I went out early to a friend-of-a-friend who chopped my hair right off (I love it) and came home and gave Kindred his first trim. Here's how that went:

"Mama, Dada, I'm so excited to be sitting in my little seat when it isn't time to eat. What are we doing?"

"Oh fun! I get to wear a towel and brush my hair. Brush brush brush."

"Uh, what's this? What's going on?"

"No, really. What are you doing? Dada, quit trying to distract me with your screensaver and your camera and your silly songs! Do you see what Mama's trying to do to me? What are those pointy things? Mama, I want to watch."

"Dada! Save me! Save me from her and her craziness! Dada! Dada! Argh!"

So it was a little difficult, but there were no major injuries (or even minor ones) and Kindred's hair looks pretty OK for him wiggling and protesting. Here's the before and after shots:

I think he's forgiven me, and he looks a lot cooler, even if his hair is a little crooked.

Oh, and here's me. I really love short hair. Gone gone!

Just silliness....

So you know how Kindred wanted to help out his new toy from the Wilson's together? Well, we aren't sure he understands that it is for cars to drive on and not boys to climb around on. He really has fun with it. (He's a little confused by the whole slide thing. He knows slides are fun. He just can't seem to get his bootie on this one in the same way.)

This is Michael giving Kindred guitar lessons. When he isn't playing, he stands next to Daddy and claps.

(I love this picture.)

Who knew good strawberries could make you feel so optimistic?

I never buy strawberries (or any other fruit, usually) at the grocery store. There's a great produce stand down the street and I generally only get fruit and veggies from them. But I got sucked in to buying the Acme strawberries. They looked so happy. The ones at the produce stand that I got last time looked remotely OK and tasted like cleaning fluid. But wow. Kindred and I shared some strawberries for lunch on this cloudy day. When I tasted my first one, suddenly it was a bright sunshiny day! I was shocked. I never knew fruit could change your outlook on a day. I want these to last forever. Anyway....

So the blog is significantly bigger today. I went back and finished an entry from a few weeks ago and posted it, and I added Florida pictures and commentary. So when you are finshed looking at these delighful stories and pictures, be sure to scroll back. (It will be worth it. Well, I hope.)

Kindred got a present from the Wilson's for his birthday, and today we put it all together for him. Well, with him. He was bawling if he didn't have the screwdriver in his hands. He helped. He loved it.













































Grandpa Jim has made it a tradition to visit us every other Sunday. He gets his "Grandson fix."








Kindred loves to water the garden with me. He's a true green thumb. (When he isn't falling on top of the pretty flowers as he tried to smell them.) He gets a vast enjoyment from digging his fingernails (and everything else) through the great mud he's just made with the watering can, so every little trip outside to water becomes an episode of "We'll both just change our clothes when we're all done out here."

Michael decided to play with the camera tonight. I'll keep posting random camera-fun pics throughout the month. Love!

Kindred Adventures in Florida

"Take me to the beach, Jeeves!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kindred loved the beach so much when we were in Florida in March that I decided we had to book another trip before it got too late for my pregnant self to travel and before we had to pay for a ticket for Kindred. Despite Michael's protests, I did in fact take his son away and fly off to Florida for 5 days. We had a great time with Carol, Aunt Liz and Uncle Darren and Caden. Everone was wonderful hosts and Kindred and I got some respite and some good beach and pool time before we had to fly home.

Kindred loves being near the water with Grandma. (I have a feeling, just a hunch really, that Grandma might have enjoyed being there with him just as much.)

Kindred is the captain of his ship.

Kindred and Caden had a much better time with each other than ever before, mostly I think because they are finally on the same plane of mobility. (Kindred hadn't quite gotten the whole walking-thing down yet in March and Caden would barrel right over him sometimes.) But Kindred was able to hold his own this time and they had some good times together.

Caden was kind enough to agree to let Kindred tag along while he roared around the driveway on his motorized 4 wheeler. He didn't seem at all fazed by the fact that Kindred was behind him. Kindred was clutching his cousin for dear life and laughing his head off. Vroooommm!

Then Caden took a breather and let Kindred turn slow circles on his own in the grass after some brief driving lessons from both Caden and Uncle Darren. Kindred was delighted in his newfound independence.

"I have conquered this beach. What next?"

One of these days we are going to maybe consider investing in a less silly-looking hat for this poor boy.(Case in point. This was his very first time at the beach last August. He was 6 months old. He definitely did not enjoy this experience. And he didn't even have a presentable hat back then!)

Kindred was pretty overwhelmed with females in Florida between me and Aunt Liz and Grandma, so he really connected with Darren. He would call "Uhhn-ca! Uhhnn-ca!" anytime Uncle Darren was around or anytime he really wanted to see him. It was adorable, and Darren really ate it up.

This is not the most flattering picture of my pregnant self next to my petite sister-in-law's pregnant self, but it had been a long day-- time #2 at the beach-- and I was sandy, wet and wind-blown. It's great to be sharing a pregnancy with Liz again. She is almost 10 weeks behind me.

Jim and Carol had a pool installed at their house, and Kindred and I got to test it out! It was a little chilly, even for us Northerners, but once we finished gasping and shivering, we had some awesome pool time. Aunt Liz got as deep as sitting on the top step, and Darren managed to get his knees wet. Caden was a little uncertain of how much he wanted to commit to the water, and spent most of his time tossing small objects (duckies, balls, etc.) into the water for Kindred and I to retrieve. I did play "motor boat" with each of the boys and they seemed to enjoy it, and Kindred loved learning to kick his legs and try to make himself move. (My camera filled up so I didn't get any other pool shots besides this one.)

Then it was time to depart and make out grand reunion with "Dada". Kindred was fantastic on the flight (there and back really) and I couldn't have asked for a better kid to hang out with for 3 hours on a plane. When I was pushing his stroller through the very crowded airport to the baggage claim, we ran into Michael. Kindred was far too distracted to notice anything that was in front of him, so when I pulled up and stopped in front of Michael, it took 2 minutes and a "Pssst" from Michael for Kindred to even see him. Oh, but when he did.... People walking by had stopped to watch what Kindred's reaction would be to seeing his daddy, and he did not let them down. His face lit up like it was Christmas and he couldn't get out of the stroller fast enough and into his daddy's arms. Kindred showered Michael with kisses and snuggles and "Dada! Dada! Daaada!" One woman waiting for another passenger in the same area thanked us for making her day with that scene. (I'm guessing it made Michael's too.)

Girls' Night Out

My good friend Lara and I decided to celebrate her graduation from nursing school by having a girl's day out in Atlantic City, NJ. My in-laws have a timeshare there in the Flagship Resort (see grand-looking picture below), so we got a room on the 25th floor overlooking the ocean, and had some relaxing get-away time, kid-free. (Well, as kid-free as I can get. I'm carrying one pretty constantly.) (And come to think of it, Lara was also carrying one too! Wee-hoo! She was blissfully unaware of her "gift" until just recently.) Lara had never really spent any time in a casino, so we walked around the boardwalk and visited several casinos. She put a $5 into a nickel machine and promptly won $30. I had 4 $1's, so I thought I could have just a little fun and see what I could do with them. But alas I could do nothing with them. Rotten quarter, nickel, even penny machines don't take anything less than a $5! My $1's were not good enough for those folks. So I kept them in my pocket, and spent the lot and tons more the next day when we walked to the outlet stores and spent the afternoon wandering around. We wanted to spend time at the beach, but it was just too cold. Soon enough we'll get there, I guess.

Swing Swang Swung and other stories

Kindred enjoys outside so much. Since he sleeps in so late (like 9am everyday) and naps 3 hours later for 2.5 hours or so, and he eats after he wakes up, our days are pretty short. But we've been able to fit in some outside playtime before his nap. The other day because Michael had a short Yes!And meeting, the three (well, 3 and a half? 3 and a whole Blasto?) of us went to the park a few blocks away because they have swings and slides. Kindred got in the swing and apparently enjoyed himself. The smile was plastered on his face.




Then we had some slide time, which there are no pictures of, unfortunately, because we each had to be involved in Kindred's departure and landing from top to bottom. He enjoyed this immensely as well, until he slipped and busted his little lip and he bled and bled and cried and cried then wanted to slide some more. We used my shirt to wipe up his blood, then Daddy took him home, and I took my bloody self to the bank looking like someone had mugged me in the park on the way there. I felt like a Mama. "No, no, I'm fine. My son fell on the slide and I didn't have any tissues." My son. I have a son. Sometimes it still shocks me.

Next we have some fashion shots, but they are from the back because darn if I can get that kid to turn around for a picture without wanting to get right up on it and kiss the camera. But he looked real cute, so here's the best I could do.





In this one, though, he knew I wanted to take his picture, so he decided to cooperate by staying still. But doesn't he just have the most pleasant, patient look on his face? Um, no. He's more like, "Fine, Mom. Here. I'll sit, you take the picture. Then will you take me outside?"

Now on to the stories....

It is allergy season. Michael is a sufferer. Kindred is an imitator. You can imagine how amusing it is that Kindred walks around the house these days saying "Haaaaa-Choo! Haaaaa-Choo!"

Today was the Wissahickon's annual softball game, and we went out. Michael played a good game, Kindred charmed the fans, and I talked to a woman due to have her baby boy in 7 days. It was a fun afternoon, and Kindred got himself pretty dirty running around in the grass and dirt. He clearly needed a bath when we got home. So we scrubbed the tub and filled it and he nearly jumped in with all his clothes on he was so excited. I got him undressed, and put him in. His newest tub game is to stand there in the warm water and wait and look down but not sit. He just stands quietly, smiling. Then the greatest thing happens! (Or so it seems to him.) His own personal faucet squirts out water, and he pees in the tub. When he is done, he proudly looks at me, amused, and only then will sit and play with his toys and splash.

Tonight he switched things up on me a bit. He stood and watched, but this time he looked a little confused. After a few minutes of me encouraging him to sit down, no pee appearing, he started to oblige. But he held the side of the tub and squatted instead of sitting. (Anyone see where this is going?) His little brown eyes started to water. I was suddenly very aware of what was happening, but didn't have a plan of action ready in time. So I yelled. "Michael! Come in here! I need you right now!" Michael immediately appeared and rescued the boy (who was now even more confused about why he was being snatched from the tub so prematurely) from the toxic water and I scooped the floating logs of poopy from the recently-clean bathwater, scrubbed again, and started all over. Things went without much incident after that, until now-dry and squeaky-clean Kindred escaped while I was searching for lotion in his room and went tearing around the apartment in the buff, giggling with glee and calling "Dada! Dada!"