Christmas Morning

Christmas morning we had our immediate family celebration.  We kept gifts simple for Kamden since we know so many people buy for him. 

More cars!

Big rescue helicopter

Only picture with mom... only interested in his toys by this point

Mr. Potato head (not really ready for this but he was intrigued)

Christmas Eve

We started xmas off with a bang!  Full day of breakfast, gifts, NO NAP, and dinner.  Kamden was a real trooper.  Way too excited about the holidays to take a nap and still did surprisingly well that day and the following.

This cool little bear has been programed to say his name, talk about his favorite foods and colors and play a lot of music.  He loves it!

LOVES cars!  Not sure we can ever have enough!

Muno (yo gabba gabba character) might just replace "doggy" for his bedtime routine.  He loves him!

All the cars he got for Christmas are stored in this wagon.  He loves to climb in and play with them.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

Joe finished wrapping all my gifts.  I have been labeled a bit of a snoop in my day.  Joe has taken to signing all the seams and using tamper-proof tape.  

Last week Kam's Aunt and Uncle invited us on a trolley ride to see lots of great Christmas lights and holiday displays.  They do this every year with Uncle J's family.  Kamden had a pretty good time... until we got to a ways past bedtime and things got a bit ugly.  Thank goodness for Yo Gabba Gabba on my phone!

So sleepy

Last week, Kamden got a bit off schedule by going to bed too late and therefore not getting his standard 12-13 hours a night (rough life).  It took awhile to get things back to normal.  He fell asleep while eating lunch and didn't wake up when I cleaned his face (which is normally a complete melt down), carried him upstairs, OR CHANGED HIS DIAPER!  It was insane.  He is not normally the type to sleep through much but he was obviously pooped!  He proceeded to take a 3.5 hour nap.  

Choo Chooooooo

Union Station has an amazing toy train display.  I have been a few times with my nephew but this is, obviously, the first time Kamden has known what is happening.  He was in LOVE.  Jibber Jabbered the whole time and pointed and all the trains.  We went on Friday with my sister and my nephews and again a few days later with Joe. 

Kam & Kitty

Kamden has always loved the dogs and been intrigued by the cat.  She generally wants nothing to do with him.  I consider it a huge success that she has only made him cry about 3 times in 16 months.  She is very good at just giving him a warning bite when she has had it with him.  This week, Kamden and Kitty (occasionally known as Sammy) were full on PLAYING together.  Kam thought it was amazing.  He laughed as hard as I have ever seen him laugh!

A few silly things....

 Kamden loves wearing daddy's ties and walking around the house

  

I love online shopping for the holidays.  Black friday was a success from the comfort of my home.  Sadly (or happily?), this was probably HALF of the boxes that appeared on my doorstep!

Kamden has found a new love of playing with my computer.  It is difficult because he can push a chair to the desk and climb all the way up.  He has thrown some monumental tantrums when I remove him.  If he wants to keep shopping the Nordstom website for handbags, I might just let him (as soon as he figures out Daddy's credit card info).

My firstborns.  The really love each other.  When one is out of the house for vet or grooming, the other is distraught.  I am dreading the day when one is alone forever.

Nutcracker 2012

Fabulous night with friends and family.  We relived a night from our childhood.  We went with the W family (or the 2 that currently live in KC).  We went together as kids and loved going as adults.  I am now looking forward to seeing future performances at the new Kauffman Center.  It was beautiful, and not a bad seat in the house!

SANTA!

 SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM! 

 - Buddy the Elf 

Sadly, Kamden was not nearly as excited for Santa as Buddy.  Our local library had Santa come to sing and visit.  I thought it might be remotely good for Kam because we often go to storytime at this location.  Wishful thinking.

Wow.  You are weird...

NOT in a good way... let me go!

Daddy, SAVE ME!

Playing

We had a few playdates throughout the month of November.  I wanted a chance to catch up with friends before the holidays began.  My friend C and her son (born 3 weeks after Kamden) came over.  Sadly, I forgot to capture a picture.  

The next weekend, my friend M brought her two adorable kiddos over to play.  They played quite well together, considering Kamden doesn't play with other kids all that often.  

Walking!

I am CRAZY behind on blogging.  

Kamden (finally) took his first few steps just before he turned 15 months in early November.  Shortly after, we couldn't slow him down.  By 16 months, he was walking everywhere and occasionally trying to run.

This video was taken right when he started.  He was so proud of himself everytime he took some steps.  It. was. adorable!

Future Voter

2032 is the first presidential election this kiddo can vote in.  Seems so far away...

Hoot. Hoot.

Our little owl had a great Halloween!  It lasted even longer than his birthday :)

Grammy came over for a visit and dinner (and lots of pictures) on Friday.

We had the 4th annual "Spooky Soup Night" with all my (local) family kids in costume.  Mr. O was a little... eh... emotional.  Wasn't willing to wear the superman costume planned.  I got some cute pictures of the others.

The day of Halloween was super fun.  It started by waking K up at 7:30 am to meet Grandma and make it to a kindergarten program at 8:30.  YES, I am very spoiled by his sleep schedule.  But, dang... it is great.  Miss A rocked her vocals at a program that also featured the xylophone.  After the the program we headed to the preschool to watch B & E strut their stuff in in a Halloween parade.  

Here is a pic of B & Kamden after the parade.

Aunt C wanted to see K and play for the day (while I did some physical labor around the house).  They went to a library story time and trick-or-treating at a local outdoor mall.  Apparently he was adorable.... even tried to say "thank you" to the merchants.  Pics from Aunt C who also made the adorable hat.  The cute ladybug is Kamden's girlfriend, M... we are hoping she will teach him to walk... any day now :)

The fun continues.  It was a beautiful evening so we sat on the front porch to hand out candy.  Kamden was very vocal in telling the neighbor kids hello!  Once inside, Kamden pulled the tin of candy off the table.  He proceeded to play with the candy and then place each piece back in the tin.  Hopefully he showing a much stronger desire for tidy than me!

FALL!

It might be in the 80s and crazy humid right now but fall is actually here.  We took this picture at Parktoberfest a few weekends ago.  It captures the awesome hat. It might be a little lopsided on his head but he still rocks it.  I seriously get at least one complement every time he wears it. 

Sidenote: My grandma (great grandma v) asked if he had gained weight.  That is just a 2T jacket I put him in... way too big!  He is rather slim and trim now that he doesn't stop moving.  He (generally) needs 12 month width but 18 month length right now.

Northern CA trip

We try to visit Joe's sister once a year.  It is such a hardship to go to San Fran every year (totally being sarcastic here).  Many memories have been made on our trips.  We were engaged in 2006 in the city, before Joe's sister lived there.  I saw my first whale a few years ago and Kamden took his first flight when he was just 4 months old.  

We still get nervous flying with him because it isn't getting easier.  In fact, we were discussing trips we want to take the rest of the year and Joe wasn't so sure we should cash in on the free lap seat ticket we can get until next August.  I am sure he will change his mind :)

Kamden still did pretty great on the flight.  We took the last direct flight out of the day both ways.  He basically slept the entire time but it wasn't quite as easy to get him to sleep because he doesn't take bottles anymore.  Luckily, the flights were very empty both ways.  No one wanted to sit close to us (not a surprise) and we had tons of room. 

We got in late Friday night and then lounged around Saturday morning.  It was a beautiful day so we packed a picnic and went to a park.  Kamden enjoyed the swings and crawling around while the rest of us were attacked by bees that wanted our food.  

Joe and I headed to wine country for 2 nights while K stayed with Aunt S, Nana, and J.  We booked this trip very last minute so reasonably priced places to stay were limited.  We ended up at a B&B with a cooky old lady running the place.  Minus the crazy lady and her house, we had a great time!

Here is a list of places and services we used.  This is mostly to help with my memory... but if anyone has questions feel free to ask.

Zin Restaurant - Dinner Saturday night

Wine Country Chauffeur - tour guide.  I didn't have time to research and left the itinerary completely up to them.  They did an AWESOME job. 

j winery

Mochin Wine - this is where we did a full winery tour.

Dutton Estate Winery

Balletto Winery

Thomas George Estate

Barndiva - Dinner Sunday night

 Our take-home bottles... really excited to drink these :)

Monday morning, we headed back to see K and leave for KC.  It was a great trip and we look forward to next year!

Look Mom, No hands!

So yes, my child still doesn't walk.  At 14 months.  I am not worried about this but some people look at me with complete shock.  Joe didn't walk until 17 months but I walked at 11.  I figure if we beat that 17 month marker, we're in good shape. 

Kamden has adapted.  He has learned to use his mouth to hold things while crawling.  We captured this video today....

Deck Improvements

We desperately needed to have our deck refinished.  It hadn't been done in the 4 years we have lived here.  We are trying to breath a little life back into the deck until we make some big decisions about our house.  It needs to last at least another 5 years, which requires a little more frequent maintenance.  

In addition to staining the deck, we had the handyman take out the hot tub and deck over the space, rebuild the stairs, beef up the railings, and add gates to the top of the stairs.  The gates are quite possibly one of my favorite home improvements. Ever.  Such a small thing but it contains my child to an area of outdoor play that isn't a gigantic dog toilet bowl!  On nice afternoons I just open the back door and let K go in and out as he pleases.  This is priceless right now!

I don't have finished pictures but you get the idea.

Adios broken hot tub!

 

 

 

 Look at that beautiful gate!

Sidenote: Pinterest isn't just a time killer.  It actually inspires me to do things.  Like clean my entry grout for the first time in 4 years.  Yep.  That is gross.