Quick Note

I took Angie's superhero quiz below. I am sure much to everyone's suprise, I am Green Lantern. :)

Family Reunion

It was another whirlwind of a weekend, in which Kai was pushed to his limits--and performed like a champ! Here's a little photo recap of all of the festivities.

Opening picnic on Sunday July 27--
Feeding the ducks with Uncle Joe (pictured),
Uncle Brian (almost :P), and Aunt Wendy

What a fun bridge at the playground!

Swinging away--Kai loved this and was upset
when we were done and had to eat.

Day 2--July 28--Trip to Mt. Baker
Taking a break from packing lunch to show
Grandma and Great-grandma Hickman the bear

Riding the bear--yes, he was tired ALL weekend
(He went to bed at 8:30 or later every night!)

Little Kai, big tree--right outside of Glacier, Washington

The view from Artists' Point
Playing in the snow--in JULY!We ate lunch while watching Uncle Joe and others
feed the birds right out of their hands.Pausing for a picture break after our little walk.
We were waiting for the others to finish their hike.Catching some much needed sleep!Day 3--Walking the boardwalk in Fairhaven

July 29Playing with his "Horton Hears a Who" flowerWhat a fun weekend! Time for a little dance!
Later that night we had a farewell dinner and took pictures with every relative
we could find. But I won't bore you with those pictures!

It was a fun weekend--cold, but fun. We were happy to return to the 90-degree heat of Colorado. It was overcast almost our whole time there, but the one day it was sunny Reid suffered a severe sunburn. I feel horrible about that! Kai was a gem and handled the exhaustion marvelously. He even slept in a playpen the entire time! And I have to mention my wonderful Aunt Margie who babysat for a couple of hours and gave me and Reid a date night. That was wonderful and something that we treasured. Just as I'm sure we'll treasure the memories of our trip!

On the Road Again

This weekend we're headed to Bellingham, Washington for a Hickman/Nafziger family reunion. I'm excited to see family and to introduce Kai to some relatives he's never met. I think his great-grandma is especially excited to see him! It'll be somewhat of a short trip, but hopefully full of some great memories. We'll see some of you there!

Chocoholic

Over the last couple of weeks, Kai has had more opportunities to enjoy chocolate. And he loves it in every form! Chocolate milk and brownies have been the lastest choices. Here's what last night's dessert looked like after he got to it. This is a small brownie square (about 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch)--who'd have known he could make this much of a mess. To be honest, the picture does not do the mess justice--and it was taken after he rubbed his face on my shirt! Thanks Kai!

The car wash

I remember the car wash being fun when I was little. Granted, the last time I visited the car wash here in town it did seem a little overwhelming, but I figured that was because I had gotten older. So today Kai and I started off our errands by heading to the car wash. Poor kid! What I thought would be a fun experience was actually quite terrifying for him. He wailed and wailed and tried to get out of his carseat all while screaming "mom mom" (his newest iteration of my title). Since you can't switch seats while in the car wash, all I could do was reach back and try to soothe him as best as I could by talking and stroking his head. As soon as we were out of there, I pulled into a parking lot and got him out for some soothing time. And then he didn't want to get back in his seat.

The lesson learned today: Go to the carwash by myself next time.

A small sample of Kai's sad face.

Weekend Fun

This weekend Reid's sister, Kristi, and her family were here for a brief visit. We had such a good time. Kai loved having his cousins around and showing off all of his toys. Since it was a short visit, we had a very busy Saturday. The morning was spent at the park where Bryn made many friends, and Owen had a blast on the swings. After all of the afternoon naps, we took a trip to Garden of Gods. I think we can officially declare that Kai's favorite toys are rocks. He definitely slowed us up as he examined virtually each and every rock we passed. Silly kid! It was a fun day and we were sad to see everyone go Sunday morning, but hopefully we'll get together again soon.

Our little family.

Kai and his rock "friend"

The whole crew coming down the path.

Look at that mommy!

Kai's horse. Oh wait, that's me!

This is what Kai was pointing at. The man on the mountain!

It was a beautiful day, clouds and all.

Heading home.

The results are in!

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought I'd take the quiz. I think I tend to agree with these results.
You are Robin

Robin 80% Superman 70% Spider-Man 65% Supergirl 40% Hulk 40% The Flash 35% Wonder Woman 25% Batman 20% Catwoman 20% Iron Man 20% Green Lantern 10%

Young and acrobatic. You don't mind stepping aside to give someone else glory.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Mama, Up!

Kai is actively engaged in learning to talk now. Thank goodness! Yesteray he was doing a real good job of repeating some of our words. In the morning while playing with a stuffed animal he kept poking it's eyes out and repeating Reid saying "eyes". Later we went outside to play in the grass. He loves to play in the grass and pull out handfuls of green stuff. I would say "grass" and, well, he couldn't say the "gr" part but the last three letters were very clear. I was laughing my head off. We also saw the neighbors dog out and he tried to say dog but it came out more "daw". So cute.

Yesterday afternoon, Kai went over to the neighbors to "play"/be "babysat" by their 10 year-old daughter (and the help of grandma) while I cleaned the house a bit. It was the first time that I have ever paid for babysitting! And the first time I've left him awake with anyone other than family. He ran into the house, started playing, and didn't even notice when I left. But when I went to get him, they told me that he was trying to talk. For example, he said "mama" once and he asked Sarah for her "nooo" or noddles. When I brought him home I could tell that he was realizing that people other than mommy talk too, and it might be good to learn. He was trying hard. And it resulted in his first phrase! After only 10 minutes of trying to eat his dinner he wanted out. He slouched back in his highchair, like he was pouting, and then he said "mama......UP!" I had to reward him for talking and so I picked him up and boy was he so excited.

You gotta love him!

Swimming

Despite my best intentions, Kai has never been swimming. So this weekend we bought him a pool. Of course it's Kai-sized! He had a good time with Reid on Sunday blowing it up and then yesterday I filled it up and planned on an afternoon swim. But wouldn't you know that it started to rain in the afternoon and the temperatures dropped a bit. During a sunny moment I slipped Kai into his bathing suit, only to get outside and find that the sun had disappeared again. But he had fun splashing and playing anyway. He didn't want to get in--I don't blame him! But by the end he was splashing around with one foot in. Hopefully he'll get the full "swimming" experience soon.He was a lot more animated when the camera was off, unfortunately. He always seems to get just a bit distracted by the funny gadget that mom is holding!

Kai's New shoes

Kai's shoes were starting to get tight, so we went back to Stride Rite to get him measured again on Friday. He came in at a 4 extra wide. Now, I have a conspiracy theory about the whole extra wide thing. Wouldn't it be advantageous for the store to tell you that your child has extra wide feet when they are the only store that sells extra wide shoes?? I think that I could probably find some other shoes to fit Kai but I just don't trust myself at all to pick out the right size. I really don't want him in shoes that are too tight or too big. So, we end up paying a little more for my piece of mind I guess. Anyway, these are the shoes that we picked out for him this time.
And then of course he needed some sandals. More because it's easier on me to slip on sandals than having to worry about socks and tying his shoes. He's a little stud muffin now!

Molar Pain

Last Monday I noticed a sharp little point in the back of Kai's mouth and spent the next several days trying to decide if he was cutting a cuspid or a molar. By Wednesday his mouth was really looking irritated and he was not sleeping well (and I finally decided it had to be a molar). After two not so great nights in a row, we finally decided that a dose of Ibuprofen was necessary before bed. We seem to have found the trick for the nighttime, but his molar has still seemed especially troublesome. As I've kept a close eye on it, I think I almost feel the pain more than he does. And I was not prepared to see bloody drool running down his face today during sacrament. I think I wanted to cry more than him. He's a trooper, though. You'd never know that the back of his mouth is bloody and irritated. We've definitely got a gem of a boy!

The Red Balloon

I owed Kai a balloon. See, a couple of days before his birthday a nice lady at the grocery store gave Kai a free balloon. The minute I put the balloon in the car, though, it got a hole and was gone. About a month later, a lady at the hair cut place offered Kai a free balloon, I was determined to get this balloon home in one piece and secured it under the back of Kai's car seat before going to put the stroller in the back of the car. I didn't notice the wind tunnel I had created in the car until Kai pointed up into the sky and let out a little squeak. Away went balloon number 2! I felt so bad about the balloons that I promised Kai a new balloon. Last week at the grocery store I went to the balloon counter and told the lady I wanted to purchase a balloon. She gave us a free grocery store balloon again instead. This balloon was guarded with my life and finally made it home safely. Kai was thrilled! Beyond thrilled actually. The balloon was the highlight of his day (that's about how long it lasted).





Kai's favorite balloon game--letting go!

4th of July Weekend

It's always fun to have a 3-day weekend and to spend our time together as a family. For the 4th of July we had planned to check out the festivities in our small little town. I was actually told that they are the largest in the state! But at the last minute, we decided on a trip to the zoo instead. It was a good choice and we had a great time. Kai has been getting more and more comfortable with animals and so the timing was great for his first outing to the zoo.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is known for two things really--the giraffe exhibit where you can pet and feed them, and beautiful views of Colorado Springs. The zoo lives up to its name as it is on the side of a mountain and each exhibit takes you higher and higher. The paths take you up about 120 feet (or 10 stories!). It's good excerise, especially pushing a stroller.

Kai really liked the giraffes, although we chose
not to feed them. We thought that'd be a better
activity for when he gets a bit older.

He was scared to touch them, though.

Here's Kai and Daddy hanging with the monkeys.

It was hot! Here's a much deserved lunch and Icee break!

At the petting zoo we got to meet a bunny.
Once again, Kai didn't really want to touch her.

Kai LOVES fish! He would have been happy
watching the fish swim all day.

And of course, we had to see the penguins.

The last stop of the day was the primate house.
We enjoyed watching the gorillas, but what really
surprised us was something Kai said. After about
2 minutes watching the mommy and baby gorilla
Kai burst out with the word "babies!"


After making it all the way to the very top exhibit
(grizzlies and bald eagles) you have to take a picture.
Here's a beautiful view of Colorado Springs.

After such a fun day at the zoo, Kai was really wound up. Even after trying to put him to bed early, he didn't pass out until about 8pm--barely missing the fireworks. We were able to see 4 different fireworks shows from our back porch. They lasted from about 9-10 pm. It was a great ending to the day.

Oh, and don't worry--we did enjoy a BBQ. We just did it on the 5th of July instead!!

New Teeth, New Tricks, New Toys

Well, just days after Kai's first top tooth arrived, the second top tooth appeared. He now has four teeth! I'm surprised how quickly these two teeth seem to be emerging--for some reason they seem to be coming out much more quickly than the bottom two teeth did. But I guess they do have gravity on their side.

Also in the last week, Kai has learned how to stand up without using anything to pull himself up. It's really cute as he's still learning and so he often ends up standing up past vertical and falling right on his bum. He's such a cutie. Also yesterday, he started pushing the buttons on some of his toys and "singing" along with them. We didn't get a great video of it, but the point is that once the music starts he starts to talk. When the music stops, so does he. He's getting too smart for his own good!



Finally, Kai has been wanting one of the "big" balls that we often see at Wal-Mart. Reid and I haven't really felt that he needed one. We were worried that they were so large they'd knock him over, and they're so hard that it would be a tough fall. But going through a spare bedroom closet the other week, Kai discovered we already had "big" balls--excerise balls! He LOVES them! They're softer than the normal toy balls and so they don't knock him over or anything. He particularly enjoys when we make them bounce for him. He finds it so fun he squeals and runs around and just has a good time with his big ball!

Isn't it a bit early to be getting ready for Primary??