Goodbyes and Hellos

My brother and his family are getting ready to make a big move to the Pacific Northwest. We are excited for them as they are moving close to Aunt Kari's family and it will be nice to have Grandparents on hand to help out with the kids. They definitely will be much farther from us with this move, but hopefully that will just mean that we plan ahead better and carve out special vacation and Holiday time with them in the future. This past weekend they came to town for a final goodbye. G-Mama also came down and stayed with us. Reed and Kieran loved their special time with her and we all had a very busy few days of kiddo bonding, catching-up, and tearful farewells.

On Friday we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. It was so neat seeing how much four month old Haleigh has changed since Easter and how much fun Reed and Annaliese have together. Even though they are still babies, Kieran and Haleigh loved hanging out together and were in fits of giggles when they first saw each other.

On Saturday Grandma and Grandpa hosted a going away party and invited family and close friends. Reed had a ball playing outside all afternoon despite the heat and I had to keep reminding him to drink water.

Auntie M and Haleigh

Kieran and Grand Aunt Penny

To round out our busy weekend Jon's college roommate Phil, his wife Kelly, and their daughters Maya and Lana made a stop at our house to watch the World Cup final on their long trek from Northern California back down to San Diego. This was their first time meeting Kieran so that was fun. Reed was pretty cute with the girls and just wanted them to play with him. He kept running up to Maya, touching her shoulder, saying tag, and running off. It took a bit for them to warm up to him but finally they all had a great time when Reed pulled out some plastic eggs and they took turn hiding and hunting them.

Pre Easter Celebrations

While Easter isn't usually too hectic of a Holiday for us, this year it turned into a three day event. Friday was actually pretty mellow, G-Mama arrived to stay with us for the weekend and we had a quiet dinner at home with her. Reed was so excited that she was staying with us - he had her reading books, doing puzzles, and trying to follow along with his imagination all weekend. Her stay also meant lots of extra cuddle time with Kieran, who has changed a lot since she met him four months ago.

On Saturday my Mom, Aunt Penny, Auntie M, and I hosted a shower for our cousin Adam's fiancé, Emily. It was great getting to know her better and welcoming her into the family. Aunt Kari brought their daughter Haleigh (5 weeks) to the shower and it was the first time a lot of us had the pleasure of meeting her.

Adorable favor created by Auntie M

Aunt Jana, G-Mama, Grammy (M's Grandma), Aunt Laurie, and Blingy

Melinda, Mia, Aunt Kari, Grandma, and Great Grandma Didi
Somehow I didn't get a picture when Aunt Penny was at the table

Our "theme" was bright colors and lots of flowers

MOH Cameron, Emily, Amy, Me, Rachel, and Auntie M

Finally meeting Miss Haleigh

G-Mama and Haleigh

Emily and Cameron

After the shower we decided that since my parents were hosting Easter for 30 people the next day we would have their contingency over for pizza and spare their house the mess. Aunt Laurie, Uncle Peter, Uncle Kyle, Aunt Kari, Annaliese, and Haleigh made the trek with them and we had a nice evening.


Grandpa doing double duty

Aunt Laurie getting in some K time



New Cousins!!!

Four Months

Last week I started to jot down a few thoughts about Kieran's fourth month of life. It is amazing how much can change so quickly with a wee one - half of what I wrote is being thrown out the window. I must quickly mention that Jon just returned from being out of town for an entire week and I barely survived, due in part to Kieran's ever changing-ness. When Jon saw him this morning he even commented on how much more alert, dexterous, and just bigger he seems to be. K is really into tummy time lately and loves holding things in his hands and inspecting them. He has also decided he wants to figure out how to roll over, but prefers to practice this skill set overnight which has led to a lot of sleepless nights for the two of us as he is wide awake grunting, groaning, crying out, arching his back, kicking his legs, but not even getting close to rolling!

Despite his lack of sleep recently, he is still generally in a very good mood and pretty much game for anything. If he does get fussy usually a pacifier or his stuffed monkey, Max, is all he needs to calm down. This month I continued to eat dairy products and also added eggs back into my diet. He seems to be handling both of these fine, which is a great feeling and I will probably try soy very soon.

As it is getting to be more and more noticeable that Kieran is growing up I'm finding myself very sentimental over the fact that this is our last baby and that time really does go by so quickly.

As I mentioned above, Jon was gone for an entire week on a work trip. Other than a few melt downs here and there the boys and I did pretty well on our own. I didn't really have time to take many pictures but we kept ourselves pretty busy by going to "C's" house for pizza, a quick visit from Auntie "M" and Hunky Kevin, having Nonna come over once to watch the kiddos while I went running, being treated to a homemade dinner by Shannon, Kevin, and Clara, and then getting a visit from Tio's parents Marty and Bueno yesterday evening.

Monthly Statistics

Weight: 14 lbs

Height: I'll have a number next month

Clothing Size: Clothes and pajamas are now size 3-6 month or 6 month. He still continues to be a bit of a string bean.

Kieran likes: Being held facing out, his play mat, car seat, tummy time, sensory books, his mobile, taking baths, Mam pacifiers, bouncing/jumping, being tossed in the air, playing patty cake, and his lovey (Max).

Kieran dislikes: Having a wet diaper, having his clothes changed/taken off, not being able to roll over, loud noises (cough, cough, Reed) while he's trying to nurse, and being held like a baby.

 

Nicknames: Kier, K, K Dawg (this has been popular for awhile but I haven't wanted to admit it), K-Man, Kierito, Baby Bear, Smalls, and Sneezy.

How Kieran is sleeping:  He's been going to bed around 8:00pm and sleeps until midnight, has a feeding and goes back to sleep after about 45 minutes of "re-plugging" the pacifier. He is back up around 3:00 am for another feeding and in the last few days I've been putting him in bed with me so I can hold him down, instead of letting him roll around in the crib. He usually goes to sleep really fast if I do this and then I can transfer him back to his crib otherwise it is an hour plus of rollover practice. He is up again around 5:30 for one last feeding and then usually dozes/tosses and turns until 6:30 when he's up for good. He's been going about 2 hours between naps landing at about 3 total for the day ranging anywhere from 30 minutes to 2+ hours with at least one usually being over 1.5 hours.

Favorite Moment: Is there anything better than hearing a baby laugh? It seems like Kieran has to build up to a laugh with a few grunts and groans, then comes a big burst of gurgley giggles.

 

Milestones:

02/05/14 We hear Kieran's first real laugh

02/11/14 K starts smacking his lips

02/17/14 Kieran starts grasping and inspecting toys

02/20/14 His first attempts at blowing "raspberries"

 

Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake:

This and That

A few days after New Years Jon's college roommate Adam, his wife Marli, and their 2.5 year old son, Cole, stopped by our house on their long trek from Northern California back home to Southern California. Of course they got to meet Kieran and of course I failed to take any pictures! I did however manage to get the camera out when the boys donned cowboy hats and took turns riding "Rody."

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas for the seventh and final time with my Dad's Dad's side of the family. This was the first time Great Grandma Didi or Grand Aunt Jana had the opportunity to meet the Little Guy and they were both so thrilled to finally get to hold him.

 

Catch-up: Introductions

Before I attempt to recap all of our Christmas festivities, I thought I would share some pictures of the people Kieran has been introduced to over the last couple of weeks. There are quite a few other friends and family that have had the pleasure of meeting him, but I've put being a Mom ahead of being an amateur photographer so unfortunately that means some moments haven't been captured - I guess they'll just have to come back for another visit!!!

Two weekends ago Kieran, Grandma, and I made a speed run to the coast for the afternoon to surprise Aunt Kari for her Birthday. Kyle and Kari are expecting #2 in February so it was so neat to share Kieran with them and think how once again these cousins are going to be so close in age. Annaliese was really into helping me with Kieran and was a great diaper changing assistant and car seat buckler!

 

The next day we were happily surprised to find out Tio's Mom, Marty, was going to be joining us at dinner. Of course she had to get a little K-Man cuddle time in herself.

Then last week a few of our out of town friends were home for the Holidays so we had dinner with Clint one night and Jon organized a soccer game and football party on Saturday. Baby Eden (and Mason and Laura) came by and I actually remembered to snap a picture of the future classmates together.

G-Momma got into town over the weekend so on Monday the boys and I headed to Grandma's house to spend the morning with her (and Kyle, Kari, Annaliese, Peter and Laurie).

We jumped around quite a bit on Christmas but I was able to capture at least a few of the important introductions that took place. Kieran got to meet his Great Papa Dean and Hunky Greg's girlfriend Jackie.