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Hanging out with the Big Kids

Today we met a friend for lunch at Bellevue Square (Misty!!).  I heard they had a really good kid play area so I wanted to check it out.  I figured we would only be "checking it out" since I thought Keaton was still a too young for that type of thing.  So we put on our best Ralph Lauren shirt (thanks Brian and Tara) so that we would fit in with the Bellevue crowd and ventured up to the third floor!

It was mobbed with 2-5 year olds and total chaos!  But to my surprise Keaton loved it!  He was not at all intimidated by the big kids, maybe because he had his own personal body guard by his side the entire time (that would be me).

He made a little friend right away.  Of course it was a girl...he sure does like girls!

He had so much fun exploring.  I really think he was trying to impress the older kids by standing with no hands!  He seemed very proud of himself.

Keaton is getting to the age where he is now able to interact with other kids and "play".  It is so fun to see him develop into a little man with his own personality.  

I have discovered that seeing your child happy and enjoying life is the very best feeling in the whole world.  In the almost 35 years that I've been around, I've never experienced anything even close to as good as this!

Yes, there are more pictures.....because I think it's so great that I must capture every moment!  I definitely need to work on taking less pictures at things like this because Keaton will be embarrassed when he gets older (I'm even embarrassed of myself for being the crazy mom taking tons of pics).

Halloween Fun

The great thing about an 8 month old is that you are really celebrating for the pictures...so you can do it anytime!  Since I'll be working on Halloween we had to celebrate (aka take pictures) early!  I was thrilled that the dog was basically a statue in his costume, which made it easy for pictures. 

Since Keaton seems to think he has the powers of a super hero lately we decided to go with Batman and Robin.  Unfortunately the cape isn't keeping him from falling to the floor each time he tries to stand and then let go....but it's not Halloween yet so maybe the super hero powers will kick in then!

Fun at the pumpkin patch.  First real "family/festive event" TJ and I have been to...not sure we're completely ready for all this parenting stuff...

Terrible family picture (don't have strangers take them)...great pic of Keaton...impossible to get 6 little ones all looking at the camera!

We ran into some scary kids at the pumpkin patch...

Speaking of scary kids...Keaton's friend Henry looked pretty spooky and I didn't even have to do any photo editing! 

Visiting Family in Illinois

This past week my dad, Keaton and I went to Illinois.  My mom was from there and most of her family still lives there.  One of my mom's wishes was to have some of her ashes spread on the farm that she grew up on so that was the main purpose of the trip.  I wasn't looking forward to it and knew that it would be hard seeing all of her family without her there.  We did a very nice, casual ceremony with the family and spent some time remembering what an amazing person she was. 

Even though you can't pick your family, if I could I would pick the ones I have.  I feel so blessed to have such a large and loving family.  My dad comes from a family of 9 children and my mom 7.  And all of them have kids so I have lots and lots of cousins!  Even though lots of them live far away and I barely ever see them, when I do there is that family connection that can never be replaced.  Keaton comes from a much smaller family but already has lots of extra aunts, uncles and even an extra grandma next door!  I am fortunate to have many life long friends that have become family to me and my family.  At the end of the day, family is the most valuable thing you have in your life!

Even though I didn't know if this trip would be fun, we did manage to have some which is what my mom would have wanted.

Here we are at the Michigan dunes.  The trip to Michigan got Keaton to 11 states by age 8 months. He has been to: Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.  Sadly, he won't remember any of it! 

Keaton having some fun on a horse at our stop to a store to buy him some new pants since he had a little accident.  Looks like Keaton also enjoys fast cars like his dad!

The farm my mom grew up on and the house she grew up in. My uncle Bob still does all the farming on it. 

A pretty cute Boston Terrier pup that I found in the mall...I don't think Manny would have been very happy with that souvenir!

Here are some pics of those great relatives...

When life gives you lemons....feed them to Keaton! We discovered he loves lemons...I also discovered after-the-fact that he isn't suppose to have citrus until after 1 year...oops!

Grandparents Visit!

This past week Keaton's Grandparents came to visit from Massachusetts!  I'm not sure who was more excited, Keaton or Manny....OK it was definitely Manny!  I think Manny is still catching up on sleep from his marathon of craziness!  The picture on the far right was included because I think Manny spent almost the entire visit in the kitchen begging for anything he could con someone into giving him.  Keaton must have been pretty excited too and I think was trying to impress them because he was in a great mood the entire time they were here.

We took Keaton to the zoo for the first time.  I hadn't been in years and it is definitely more fun with a little one! 

We also went to Salty's (where TJ and I were married), the Ballard Locks and Pike Place Market.

Keaton impressed Nana and Grandpa by showing them how he can already read! He's actually teaching his daddy how to in this picture :)

Picture of Keaton with the Grandparents..

We really enjoyed their visit and know that living on opposite sides of the country makes things more difficult but look forward to the many more memories we will share as a family!  We'll be heading back there for Christmas so Keaton can spend the holidays with his cousin, Wyatt.

PS, I went a little crazy on the photo editing software I just tried out.  :)

Two Tooth Tarr

Just before turning 7 months old Keaton got his first tooth.  Then the next day another one came in!  He's eating baby crackers with these new teeth and crawling all over the place to get good stuff to put in his mouth.  He really likes electronics...TV remotes, cell phones, laptop cords...luckily for him his daddy has lots of this stuff around the house!

Gotta Get that Dog Toy....

Keaton's very best friend so far in life is his dog, Manny.  Every time he sees Manny he gets a huge smile on his face and he loves to pet him.

This morning he was playing his drums when he decided he MUST get the dog's toy and play with him.  I was thrilled because if I can get Keaton to play with the dog then I don't have to!!

He hasn't quite mastered this whole crawling thing yet but did really good this morning.  He is quickly learning that the sooner he gets it down the sooner he can get to all these really interesting things in our house! 

First Hair Cut

About a month ago Keaton got his first hair cut (at 5 months).  Many kids don't even have hair at this age but Keaton's got plenty (although a lot less than he was born with).  Keaton's hair is growing in reverse, he was born with a full head of thick hair.  Over the past 5 months it has been falling out, but not evenly.  We finally decided it was time to get rid of the "comb over" that he had developed by 5 months. 

Comb Over: Hairstyle worn by bald or balding men in which the hair on one side of the head is grown long and then combed over the bald area to minimize the display of baldness. Donald Trump is famous for sporting this terrible hairstyle!

Before hair cut (comb over look was best seen in-person):

 After hair cut:

Full head of hair at birth:

Wild Wild West

We just got back from a visit to Montana.  We spent a few days at the An Ri Ra Irish Festival in Butte Montana with my Dad's cousin Rosie. 

Keaton got a shamrock painted on his face and was flirting with the girl who did it.

My dad thinks this sign is pretty cool! We kept telling Rosie she should run for mayor because she knows EVERYONE (she is a principal at a local school).



There aren't many rules in Montana so Keaton got to hang out in a bar and won $11 gambling.

Then we went up to Flathead Lake to my Aunt Joan/Uncle Richard's place (my dad's sister).  This was definitely the nicest house I have ever been in.  So we got some investing advice from Richard and will see if we can make the big bucks in the stock market (I doubt it....)



We went on a hike at Glacier National Park.  Good thing we had Keaton with us to keep us safe from the Grizzly bears!

Keaton found hiking to be so relaxing that he passed out! Once he starts walking he'll discover it's a bit harder.

Keaton was a trooper with all the driving and did pretty good.  Thanks to his great Aunt Claudia for buying him a bunch of new toys to keep him entertained.

All grown Up

I'm starting to realize I no longer have the newborn that everyone wants to see when you go to the store!  I think it really hit me when I was able to put him in his stroller without the car seat adapter and when I started feeding him with a spoon....he is so quickly becoming a little guy and no longer a baby!!  He even had a little scab (very very tiny) on his toe!!!

A few weeks ago we started Keaton on rice cereal. I was really hoping to wait until he was 6 months but the doctor thought it might help with his massive spit-up.  It didn't.  He really had no interest in rice cereal as you can see in these pictures...Manny really likes it though so he got the leftovers!

We have also tried oatmeal cereal and he seems to like that much better.  I'm thinking of trying banana's this weekend.  So much for waiting till 6 months!


He is also really enjoying his stroller rides where he gets to see the world instead of staring at his mom....I guess I am no longer his entire world!

Staring at mom:

Exploring the world:

So if Keaton is "all grown up" when am I going to feel like a mom all the time?  I'm starting to think it's similar to the feeling you get when you are an adult...still waiting for that feeling.  I have moments where I feel like a mom, like when I'm getting a stroller out of my car to go walk through the mall or when I was shopping at Target on a Tuesday morning (which I think you have to be a mom to go to target then because there is no one else there) and I was buying "little swimmers". 

The Most Fun I've Ever Had

We've been pretty limited with what we can do with Keaton since he's only 4 months old...most adventures have consisted of him being in a stroller or our arms.  Today we went swimming and it was so much fun to be able to watch him participate! I really didn't think he would enjoy it since he's still not a big fan of baths but he was in the water for about an hour in this fabulous floatie my aunt got him. 

We plan on heading down to the Lincoln Park wading pool soon so Keaton can show off his swimming skills and floatie to all the kids there...if he doesn't chew a hole in it first :)