Yay! I can finally Play!

 Now that Keaton is walking he can finally go places and play! One of the best things about being a parent is being able to share new experiences with your child and seeing their enjoyment.  Although they don't always enjoy what you think they will. Example of something that we thought would be fun but wasn't...wearing party hats:

Yesterday Keaton got to go to his second birthday party.  We kept the party hats off and he had a lot of fun. He got to jump on trampolines (and continued to try to jump like he was on one long after we left).  He was thrown into a foam pit over and over by his dad and loved it (even though I thought he was going to get seriously hurt). He was so active we couldn't get a good picture.....

Today we went down to a park by our house to play since it was so nice out.  Keaton was too young for the toys but was able to walk around which was fun for him. This was really the first time he's walked outside for any amount of time and he did so good I thought we should make him walk home but TJ was nice and let him ride in the stroller. Manny had a good time too!  West Seattle is full of parks so I'm sure before Spring is over we will know where all the good ones are.

Since it was so nice out Keaton got to drive his car around a bit too. He likes to drive standing up.  The sound is some how stuck on Spanish so while he may not be getting a lot of exercise I think he's learning a second language!

So even though walking has it's own set of challenges, this next phase is going to be a lot of fun!

I'm walking!!!!

Keaton has spent almost all of the past 2 months trying to walk.  He's fallen down millions of times. But that never once stopped him from popping right back up!  This kid is going to accomplish BIG things in life if he applies the persistence, determination and endurance that he applied to walking to all of his dreams.  Keaton is also fearless which I think contributed to his early walking.  He certainly doesn't think about consequences yet....I guess that's what parents are for.

Everyone says your world will change once they start walking.  While I'm glad that the falling down is going to be less and less, a whole new set of challenges are around the corner. I'm not sure what they are but I'm sure Keaton will let me know soon enough.....for now I just follow him around all day trying to keep him out of trouble...pretty exciting life I lead!

The pictures I have captured on my phone are pretty bad.  They are blurry and he is rarely looking at me.  Going to try to get some better ones in the coming weeks!

Helping the dog destroy a toy!

He is obsessed with the vacuum and constantly in the laundry room playing with it.  Actually almost everyone in the family has an obsession with it. I love a freshly vacuumed house, Manny loves to bark at the vacuum when I use it and Keaton just thinks it's the coolest thing ever. Hopefully he still thinks its this great when he's old enough to use it!

When Keaton isn't playing with the vacuum he's usually on his way into or back from the bathroom. He loves turning the water on and off. He also really likes the trash can in there. And Manny's water bowl...you never know what they are going to find interesting (although its usually not a baby toy).

Yes this kid can play the guitar AND read while he walks! He loves to bring something with him on his journeys.

First Snow

First snow of 2012 but not the first snow for Keaton! The day Keaton was born it snowed all night.  I remember laying in the hospital bed watching it all night. I think that was the only time it snowed in Seattle in 2011. 

We got out and played in it today.  Tried to walk in it...which is a lot harder than walking inside the house.  And got to taste it....pretty good!

Traveling Man

2011 has been the year of travel for Keaton and family!  He made it to 13 states if you include 2 airports.  He is a great travel companion, never gets stopped by security, even with all the liquids and mystery powder (aka formula) that he travels with! Just have to have lots and lots of bottles because he gets dehydrated. 

Washington: Still haven't been to Eastern Washington yet but have been up to Bellingham and down to Vancouver.

Oregon: We drove down, spent about an hour walking around, decided it was too hot and came home. We had planned to spend the entire weekend there with Keaton and even brought Manny.

Idaho/Montana: Road trip with Grandpa to Butte and Flathead Lake.

Alaska: Went to visit 2 week old cousin who finally got a name about 4 months later (Crystal).

Illinois/Indiana/Michigan: Visited family in Illinois and went to Michigan dunes.  Drove through Indiana and stopped at a Walmart to buy Keaton new pants because he had an accident :).

Ohio: Spent about 30 minutes at the Cleveland airport. Was notified over the airport intercom that we left a stuffed gingerbread man on the plane.

Massachusetts: Visited family twice: for baptism and Christmas.  Will be back a lot, just wish the flight was shorter!

New Hampshire/Maine: We drove up to the coast of Maine this summer which was beautiful.  Had to stop at a visitor center in New Hampshire to get info. on destination.

New Jersey: Spent 5 AWFUL hours at the Newark airport.  According to the Urban Dictionary, 4 people are murdered here everyday.  I'm surprised TJ and I made it out of there since we were pretty grumpy by that point and not being very nice to each other!

Keaton got this super cute suitcase for Christmas.  I'm thinking our next flight should be a short one, which will be much more enjoyable for everyone.  As of right now we don't have anything planned but I'm sure that will change soon!

Christmas 2011

Keaton's first Christmas was a lot of fun.  It felt like we spent the entire month of December celebrating.  The best Christmas gift was all the family and friends Keaton got to spend time with.  He got to spend nearly 3 weeks with Aunt Becky, Uncle Jason, and cousins Emerald and Crystal.  Oh, and the dog Jager, Keaton loved Jager.  When I think of Becky and Family's visit the following rings in my ears "We're off the track, we're off the track" because the kids were constantly playing with a toy train grandpa got Keaton and it was constantly being knocked off track.  Good thing we had our Aunt Claudia around to keep us "on track" during Becky's visit, making sure everyone was fed and no one got lost or hurt. 

We spent Christmas in Boston which was a lot of fun (except the 5 hour layover in New Jersey).  The few snowflakes we saw on Christmas day were very exciting for us since it never snows in Seattle on Christmas.  It was great for Keaton to see his grandparents as well as great grandparents!  We got to stay with his Aunt Eileen and Uncle Steve and cousin Wyatt.  It was so fun to see the two boys play.  I was convinced Keaton was an extra hyper, active boy but after spending a week with Wyatt I've changed my mind.  Wyatt is much more active!!  We told Manny he was going to "Snow Camp" while we were gone.  He really went to the best dog boarding place ever, it's probably as good as camp but there was no snow while he was there.  He did get some good stuff when Santa visited all the dogs there.

Keaton sat on Santa's lap 3 times: At a shopping center in West Seattle, at a very decorated house in our neighborhood and at the airport.  He must have been pretty good because he got some pretty cool gifts: Shiny red sports car from mom and dad along with piggy bank so he can start saving his money for a real one, train set, guitar, race cars, suitcase, etc. etc. etc.  The ones from Grandpa Morgan were wrapped very professionally in brown paper bags with masking tape. He also got his first kiss from a girl on Christmas Day.  Anika Ryan (TJ's good friend's daughter) gave him a kiss on the cheek and he must have really liked it because a few days later he was kissing his cousin!

Neighborhood lights & Santa

Christmas Morning

Kissing Anika, Kissing Wyatt!

Long day of Traveling.....

Keaton likes standing on the hood instead of sitting in seat, this kid is a climber

Great Grandparents

Family Fun....

Cousins Emerald & Crystal

Stationery card

We Believe Christmas Card

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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).