Captain

Kyle's shirt says, "Captain Adorable" :)

The ballerina.

It's happened! Kyle has his first crush!

Of course, we're not serious. But, while reading a new, touch and feel Halloween babies book GG brought for Kyle, we noticed that Kyle had eyes only for the little ballerina.There were plenty of other girls to choose from: a flower, a princess, a pig, to name a few. Kyle didn't give those girls a second glance. He continued to stare and smile only at the lovely ballerina! This went on for about 15 minutes. He stared at the ballerina for fifteen minutes!!! And he kept smiling and cooing at her. I couldn't turn the page while he was so obviously entranced, but as soon as he was done I went to tell Rudy. After hearing the news, Ru gave Kyle a high-five and congratulated his boy on the good choice he had made. At first I thought the whole thing was cute. Then, I started thinking about when Kyle will really have eyes for another female besides his mommy... that wasn't so cute.

Here's a picture of Grammie, Kyle and the ballerina.

Nap time with Daddy

You know how people pretend to be sleeping for the sake of a good picture? Well, there was no pretending here. Ru was taking a nap and Shmu was just going down for one, so I laid him down next to daddy. Then, after a little while, Rudy realized Shmu was there and stuck out his hand to touch him. Kyle grabbed on to one of Ru's fingers and I ran for the camera. Kyle held on for a while, until he got squirmy again. Ahh... so cute!

Our little Houdini!

Shmu's outgrown many of his swaddling blankets and now it takes a master swaddler (daddy) to keep him in one. Kyle keeps us constantly entertained or irritated (depending on the hour of the day/night) with his grunts and stretches. He initially loves to be swaddled, but sometime during his sleep he always seems to change his mind. This is how he looked the other day, nearly taking his jammies off in the process!

So, because Kyle is a real mover, we've realized that although he still fits in his bassinet, he scoots himself all around and it isn't safe anymore for him to sleep in. (The mattress doesn't fit snuggly and there are places where he could suffocate.) We captured this picture to celebrate his official graduation into his big bed! (Ok, he's been in his crib for over a month, but we finally accepted the fact that he's not going to sleep in the bassinet "just one last time" and we (I) need to embrace the idea that he is indeed growing up.) Although I generally drag my heals when it comes to accepting this sort of thing .... if it means having more space in the house, I'm all for it!
Here's papa tearing down the bassinet, with Shmu looking on. Big boy!!!

MOPS

Today was my first day in MOPS. It stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. (Don't ask me why they name it that when women are encouraged to go if they have any young child 0 to 5ish.) Anyways, I have known about MOPS for years and have always wondered if that would be anything I would ever be able to be a part of. I've been super excited about joining this fall because it's just another opportunity I'm able to soak up while staying home. Most MOPS groups are during the day and if I were working, I'd really be missing out.

This MOPS group meets at my church, though anyone can attend, and consists of about 65 women who are broken up into small groups to enjoy a brunch, topical speaker, craft time and good conversations around the table.

This first week, we had to bring some pictures of our family and share a little bit about ourselves. When it was time for me to share my Shmu pictures, I missed him SOO much I couldn't bear to look at the them as they were passed around. Shmu stays home with dad for now. I'm still very leery about putting him in the MOPPETS program (childcare). I'm told this is a "first child/new mom" thing and I'll get over it by the second baby. Whatever the reason, I've got to do what's most comfortable for me and so far that means Shmu stays either me or Ru.

Speaking of which, during the program I got a text from Ru stating that the newborn diapers we had Kyle in just weren't able to hold all the poo and he had a huge blowout! (They were on sale and could technically still fit him according to his weight... but I knew it'd be pushing it.) It was so bad, Shmu had to be taken directly to the shower. I was prepared to come home to a whirlwind of a house, but when I got home, father and son were peacefully snuggled together and whatever disaster I had evaded was completely cleaned up and taken care of! Good job, Ru!!

Although I missed Kyle terribly, it was nice to be out of the house and around other women who share this new phase we are in. Yeah, for being a stay at home mom!!! Have I mentioned I LOVE it??? :) It just keeps getting better and better!

Thank you, Gina!!

Daily I find myself amazed at how God continues to faithfully provide for us with many little blessings. Today we had a huge blessing come to us in the form of Grandma Gina!! Kyle and I absolutely LOVE having Gina come for visits. Her trips always mean a ton of blessings. First and foremost, we enjoy spending time with her and growing closer. Then, if we aren't getting a ton of things done around the house, we are running errands that would otherwise be more stressful if we were to do them on our own. Today, we ran to Costco, Target and Trader Joe's. Gina blesses us each visit with groceries and many other things we need. It is humbling to receive so many blessings in one day and we are so thankful for her unselfish love!

After dinner we ran another errand and got a few things we really needed as well as Shmu's Halloween costume!!!! :) He'll be a dragon!! It couldn't be more perfect and suits him completely. At 7wks old gestation, we posted our ultrasound picture of Shmu and Auntie Michelle thought he looked like a dragon. Then, every time mommy felt like throwing up (quite constantly), we talked about how our little dragon was spitting fireballs on me. So, the name stuck and we've been looking for anything dragon for him ever since. We will be in Illinois for Kyle's first holiday and we are excited to go trick-or-treating with our cousin Donovan! It's super exciting to anticipate it now that he'll be decked out in his own, ADORABLE costume! Can't wait to show you and post pictures!

Thank you, Gina, for your continued support and love. We really, really appreciate your visits and enjoy your company.

Love you.

Auntie Michelle

Thanks Michelle, for coming over on Sunday! I'm so glad we got to capture some of Kyle's smiles on video. Thanks for helping me bake, play with Shmu and for your company in general. Come again, soon!! We miss you!

Here's Ru and Michelle picking and poking at Shmu. Poor little fella! :)

Mommy, Daddy and Mr. Binks

All Kyle really needs in life is Mommy, Daddy and Mr. Binks! Ok, maybe the swing helps and the vacuum friend as well as the swaddle. Mr. Giraffe is turning out to be quite a good friend, too. But realistically speaking, Kyle's world is still quite small.

Today, I was thinking about just how little he needs to be a satisfied baby boy. On the other hand, very little can also set the guy off! If Mr. Binks were to leave his mouth, for example ... now, that'd be traumatic!

Kyle's world in a nutshell...

Mom

Dad

and Mr. Binks

= happy little boy!!

And another little video...

Kyle's 1st trip to Sea World!

Not the amusement park, but to one of Ru's favorite surf spots. He calls it Sea World because there's always a lot of sea life swimming out there. It's not uncommon for him to surf with the dolphins, seals and fish. Once, he even saw a whale in the distance.

I've always liked going with Rudy when he wants to surf at a reasonable hour. Taking Shmu this time was even better! He slept through half of it and enjoyed some Tummy Time on our blanket as well as looking out at the bright world around him. I couldn't help imagining what it will be like to watch my man and my little boy out in the water together. Here are some pictures of our latest adventure.

We can't help but take these car seat shots. We think he looks so cute in his little seat with his big boy shoes. Besides, it's a way for us to see his growth, in how he fills it out over time.

This is all the stuff we had to carry out to the water. Walking back at high noon, the hot sand made the load feel much heavier!


Our view of daddy and the waves.

All set up and ready for fun. While Shmu slept, mommy got to lay out and daddy got to surf. Everyone was happy!! :)

Snapshots of the average day.

Sometime in the morning, mommy takes a shower while Shmu lays patiently on the bathroom floor. He enjoys staring at the bright lights above our mirror and generally gives mom ample time to get dressed and ready as well. We talk to each other and he looks over in my direction as I get ready.

Then, in the afternoon, after Shmu's longer nap, we have learning time. Shmu enjoys this (reading books, listening to classical music and staring at eye stim cards) for about 15 minutes before getting bored. :)

Then, the best part of our day... we hear daddy on his skateboard coming down the alley and we rush to the balcony to see him. Shmu can sense my excitement and looks pretty curious as his eyes lock in on his father. Ru says that's the highlight of his day. We open the door for dad or meet him in the garage where he puts his skateboard and go for a short walk around the neighborhood. Shmu LOVES these walks and Ru calls him our little explorer. His curious eyes never seem to stop soaking it all in.

This video was taken after our learning time, but I'm still holding up an eye stim card to the left hand side (to explain the distraction). He was getting kind of sleepy by this point, but we still wanted to share a video for GG.

Here daddy's showing Shmu a big garbage truck that is coming up the street. So exciting!

Then, as it starts to get a little chilly, we head indoors and Ru attempts to study.

Then, just before Shmu goes to bed for the night (ha, ha!) we give him a bath. I love his face in this picture. So calm and trusting.

The kicking starts and we crack up at his many expressions. Notice Kyle's fists in this picture. He tends to be quite serious about certain things and can get a little intense! :)

Of course, there's much more I could capture about our days, but these were just a few shots we really like. Our days are really happy ones. Thank you, Shmu, for bringing us so much joy! :)