Oregon

We're back and running!! Kyle is quite the little traveler and did a great job flying. Of course, he couldn't stop moving the entire 4 hours in the air both coming and going. It was fun to watch him explore and stare out the window but it was a lot of WORK to keep up with him. There were about 30 seconds he stopped to stare at someone behind us ... and those 30 seconds were beautiful, let me tell you! :) It is definitely a two person job (for sanity's sake), and I can't imagine flying alone. To join us for this trip, my cousin flew alone, ahead of her husband, on an international flight with 3 kids - ages 5,3 and1. Wow.

We enjoyed our time with family and of course, the surroundings were beautiful. I think we learned that "vacation" means something totally different when you're parents. We were probably remembering our pre-baby days when vacation meant we could sleep in, do whatever we wanted and stay up late hanging out with the cousins. Post-baby means, it was basically our every day life ... just someplace else. Being somewhere different was fun for us, but the house was so big and and there were so many new faces, Kyle clung to me like crazy and wanted to be in my arms most of the time. Let's just say, hearing Kyle call, "Mama" has lost some of it's appeal! ;) Ru and I did get some time away for bike rides during K's naps and then Ru and I traded taking care of the little man so that Ru could go golfing and cliff jumping and I could hike Black Butte.

Thanks to GG's spinning top, we had Kyle sitting still for about a minute!

Ru was being so thoughtful, and bought some treats for Kyle to shake! Of course in a few minutes there was nothing left inside the box to shake. Ru said Kyle needed to learn to share. :)
A cool tree in Portland.
We met up with a friend from college and got to meet her family. That was really fun and weird at the same time... so grown up, having kids and all. Loved seeing you again, Jen!
This was Kyle's favorite play thing. He'd open and close the gate over and over again and pull on it to make it move.

Bundling up our Shmoop for a morning stroller ride across the creek and to the meadow. We figured if we're the only ones forced to wake up at 5:30 or 6:00, we'd make the best of it! We got to see some deer right up close. Doesn't K look so cute and edible? I could gobble him with kisses when he looks like a marshmallow.

Later on we went to see the waterfalls we love so much.

Here's K with Uncle Maco. I think K looks so long here.

Thank you Dad and Mom, for helping make it happen!

As you could probably guess, Shmu loved the water!
Celebrating my mom's 60th with her family.
Ru cliff jumping off the highest rock in the top, right corner. He's the little speck of flesh up on the top.

A view of Black Butte Ranch I shot while on the hike.
We made it to the top!!! :)

So, we're back home and on full speed again. Ru is working (for pay!!!) back at his old job and I am swimming 3 or so days a week in a coached swim class with a couple of my really good friends. Kyle enjoys going to Grammie and Grandpa's house on those mornings and is more and more active (if that's possible!). 

VACATION couldn't come fast enough!

We're off to Oregon to spend the week with my mom's side of the family. I've been counting the days for a while now, and I'm so excited to go back to this place we vacationed two years ago. We are renting a huge, beautiful home that sits in the middle of bike trails, a golf course, tennis courts, swimming pools, mountains to hike and waterfalls. The idea is to forget all the stress we're leaving behind and enjoy ourselves in this beauty...

This is the mountain we will climb!

Ru finished the last day of his internship and his supervising PT/the boss, said he was "a great student, going to make an excellent PT and if I'm here when you get done, come back for a job!" Yay, Ru!!!!! I think that's the highest compliment he could get from a professional point of view!

And the Shmu? He's the best thing in our lives, as always! Excited to take him on his 3rd plane ride. Also excited to have my cousin's kids for him to play with. One little girl is just about a month and a half older, so he'll have a friend!

SO in need of a TRUE vacation. We pray it is just that! :)

Yeah, he's definitely walking!

If yesterday's video had him walking... then today, he was running!! Of course, not in the literal sense, but my gosh you should have seen him. We were spending the afternoon with my grandma outside in the courtyard and while trying to listen to what she was saying, I was in shock as I stared at my son just wandering all around the pathways as if he'd been walking all year long. He didn't look at me, trip or stop for a second. I just kept thinking... did he really turn into a toddler overnight?? It took my breath away for a few seconds. My little boy just grew up THAT much more. Bittersweet!

Shmu walks!

I was just telling my friend, Esther, that Kyle was "walking," but only very short distances. I was really hesitant to claim it until he did it for a good length of time and wouldn't stop to hold on to anything. Today, he was walking back and forth between us and after making lap after lap, we brought out the video camera. Fortunately, our friend Steph was here to film it.

He was so proud of himself and got lots of praise from us. Ru agrees, we sound pretty ridiculous in this video. What can we say? We're being parents. After we turned the camera off, he was walking around without any encouragement from us. So, I think he's got the idea, and we can say he's started walking. Yeah, Shmu!

Grammie's 60th Birthday!

Today we celebrated my mom's birthday. When asked what she wanted to do, she answered without a moments hesitation, that she'd like to show off her grandson at their church. And how could we deny her such a simple thing? :)

Introducing the Shmu to a class they are involved in.

Kyle was very interested in what Grammie was doing here.

He danced along with the music.

Then, off to the toddler room.

Shmu did laps pushing this thing around.

Snack time!

Grandpa came to say hi!

After K's nap, guess where we went??

Surprise... Strawberry Farms!

Walking

Clapping for himself while walking!

Happy Birthday, Momma! We loved celebrating you today.

Shmu, K, Chile, Dinker, etc.

Kyle has many, many names by now. It just didn't seem right to title this blog by only one of them. And if you think just because I've been insanely busy this month, I haven't taken many pictures of our beloved subject ... think again! While I'll admit there aren't as many pictures, we still got quite a few that show what the little guy has been up to.

Playing chase/peek-a-boo with Daddy. He loves to do this behind doors.

GG came to visit twice in two weeks!!

We took a trip to the beach with Kyle's sand toys.

K's first taste of sand. Yum!

Learning how to surf in the pool.

Reading at Grammie's with some friends.

Hanging out while Dad and Mom move Grandma Hahn into her assisted living home.

One by one, he pulls out his special toys and books in Grammie's bag.

Kyle says, "This is a peanut operation they've got going on here!"

Thanks, Chile, for being a little trooper this month.

Happy 11 Months, Kyle!

Ok, the Kleenex have come out!! In one month my boy will be 1 year old!! Is there any way to make the time crawl by? Just had to ask.

This month, Chilequile has been at my parents' house a ton and so I thought it fitting to take his 11 month pictures there, while they were babysitting him today. Of all the amazing things to be curious about, his favorite thing is the gold lock on this trunk. He spends a lot of time listening to the noise it makes as he moves it up and down.

Round and round he goes playing chase with anyone who will hunker down and give him a smile.

He got his number again...

Walking to me, trying to get the ever fascinating camera.

Baby Kyle (just have to call him that while I still can) has been missing Mama and can't stop saying my name and reaching for me. He panics when he sees me leave the room and always wants to be in my arms or very close to me. It's been hard to be away from him so much. If I am around, I'm constantly on the phone handling the never-ending to-do list for my grandma. I try to give him the one on one attention he is missing and clearly wants from me, but it is hard when I'm trying to have an important conversation over the phone. It's been a tough month, in that respect. On the other hand, he's been slowly sleeping better now that we've had a break from teething. I really shouldn't comment on it though, because his next tooth is just a millimeter away from breaking through. So we'll see what the following week brings in that department.

During one of the doctor's visits a week or so ago, we saw that Kyle had lost a pound due to all his poo issues. For some reason "poo issues" sounds a lot better than the "D" word, but I think you know what I mean. We were really bummed because we had been trying SO hard to get him to eat. However, no matter what trick we tried, he would hardly eat solid food and only wanted to nurse. We finally figured out that he wasn't liking all of the butter and avocado we were stuffing him with. And since the whole idea of adding those items was to fatten him up, it seemed counter productive if he wasn't going to eat at all. Once we threw out the fats, he ate only a little bit better. It was completely frustrating!!! Just when I was about to rip my hair out, he decided he was done with purred baby food and ready to eat big people food. I had been giving him my food for a long while and he would just spit it out. But all of a sudden, he started swallowing and liking it! Hooray!! So currently, his favorites are: rotisserie chicken, wild rice and buttered broccoli. Who would have thought? Tomorrow he'll be having the same chicken with some lentils and rice. I'm so thrilled that he's able to chew the bits of chicken and rice. It opens up a lot of possibilities. Oh, and I taught him to bite down on certain types of food to break it up. It was so cute to watch him copy me. Hopefully we'll be able to add on some weight before his 1 year appointment and weight check. We so badly want him to be on the chart.

On a lighter note, we've had a lot of fun watching Kyle's attempts at walking. He's taken 3 or 4 steps alone on a daily basis for a while, but today Ru and I decided to see how far he could go between us by teasing him with a popsicle. We kept expanding our distance until K was crossing more than our hallway to get to the other person. It was really cute to watch! Another fun thing we enjoy is listening to him say a few words. He says: Mama and sometimes Mommy, Bapa (Papa), Pae Pae (airplane), baby, mimi (what is that?) and uck (book). Speaking of books... Kyle has spent the entire month pouring over his books. It's his favorite thing to do. Every car ride we go on (and lately they've been super long) he is as quiet as can be just flipping through his books. When he's done with his stash, I pass him another. And on and on this goes. When he's in his room or in the living room, he wants down when he sees them and says, "uck". Then, he'll sit turning the pages one by one until he's turned every page of every book and we've got books strewn all over the floor. When I put them all back, he starts the routine all over again. Oh, and he usually talks non-stop as he does this. I love to just sit and watch him.

Kyle's favorites:

• BOOKS!
• outside
• being in Mommy's arms
• water
• keys
• electronics
• yogurt
• playing peek-a-boo

Kyle's latest since his 10 month update:

• figuring out how things work (things that can be taken a part or manipulated)
• taking steps alone
• talking/blabbing on and on
• repeating some words I say
• dancing and shaking his head to music

I'm going to leave this list short - there's only so much thinking I can do right now.

Happy 11 Months, Kyle!

Ru's 1st Father's Day!!

We started our day at the traditional "presents table." Later, we had a picnic lunch with my parents and then after K's nap, we went to The Aquarium of the Pacific and saw just about every type of animal that lives under water. After putting Kyle down to sleep, we ate a yummy dinner ordered in. It was a really good day.

Shmu was fascinated by a spinning top GG sent for the boys.

Shmu loved the water and spent most of the time trying to get in it.

Playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa and Grammie.

Then off to the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Touching squishy animals in the tide pools.

Shmu got to touch a sting ray!

Ru loved touching these "tame" sharks.

8 different kinds of sharks to look at from above and down below.

Some of Ru's favorites:

Walking with Daddy.

Happy Father's Day, Ru!