Got crabs?

We do.

Or did.

We were able to get 3 of them last weekend, while we were visiting Paul's parents on Whidbey Island.

Ryan's first time on their boat and he did amazingly well.

He thought it was a bit noisy, but otherwise enjoyed it.

He's not really for sale :-)

The next day we went out with Kathryn & Ryan for an oyster finding expedition.

Got lots of oysters.

Also got stuck there for a little while, because Paul couldn't get the motor started again.

I had a bag full of graham crackers and I think we went though most of them to keep the peace.

Paul started tinkering with the motor and probably could have fixed it on his own had I not hollered at him to leave it be and wait for his Dad to come assist.

His Dad told him to do exactly what he was already doing before I nosed in.

Whoops.

We had a life vest for Kathryn.

These were taken while we waited for Paul's Dad to come help.

Tuesday we ventured out to an Aquasox game.

Great place for kids!

Dad teaching his girl the essentials of baseball

Hmmmm..... who gave her that?!

And lastly - Discovery Park Hike with a friend of mine.

Miss K made it through most of the trek.

This was at the end. . .

She conked out.

How sweet is that?

Gritty

Kathryn's first time in the sandbox

She liked it

A lot . . .

Maybe too much . . .

Umm, Yum?

Not one, not two, but THREE successful attempts at getting a fistful of sand in her mouth

(that's a hand print on her right cheek, from her sandy hand)

I halted her efforts for more

Next stop:

the pool

Well, Hello there!

Dear Miss Kathryn,

For over a year now, when you woke up in the morning it was me who would search out those bright eyes and dimpled cheeks from where ever it was you were sleeping.

Yesterday was different.

I opened the door to this:

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Beaming from ear to ear, you are so proud of your new skill.

Your increasing the speed of your crawl and pulling up on just about anything that doesn't move. And have had a few failed attempts at trying to pull to a stand on things that do move. For example your brother or the dog. Neither of them are too fond of encouraging your new found skill. A few bumps to your noggin are evidence of that.

While I am discussing your skills - thank you for making the discontinuation of bottles simple.

You were just done.

One day, I put an end to your morning bottle and within 48 hours you were down to just one a day. Within 48 hours of that you'd said good-bye completely.

All on your own.

I was willing to give you 3-5 more months - although that would have been more for me.

To prolong your infancy and that sweet cuddly time we had when you were drinking your bottle.

I'm happy for you, with your new found mini independence.

It's been a small challenge for me, not to be sad that my little one is growing so so fast.

But I tell myself, if you're happy, healthy and growing then I am doing my job.

Keep up the good work Miss Kathryn.

Look Mom! I'm standing!

(Please please please do not fall and crack your chin/face/head

on that window sill)!!!

And look at this beauty!

It's from our pumpkin plant.

Paul planted this in the new landscaped area around our front yard tree.

I'm thinking we'll get 5-6 pumpkins from this plant.

Can't wait to see them!

Creep & Crawl

Mobility is here!

Within about one week Kathryn went from barely creeping from place to place, to getting her speed on. Still not fully crawling with all 4's - but will pull herself with her arms and use one leg to push herself forward. She'll also pull up to a stand on, getting both feet under her and stable enough to be hands free for a few moments. Every hour it seems she gains more confidence in herself and tries new thing. Won't be long now and she'll be cruising furniture and then off on two feet!

I haven't gotten my act together to get more pictures from the party posted. They are all on the laptop and for the time being we don't have a wireless connection.

The well child exams went well - both are thriving. Ryan got two shots and unfortunately had some pain afterwards, but recovered nicely. Kathryn got three shots and once she calmed down, she never looked back.

Stats:

Ryan - 35 lbs = 80%

37.5" = 50%

Kathryn - 22-9 = 75%

29" = 50%

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Matching shirts.

given to me when Ryan was little by my long time pen pal in Pittsburgh.

Miss K was not in the mood to be photographed and after many failed attempts this is what we ended up with. Working together

Paul very pleased with our new cable modem.

The background is a disaster. I have not found an organized way to keep the kids clothing - Stuff that is too small, stuff they can still grow into, stuff I want to give to other friends having babies (AMY!) etc. etc.

A MESS!

Plus the computer room is Paul's space put his stuff and I can't touch (aka clean/organize) it.

The latest installment of Demeter- kitty vs. Kathryn. Kathryn won this time. She is far more grabby now than she was 6 months ago when I got a similar picture. Does she look like she has been caught doing something she shouldn't, or what?!

And lastly, here is a slide show of a recent photo shoot we did for the kids.

These photo's are priceless to me - Kaycee does an amazing job!

http://www.reallifephotographs.com/private/kennedy_kiddos/

The big O-N-E

Watching my little girl turn one was magical.

She is a sweet sweet girl, with a rapidly growing personality. She is going to fight for what she wants and what she doesn't and it's abundantly clear when we've reached a point where she is not pleased with how things are moving along. I love watching this develop and need to keep my eyes open because she can strike without warning.

One head butt to the nose and it's apparent!

Her current developmental stats:

• Has at least 15 words in her vocabulary.

She'll mimic pretty much anything we say.

I have called her a "little stinker" for months when changing her diaper. She'll pull the velcro tabs of the diaper cover off as soon as I have affixed them - just to be a little stinker. Now all I have to say is "Little . . . . ." and she'll fill in the blank. "Inker!" Or something of the sorts. Hard to type out how she actually says it. I adore it. Hearing her voice is beautiful music.

• I don't think we can call her mobility crawling quite yet, but she can propel herself across a room with minimal to moderate difficulty. She's determined though.
• She'll pull up to her knees and that's about it. I have witnessed her attempt to get both feet under her to stand and that didn't go so well. Have not seen it since.
• Increasing independence on how her food is served to her. No more bite size pieces please. I will take the whole waffle, thank you very much. See? I do just fine. Or so she thinks. I don't trust her just yet to not get herself in choking trouble.
• The stroller bores her. Being held in arms is ok for a bit, then she's done. On the ground works well until she gets frustrated with mobility issues. She spends a lot of time in the backpack. Content and at eye level with most adults and taller than her brother for that time. I think she likes that.
• And lastly, she loves anything soft. The dog, her new stuffed cow, her blanket. She'll tuck it in under her ear/chin and snuggle. So sweet.

More pictures to come.

We have well child check - ups on Wednesday.

I'll be back with those stats after that.

Words she knows:

kitty, meow, Joey "oeee", woof woof, Nooo noooo, Mama, Dada, Hiiiii, Ni Ni, airplane "aaa ppp", banana "nana", Goooo, Dance "dan-danc" Uh -oh, Stinker "inker", Yuck "uccchhhhkk"