Kevin Walks!!

I can walk!!

Kevin took his first steps yesterday - on his namesake's 75th birthday! Great timing! We were playing in a park in Vancouver, and I think Kevin was really happy about this since we have been carting him around for a week in the stroller or the backpack! He has had very little time for moving around and was starting to get fussy about it!

His first two steps were part of a clumsy tumble to the grass. Chris and I both looked at each other with surprise, and Chris said, "I think those were steps." We stood him up again, and he took a few more! In the end, the furthest he walked was 14 steps! Now, he is not very content to be held or strapped in. He wants his feet on the ground at all times, but he is still far from steady! How life is going to change soon!

Ellie was beside herself with joy - but I dont think her excited surpassed that of the previous day when she road a car ferry for the first time and slept on a "couch that turns into a bed" for the first time! Children are a constant reminder to find joy in the little things in life!

Kevin - 11 months

He began standing this month. He is so good at cruising - holding onto something while he walks - that he may be walking soon. We have been so busy that we haven't been able to work with him much. But, Ellie has taken over. She loves to help him walk him all over the house!

Kevin loves to show off!


His favorite squinty face.

He also became quite the "mountain climber" this month! He crawled into the suitcase, onto the bench and finally he crawled onto the bed!



Everything goes into his mouth! He will walk around with a wooden block just sticking out of his mouth!

We take poor Kevin everywhere! This spring/summer has been so busy that he's suffered many "naps on the go"!

On our beach vacation, this was his favorite thing to do - play in the ocean water bucket! I guess it's a little gross because it's also the sandy-foot washing tub! He'll never know!

Big sister is always at his side, and he is always so excited to see her!



Pirate Kevin of the Carribean!

We have been way too busy to keep up with the blog. So, I'm going to update this for Kevin's 11 month entry since it is for his baby book! I'll catch up with Chris's graduation and the rest of June sometime in August!

This month, Kevin learned to "give us five". He has also become quite the show-off. He loves peak-a-boo and playing night-night. He'll just lay down on whatever is close by to pretend he's sleeping!

He has also begun to feed me! I give him some food and he often reaches out his hand to put it in my mouth. There's no food a mother loves more than a stale cheerio from a drool-soaked hand!

That's all I can think of for now. Later, I'll update this post with a few more photos since these are all only from one week of June!

Ellie's Thoughts...

Ellie's completely unsolicited comments about being a big sister...

What I think is the best part about having a baby brudder is when I make him smile and laugh. He's really cute when he does that.

What I think is the worst part about having a baby brudder is when he does silly things - like when he tries to crawl into the fireplace. He does lots and lots of silly things like that.

Kevin, I think you're the best little brudder in the whole world. You are really special. You know that? I will protect you forever and ever. You're my special little guy.

After he has tried to destroy the craft she was making... It's ok. I'll love you no matter what... No matter what, little guy. No matter what.


Ellie's completely unsolicited comments about Daddy...

Dad, I love you so much. Why I love you so much is because God made you such a good Daddy.

She is very much into telling us "Why I ---- is because...." It's a cute way to phrase what she's trying to say, and it's realy sweet that she wants to explain her thoughts and reasonings so much.

Ellie's completely unsolicited comments about leaving Stanford...

I'm really sad. I miss my friends. I really, really miss Arden and Daniel.

The picture above is just before we left our apartment for the last time. She wouldn't smile for anything. When I saw the picture, I understood why. She was sad, and I can see it in her eyes.

When we were about to leave, her friend Daniel came over and said he was going to miss her very much. It was so sweet. I can still remember the moment perfectly. After we drove away, our car was silent until we reached the highway - almost 10 minutes. We were all very sad. :-(

Stay tuned for more to come on those last days in CA!

Kevin - 10 months

Kevin's favorite toy - a light-up ball!

Petting his first animal!

First time with the walker!

He crawled into Ellie's doll crib on his own!

I am very late on this. I think I remember what was new last month! The 11-month update will be coming soon!

During his tenth month, Kevin began to talk a little more. He began to say the following.

"Nuh, nuh" = No, No
"Muh, muh" = Momma

Dadda is still his favorite word!

He became very good at eating finger foods and loves to eat grilled cheeses! He decided he isn't really interested in anything pureed unless it is fruit.

He also began using the walker and petted his first animal - a baby goat! He was very excited to see the animals. He must love animals like his big sister, who continues to be completely in love with her "baby brudder".

Final Dish Hike

Ellie and Arden running to the next "bus stop"


Waiting for the strollers to arrive at the "bus stop"


The dish!



Our final dish hike was long and hot! Behind campus, there is a 3.7 mile, hilly hike that I often did - both with and without the kids. My favorite hikes were the ones I took with Karen, Arden, Maya and my kids.

About every 50 feet, there are pedestrian signs to remind people to stay on the path. We called them "bus stops" and pretended the stroller was a bus. The kids (Ellie and Arden) were only allowed to get on or off the bus at one of the bus stops, preventing the kids from getting on and off the stroller every 10 feet! Most of the time, this worked well, but sometimes it didn't! A common problem was arguing over whose bus stop it was. What else can best friends do but argue over such silly things!

Hiking the dish was a great form of exercise - especially when pushing 100 pounds of kids and stroller uphill! But more than that, it was great fun! This will be near the top of most-missed list from my time at Stanford.

Golden Gate Bridge

Before we left California, we took a quick trip to Golden Gate Park. It was so windy!