Photos by Louisa Marion Photography

We had these photos taken in early October...sorry so late to post. Let me know if you want contact information for Louisa for a shoot or prints.



You can see them all-and Louisa's other amazing work here: http://louisapodlich.smugmug.com/Portraits/Apple-Orchard-Boy/14148187_nCH66#1043668219_HzbfH

Words!

Kai's been using about a dozen signs for several months, but it wasn't until a week or two that he started consistently using a few words. We taught him everything except boom-boom. He picked that up from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, a book that Jon and I frequently read to him. Here's a sample of his vocabulary. And he can say "up", he's just stubborn.

Happy Kid

And, for comparison:

I'm not sure exactly what is going on here, but it's cute.

Fall!

We spent the weekend up at Sugarloaf with both Jon's folks and mine. We had a bunch of great food, some pub time, lots of reminiscing about the music of the 50s. The weather was fabulous and Bev and Harry joined us for the Oberg loop. We always remember it to be shorter than it is, but it was a perfect peak fall colors day and I don't think there were any regrets.

Proper Adults

In October 2007, we brought Murphy home from the humane society. He was absolutely insane. But, because we're equally mentally inept, we thought, "Meh, we'll return him for a HS store credit if he doesn't work out." You know, because anyone with any heart could possibly rescue a dog and then surrender it back to the pound. Murphy freaked the cats out. Bringing him home was probably an irresponsible move; we have so little space and the cats and the birds...but, a dog was on the pre-baby list along with our trip to Germany. Germany? Check. Dog? Check. The cats spent the better part of the next 2 months up in our bedroom in almost constant distress. In the end of December Loki went into renal failure. She had congenital defects in her kidneys not uncommon in cats, but we'll never know how long she would have been healthy if we hadn't brought that damned dog home. $2700 later, we put her to sleep on Christmas Eve.

So, because we are now proper adults- who incidentally have ZERO self control or sense when it comes to spending money on our animals-I just signed Murphy up for VPI health insurance. It reimburses routine expenses and has up to 14K a year in accident and illness coverage. I'll have to read the fine print, but for $37/month, I'll take it. If we spent $2700 on a cat (on a CREDIT CARD no less), who knows what we'd do for that goddamn dawg.

Going to California and leaving Mama with an aching in her heart...

Kai and Jon just returned from 5 days in CA visiting Jenn & Dave, Lang and baby Landon. Grandma and Grandpa Beck were there, too! We also get to see them later this month at Sugarloaf. Here is Lang taking a bath with Kai.


Jon captioned this one, "How far back to Minnesota is it, again?"
At the zoo.
I wish I could have joined them and it was tough to be away from Kai so long, but he was in good hands and didn't seem to suffer. He's been clingier than usual since he came back, but he's a pretty independent little guy.

Concessions

Jon is really great with Kai, more and more so as Kai is getting bigger and more comunicative. Jon (with minimal help from Kai) exercised his creative side here with some sidewalk chalk. He drew the Cozy Coupe, Kai in the wagon, and a hot air balloon. Next week we're going to get a sitter so we can finger paint. No babies choked on tiny chalk pieces during this sidewalk drawing session.

Patty, Mike, Addie and our family went to the Children's Museum. Free 3rd Sundays are chaotic, but just what the budget ordered. Kai was devastated when we had to part ways with the soapy watery tubey ping pong ball exhibit. He has temper tantrums now, you know.

Jon's moving to second shift at Western starting next week. I've taken a lot of pride in being a one car household for the last couple of years, but it is logistically impossible for Jon to work that shift and not have a vehicle. Buses don't run at 2a.m. when he'll be getting off of work, and a bike is only practical part of the year. PLUS, he's going to need all of the sleep he can get because two days a week he'll go to bed around 3a.m. and get up at 8 with Kai.

So, we decided on a few factors that were important to us. OK, two. Price and safety. Fuel economy wasn't a priority because it spiked the price and we'll be using the car about 100 miles a week. And safety, well, for 3k, this is a pretty freaking safe car. The problem? It's a FORD TAURUS. I'm certain that my 18 year old self would kick the living shit out of me if she ever knew I owned a Taurus that I SPENT MONEY ON.

We're off to shop for second car...ugh.

New Cousin!

Landon Nelson Beck was born on August 11, 2010. He is 8lbs 10oz and 21.5 inches long. Congrats Jenn & David!

A Little Help

New Toy

I spent 3 1/2 hours in the ER with Kai last night, but you'd never know it now. He took a pretty nasty fall and hit his head on the corner of a table-like toy at Patty and Mikes. He seemed to recover quickly, though the welt on hi forehead was HUGE and PURPLE. Yesterday morning he woke up and the welt had subsided and we were relieved; until he started vomiting. Vomiting like the Exorcist vomiting. I was at work, but when I got home I got to see the carnage. Because he didn't have a fever or any other signs of illness except general fussiness, I called the nurse at our clinic. She was confident that I should take him into the ER. Jon and I were both gunshy, not wanting to be those parents who freak out at every little thing, but like I said Exorcist vomiting. Once we got to the ER he seemed to improve in spirit and he was eating crackers...by the time we saw the doc 3 hours later he seemed totally fine. They were going to do a scan, but since we live 5 minutes from the hospital, the dr. and the supervising dr. agreed that if he vomited even once more to come back immediately for a CT scan and to check on him during the night. I did. Several times. Obsessively. He's totally fine. But now he has diarrhea. Ugh.

Kicks

Here are Grandpa and Grandma Beck on the day of Kai's birthday party!



When Bev and Harry were here a couple of weeks ago they had the luck of catching Kai's first steps. Bev was insistent that Kai needed good quality, well fitting shoes- and she even paid for them! We tood Kai to Stride Right (I remember when Patty told me how much shoes were here when she bought them for Addie I thought she was nuts) and picked him up some 6Ws. Yup, he's got his mama's feet. While $50 seems like a lot for those little canoes, he should be wearing them for at least a couple of months.

One and Walking

Man did we have a big week. Kai turned one on July 13th. His big partay was on Sunday the 18th. Grandma and Grandpa Beck (recently dubbed Grandma and Grandpa Illinois) were on hand for the event AND Kai's first steps. Living several hundred miles apart means they miss a lot of these milestones, so that was awesome for them to see. This weekend my mom is taking Kai for THREE NIGHTS while we have our annual Sugarloaf friends weekend. I'm still nursing once or twice a day, so it's a little tough, but everyone reminds me that it's tough on me and that Kai will be fine.

ECFE has a potluck picnic for all of the kids from all of the classes in a park in St. Paul. It was madness. With bubbles. And noodle salad. What wasn't expected was the ridiculously creative hippy foods that our snotty ECFE parents classmates made. I mean, maybe they are kinda cool after all...


Jon and I took Kai to the Como Zoo the Saturday before Fathers Day. Como just opened its new polar bear enclosure. After we saw the big cats, Kai started signing "cat"!

Sugarloaf for Cruisers

Jon "parenting" Sugarloaf style:


We had the fortune of hooking up with Kristin and Sam (since ENGAGED!) for a hike at Gooseberry and supper at the pie joint in Castle Danger. It was 2 1/2 hours of awesome followed by a good meal and 4 hours of driving home late....ugh. Still, worth it.

Florida!

The annual charity golf tournament for Noah (Kai's middle name is Noah after him) was a fantastic excuse to visit Al & Cindy in Florida and have them meet Kai. They are perfect hosts and even went so far as to accommodate us with a pack n play for Kai. Plus, who doesn't love putting the kid to bed and then relaxing poolside (monitor in hand)?


Aaaaaaaand, we're new at this. Next time we travel we'll take pictures of something other than Kai. Until then, enjoy this picture of Cindy and Kai specifically designed to make Aunt Gayle jealous. But then, we also were in charge of her husband and son for the weekend, so who really was jealous is up for debate.


We got to meet LINCOLN! Alli and Paul had us over for dinner in their home in Fort Myers at the end of our trip. We threw some food together and rushed through a quick evening baby-style. He's adorable and they are fantabulous parents. Now, if I could only finagle a master bath for myself and assign Jon the "other bathroom," my life might be so sweet! Thanks, Al!

At the end of the trip we took two nights to be a family on vacation. Kai was good natured and flexible, as usual. He was a bit indifferent about the ocean, but he did like trying to eat insects out of the sand.

For future reference, I'm drawing up a formal sign up sheet for grown-up time. The mid-afternoon swap for free time was awesome. I posted to Facebook from the tiki bar and Jon drank Miller Lite (I know...) in the cabana we rented on the beach, while the other hung with Kai.





Oh, and apparently my child is a saint; no one around us on either flight had any trouble with him. I'm pretty sure the boob gets some credit on this one!

First Video of Kai "Crawling"

Sorry about the quality. My Droid apparently had something on the lens.

We're starting to pack for Florida on Friday morning, I'll have lots to share after that.

Pictures!

We had Louisa Podlich of Louisa Marion Photography (she's on Facebook) take some shots of Kai several weeks ago. We ended up with a lot of really great shots! I used to babysit Louisa back in the day, so it was nice to reconnect. You can see the rest of the shots by following this link: http://louisapodlich.smugmug.com/Portraits/Kai-Noah/11148364_33Jro#781310112_UUKfb

We've settled into a pretty solid routine. Kai's a pretty mellow kid. He's eating a few new foods lately including mango, yogurt and cottage cheese. He's mastering the sippy cup. He's just about to sit independently, but doesn't seem too anxious to crawl. He's been in daycare at the Mansoors for several weeks now, and they're really great with him. There are no other kids in their home right now though, so we're hoping that changes soon. He's still with my mom two days a week, too. We're starting ECFE tomorrow, so that will get him some time with other little kids once a week.

We've been going to physical therapy for his torticollis (the muscle on one side of his neck is tighter/shorter than the other). As a result of the torticollis, one side of the back of his head is a bit flat and one side bulges, and it's also created a little bit of asymmetry in his face. The specialist said it could get better with time now that he's spending less time on his back, but if we are going to address it, we need to do it now because treatment isn't effective after 12 months and the course is usually 3 months. So, we're getting the helmet.

Here's a picture from the scan that they use to make it.

It was a tough call to make. A little flat spot on his head isn't a big deal, but I talked with someone who opted out and regretted it later. If he's miserable in it, we'll quit, but maybe he won't mind it.

We're headed to Peoria for Easter. Kai hasn't seen grandma and grandpa since November, so we're looking forward to that. AND, we're going to Florida to see Al & Cindy and Alli and Paul in May! I'm looking forward to digging his little toes into the sand.

For Grandma Bev and Grandpa Harry

Baby's Best Friend

First Foods!

This whole experience seems to be picking up momentum...Kai has had his first taste of "solid" food, just a bit shy of six months old. I spent an afternoon a couple of weeks ago making apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes and butternut squash into little single serving cubes for him, so that is working pretty well. He's game for a couple of bites and then starts resisting and arching his back- I'm sure it's just early, but I better not be raising a picky eater.

Kai is getting more playful by the second. Jon is all over this age, too. I'm not sure who does more squealing and giggling, but the two of them seem to have a really good time together. Jon is NOT timid about making up songs, making faces, all of it, and Kai lights up when he sees him. Ugh, getting all emotional.

We went up to Sugarloaf this weekend with the family. It was a lot easier than in the past because he is good to stay awake for longer periods of time so we aren't tiptoeing around him sleeping in the cabin all the time. We just kept him up until 9 or 10 and then one of us went to bed early with him. We're back up on MLK weekend and we're hoping that it's warm enough to have him stay in one of the cabins. Hopefully we can use the monitor from C2 to C3 so he can keep on his regular
schedule, and we can keep on ours (staying up late at SL!).

With the help of my dad and an old IRA that Jon had, we've put some money aside for Kai for school. My dad plans to make an annual contribution- and we intend to continue adding, but he's got enough to pay for a semester's worth of books by 2027. Seriously, though, if tuition continues to rise like it has in the last 10 years, I don't know how we will afford college- or even expect our kids to want to take on those loans.

Here's a video of Kai's first bites of food. And me being bossy. Slow down! Clean him up! Take a break! It's a wonder I let Jon do anything at all.