Sibs!

Thought I'd do a short post about Kai's little sibling on the way, known lovingly around the Fennell household as "Sibs." We're not really sure how that name evolved; prior to his entrance into the world, Kai was known as "Mini-Mouse" for reasons that make perfect sense to any of our good friends and family who are familiar with our mousie nicknames. We're not sure where "Sibs" came from. We avoided the familiar "bean" or "peanut" and somehow "Sibs" just evolved. Guess its a bit of a harbinger for how "Sibs," as the second child, might be seen or see life, in relation to his/her older brother, Kai.

Given that I've been around awhile, my pregnancy is under close surveillance. Today was the first of what will be monthly ultrasounds. In September we begin our twice weekly non-stress tests in addition to ultrasounds, and weekly OB appointments. Growing this baby is keeping me busy!!!! Everything looked great today at our 28 week ultrasound. Sibs is estimated to weigh about 2.9 lbs right now which is right on track. The ultrasound tech said that actually puts our due date at Oct. 11th (instead of Oct. 12th) but that is neither here nor there. So far Fennell babies don't seem to pay much attention to their due dates. We're still in the dark as to whether Kai will have a brother or a sister, although while the tech was checking our Sibs' body parts today I saw something huge in the vicinity of his/her bladder. I thought the tech might have goofed up and forgotten to tell me to look away....but before you go out and buy blue, on reflection, given the sheer size of what I saw, I think perhaps it was a leg!!!

So that is the update on Sibs. S/he was busy wiggling his/her toes and stretching his/her feet up over his/her head this morning while on candid camera. As for Mama, well let's just say that it wasn't her favorite obstetrical visit. The lovely and charming nurse practitioner greeted her with a pleasant "I see you don't have trouble gaining weight!" Where do they train these people?

New swingset for.... Bunny???

Greg here. After a few delays and technical difficulties, I'm almost finished with Kai's swingset.

A little background info: Kai loves (or used to love, till a couple weeks ago) swingsets. The local playground is only a mile or so away, but in the evenings its a bear to get through the mass exodus leaving Boston through our town. Since our (sometimes) Sleeping Beauty has been known to snooze to past 5pm on days he naps, Louise thought it would be a good idea to have a small swingset/playground-lite in our backyard for those evenings when there's not enough time to get to the playground-proper or the splashpark.

Alas, as any program manager knows, when you start a project with a set of requirements, sometimes those requirements change (or the world simply changes). In our case, Kai has been on a swingset strike since about the time I bought the lumber. What to do with all that lumber?? Cancel the project? Build a Trojan Bunny to sneak Kai into the splashpark? Or press on. I chose the latter.

Using some online plans and some nifty A-frame supports bought through Amazon, the swingset went up fairly easily in a few days. The two A-frames were built before the Calgary trip, then I attached them to a 4x4x12ft beam this weekend. Putting it all together was a little tricky w/o any help greater than 35" tall or non-pregnant - here's a pic of the swingset upside down so I could attach the A-frames to the beam.

My boss(es), supervising the work.

Finally, its together and ready to be tested!

Unfortunately, our test pilot balked at the lack of safety paperwork and quality assurance, so we went to Kai's personal crash test dummy, Bunny (Nana). Bunny passed the test with flying colors, but Kai mentioned he hadn't been authorized any overtime and stormed away in a huff.

Hopefully we'll get a live test before too long. Wish the little test pilot "Good Luck"!

What Kai is up to...

I realized its been awhile since we've done a post just about Kai and all the neat things he's doing lately. He has changed so much in the last few months, it is hard to believe. I figured his grandparents, who don't get to see him much, might appreciate some updates (I know I've been really lax on Totspot lately....never seem to be enough hours in the day).

1. If you are looking for a way to build your calf muscles I recommend hopping. Kai has always loved running but lately his favorite mode of locomotion is to hop around and let me tell you, the guy has cyclist calves already (and they're not from riding his tricycle!) I am hoping to get it on video so I can post some of his best hopping. Tonight was great - he hopped around to a high energy bluegrass tune with a huge smile on his face but unfortunately all modes of recording technology were flat outta juice, so no video. If you're wondering where the hopping comes from, let me just say it is bunny-inspired. For fun we sometimes ask Kai if he is hopping like a frog or a kangaroo or any other hopping animal and he'll look at you with an annoyed, you should know better look on his face and say "Mo! Nana!" Translation - No! Bunny!

2. Kai is talking, alot. We couldn't be more thrilled. We knew he had a ton of words in his head and were just waiting for them to start spewing forth. But they have made life a little more complicated as he can now request things that he can't always have. Like tonight at dinner, he turned to us and said "ice cream?" then sat there with his dinner going cold and repeating his request calmly waiting for the ice cream to arrive. While in Calgary Kai came out with his first sentence "Go car Meeko's house." Pretty cool eh? Fun words for this week are avocado and pepperoni. Avocado sounds a bit like agagado but whatevah! I loved the look on Greg's face when he heard him say it (its one of the advantages of being the stay at home parent; I get to hear alot of this stuff first and then get to watch Greg enjoy). Apparently he also said hexagon, pentagon and semi-circle this week but I am the one who missed those! (Dad - he was playing with the old shape sorter you gave him).

We also have to be VERY careful of what we say around him. This afternoon when Greg was putting him down for his nap, he asked Kai "You should be tired - you had lots of time outside today." But it seems Kai understood this to mean: "You're going outside" and got a little upset when it didn't immediately happen! Greg and I have also taken to spelling out s-m-o-o-t-h-i-e and other such desirables. When he finally learns to spell, we're in for a heap of trouble and negotiating...

3. Kai still loves swimming! We've been going to our local splash park/fake lake as much as we can. Kai is a big fan of the fake lake and has taken to walking in up to his chin lately. He could "swim" for hours. Today we blew up a new inflatable pool for him. The water was chilly so we put him in to walk around, figuring it would be too cold for him to actually swim (he was not in swim attire). We should have known better. Within a few minutes he was completely soaked and having a blast. When he got out to retrieve a truck he had tossed, he informed me that he wanted "back in" and when we suggested it was time to get out he loudly proclaimed "more pool!"

4. Kai is all boy. While he might not be as rough and tumble (yet) as some toddler boys, he is showing all signs that he is all boy. He LOVES anything that drives - real or pint-size. He is showing signs that he might like power tools. Today while hanging out in his pool, he was mesmerized by Greg drilling nearby (Greg is building Kai a swing set - how cool is that?) After his fun in his pool, we went up to our lanai so he could play in his sand and water table for awhile (baby steps on getting him inside for dinner). He proceeded to pick up shovelfuls of sand and happily poured them all over himself. What a mess!

5. Kai loves music, in particular singing. One of his favorite songs lately is Hey, I Love You by Michael Franti and Spearhead (I'll have to figure out how to post it on here b/c it is awesome). He likes to dance with us while it plays. For those of you who know it, you'll know Franti says"hey mama, hey mama" alot. Tonight while dancing around Kai sang "hey mama, hey mama!" It was just way too cute. So many moments missed on video!

6. Kai loves stickers. He particularly loves to stick them on his shirt. We just have to make sure that he doesn't walk into any walls while he is walking around admiring his stickers. We've also found that they make useful bargaining tools to get him to do things....like eat.

So there is a quick run down of what he has been up to lately. Hopefully I'll get that hopping video on here sometime soon.

Aqua Man!

We're finally having the hot, humid New England weather we've been waiting for and we're happy about it (sort of). At least its not dreary and raining like it was for most of the month of June. So today Kai and I met some friends at our local splash park/fake lake. Kai loves it there and he has taken a liking to wearing my swim goggles. He doesn't put his head under the water but he really enjoys going into the water wearing them. So today I finally remembered the bring the camera along and Kai cooperated by giving me his best cheesy smile!

Below you'll see Aqua Man devouring some mac n' cheese puffs. These are supposed to be healthy (or so the demo lady at Whole Foods told me), but whatever, Kai LOVES them and insisted on eating the entire container before hitting the lake.

Some pics of our Calgary trip

D, T & J doing Stampede in style!

Kai and Jack holding hands.

Throwing rocks in the Bow River with Mommy. Lots of fun!

Hanging in the front seat with Uncle Meeko and a chocolatey treat! Male bonding at its best!

Kai and Uncle Meeko in Kananaskis.

 

Kai braved the chilly water for some fun with Uncle Meeko and Dada.

Watermelon at J&P's. (This photo was worth putting on the blog twice).

Not a bad spot for lunch!

Kai enjoying his favorite part of the Calgary Stampede - a balloon he could see his face in and a "smooey!"

Kai enjoying a wagon ride home from the wading pool with lady friends, Ella & Claire. Kai preferred not to share foot space on the wagon. 

Our Western Adventure

We arrived home last night after a 10 day whirlwind visit to Calgary, Alberta - my former home and the home of the world famous Calgary Stampede, which happened to be on during our time there. I wish I could post a photo of Kai in his cowboy hat, which we packed all the way to cowtown and back, except that he wouldn't wear it. So instead here is a photo which sums up the way we all felt by the time we got home! Kai actually fell asleep as we were packing up our luggage in the Logan airport terminal with hundreds of people around! 

This was such a busy trip that I don't really know where to start. We spent some great QT with Uncle Meeko in his new house and visited with Tavi and Derrick and their little cutie pie, Jack. Most of the Calgary mountain bike crew got together on a few occasions for great food, great conversation, cute kids, great construction vehicles (just ask Kai about Alec and Kase's toys!), but unfortunately, not for any riding - maybe next time. We visited the mountains and also stared at them lots from Michelle and Jasen's great view. Kai had the loving attention of two little ladies, Claire and Ella, for several days. We stampeded, as best you can with a 2 year old in tow, and Greg got to sample his first ever stampede breakfast.

There were a few trials of our trip as well, as there always are when traveling with a tot. Kai decided that since the sun didn't go down until after 10 at night in Calgary, then neither should he! So peaceful adult only evenings were not on the itinerary this time around. He also decided that solid food wasn't on his agenda for the first few days. So we were constantly making or buying a fruit "smoo-ey." And then there were the flights. To be honest, Kai is a pretty good flier. We wish we could collect frequent flier miles for him. The flights over went pretty smoothly. We were very thankful for the toy store in a bag and many, many snacks that we brought along, not to mention the DVD player. Although we weren't too appreciative of our very tight connection in Montreal that caused me, with my 25 week pregnant belly, to almost run through the airport with Kai bouncing gleefully on Daddy's shoulders as he ran. I figured no one, least of all us, would appreciate me going into labour in the Montreal airport! 

The flights home weren't quite as smooth. Kai didn't take too kindly to the 5:30 am wake up then straight to car seat, then airplane seat. We knew we were in trouble when he stood at the window at our gate, watching the planes saying "outside, outside." Thank goodness for the speedy jet stream blowing yesterday that got us from Calgary to Toronto in less than 3.5 hours! It was awesome to see everyone and get our western fix but we're looking forward to many plane free months ahead!