Happy Birthday Kai Runner!

Today Kai officially turned THREE! He knew it was his big day too. We were greeted with huge smiles when we opened his bedroom door this morning to shout "Happy Birthday!" Kai is usually one to hang about in his room playing and dilly dallying but today he scurried downstairs as fast as his nimble runner-feet would carry him, knowing it was a special day. He giggled all the way down the stairs. I wish we'd had the video camera ready to capture that. But we did get footage of him enjoying one of his birthday presents which was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, a GIANT piano!

Unfortunately, Daddy had to go to school all day and Kai's party festivities were already over so Mommy was left to entertain the birthday boy on a cold and rainy April day. Kai received a Build-A-Bear gift certificate for his birthday so we decided that would be a great way to do something a little bit special so off we headed to the mall. When presented with the wall of animals to chose from Kai quickly chose a bunny without much regard for any of the other animals. We figured it might be a Build-A-Bunny kinda day. If you've never been to Build-A-Bear/Bunny, it is quite the experience. After choosing a floppy, stuff-less furry friend, the children get to step on a pedal that blows stuffing into their empty friend out of this stuffing machine. Kai was obviously quite intrigued (and a little weirded out) by the process.

After choosing a "voice" (Kai picked giggles - I was a little afraid he'd pick the ferocious bear/lion roar for his bunny), Kai got to pick a heart to go inside his newest bunny. When bunny was adequately stuffed, we took him over to the "bath tub" where Kai stepped on another pedal to run the imaginary shower.

We chose an outfit for Bunny, a Happy Birthday T-shirt, and then he was placed into his Bunny House, complete with a door and window! Happy Birthday Bunny's status amongst the Bunny Tribe is still to be determined. We'll keep you posted.

After our Build-A-Bunny adventure we headed to Kai's favorite restaurant, Friendly's. We're not sure why Kai likes Friendly's so much, but we're thinking its probably the ice cream. Today he had his usual, chocolate ice cream with whipped cream, a very nice treat for a birthday boy!

When Daddy finally made it home from school we celebrated with one final cupcake and one final happy birthday serenade. Funny how much difference a year makes: last year, Kai was clearly done with the Happy Birthday song after hearing it twice. This year he couldn't seem to get enough and really enjoyed it. He also liked blowing out his candles, last year - not so much.

The final gift of the day was a big truck which clearly pleased our little boy. Tomorrow Greg and I celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. We're both pretty exhausted from all the birthday celebrations but somehow we hope to find the energy to at least High Five each other tomorrow...such is life in parent-land!

A GREAT weekend!

We just survived an exhausting but super fun weekend! For those not in the know, Kai turns THREE on Tuesday and this weekend we celebrated with his first "official" birthday party. We rented an indoor soccer turf where a bouncy house and other toys for active little people were set up. Kai and 8 of his little friends got to run wild while the parents got to chat while supervising and we all enjoyed a meal of lukewarm pizza, salad, toddler food (aka cheese, fruit and juice boxes) and the delicious cake pictured below :-)

Once again we baked Grandma Barb's tried and true chocolate zucchini cake and it did not disappoint. And Daddy once again came through in the artistic department with an excellent rendition of Lightning McQueen (no, it's not red but we didn't think the parents would appreciate a generous helping of Red No 4). The night before the party the grown ups (Daddy, Mommy and Granddad who drove down for the big event) stayed up late baking, decorating, stuffing treat bags and potting seedlings (we decided to do an Earth Day theme of potted seedlings for the treat bags).

Unfortunately, we didn't snap too many photos of the actual event as we discovered that supervising our own two kidlets, setting up the food, and visiting with our guests kept us busy enough, even with a Granddad on hand.

Here is our little Buds clutching one of his presents. The concept of presents has really taken root for Kai now and whenever he hears someone say something about a present he gets a pining tone to his voice and says "Runner wants a present!" This weekend he was not disappointed as his little friends were more than excited to hand him his birthday gifts. It was neat to see him return the favor the following day when we attended another birthday party and he carefully carried the gift on his lap as we drove over and held it tight until he was able to turn it over to its rightful owner, the birthday girl.

Runner loves his cake and here he is making sure the crumbs don't go to waste!

In true Kai fashion, the gift opening took more than one day. Here he is the next morning opening one of his cards. He really likes cards and opened each one, announcing "there's a card in there!" with genuine surprise! I managed to catch one of those moments in pixels but unfortunately missed the top of his head.

Spending time with Granddad was an extra special part of the weekend. Here is Kai getting some bedtime "cuggles" and tickles from Granddad. After the party on Saturday afternoon Dad and I got out for a 25 mile bike ride. We didn't plan to dress up like Team Pearl Harbor Cycling Club, honest. Seriously though, it was a great afternoon for a ride and I thought it was pretty cool that my Dad, who doesn't get the chance to ride much, could hop on a bike and hammer out a 25 mile ride like it was nothing.

A final highlight of the weekend was finding a FREE kids' size Gary Fisher mountain bike while we were out for a stroll. Someone actually threw one out for the garbage! We grabbed it b/c even if our kids don't end up using it, it would make a great donation for some kiddo somewhere. Granddad spotted it as he and Kai went for a run (Kai actually run/walked almost 2 miles today!) And just to prove how sleep deprivation damages the brain, when Granddad said to me "Did you see that Gary Fisher?" I actually responded with "is that a bird?" I'm sorry fellow fat tire friends; I hang my head in shame ;-) When Greg arrived home and saw our "find" in the garage he just shook his head .... that brings our bicycle stable count to TEN!

Press the Pause Button, Please!

6 months ago today, on a snowy October afternoon, our little Teia entered the world and our hearts.

It is impossible to believe that already she is 6 months old. Here she is today, showing off what a big girl she is already with her independent sitting skills. As you can see, being able to sit by herself makes her very proud.

She is also eating solid food now and QUITE happy about it as you'll see below.

Tonight she even grabbed the spoon and showed us that she knows exactly what a spoon is for and exactly where the food needs to go! She's a fast learner!

Teia's first 6 months have gone by in a blur. It is so true what everyone says about the second child; you really are so busy and distracted that you do miss stuff and it all goes by too quickly. So as she hits her 1/2 year milestone, I find myself feeling a little bit sad that 6 months have already gone by. Yes, I am relieved to be out of the difficult newborn stage (although we're still not sleeping through the night around here). And yes I am enjoying her emerging personality and all the new things she can do, but she is just changing and growing so quickly that I know I will blink and she'll be turning one and walking and then running around after her brother. I look forward to those times very much, but for now I want to hold and cuddle my little baby. And I want to appreciate being able to put her down, leave the room and have her be in the same place when I get back.* (I think only a second time parent can truly appreciate what a wonderful thing that is).

So many of Teia's family have not yet had the chance to meet her so I hope to be able to capture some of who she is right now, as a chubby and charming newly minted 6 month old, through these posts and photos. In addition to her developing motor skills, Teia likes to "talk." She also loves to smile and giggle. The jumparoo is just about her favorite thing, so long as someone is there to watch her, and she likes to practice on mommy's tummy, giving her some good, stiff kicks.

Teia is very sociable. So sociable in fact that sometimes she won't nurse if she isn't being watched. During our nighttime feeding sessions I sometimes like to lie my head back and catch a few Zzz's while she slurps. If Teia catches me dozing, she looks up at me and won't resume nursing until my head is back in "watch Teia" position. This can go on for several minutes. I lie back, she stops nursing and looks up, I look back at her, she goes back to nursing, repeat. Finally, I give up, and watch her finish her 3 am meal as she happily goes back to her slurping.

We are a family inclined to nickname and Teia now has quite a few: Teia boo, Teia bean, Tay Tay, Tayster, Tater Tot, Fuzzy Head and Peach. Kai has added a few of his own, most notably Mini-Runner and lately the mysterious "Little Weight." We're not quite sure where that one came from.

Speaking of pressing the pause button. If anyone figures out how to do it, I'd like to put the pause on Kai too. He turns 3 next week and I am painfully aware that his days of wanting to "cuggle" are numbered. I love that he carries stuffed bunnies and lions wherever he goes and that he still says "cuggle" and "sweep" (sleep) and that he still likes to play with Mommy and Daddy more than anyone else. The little guy seems aware of my vulnerability around this issue. Tonight he did not think going to bed was a good idea but instead of starting the chant of NOs, he decided to ask for cuggles. I'm not sure how much Kai really needed the cuggles or how much he knew Mommy needed them and that fact in itself would buy him some additional coveted awake time (or as he likes to say lately, an extra minute). Either way, I'd appreciate it if someone could invent a way to keep our little people teeny for a bit longer and to slow down this veritable march of time, just a little bit?

*Actually, this is already starting to change. Lately Teia will roll herself to a new location or push up so that only her legs remain on the floor and pull herself along. Usually she just goes in a circle but its only a matter of time before we have forward or backward motion I'm sure!

Hawaii Chronicles 2: Waterfall Hike

Seems like Kai is missing Hawaii. He has also developed quite a fascination with airports since our trip. We currently have a runway taped to our floor where various toy airplanes have been taking off and landing. We're not introducing the "crashing" concept. Figure its best to keep this positive association going! This morning when I asked Kai what we were going to do today he happily replied "Go to Hawaii." I explained that unfortunately, no, we weren't going to Hawaii but would be going to: 1st: Whole Foods, and 2nd: to visit a favorite friend. He was happy about this but being familiar with the "first, then" concept, he added with a smile "and THEN Hawaii." He had to settle for a special "Hawaiian" dessert tonight, pineapple and mango fruit cobbler. I think he was hoping for chocolate haupia pie.

One of our trip highlights was a hike with our good friends and former neighbors. We've kept in regular touch with Kelley and Ryan since we moved in May 08 and were excited to see them again, as well as meet their daughter Sara who was born after we moved. Grandma and Poppa Mike took charge of our littlest member and we took the "big" kids, Kai and Sara, on an adventurous hike in search of a waterfall, something Kai was really looking forward to.

We were really proud of our little man who soldiered on up the steep trail, over greasy roots and wet rocks and didn't even get freaked out by the preschooler sized leaves reaching out from the sides of the trail trying to grab him. In fact, he seemed to think they were pretty interesting. Greg carried a borrowed backpack just in case, but there was no need; Runner was into hiking. He has a favored bedtime book about a bunny getting lost and he was a little worried about Tyla, Kelley and Ryan's sweet and faithful boxer, doing the same. When we came to a fork in the trail we heard Kai's voice warning Tyla "Doggie, don't get lost." But he didn't have to worry and we made it to the waterfall and had it all to ourselves. Our dear friends have now moved to the Pacific Northwest. Once the kids get a little bigger, maybe 5 or 6, we're thinking we'll tackle Mt. Rainier ;-)

Twice the Fun

I do plan to post a few more stories and photos of our Hawaiian adventures but wanted to document some special moments on the home front. As Teia grows and gets a little bit more interesting to her older brother, we're starting to see a hint of what is to come as the two fledgling Fennells start to interact with each other. Sometimes there is a little bit of competition, such as when I am bending over Teia on her play mat, making goo goo eyes and saying "hello" and I hear a voice from the dining room table calling "Say hello to Runner!" (Kai's alter ego). Everyday there is guaranteed head turning as Teia, as always, watches Kai who is running, as always, all over the place.

Today Kai demonstrated the beginnings of some caring big brotherly tendencies. Since Teia is doing everything in her power to show us she wants to sit up on her own (like sitting up in her bouncy seat and car seat as soon as we put her in them), we decided to sit her in the high chair to join us for dinner tonight. (This is also a little bit of torture for the poor thing who is wondering how many cups of tea she has to grab for before we realize she wants to expand her palate beyond the white stuff!) Continuing the theme of torturing our variety-deprived baby, Greg thought it would be fun to take a photo of Teia with a big piece of pizza held in front of her nose. Kai didn't get the joke and earnestly looked at Teia and said "this is pizza." It was simply adorable, watching him "explain" aspects of life, in this case dinner, to his little sis.

Tonight we also decided to let them have their first bath together (unfortunately there are no photos b/c Greg and I weren't sure how this would go and wanted to keep all hands free to prevent any near drownings). Teia has grown so long that we had to ditch the baby tub a few days ago. Kai, known as Runner, said to Teia "Mini-Runner (his own nickname for her), is the water too hot?" There he goes again, looking out for his little sis. But he couldn't wait for her to get out of the bath, illustrated when he politely said to her "Teia, time to get out!" so he could try out her body support and lie back in the tub for a leisurely shampoo. Funny how the little ones want to be the like the big ones, but the big ones want to be like the little ones too!

Happy Easter!!

For a child who is in love with all things bunny, Easter (the rabbit-ized Easter as opposed to the religious Easter) ranks alongside Christmas as the ultimate holiday of the year. And having just come from a very exciting and stimulating trip to Hawaii, Kaister's little ticker is getting a real one-two punch of excitement within a couple weeks time.

As I type, we can hear his feet pit-pattering around his bedroom. I went up to tell him to get in his bed (which he did) but as I left the room, I heard a tired, hopeful little voice call out "Easter Day! Easter Day!" Yes, someone is REALLY looking forward to chocolate bunnies, eggs, and other bunnified things tomorrow. (we avoid those little yellow marshmallow peeps like the plague in the Fennell household)

Here are some pics of Kai taking part in egg coloring. I was really looking forward to egg coloring, but was quickly reminded how much of a letdown it can be. Take a look at the box the coloring stuff came in:

Now a look at the final product:

Kinda reminds you of a fast food advertisement vs reality, doesn't it? Nevertheless, we still had fun and Kai was so pumped, he ate one of his Easter eggs for lunch without a moment hesitation. Hmmm, it was so easy to get him to eat an egg, I'm thinking we might have to introduce Kai to the lesser known but slightly more nutritious holidays such as Happy Asparagus April Day, Holy Spinach Second Sunday, and Billy the Brave Broccoli Memorial Day (in memory of Brave Billy the Broccoli who saved his younger fellow florets from the evil weavel bug while still completing his homework by 7pm, brushing his teeth, and putting away ALL his toys. A VERY special day, kiddies!)

Finally, here's the coup d'etat of the weekend - a video of Louise and Kai singing "Peter Cottontail"!! I apologize for the shaky camera; it was the least I could do not to burst out laughing while watching our patient little singer belt out the tunes between hearty swigs of the cows' finest.

Birthday Presents

Conversation b/tw Kai and I:

Me: What do you think you might want for your birthday? Would you like a puzzle?

Kai: No.

Me: Would you like a car?

Kai: No.....(thinks for a minute) a mini-van... Maybe a chocolate one.