wedding escape

This weekend Dexter and I dashed up to Massachusetts for a whirlwind weekend to celebrate our friends' wedding.  As a bonus, their wedding was on my birthday!  Their wedding, and Lisa's birth last year is really making my birthday a memorable occasion.

As a gift to me, Dexter took Friday off from school -- his first time doing that since school started. I'd say it was over due -- and so we were able to go up on Thursday night, giving us more time there.  This is important, because I need to take full advantage of a dryer while home.  Counting the days til we have a dryer (or outside lines...).  This also meant we went out to dinner Friday night and left Kyalo with my parents.  Since we NEVER go out, this was a real treat.

Saturday was the wedding, at a beach house in nearby Gloucester.  Kyalo was supposed to be the ring bearer so we were to get there a little early to do a little run through.  Kyalo tends to get a little scared in big crowds, so I wasn't sure how he'd perform.  We never did have that walk through, but Dexter and I tried practicing with him ourselves before the big moment.

With this kind of focus, don't you want him to come carry your rings in your wedding?

Needless to say, the bestman had the rings safely tucked away in his pocket.  Which turned out to be especially good because when things got started, it was a bit hectic and rushed.  I handed the pillow to Kyalo and he threw it away and went and sat in the chairs.  So, that was a ring bearer fail.  But it will make me laugh forevermore.  And hey, at least he wasn't in the bathroom crying like the flower girl!! 

Otherwise, the wedding went smoothly.

Bill's mom (the groom) and Keziah, praying before the wedding

 about to walk in

Bill, one happy guy!!

One of the best parts about the wedding was that it was catered by a Kenyan company, so Dexter and I had our fill of Kenyan food.  I'm pretty sure Dexter ate his weight in goat.  It was also fun for Dexter to be surrounded by so many Kenyans.  Bill is the cousin to Andrew, who was the best man in our wedding, so there were others there (like Jimmy, the best man in the photo above) that Dexter already knew.  It was a fun, fun time.  

My parents came for the wedding and the food, but left with Kyalo early on, so that Dexter and I could hang out a bit more.  Bill and Keziah move to Australia on Sunday, so the extra time there was extra special.

A few random shots from the day (some before, some after the wedding).

 nap time; someone was not amused to be taking pictures

 that skin!!  I love this picture, even if he isn't smiling

we never look this good - a picture was a must. It was my birthday after all

I look like I'm about to fall over from exhaustion.  Clearly, I can't handle the late hours any more.  Age is catching up on me.

Godspeed, Bill and Keziah.  Thanks for including us in your day! We love you and miss you terribly.  Hope to see you in Kenya in 2014! (Or Australia. . . sometime. . . )

31 months

Kyalo hit 31 months on Sunday, but I just got around to taking pictures today.  The fact that he is closer to being three than to two is significant for two reasons: 1) he's close to being three!! and 2) we only have about 6 months of school left - graduation is at the end of May.  Both seem to be unbelievable facts in our life right now!

As usual, this was a good month.  After the Halloween Fest at the Y, I discovered Kyalo has a serious love for all things arty and crafty.  I bought him $2.00 water colors from Target and he painted with them for TWO HOURS (post coming soon). Obviously, I'm in love with that.  Plus, Dexter also has an artistic side so it is something they can do together.

I'm realizing that the more Kyalo is occupied with things that he truly enjoys (painting, play dough, markers, etc) the happier we all are - I can get things done, he isn't underfoot as much, thus getting into less trouble, I'm yelling less.  As you can see, this is a win-win-win all around.  I think he gets easily bored with things though (something that he loved yesterday he might not love tomorrow) so need to up my game and have more things at the ready.  I'd welcome suggestions from any of you moms out there.

Other things of note for this month...

- potty training is going S L OW.  I thought we'd have hit it out of the park by now but he still won't poo in the toilet, and was waking up so much at night that I decided I needed him in diapers.  After two years of waking up to nurse him, I only have so much tolerance for middle-of-the-night clothes and sheet changes!

- He recently learned to climb out of his crib.  As my mom says, life as we've known it is over.  I'm hoping we can keep him in the crib until we move, but we'll see what happens in the coming months.

- One of his favorite things to do is to wash his hands.  We have chairs that he can push all around the house, and I'll often find him in the bathroom washing his hands.  He only uses about a half a bottle of soap each time.

- He also like to brush his teeth, but I think his favorite thing is to eat our toothpaste.  Hard to remember to keep that out of reach!

- In addition to painting, he's also showing interest in taking pictures.  I dug out our old camera to let him play with it. While most of the pictures were of the floor or wall or the light switch, I like that he's showing an interest in these things already.  It won't be long before he's taking better pictures than me!

- He likes to be involved in all things.  Today, I found him in the kitchen trying to put the KitchenAid together.  I think it freaked him out a bit when he actually turned it on!

- And he still loves reading.  In fact, he'll sit and listen to multiple stories.  Current favorites right now are any Clifford the Big Red Dog ('Cifford') and Mr Gumpy's Outing which is a funny little book about a man taking a bunch of animals for a boat ride down the river.  We've probably checked it out from the library more than it has actually been returned!

This weekend, a dear friend visited us.  I've known Judy my whole life - her laughter is part of the background of my memories - and so it was extra special to me to have her visit me here in New Jersey, and for her to spend a bit of time with Kyalo. She hadn't seen him since last May, and he's obviously changed so much since then!

 of course, it was impossible to get Kyalo to look at the camera. This was the best we could do.

it was almost 70* F on the first Saturday of November - pretty different from last year when we were having snow!

It would seem that today Kyalo is not taking a nap, which would be about right, since I was thinking that I would nap while he napped.  Sigh.

halloween fest

The family Y where Kyalo and I go for swimming hosted a harvest festival a couple of weeks ago - opening up all areas of the Y for members to come and play.  Costumes were recommended.  I was excited for Dexter to have a chance to finally see Kyalo swimming, and for us to do a fun and different activity together.  I was sure Kyalo would love showing off all his skills to Papa.

One problem: he gets totally overwhelmed/shy in big crowds, and this was a night of big crowds, loud kids, lots of movement, etc.  He spent a lot of time just standing and observing in the beginning.  Since I couldn't get him to relax in the gym, we decided to take him up to the art classrooms, figuring they'd be a little calmer.

I was right. And Kyalo L O V E D it.

 focused

Making an apple basket, which involved painting with apple halves and gluing pieces of paper down in a weave fashion to make a basket.  He filled that paper to capacity.  It was hard to drag him away.  

the giraffe, hard at work

After painting, we tried to get him to go to a music class or dance party, but he wasn't interested in those.  We did manage to get him to go to the 'pumpkin patch' maze thing.

And after that he'd relaxed enough to try the over-crowded gym rooms again.  This time he hopped on a bike and was good to go!

After all these activities, it was time for our turn in the pool.  Kyalo's really been flourishing in swimming lately, getting much more comfortable and confident in the pool. We took a break over the summer, and when we came back in September he's taken off - jumping into the pool unprompted, getting better at kicking, etc.  The Y thinks kids can swim independently -- and with out floaties -- by 3 or so.  I think if we stick with it, Kyalo could be there!

showing off floating skills - pretty impressive since this often freaks him out

But the best part about swimming is jumping into the pool! I tried hard to get some action shots of that, which was basically a fail.  Here's the best I could do. 

pleased

As you can see, he enjoys himself immensely.  The Y has been such a wonderful investment for us, and I'm already thinking how much I will miss this Y when we move from here next year.  Sure, there are other YMCAs around the country, but this is a 'family' Y, geared mostly to children.  It has been perfect for us.

I don't get too many pictures of myself with Kyalo, so wanted to share this one of my handsome little giraffe and me.  

Swimming was our last activity, so we collected our things and went home. . .and Kyalo slept til 8:30 Sunday morning.  Wins all around!!

the park

We go to a nearby park a lot.  Certainly once a week, sometimes more, almost always with Jenny & Ellen.   They are moving to a town about 30 minutes away next week (which right now feels like they might as well be moving to the moon), so I wanted to grab some pictures of Kyalo and Ellen at the park together, as a little memory of our many, many hours there.

But let me tell you, taking pictures of two non-stop toddlers in a shady park at noon-time does not for good pictures make.  Please forgive the out of focus photos.

It was a beautiful, extra warm, fall day here in New Jersey when I took these pictures last week.

This park has a lot to offer. . .

 (there was a dad singing to his little girl in a nearby swing, and Kyalo was enjoying the song - and probably wondering why I never sing for him at the park)

A cordoned-off tree stump provides hours of fun

a balance beam, of course

The balance beam takes a lot of concentration.  After I took these photos, he fell off the bream right at the end which brought about big tears and heartbreak.  It took a bit to get him to calm down. I'm not sure exactly what happened.  Since the beam is about 3 inches off the ground its not like it was a catastrophic fall or anything. Guess he just landed badly.

Soon he dusted himself off and was able to enjoy the rest of the things the park has to offer.

 this looks like an in-action photo, but really he's paused there.  He can't seem to go any higher just yet. I think he's got his mama's fear of heights!

Ellen likes the slide, too

Love the static!

 he loved hanging from the rings. . . 

but the pull up bar, not so much.

I'd say it was time to wrap this party up.

Here's Kyalo's new consignment shop vest. I love this eggplanty color on him. Gorgeous.  Also, I love puffy vests.

there's our motley crew, heading to the strollers so we could head home

Confession:  I don't really like going to the park.  When it is just me and Kyalo, I find it incredibly boring.  Even though Jenny and I are often too busy chasing our kids on opposite sides of the park to talk, it is nice to have someone there to help pass some of the time.  

After one of our visits to the park, I asked Kyalo what his favorite part was, expecting slide or swings to be the answer.  Instead, he said, "Tcha-cho goves Ey-yen." (Kyalo loves Ellen, in case you don't speak Kyalo).  Next week is going to be pretty tough. How do you explain to a two-year-old that his best friend has moved too far away to visit with as much?  30 minutes is not SO far away, but it sure will be different not being able to call Jenny up at 9 to make plans for 10 am.  Every day -- and I mean EVERY DAY -- Kyalo asks to go to Ellen's house.  Sometimes, when leaving there, he tells me he wants to go back.

As long as the weather holds up, we'll be back there, burning off some energy.  It just won't be the same with out our pals.