Dear Daddy, while you've been in Haiti. . .

Dear Daddy,

While you've been in Haiti studying post-earthquake liquefaction, Mom and I have been doing okay. I've missed playing with you, and Mom has missed having you around. We've hoped that your water filter has worked well and have been praying that you are safe. Mom's excited that maybe you'll think she's a really good cook after a week of eating MREs.

I am trying to be extra good for Mom. I've been helping her with the laundry, which I think is pretty fun. For some reason, though, it takes longer when I help.

I've also been really good for her when we go out. Even when the strap from my hat fell over my eyes--I didn't complain. (Mom eventually realized it and fixed it.)

I've been trying to play the guitar like you. I pull myself up onto it, and I've actually been strumming the strings. Mom thinks I sound pretty good for using one hand. Can't wait until you can play for us again.

I want to be like you and play the drums too. Your

drums are in the closet, though, so usually I

just try to drum on anything else I can find--tables, chairs,

cereal boxes, the door, your guitar, etc. The toilet is my favorite, but Mom always freaks out when I get to it. And then she makes me wash my hands, and sometimes inside my mouth. I've notice she's been keeping the toilet really clean, though.

Mom says I'm a climbing, crawling, standing, exploring, destroying, eating machine, and I can do even more than before you left.

See you really soon!

Love, your son,

Kedrik

How did that happen?

One day I suddenly realized that Ked had grown up.

(And he was done with the photo shoot. His cry these days most frequently means, "Help, I'm standing and I can't get down!)

4/12/2010; 7 1/2 months old

in a simple smile

I've always loved how you can get a baby or toddler to smile just by smiling at him--even when the kid doesn't know you. And once Ked was just so many weeks old and able to give any type of response to anything besides hunger, it was the smile when I'd smile at him that amazed me. So simple, yet so phenomenally, inexplicably exhilarating. I'm sure it probably can be explained by some scientific, physiological, neurological response, but to me it is clear evidence of the divinity within. I've always believed (known, really) that we are children of a Heavenly Father, but this has confirmed it to me that much more.

This probably doesn't make sense to anyone else (blame it on my lack of eloquence), but it makes sense to me!

Too good not to report

I wasn't there for it, but somehow amidst the festivities of my niece's birthday, Mom fell in the pool with the kiddies (along with her brand new phone, unfortunately--at least it was a free upgrade). I'm a little disappointed to see she only fell in up to her waist, but still wish I could have been there. I think she got a good laugh out of it. (Thanks, Monica, for the picture!)

Little Escapades

I no longer control what station we listen to, the volume, or even if the radio is on or off. (Or if we listen to a CD or tape.) The stereo is by far Ked's favorite toy. He has done a fair amount of flips, face plants, and side rolls off of it as well, but has never cried once. Should I be concerned?

Ked has also grown quite adept at closing the bedroom door, especially when I leave for a second, and then knocking over the trash can. (This has happened multiple times.)

Look at that face--at least he appears to have a guilty conscience when he knows he's done wrong. ;)

This particular waste basket is no longer on the floor.

(6 1/2 months)

In case of an emergency. . .

A few weeks ago, I decided we should go through our 72 hour kits for our FHE activity. Neither of us were excited about it, but it actually turned out really fun/funny. Ked even loved it, because he had lots of new things to look at and explore as we pulled stuff out. We discovered some food we needed to rotate, Sam's pocket knife he'd thought was missing, and two of Sam's favorite sweatshirts that he'd spent hours looking for when we first moved here. Even I had spent quite a while looking for them. It was pretty funny, and it made us really happy. Simple pleasures! We also realized we needed to add some things for Ked, since we hadn't had him when we first put the kits together! Now our plan is to go through our emergency kits twice a year; before every General Conference. And snack on the yummy granola bars that would go bad soon otherwise. :)

Playing around wondering if we could carry Ked around this way, if we ever really did need to leave our home quickly.

Still working on our water and food storage. Besides being given counsel from church leaders to be self reliant and prepared for any potential emergency/natural disaster, I've seen how helpful it can be. My parents and sister's family have been told to evacuate their homes multiple times because of fires; I've experienced a fare share of earthquakes (and have heard how many who were prepared in Chile were able to take care of themselves and others immediately after the recent earthquake); had two sister's families who have been without power for a week or so at a time because of ice storms and hurricanes (and thus not had access to grocery stores, etc., either), and we were somewhat trapped multiple times this winter because of the snow. (Minor, but I could see how easily it could be worse.) With all the natural disasters you see all over, it's nice to have a little peace of mind. Oh, and let's not forget that I live in a complex that has their water turned off at random times. Once when I had just put shampoo in my hair.

Temples near and far

I love the temple. Having lost a sister recently and having my own little family now has made me appreciate all the more the work done, the promises made, and the blessings given therein.

I now realize how spoiled I've been, always living anywhere from 5-15 minutes or 1-2 hours from a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And now it is about 4-5 hours to get to the nearest ones; especially hard travelling with a young child. But if I start to feel sorry for myself or don't want to make the effort to go, I remember that there are those that have and still do sacrifice much more than a day and an easily purchased tank of gas to go to the temple.

Raleigh, North Carolina Temple; February, 2010

I had been hearing of the "small temples" for a while now, but this was the first time we'd been to one. And it surprised me how small it really was! Still, the spirit felt there was the same.

Washington, D.C. Temple; November 2009: Our first temple trip since moving out here and having Ked. Rainy, cloudy day, but beautiful experience!

almost 7 months

Sitting up means he can also now ride on my shoulders.

He likes to play with my hair.

Tongue sticking out again.

Sitting up.

Ked has finally made the transition from spitting up to sitting up. He still prefers his belly, though, so he can scoot around.

He also loves to stick out his tongue all the time!

Scooting around

As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with his left foot. He's just right footed, I guess!

Ked's about 6 1/2 months old in this video.

Like a Child

I'm becoming more and more amazed at how meek, forgiving, and trusting young children are. Recently, I accidentally allowed Ked to be hurt in multiple ways: let him pull down some pots and pans on himself (mostly just scaring him), lightly kicked/stepped on him while he was underfoot in the kitchen, dropped his head onto the ground when he was about an inch from being placed there, etc. While he wasn't significantly hurt any of these times, they were all definitely upsetting. (And let me emphasize again that they were all accidents!)

Add to that the major battle I waged with him trying to get him to take the doctor-recommended prune juice from a medicine dropper, trying to get him to eat more green beans than he wanted, "attacking him" with a cloth trying to clean his nose and face multiple times when he really didn't want it, etc.

And yet just a few minutes after some of these incidents had passed, there Ked sat, staring intently at me with his bright eyes as I grated cheese, tapping his foot, smiling back at me when I'd smile at him. The scriptures often admonish us to be like little children. I think I'm understanding why a little more every day.

Daddy Solutions

Sam offered to take Ked with him to switch the laundry. I wondered how he'd do that, so I finished what I was doing and quickly ran over to the laundry room. I was puzzled when I saw Sam with clothes in his arms, but no Ked. Then I saw this:

He says he was keeping a close eye on him. I told him he should at least put him in the lower one. I think I'll just insist on keeping Ked with me from now on. . .

Note: This was a couple of weeks ago, when Ked wasn't quite as mobile as he is now.

More and More Mobile

Ked started out with the worm crawl, the frog crawl, and the army crawl. This one shows the frog crawl. He is scooting around much more now (pulling himself with both arms together, using mostly his right leg to propel himself while his left foot is held up a little during travel and then taps up and down at break), but he's laughing pretty well in this video too.

(video taken March 5, 2010--6th months old)

Six Months

BYU boy.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall. . .

Twins?

Ked has become an expert at knocking over this trash basket. And eating the paper in it. (This was after I'd picked up the rest.)

"I can do more push ups than you."

I've never been able to get Ked's pajamas snuggly looking--he grows out of them in length long before width! At his 4th and 6th month checkup, Ked's length was in the 87, then 67th percentile; his weight in the low to mid twenties. For the time being, he doesn't have his mom's short genes! (His head was in the 12th, then 16th percentile by the way they measure--still a cone head!)

Shannon!

It had been a year and a half since I'd seen Shannon, Sam's sister, and I'd hardly spent any time with her before that, so I was really excited she would be coming here on the way home from her mission in Florida/Georgia. We loved getting to see her and hearing about some of her mission adventures. Obviously, Ked loved her too.

Of course, we were also really happy to see Sam's parents as well. I love this picture of Ked with his Gramma.

I think the main reason I like this picture of Ked is because it's been so cold all winter, I rarely get to see him in a short-sleeve shirt!

Experiment

Sometimes I miss teaching science.

We had prodigious amounts of baking soda from when we were trying to get rid of the smoke smell in our apartment (it's gotten much better after a lot of work) and a half gallon of apple cider vinegar that I'd been given. We had fun. Lindy, Kaden, Paige, Ked

While I'm at it, let me tell you a little about our lunchtime adventure. Amongst the clamoring for help with food, there was spilled applesauce, spilled raisins (two separate boxes), one wet pants, one toddler's very stinky diaper, the same toddler repeatedly climbing the table (and using the salt and pepper shaker on the table), one boy finding a box of matches, and one whining baby overdue for a nursing, diaper change, and nap, all happening simultaneously. . . I guess that's all. It seemed a lot crazier at the time.

Hand Standing

This is in response to Matt and Tiff's challenge. We have another video where Ked is up 14 seconds (this one is 12), but the lighting is much better in this one.

P.S. To Matt and Tiffany: This was taken about two weeks after you posted yours, and Ked's a little older anyway. But Ruby has Ked beat on sitting up! Just yesterday was the first time that I could get him to stay up on his own for more than a few seconds.

Hi. My name is Ked, and I like to eat newspaper. A lot. And I'm fast at it too.

Accessorized

Back in December, I was talking to Summer, only half paying attention to Lindy and Kaden as they interacted with Ked. Suddenly I realized that they (mostly Lindy) had loaded Ked with all kinds of toys. The funny thing was, after I'd taken this picture, I pulled off the blanked they'd covered him with, and there were several more stuffed animals and such beneath!

Click on the picture to see the little pig they put on his head. The bean bag above him was one of their additions as well.

"It hardly snows in Virginia"

Cancelled school, cancelled baby shower, cancelled church, cancelled stake conference, cancelled Valentine's dinner and dance. . . at least the electricity (and heat!) hasn't been "cancelled". . . yet!

When we had first moved here and were being helped getting moved in, a guy carrying Sam's snowboard commented, "You won't be using this here." And I was told repetitively that it hardly snows here. However, we just happened to arrive here the year the snow fall easily rivals even the last two years of record breaking snow we had in Utah before moving here. And they aren't used to dealing with it here, so it can make things a little more interesting.

The above pictures are from the first good snow back in December.

This is the current view from our kitchen window, thanks to people shoveling their cars out after multiple recent snow storms.

These pictures below are from our upstairs neighbors' window, taken yesterday after multiple snow storms and melts. This explains why I no longer stand right outside the front door with Ked, just to look around. Especially yesterday when the winds were fierce and icicles were shattering all over!

Our parking lot had just been plowed, and a lot had melted the day before.

Doesn't look so bad now, but I've been very glad that Sam can walk and ride the bus to school (when the hilly roads are scarier than the thought of walking is), that we have a warm (relative to the outside) home, can afford the outrageous heating bill from last month (and hopefully this month), and have a grocery store nearby.