Thursday, September 24, 2009

Frogger

Kieran saw a frog at school today. I guess they found a baby frog near the playground. Ms. Shree told me that Kieran wouldn't go near it. He was a little away from it when it jumped and he ran. He wouldn't go close to it again. I asked him about it tonight and he said it scared him.

I'd worry more that he tells me a lot of thing scare him if I didn't know better. Its like when he makes the sounds as if he is crying but he is not actually crying. He does it to see if he can get away with it. He is both scared and interested in sirens (and most loud noises). If we're outside he'll grab my hand if he hears a siren but then he's craning his neck trying to look around to find it too. Weird cutie.

Another tale from school is that he grabbed an empty box of cereal from their home living area, a music stick and went around the room beating the box like a drum and dancing the the music. Kieran loves to sing (but not to hear me sing - tough nuggies kid), dance, play the drums, shake a marraca, and play guitar and piano. We don't just listen to regular kid music, though its part of what we do hear everyday. I get the radio in the car on the way to school in the morning and he can ask for whatever he wants to hear on the way home. He now requests Tracy Chapman to go to sleep, as well as Mary Mac (Carbon Leaf) and Bed, Bed, Bed (They Might Be Giants). Hopefully we'll create a kid who loves music of all kinds.

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Great Purge Continues

Our friend Joshua was a great help to us this weekend taking a bunch of bulky items to the dump in our continuing effort to get stuff out of the house. While Ken and Joshua went to the dump (and back again) Kieran and I played with Justin and Beth. Justin turns 2 (this week I think) and we'll be heading to our first kid party in two weeks. I've been thinking about what to do for Kieran's 3rd birthday. We've avoided doing any big birthday thing just yet but I don't think we can stay away anymore. Right now the front runner idea is a gymnastics thing.

Sunday was the Federal Hill Street Beat Festival. We took Kieran early to Little Ones Lane so he could enjoy the inflated slide. He climbed all the way to the top looked down and decided he didn't want to go. But then he wanted to try again. Once he slid down he laughed and jumped and went again and again and again. I was glad we had gone early because after about 20 minutes of him going (I swear he went down the slide at least 15 times) we went to have lunch and by the time we got back there was a line five kids deep.

They also had a kiddie pool full of rice and toys for digging in the sand. He played there for quite some time. Ken found out about our new comic book shop, Alliance Comics, and we went for a visit. Kieran really liked looking at the comics even though we wouldn't let him down or let him touch them. He's still very into Batman and Ken is pushing for a Batman-themed birthday. I do think a Bat Signal cake would be quite cool.

That's about it. Slowly but surely getting the house in shape. Done with the contractor, who did okay. Plumber came today and fixed our kitchen sink. We'll likely need to repaint our front door this weekend or next and hire a house cleaner (WOO HOO). I hope all this money is worth it, I know Ken is ready to leave the city. I've got mixed feelings. Having a backyard for Kieran to play in would be nice, but I'll miss having everything walking distance, all the festivals, the attractions, etc. But not hearing my next door neighbors cheering (and jeering) during each and every football (baseball, basketball, etc) game would be really really nice. Especially when they're doing it late at night. They don't have a kid who wakes up at 6 AM. Every day. Maybe I'll knock on the door and they can babysit the next day. I mean, hey, they're still up....

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Huzzah!

Kieran, Ken & I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival last weekend and we continue to hear Kieran yell "Huzzah!" instead of "Hooray!" (OK, so we encourage this and remind him). While we didn't get to stay very long Kieran had a great time looking at all the costumes, watching the bubble makers, and jugglers. Ken and I enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and of course, the food.

On the home buying/selling front, our realtor is going to need to take some additional photos of the house and we'll be putting it on the market next month. We're waiting so we can finish up a few things and hire a house cleaner that will scrub this place as it has never been scrubbed before (have I mentioned I HATE housework?).

Kieran got a big scratch on his face today at school. They have a wooden play kitchen which they have recently moved. Normally they had the play microwave opening against the wall, but now it opens into the middle of the floor. Trying to show me what happened, Erin opens the door to the microwave and bonks another kid on the head. While I struggle not to laugh, Erin comforts the kid and then another kid runs full tilt into the wall. It was chaos but complete fun too. I left with Kieran (who insisted that we wait until Ms Shree came back so he could give her a hug and kiss) and there were 3 kids crying, another 2 kids yelling and the others were everywhere. Even with his contrary nature, Kieran seemed a breeze compared to all that.

He's a great kid.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Vomit is Never Fun

Just a reminder that even though my little man can be an Energizer Bunny of entertainment and movement, every now and again he still has to stop. Sometimes stopping is less fun than others.

Wednesday night Kieran wasn't feeling well. When Ken & I went to bed Kieran was up (it was very late) and didn't want to go to bed. Ken took him to the bathroom and we put him back to bed. About 20 minutes later he was crying. After we got him he was content to sleep in bed with us but about 30 minutes after that I heard the dreaded sound. You know what I'm talking about. It's that pre-vomit sound. UGH.

Yeah, all over our bed. Ken took Kiearn to the bathroom to finish throwing up in the toilet. I changed the sheets. That morning, Kieran was still feeling warm and we split the day. I went work in the morning and Ken went in that afternoon.

When I came home at 11:30 that morning, Kieran asked if he was going to school. I felt so bad to keep him home but he needed the sleep and he was still running a fever. He didn't act like a sick kid, which he never really does. Last night his fever broke and today he was back at school. I think he was pretty happy to be there but I'll enjoy a vomit-free weekend (I hope) with our boy.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Busy But Fun

So the weekend draws to a close and we had a ton of fun with Grandma's visit. Debbie arrived on Friday and before she went to sleep that night she had Kieran laughing and talking (he takes a few to warm up to anyone). Saturday we went to Gunpowder Falls park because Kieran has been talking about going to the "beach" for several weeks. He had a nice long kayak with Daddy and was ready to go by himself. He actually climbed into the kayak and grabbed the paddle, pushed off, waved to us (of course, Ken grabbed the back of the boat to be sure he didn't drift out into the bay). While Kieran napped at home, Grandma went and got a whole bunch of new toys including a Batcave for Ken... I mean Kieran.

Yesterday we got our photos taken (I'll try to have someone at the office scan one or two for posting), Kieran didn't have a drunk baby one in the bunch. He laughed and giggled the entire time. My mom joined us for lunch and then we headed home where Kieran napped hard. We had to wake him at 5 pm (he didn't go down until 3).

Today, we all got up showered and dressed and went off to breakfast with Grandma. Debbie's flight wasn't until noon so we were able to have a nice leisurely breakfast before saying goodbye to Grandma. Ken went to work for a little bit and Kiearn and I finished the grocery shopping then came home and headed over to the science center.

Now it's nap time and Ken and I have a few quiet minutes to ourselves. Maybe I'll take a little nap....