Serenade

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo PrintingThis video is too dark to see - Kevin is rocking Kalani to sleep. Every night, Kalani coos, "sings," laughs or babbles very loudly... then he zonks out. It takes a lot of energy to be so darn cute.

Conversations

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Happy Half

Kalani is now half way to his first birthday. I know many probably think that is not a big deal... but it is just a reminder to me that time passes so quickly and if I don't pay attention and cherish every moment, I could miss out. He is truly wonderful in every way and Kevin and I are amazed at all he is learning! Just today, on his 6 month birthday, Kalani "crawled" across the room for the first time...

Kalani spent a lot of time with Grandma Maly in his first couple weeks of life. We've been missing our G-ma time. Isn't she beautiful?

Kalani likes to hang out in the kitchen while Mommy does the dishes... He's got his own way of getting the dishes clean.

I love this picture of Kalani with Grandma C.

Kalani is so interested in other people eating and can't seem to wait to start table foods with the big kids. Here he is trying to talk Josie into sharing an orange. We let him try a nibble that day. Thus far, Kalani has loved his baby food, especially the veggies. It appears he is not a big fan of peaches. He must get that from his daddy... Kevin does like the song Peaches.... :) "Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches..."

Cracking Up

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Thankful for... Green Beans!

Among the many, many other things that Kevin and I are blessed with and thankful for, Kalani is easily at the top of our list. He is more wonderful than we ever could have imagined and we are so proud of him. It's truly surprising and amazing how much you can love one little person - and how the addition of such a person can completely change your life.

Kalani, this Thanksgiving, was thankful for the introduction of baby food. Green beans seemed apropos, given the holiday. We weren't sure what Kalani would think of it; for the last month, he has pursed his lips together every time I've tried to get him to eat cereal.

Kalani, not sure if we are tricking him with green colored cereal.

Pleasantly surprised the mystery goop has a flavor!

What? It's all gone already?

Guess I'll lick the bowl then...

Kalani liked his green beans so much, he cried when it was all over. I fear he has his mother's insatiable appetite...

Oh, the places we will go....

I was surprised when I perused our photos this last month to see all the places our family has made it to, despite fighting to stay healthy. Kalani continues to amaze me with all he takes in at each place. He is such a curious little guy and is enjoying learning about the world, one lick or nibble at a time. A few of the places we have been....

During a visit to meet the newest addition to the Sutton family, I caught this hilarious picture of Mallory. She was ready to hit the town!

Kalani LOVES to be tickled, so much so that you can pretend to start to tickle him, and he dissolves in laughter. His laugh is so contagious. A great antidote for a bad day. Here he is getting tickled by big girl Addie Sue at church.

Kalani loves his Rashawn - to prove his love, he has been engaging in a competition with the new baby at daycare who dares to need her attention as much as him. I'm sure he is scheming his next strategy to dominate all of her time and energy in the picture below.

Ole'! Kalani helped Naomi celebrate her 7th birthday fiesta style. Aunt Tina was gracious enough to assist Kalani with his turn at the pinata... He donated the goods to the birthday girl.

Kevin and Kalani have been enjoying a new game - flying. Kalani, for some reason, appears to like anything that might scare other young children. He is a dare devil already. While I love to hear him laugh, the worrier in me is not so thrilled when the "flying" becomes extreme. Luckily, Kevin has been kind enough to humor me lately with a safer version...

Ooohhhh! I just love all those rolls and how big he has gotten!

Lately, Kalani has been on the go even in his sleep.


One place I'm glad we didn't need to go this month - the hospital. Kalani, in his eagerness to eat, cut two fingers on the formula cannister... He handled it like a real trooper - what a tough guy!

It was a lively event at my mother's house, celebrating her recent engagement, Laotian style. Congrats Mother and Souvanh!

Opera anyone? The most impressive outting of the month by far was the Messiah. We were on edge, wondering how he would do but he surpassed our expectations. He spent the first 15 minutes sitting on Kevin's lap, focused on the stage as if he was mesmerized by the music. Kevin only had to leave during the performance two times. Not bad, I say!

Blue Eskimo

I am now a blogging superstar - two posts in less than a week! Above is our first attempt to feed Kalani cereal. He loves it in his bottle, but he was not a fan of eating it off a spoon. Shortly after this snapshot, he let us know how much he did not like it.

Kalani attended his first annual CPS hayride. He was so cute dressed in his blue coat, like a little Eskimo!

For most of the actual hayride, Kalani was fully bundled under a blanket with his daddy. I caught this picture of them when we got back. Kalani had been lulled to sleep.

Kalani woke up though so as not to miss hanging out with Grandma C.

.... and then, out he went again. It was a fun night spending time with some good friends... It always marks for me the start of all the holiday fun.

Lani Love

I am embarrassed that over half of Kalani's life has flown by, undocumented on our blog. Thanks to all of you for your "gentle" reminders to post - Kalani will appreciate it in years to come. It feels near impossible to summarize the last two months and accurately capture all of the feelings and experiences we've had. It's been wonderful, and wonderfully challenging at times. I went back to work, Kalani started daycare with Rashawn (aka "Mommy #2"), we had Bubba's baby blessing at Buckner, Kalani was inducted into Center Place Singers as its youngest member, and we've been to so many birthday parties and play dates that I can't remember them all.

We have come a long way it seems - from being so tired the first week of work that I left my office to attend staffing with my shirt still up from pumping (oh my!) to struggling through more recent sleepless nights due to Kalani's 3 least favorite "C's": cutting teeth, colds, and constipation - I am glad to say that we are not just surviving but we are truly enjoying our little guy, who is usually quick to bestow a sweet smile or laugh to everyone he meets.

Kalani (aka Bubba, Bubby, Little Man or Sweetbottom by his mommy) has also earned two nicknames at daycare. Lani Love was bestowed on him because all the girls at daycare kiss on him (who can blame them really?) and Animal was just conceived last week due to his rambunctious cry and head shaking while waiting for food (named after Animal from the Muppets - notice he has the same reaction to being hungry as his mother).

It's amazing how much he has changed in two and 1/2 short months... Excuse the mass of photos coming up - there is much to share!

Here he is with Grandma Penn, Grandma Boo, Great-grandma Maly, and his aunties and cousins on his and my last hurrah before heading back to work. We had a great day at the Nelson and Plaza. At two months old, he was already so cultured...

Kalani, or "the boy" as Grandpa Walter calls him, is so sweetly bonding with him in this picture at one of our many gatherings at Vadsana's old house - makes me sad to know we won't be hanging out there anymore, although we can't wait to have many more get-togethers at her new fancy house!

During the last two months, Kalani loved his baths... then he hated them and screamed the whole time... then loved them again. We never quite understood why...

Capturing his first day at daycare with Rashawn. It was SO hard to leave him (I still call every day to check on him and Rashawn is wonderful about helping me cope with my I-Miss-My-Kalani attacks.)

I was greeted on my first day of work by this beautiful bouquet. It was such a nice surprise!

Kalani thinks he is ready to walk... This photo is a precursor to our new most fun game as of yesterday - throwing Kalani in the air. He loves it and dissolves in laughter!

Kalani was blessed at the Buckner church a day after he turned 3 months old. Here he is looking quite serious. Or maybe sleepy. Maybe seriously sleepy?

Hanging out with Uncle Dale and Grandpa Tim after the blessing. Look how little his head is (he was at the 10% in head circumference).

The boys... and their babes.

Everyone sitting so nicely... Let's hold hands everyone!

Kalani getting in closer for a good snuggle...

Oh Boy, Grandma Carol is SOOOO funny!

"Driving" around at family reunion where his parents were the head cooks - He must of eaten good that weekend - look at those cheeks!

Kalani loved to spend time in Addie Sue's swing, which we set up in the kitchen at family reunion. His sweet face cracks me up here!

His thoughtful look...

His purposeful look...

His "Whatchu looking at?" look...

Kalani loves his butterfly playmat. He is sharing it here with cousin Chloe, who thought he was as much fun to play with as the mat!

So many smiles and laughs from this guy (usually). He is just so joyful and he fills me with joy every day!

More like Daddy every day. We were sick last week with nasty colds. I came into the living room last Monday to find Kalani sitting on the couch with the remote by his feet, crazy hair and all, intently watching football...

Big Boy! Look who is sitting up so good now! It's so exciting to watch him grow... but at the same time, I don't want it to happen too fast. I just want him to be my little guy forever.