March is a Spring month, right? RIGHT?

March has come and winter never left. I am to the point of when I am dreaming about the warm feeling of the sun on my skin. This winter is out of control, but I guess I should be grateful for the many opportunities of wearing knitted stuff. Plus it has been fun finding things to do indoors with Kelton. And he gets really, really, really excited when we go outside, even just to the store. He can now say "shah" for Shaws. He recently started saying "zazza" for Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuz from Dr. Seuss's alphabet book. He likes to say no for everything. He also makes a very thoughtful face with his eyebrows close together and shakes his head as he says no even when he actually means yes.

Cameron had a Spring Break and it was the coldest one yet. We were able to go to Vermont to visit Babushka Anya, but the evening that we got there Kelton started having a fever, so we had to leave the very next day which was no fun and sad. But when we got back, we took Kelton in to see a doctor and he has an ear infection. Poor guy, this is the third one for him. I hate seeing him sick. And to make things more interesting he swallowed some ink in the car on our way home. I remember looking back at him and seeing him grinning really widely. At first I thought that he was happy to see me looking at him, but then the black ink all over his mouth told me different. He is always happy to do mischiefs even when he is sick.

We went to Fort Williams Park to see the ocean on a cold day. The water always looks green when it's cold. I especially like the contrast of dead yellow grass with the green water.

Kelton loved running around to warm up. 

February

February was filled with snow, crafts, school, homework and tests, lots of staying indoors, snow, playing with cars (Kelt's new obsession), reading books, and lots more snow and cold weather. Kelton is getting to be more of an individual every day. He has his own tastes and likes and he is not afraid of letting us know them. Cameron and I really love watching him grow and develop. Some of the things that he does are showing off in front of the computer when we skype relatives, showing off when we have guests over, he particularly likes to giggle really loud or say words that he knows we love hearing him say like "eollee olee" (ravioli), he loves to run around the apartment really fast and stump his feet in one place really fast too, he likes to say Mama and Daddy really loud when one of us not home or if I am in another part of the apartment he calls for me and runs fast to smile really close to my face, he loves to read his books and point out objects that he knows like bus, truck, baby, almost all the animals and foods, he likes to say his animal sounds, he likes to give high fives and say hi over and over again with lots of enthusiasm, he almost always takes his pants off when he is napping and is starting to almost being able to take his diaper off too which makes me a little nervous, he likes to poke his belly bottom and pretend that he is being tickled and there are many more things that he does. He is a lot of fun every day! Cameron likes to say that we have a cute boy on our hands.

Snow! Kelton really likes to play in the snow and he always offers his hand with shoveling and cleaning the car. And he also likes the taste of it. After all, every little boy must taste snow at least once in his lifetime.

We went to the children's museum and this is Kelton saying "vroom". 

He really liked the water feature at the museum. 

One day we were treated to some nice weather. We took advantage of it by walking downtown. It's one of our favorite things to do here.

I have been doing a lot of knitting. I guess it's the cold weather that I should thank for the inspiration. Here is a vest that I made for our Kelt:

And to wrap things up I will put a funny picture of Kelton. Cameron took it right after one of Kelton's naps so that's why his hair is all crazy. He likes to cover his head with a blanket when he sleeps and so his head frequently sweats.

Holidays and 20 Months

New Year has come and we had wonderful vacation in Utah. Kelton loved spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa. And now when we Skype every week he talks about seeing them on the screen for days after. He points to the computer and says "Papa? Baba?" When we got back to Portland the temperatures were in the tens. It was a big shock to our bodies. I cringe just remembering how cold it was walking out of the Portland Airport. Birrr. The biggest highlights about Utah are these: spending time with family, seeing Kelton play with his cousins, Kelton eating tons of clementines, Kelton opening the presents and not caring about what's inside but just loving to rip the wrapping paper open, Cameron and I finishing temple work for my Grandparents, eating Costa Vida and such, Kelton getting into Curios George, Kelton wanting to go see the horses everyday and he would let us know that by pointing outside and saying neigh in his own way "nee, nee", Zion, hearing Ramon talk about genealogy and gospel doctrine, helping Jan crochet a baby blanket, and going to Tuacahn  where Kelton neighed when he saw both the donkey and the camel.

Zion

Zion. Kelt with Kiana.

Duck feeding

Rearranging things (of course) at the St. George Children's Museum.



All of the cousins

Family Picture

Kelton loved buckets. He walked with them everywhere and put them on his head.

We are happy to be home, because Portland is our home for now, but we are also sad to be back because we loved being in Utah. But now that we are back, things are back to being the usual. Kelton is continually growing and I am pretty sure that he is now about 35 pounds. He is talking more and more. His most used words are Daddy, teddy, Mommy, car, dirty diaper (dity dida, he says this when he messes his diaper and points to it), up, no, book, ball, outside (ohside), Noah (Wilde, our neighbors son and our good friends that we are so blessed to have), cracker (cahcah), more (moh), and bosh (we still don't know what "bosh" is, he uses it as his go-to word for everything that he doesn't know the name to yet). Kelton's latest new skill is opening doors. He can now open even the "tough" doors in our apartment; the doors that fit more tight in the door frame and require more strength. Cameron is doing well in school. And he is excited to be saying "Next year I will graduate", he started saying it as early as he woke up on January 1st. Haha. I have been doing a lot of crafts for our family this year. Last year I started making everyone their Christmas presents in February and I ended up hardly making anything for my own family, so this year I am excited to be making a lot more for my little boy.

Kelt is 20 months and he loves apples

Modeling a sweater that I made for him. 

And here is his Christmas present, also made by Mommy

I should say a little about our travels just for the record. We had a total of 4 flights going to and coming from Utah. Kelton was not a happy camper on the first flight. It was a very short flight and he was a "lap infant" so we had to keep him on our laps for the first and the last 30 minutes of the flight, which went completely opposite with his curious personality, especially on a cool plane. And the middle 20 minutes of the flight he was angry about all of the restrictions, which is understandable considering his personality. But the other 3 flights he got better and better. It helped that the flight attendants were very nice and Kelton could run around more and Cameron and I learned a few tricks that worked like stickers and crayons.

Here is a pictures of the star t of our travels 

Week Off!

Cameron had last week off and we did lots of things. We decided to travel around the surrounding areas of Portland and explore. Since moving here we have been to a lot of places and have see much, but there were still places on our list. Last week to got a few of check marks added to the list.

We went to the Bradbury State Park.

 

Check out that view!

We went to Willard Beach.

Kelton is looking at his Mama.

The sound of the crushing waves was so pleasant.

We had Kelton's first birthday party!

 

First cupcake.

Happy Birthday, Kelton!

And Kelton did some awesome things of his own.
He crawled into a box

He enjoyed a book with Daddy

 

Put his blanket over his head. He does this all the time. And not always with just a blanket. He loves to put his clothes or soft toys behind or on top of his head .

He was just cute.

Put a toe hole in his sleeper

Started to grow some serious hair

And, most importantly, overcame his fear of the grass! ...Oh and he also turned one.
Kelton also loves to dance. Whenever he hears music he starts shaking his head and bottom too. He talks a lot. His most common "phrases" are: "da, da, da", "ssss, ssss," "ah, ah, ah", "bda, bda", "nan, nan, nan", "hee, hee, hee,", "ma, ma, ma", "aza pt". His physical development has been highlighted by him becoming an advanced chair-walker. He has also learned to climb up on the couch by putting his leg over. At first he would wait for us to be next to it so that he could then step up on our feet to get on the couch. But now he doesn't need us anymore because he has figured out how to thrust his legs up. He is also learning how to get off of the couch. He puts his arms out and lets the carpet catch him. It is amazing how he is just so interested in things and doesn't let any fear stop him in learning.

11 Months Already

Kelton is 11 months today. It is amazing to see him grow and learn. I just want to say that he is the joy of our lives and we love him to pieces.

Some developments:

• Kelt is now an advanced crawler.
• He has learned to make the tooting sounds with his lips and tongue. I must say that he learned that from my dad through Skype. He is just such a smart boy of mine.
• He is cruzing a lot and we are waiting with the most anticipation for him to start walking.
• He is even more aware of things now. Because of this he doesn't take naps in public anymore. It's just too distracting to him. He would rather interact with people and giggle.
• He has started following us around the apartment. He loves to be in the kitchen when I cook and just watch me. He also loves to crawl on Cameron a lot. And I mean a LOT. He just loves to crawl back and forth across his Daddy.
• He had his first ear infection. We wouldn't even know about it if it wasn't for his ear picking. He is just such a happy baby and always sleeps through the night that it is hard to tell when he is sick.
• Kelton makes a lot of different noises. He can make "a", "b", "s", "v", "d", and others. It always impresses me how he can make all kinds of different sounds in interchanging order.
• He waves! He is so cute about it too. There have been times when he waved to people in the store or at a restaurant.
• He makes people around him happy. One day I was putting him into the car and he was giggling really loudly. A woman was just getting out of her car as she heard Kelt making joyful sounds. She came up to us and thanked Kelton for making her day.
• He weighs close to if not more then 25 pounds.
• He loves to play with other older kids. A friend from the ward babysat him while Cameron and I went on a date. Her two kids loved Kelton because he is just so awesome! She also said that he is very easy to watch. (He is happy all the time, I tell you).

First Swing

Today we took Kelton out on his first swing! He loved it!

Here is the first go. He is already showing his teeth!

I just love his giggles.

"Mama, don't worry I won't fall out."

Here, he is carefully examining the rubber to ensure his safety...or the taste.

Birthday

I am now 25!! I don't feel any different, probably because I have been saying that I am 25 ever since the year started. I always do this by the way. But I must say that I also try to be more specific and say that it is my 25th year. So that it's less confusing because "technically" I wasn't 25 until now.  Anyway, I had a fun day with my husband, adorable baby and some friends.

Here I am on a birthday walk with my family.

 We played some games and had tons of sweats. I really mean TON. I like sugar, but on my birthday I think I might have gone just a little overboard. I know this to be a fact because I could not have any more sugary treats for a few days afterwards. And that does not happen very often.

Party!

The game that I think most people enjoyed playing was the story writing game. It goes like this: A person starts a story and then passes the paper on to the next person. This next person then read what the first on wrote and adds on to the story. The second person then folds over what the first person wrote and passes the paper on to the third person so that they cannot see what the first person wrote. And it goes on and on until the paper is filled. It was so funny to read the stories at the end. Everyone in the group were very creative and there were many writers born. Just kidding, but I think that if any of us ever have a midlife crisis, taking up writing might be just the thing to do.

Playing "Psychiatrist"

Here are a few of the stories, the three best gems if you will (I wrote them in different fonts to show where the paper was traded up):

There once was a small blueberry named Terdle. He was very happy and very blue, and he lived in Maine.One day he decided to change his name so he grabbed his huge glass eyeball. He couldn't see his future, so he grabbed a cloth to wipe the glass eyeball off. He put it back where he got it, and heard a voice say "How did you get in my home!?!" "Uh?!" he stammered. "The back door was left open and I had a desire to set fire, and I was for hire, sire. So badabing, badaboom!! How did you get in here good sir?" he said back to the voice. He didn't understand the riddle, so he just shrugged. What could he mean? But was the question worth learning? "Was it about the destination or the journey?" he thought. Light entered the young mind like the scent of an orange going forth amongst the crowds.

There once was a yellered bellied gnome (actually he was part gnome and part whale). He wanted to be just like everyone else, but that was impossible because of his whale genes. He just wanted to swim! He could hold his breath for hours! And the eerie moans and groans he made were just his way of communicating! He put his skills to good use and swam and caught fish the size of birthday balloons, so he could feed his family. The fish was so large, he had to fashion a sledge to drag it upon. When he returned, his family shunned him for his lack of strength and affinity building sledges. "Ah drat!" he thought. This was the second time he failed his family's expectations in one day! Wiggling his nose he fought off the tears of despear and looked in his book. It was a magical book and he turned the pages faster and faster. The dust from each page covered his eyes, then his ears and nostrils, he began sneezing and sneezing...he's still sneezing.

When the clock struck midnight, Johnny got out of bed fully dressed and snuck out the window. It was the coldest, wettest, most delirious night of all nights. But Johnny has a secret and he was warm. And when Johnny's body temperature increased he couldn't lie. The hotter he got the more... Sour candy he wanted. His mouth was watering really bad. He had to use lots of towels to wipe off the puddle of spit on the floor. And when he was finished the floor was shinny. Shinny like something familiar, he realized. Shiny like a newly waxed dance floor!!! A disco tune started up in his mind. He broke out a move unannounced. There was a reporter who saw him dance, who reported it in the news, and a dancing career was started! He soon was on a world tour. Sadly, a fellow dancer, who was jealous hired someone to hit him in the leg with a pipe.