Howdy Pardner

Yesterday we attended the 2nd birthday party of a friend, and there was a great cowboy theme - complete with a petting zoo and pony ride! Kyle loved having the bandanna on throughout the whole party (he was even pretty unhappy when we had to take it off at home for bath time!) but the hat wasn't such a big hit - it was barely on long enough to snap this photo.

The pony ride was a little worrisome for Kyle, and to begin with he was ready to get off as soon as he was on. But once the pony started walking, he seemed quite content to hold on. In fact, he went back for a second ride a little later! We'll be taking him down our favorite horseback trip into Haleakala Crater before we know it.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again!

The "Littlest One"

Here's our littlest one, getting bigger each time that we take a peek! This time, weighing in at about 20 ounces, and measuring just as expected for 22 1/2 weeks. Dave is still convinced that the facial features are very masculine, but I believe the fact that this one is MUCH smaller than Kyle means that we have a petite little girl. It's hard to believe that we only have another 3+ months until we find out! There was a lot of action during this appointment, even though it was a very quick visit. We saw lots of swallowing, and (s)he was playing with his/her toes up above his/her head (ah, I wish I was still that flexible!) I officially "popped" the week before Christmas, so for those people who hadn't already been told, they now know they news!

Kyle still likes to "listen to the baby" if I am laying on the ground, and in fact, the other day "told" me to lay down and then he proceeded to push up my shirt a little bit and put one ear and then the other to my tummy to check if he could hear anything. Sometimes baby even gets a little wave or a kiss! I have another OB appointment on the 15th, so I am sure that he will like to hear everything through the Doppler then!

Merry Christmas!

We were lucky enough to have Kyle's Great-Grandma come for a visit for Christmas and New Year. Somewhere behind our posed family is our Christmas tree - just a little one this year as we had it up on the coffee table out of Kyle's reach. He was so crafty about it - he knew that he wasn't supposed to touch it, so he would pick something up and try to touch the tree with whatever it was that he was holding! The above shot was filled with much laughter, as Kyle loved having the camera on the tripod, and was clever enough to figure out how the trigger/timer worked, although it took a little bit for him to figure out that he had to run back to be in the photo with us!

Both sides of our families came for Christmas dinner, so we were lucky that our dining room table can expand to hold 10 of us. Along with Maemo, Granpa, and Great-Grandma, we also had Noni, Papa, Uncle Mike and Great-Uncle Charlie. Kyle was a little too excited from all of the other happnenings of the day, so he didn't spend much time sitting down during the big event. On the menu for our Christmas evening was:

Roast Beef with Horseradish-Mustard Sauce
Roasted Potatoes with Tangy Watercress Sauce
Dilled Carrots and Green Beans
Sautéed Leeks and Broccolini with Balsamic Vinegar
Orange, Arugula, and Kalamata Olive Salad
Ciabatta rolls

followed up by a wonderfully rich Chocolate Torte and the traditional Italian Rum Cake.

My apologies for the much-delayed post, I am sure everyone understands how hectic things are over the holiday season!

Wishing you all the best to you and your families,
love, The Walkers

First haircut

Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, Dave and I both agreed that it was about time for Kyle's first haircut...





...it seemed to be getting a little shaggy over his ears, and he was growing quite the little tail at the back!




So we took Kyle to a place that specializes in kid's cuts - just to see how he did for the first time with scissors snipping around his head. He sat in a little car and had fun steering and playing the toys until it came time to trim over his ears, and then his hands were everywhere, trying to get at the stylist!







In the end,
he managed to get a decent trim, and we now know that he can handle a haircut without any tears.



Kyle's last canine tooth has just broken through, so he is up to 16 teeth now. After this, it seems like we will have a few months to enjoy a little less drool until his 2-year molars make an appearance. However, as all of his teeth were early, it may not be long before those, too, decide to break through!

The latest antics that have had us laughing this week are the "body slam" hugs that we get. It started off as Kyle running up to the couch and bouncing off again, full of giggles. So while I was busy, Dave turned this into hugs from Kyle. When I came back into the room, Kyle decided that it wasn't Daddy's turn for body slam hugs anymore, but mine, so we had a lot of backing up and running into me. He would usually make eye contact with me before running at me, but once he did a "fake-out" and looked at Dave but then ran right past him into me. After a few of the close range hugs, Kyle decided to go all of the way into the kitchen to get up a LOT of speed, so he would come tearing around the corner and then run right into me. Once he came around the corner and was heading for Dave, so he paused, waved his hands as if to say "Never mind! Do-over!" and then turned around to head back into the kitchen. Sure enough, the next time he came barreling out of the kitchen it was straight into me! It was one of those moments that we wish we could have captured on video tape...

First Trip to the Beach

Instead of going away to celebrate our third anniversary, Dave and I decided to spend last Saturday out at Half Moon Bay with Kyle. Instead of going to "our" beach (where Dave proposed), we did a little exploring and found Cowell Ranch State Beach, a few miles south of Half Moon Bay. This was Kyle's first trip to the ocean, although he seemed more excited about playing with the sand than with the water. We got some great photos, and it was hard to pick only a few for the blog. I chose the one above because it was one of only a few when I was actually able to catch his attention and he wasn't also moving!

There was a 0.6 mile hike out to the bluffs, and then a long trek down the stairs to the beach. At the bottom, the stairs had been washed out, but we were still able to get down to the beach. We had a nice walk along the beach, with lots of stops to play with the sand, seaweed, rocks and seashells. So many exciting new things to examine! It was quite a grey day, so we actually had the entire beach to ourselves, and we finally decided to head back to the car when we started to feel rain sprinkles intensifying. I was surprised that we didn't get more of a protest when we left, but it turns out that Kyle was thoroughly worn out and fought falling asleep once we were back in the car. Hopefully we will be able to head out to the coast again on another nice weekend, although as my tummy grows, we'll have to find a beach that doesn't require scrambling over the edge!

In other news, I had my 16-week check-up at the OB office this week. Everything is progressing well, and Kyle loved the exam - being able to sit on my chest to watch the nurse practitioner measure my size, he then held on to the tape measure for her while she showed him how the Doppler worked and we heard the heartbeat! Four more weeks until our next visit, although I have begun to feel some kicks and punches, so we will have some reassurement in the meantime.

Hooray!

(Click on the photo for a larger image, otherwise,
Kyle's shirt reads:

I'm gonna be a big brother, but I'd still rather have a dinosaur)


Announcing the upcoming arrival of Kyle's little brother or sister,
due to join the Walker Family by the end of April, 2008.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our "little pumpkin" - I mean Tigger! We laughed when we remembered last year having to prop Kyle up against the pumpkins to get a similar photo, now he could barely sit still long enough for this photo.

We've had a fun October, with a trip
to the pumpkin patch...










...some pumpkin carving...





...and finally trick-or-treating (or more accurately, a walk around the neighborhood in his Halloween costume while looking at all of the decorations)

(Don't forget to click on the small photos to see them enlarged!)