Our little skier

Okay, I'm starting to get the hang of posting video. I had been trying to skip the step of posting to YouTube first, but I think it's unavoidable.

So, here it is....Kellan on skis at Brundage for the first time!!!

You can't hear him in the clip above, but once Michael got up to him, Kellan was giggling and saying, "Funny! More? Funny!" Which I think is pretty sweet. As anyone who's learned to ski knows, it's important to keep a sense of humor.

All done, until next time.

The Quiet Time Quest Continues

I've been trying desperately to make Quiet Time live up to the name around here. I pretty much gave up on getting Kellan to nap over the holidays -- our schedules were just too crazy and out of whack. So I figured the return to normal life would be marked by more naptime battles.

Well, things aren't perfect, but I'm happy to report that he has slept two of the three days so far this week! 

As for why things are going so well...I realized that much of the problem lies in how I'm putting him down at naptime. I used to read a short story, rock him, and put him down drowsy but awake. That's what all the parenting books say to do, right? Well, that left him sleepy, but the second I put him in bed he would be alert and be ready to goof around.

My new approach is rocking, and lots of it. He babbles at me, I keep rocking. He grabs at the back of the rocking chair, I keep rocking. He fidgets with his lips, I keep rocking. It's all in the rocking. Eventually, he can't resist and he finally quiets down.

A little voice in the back of my head is saying, "Don't do this! You'll have to rock him endlessly every time he needs to sleep!" I'm ignoring this little voice. I think that advice held true in the baby days, but toddlerhood requires some serious relaxation assistance. He loves to point everything out in his naptime books, so those aren't helping if they only prompt conversations. And when I sing him lullabies, he sings along with me -- and applauds at the end! I think rocking is where it's at. It's working anyway, and that's what matters.

Now if I can just get him to stop waking up to "check in" at all hours of the night...it happened three times last night! I think I need a nap too.

A Snowy Day

We love snow. I think the only thing Kellan loves more than snow is skiing in it. 

After pointing out to me during breakfast that it was a snowy day, Kellan asked, "Bapa? House?" I asked him if he was talking about Grandpa's house in McCall, and he said yes. (Well, he said "huh" which for him, means yes.) Then he said, "Bapa? House? Peas?" So I'm pretty sure he was asking to go there.

After trying to explain that we can't go to Grandpa's house for a while, I realized that all the poor kid probably wants to do is play in the snow. That, I can do.

With the forecast calling for rain this afternoon, I realized I had the perfect chance to give Kellan a little fun in the snow before it all melts off. So we spent about 10 minutes or so suiting up (usually it takes 15-20 -- I realized that Sesame Street keeps him still enough for me to get everything on him) and headed out. 

We made a cute little snowman, and it's a good thing we took his picture because about an hour later it started raining and the roof started dripping. The poor guy lost both his eyes and his nose.

He's still smiling though...and so is my boy.

Snip, snip....WAAAAA!!!!!!!

It was a momentous day in Raygunland...another trip to Monkey Doos for Kellan's second haircut!

Once again, his hair was starting to look a little Trump-like. And since our first trip to Monkey Doos was so quick and painless, we opted for a second visit. (Kellan's very FIRST haircut -- in the Mommy Salon -- was not easy, nor did it look very flattering. I learned my lesson. Best leave a toddler "do" to the professionals.)

So with high hopes, we sat Kellan in the pink Dream Dazzler SUV. Yes, the Dream Dazzler again. We showed him the little Hummer chair, but he would not be deterred. 

What ensued from there? Scroll down for the blow-by-blow, in photo essay style.

The consultation seems to be going well...

Snipping begins....apprehension sets in

Uh oh...MELTDOWN!

A stroke on the cheek from Mommy proves to be no comfort

Oh!!!  A sucker?

Well, NOW we're talking -- and it's PINK

So this is what sugar tastes like -- YUM!

Ah...better get back to driving

All gelled up and ready to break some hearts

Say cheese!!!

(Once the snipping was over, he tried out the Hummer and realized it's a pretty sweet ride!)

Now. For those who may wonder why the heck I allow my son to sit in a pink Dream Dazzler AND eat a pink sucker...what can I say. The boy likes wheels that turn heads. As for the sucker, it was one of those mystery flavors. I didn't know what color it was until I pulled off the wrapper, I swear. We needed a crying antidote and it just so happened to be...PINK.

Our little rock star

"Too too! Mommy, too too! Peas?"

That's what Kellan says to me whenever he wants to rock out. It's his way of saying, "Please turn on the U2 Elevation Tour DVD?" He says it almost every day. And almost every day, I pop in the DVD and let the rocking begin.

Like any good rock star, Kellan has to have his guitar, piano and microphone (that can be a wooden spoon or whatever) close at hand.

His favorite U2 songs? Beautiful Day is number one, closely followed by Elevation. He sings his version of both choruses around the house, even when the concert isn't on.

I think we have a rock star in the making...

Ripping up the slopes

We have a budding skier on our hands!

I admit I'm a total sap (I'm one of those who cries during certain TV commercials), but even I am a little mystified as to why this brings tears to my eyes. I guess if you boil it down to basics, the fact that Kellan snaps into skis and cruises down a hill on his own means he's growing up. It's at once thrilling and bittersweet. My baby is certainly not a baby any more.

Okay -- I've dabbed the tears away now. This post is meant to brag about how awesome he is on skis! I mean, just look at his face. He LOVES it. He kept saying "More? More?" after every "run" and giggled and said "Funny!" the few times he fell. What more could you ask for in a not-even-two-year-old skier?