friday play date

Kaemon Ze had a few buddies over for a little play date.

crawling!

I took this quick clip of Kaemon Ze crawling on all four last Saturday at Brian and Shannan's home. I suspect he doesn't care for the feel of the grass (he fussed about being laid on it when his diaper was being changed) and didn't want to pull himself along per his usual "commando" style. We were highly entertained by this new development.

PS - the baby girl looks very similar to Kaemon Ze: same hair and eye colour, but a few months apart. :)

Thanks Katie for forwarding the video!

temps keep climbing today

Kaemon Ze - a few weeks before the heat wave.
Looks refreshing, doesn't it?
(The tractor is a sprinkler that cruises around the yard)

for brian

Happy Birthday!
You are unequivocally one of the world's "good guys."
May all your dreams come true for you this year, so dream BIG!

ridiculously hot

seriously.
bring back the high 70-degree days!

we are family

This recurring morning scene makes me smile.

happy happy, Jason!

You're the best - to me, to your son, to your family... to the world!
I love you!

already...

It's rather mind-boggling that Kaemon Ze is now nine months of age. I think we're doing a pretty good job of being in the moment with him and yet, he seems to be growing so fast! He's so tall people think he's older than he is and as of last week, he started to pull himself up to a standing position - which means we are only one half step ahead of him in terms of securing his environment!

S I L E N C E
Earlier in the week, Daddy heard Kaemon Ze wake up from his nap and then... silence. Once a baby is mobile, you know that silence is deafening! "What's he up to?" Jason walked into the bedroom to find Kaemon Ze standing up in his crib and in his hands, the glass lamp from my nightstand. Daddy figured he was working out how to get it into the crib with him. Ha! So today, on this nine-month birthday, Daddy lowered the crib-bed. Another major growth milestone!

LET GO PLEASE
More and more these days we are saying to him, "No thank you," or "not for baby," or "not for mouth," or "gentle," or "let go, please - thank you." He's intent on exploring his surroundings which means we're on double duty to make sure his pathway is either completely clear or completely blocked! :)

D A D A
Also this past week, Gramma reported that he was babbling while she was feeding him. His ramblings eventually came to the "mmmmmamamama" sounds and then, for the first time, he said, "mamammmamamadadadadada." Gramma said he seemed to realize what he said, and then exclaimed, "Mama! Dada!" So awesome. But... he hasn't said it sense. I'm hoping he'll say "dada" for his Daddy tomorrow... on Daddy's birthday. That would be muy especial!

O N E ... T W O ... T H R E E ...
On Wednesday, when Jason is home with Kaemon Ze, he called me to tell a bit of really exciting news: Jason was working in the kitchen and had Kaemon Ze propped, standing up, holding on the chair. As some point, Jason looked for to see Kaemon Ze engrossed in a toy... so engrossed that he was standing unassisted! Jason started to count silently to himself while he watched. He counted to nine before Kaemon Ze realized he was standing and then wavered, but caught himself on the chair. Wow.

ANOTHER FIRST
His usual most of transportation is "commando-style" where he uses his arms to pull his body around, with assistance from his legs. Yesterday was a first: Kaemon Ze was on grass and he crawled on all fours! We're wondering if the grass is more conducive to crawling on all fours vs. the hardwood floors we have in the house. Still, he prefers to be completely upright and likes us to walk him around. My Mom thinks he'll by walking by the time he's 10 months of age, like my older brother did.

Let's see... nine months and:

• Kaemon Ze is working on his fifth tooth
• enjoys having his teeth brushed
  
• he's good page turner (we can finally read to him again - for a long time, he would insist that the only use books had was as a teething ring)
• he completed his first painting (thanks for the inspiration, Lucy!)
• he is (blessedly) sleeping though night more often than not!
  
• Ama = gramma? We're keeping our eye on this... he said "Ama" when he heard Gramma on the speaker phone today
  

our saturday

This is how my day started: after waking up, I came out to the living room to find one sleepy Daddy, who let me sleep in, and one very awake and very excited to be awake little boy perfectly blocked in so he could play safely while daddy dozed. Smart daddy!

Kaemon Ze got to play in a pool for the first time ever! I think this is also the world's smallest pool. Thank you, Megan, for bringing it!

Later, we went to our friends home to celebrate THREE birthdays: Joe, Jason and Brian.

Happy Birthday, Boys!!!

If we had candles for the sum total of their ages, we would have had 107 candles! Rather than risk having the Fire Department show up, we gave them each one candle.

his first painting

Here's Kaemon Ze's first work of art - a painting done on an 8"x8" canvas.

a new way to stroke the ivory

Now that he can pull himself up, Kaemon Ze's found a new way to play the keys:

standing - by himself!

Jason called me today to tell me he saw Kaemon Ze standing - all by himself - for at least the nine seconds that he counted!

Kaemon Ze and I have been playing at balancing. He gets a big thrill out of it. I noticed that he's more Zen if he has something to focus on other than balancing, so I give him something to focus on, like a toy. When he realizes he's balancing for a few seconds, he smiles a huge smile and reaches for me.

Jason had Kaemon Ze holding on to a chair we have in the kitchen while he was doing the dishes. He said he looked over and noticed Kaemon Ze engrossed in a toy... and standing on his own! Daddy counted silently to nine before Kaemon Ze realized what was going on and grabbed for the chair.

Amazing. So awesome Daddy got to see that!!

Zzzzz... Kaemon Ze crashed, mid-dinner. :)

Papa is at least two states away, but he wanted to make sure his grandson has shades for the car... Daddy got these to make sure baby and Papa are happy. :)

this is so cool!

Over the last two days, Kaemon Ze's been working on pulling himself up. He managed to upright himself from his belly to his knees, while leaning on me, to his feet. He did that twice. Then, yesterday at Gramma's she said he pulled himself up in the playpen. And today... lookie what he can do now!

One small step for man...

A couple of things this morning:

Jason found this free iPhone application: the Peek-a-Boo Baby Rattle. The site explains, "The free application is designed to turn your iPhone into a babies rattle should you ever find yourself without a pram full of toys to amuse your offspring."

Oh good. And here we've been trying to keep the baby ~away~ from the phone.

Happy Anniversary Moon Walkers! 40 years ago today, the moon was reached, touched, and played upon. "One small step for man, a giant leap for mankind," were Neil Armstrong's famous words as he pranced upon the gray dust. Watch historic landing:



Was it a HOAX? Check out the photos at National Geographic and see for yourself!

The hubster and I are THRILLED for Lance Armstrong and his Tour de France team! They are doing so well! As someone who has had a broken collar bone, I am continually amazed that Lance is not only riding, but is riding competitively on the Tour de France... and is in second place(!!!) - behind his own teammate - after breaking his collar bone a few months back. The dude is Super Man.


Speaking of being a man... it is great to see this dude 'man up' after his inexcusable actions:

bee charmer

Tonight I touched three more bumble bees resting on the sage; I wanted to touch one more but the 'one more' was very busy doing his job and I didn't want to interfere. Last night I touched three as well. :)

bang bang splash

Daddy took this clip of Kaemon Ze to test Auntie Katie's suppa duppa 3GS iPhone's video recording feature:

hanging with daddy

Just downloaded these funny shots off my camera. Daddy took them of Kaemon Ze back on June 30. They crack me up.

playing with the new toy from bunny and papa

i'm on a roll

An odd roll for sure.
I touched three more bumble bees last night.
I've concluded they don't mind (so much) being touched.

a message from sofia

"Good night aunty Gigi"

"Sofia Ixchell"
5lbs, 13 ozs.
Teenie-tiny sweet baby girl.

I am looking forward to holding you
and kissing you and enveloping you in love

mid week bbq

And it's finally WARM again! Whoo hoo!

The pears are ripening...

...the burgers are grilling
(Jason was quite pleased with his "perfect grill marks")

Kaemon Ze likes cheese.
And pretty much everything else.

Hanging with mama on this fine summer's eve.

This is Kaemon Ze's fort. He goes 'in it' almost every morning. He could easily go around it, but he seems to like being in it and going through it...

...until he gets stuck. :)

Mr. Serious Face plays in his playpen while we work outside.

Mr. Happy Face returns.

Attempted self portrait. Ha.

a note from gramma

Your son loves mandarin orange slices!

He saw me eating and wanted some .. and after that I could hardly get any for myself! hehehe! He was doing that all-body excitement thing after each piece, chomping at the bit for more. Watch out citrus, here he comes! ;)

swinging with daddy

welcome to the 3D, Sofia!

Mucho congrats to new parents John and Angela

belly laughs

I love being married.
It's great to find that one special person
you want to annoy for the rest of your life.

(a quote I recently saw in a book, with tremendous appreciation I might add.)

sunday waffles pirates and weeds

Saucy Kim, aka Auntie Kim, aka Kim-a-licious
swaggered into Waffle Breakfast
after partying with pirates all night!

I asked Shannan if this very big plant I'm cultivating is a legitimate plant... or a very happy weed. Both Shannan and Brian kindly informed me that I've been lovingly nurturing a weed. Brian said, "We used to have those in the field, out on the farm, when I was growing up." Sheesh... so now what do I do? Pull it? Let it be?

kaemon ze says...

"Zamir, Finn, Osian, Elayna - come swing with me!"

lead me not

lead me not into temptation
i can find the way myself

-Rita Mae Brown

working on his "mmmmama"sounds

thank you mama karen!

He loves his new drum!

ooooh ooooh!

I touched a bumble bee tonight.

On purpose even!

swinging in the park with mama

our 2nd wedding anniversary!

A haiku for my whimsy guy:

two years today love
an amazing journey love
us forever love

Our little "fambly."

Desert following a yummy dinner date out. This photo says a lot... including the biggest odometer I've ever seen in my life -- and it was on a Mini Cooper!

The lamp post at Ben & Jerry's is always a good read. Tonight was no exception.Tonight Kaemon Ze said "mama!" again - while babbling to Daddy. I've yet to hear him say anything that sounds like, "mama."
*grin*