Keaton and Daddy

Smarshmallows

More details to come later, but let's just say that smores and smarshmallows were a big hit with one little girl I know.

Zoo Night

Our local Parents as Teachers program had their Zoo Night on Friday. Stephen, Keaton, Cate and I went with a friend from church, Jack, and his mom, Kelly. The kids had a blast and I got a few cute pictures.

There is a great guy from our library who sings, read books, plays guitar -- he's really popular with the kiddos. He was a the zoo for this evening and all the little kids were dancing and singing with him. A little boy came up and grabbed Cate's hand to dance. She was pretty surprised and later she told me about it (even though I was there and saw it for myself). She said he grabbed her hand and pulled on her arm and she said, "I don't like that."

Besides the zoo and the terrific guy from the library, Parents as Teachers also had all kinds of coloring activities and more fun stuff.

Cate and Pop Pop

Dancing the Day Away

Cate had her first dance class this Saturday. She was so excited that she even requested a bath on Friday evening so she could be clean for class. Since she typically resists her bath, I took that as a sign that she was pretty excited.

She wears a black leotard, pink tights and ballet shoes for class. We bought the clothes a few weeks back when we signed up so she's been waiting for what seems like an eternity (for a three-year-old) to wear them. She was really cute, of course, and I think she had a lot of fun. When it came time for the parents to leave the kids for the class, she gave me a big hug and ran off for class. She came running out when it was over and told me how much fun it was.

More photos

Can you tell I'm having too much fun playing with the new camera and editing?

Black and White

12-month Size Pants

Yes, it's true. He is wearing 12-month size pants.

New Camera!

I got a new camera last week and spent some time this weekend trying it out. The weather wasn't too cooperative, so I didn't get to go outside at all.

I am looking forward to taking lots of photos this fall!

Bear

Cate received a Boyd's bear from some friends as a gift when she was born (thanks to Andrew and Danielle Shull). Somehow that bear ended up being her companion everywhere we go. She adores him and takes him everywhere with her. She has named him Bear and he has quite a unique personality. He likes to dance, play school and occasionally sit at the table with her. Bear is very dirty, but he isn't much for taking a bath. I am sure that he will fall apart one of these days in the washing machine so we've already got a plan to take him to a seamstress for some repairs.

To be honest, there are times that I am sure we have Bear nearby because it's the quickest way to calm her down. If Cate gets really upset, she sucks her thumb and rubs Bear's paw and pretty soon, things are better.

I was taking a few photos the other evening and Cate insisted on posing for a photo with Bear. Too cute.

Cuteness

Doesn't everyone think their child is the cutest ever? I think it may be a parental duty. Even knowing that, I couldn't resist this cute little face.

The Baby Office

Most people are surprised when they learn that I can take Keaton to work with me until he is six months old. I also had Cate with me at work until she was just about six months old. There are certainly some challenges to it, but people seem mostly interested in what kind of baby equipment you must have at work to make everything go smoothly. Honestly, it doesn't take much. As long as you have two good arms, most everything else is an added plus :)

I took a few quick snapshots of my office. I am fortunate to have a nice sized office. I could probably squeeze more stuff in, like a pack-and-play or something like that, if I really needed it. But I get by with Keaton's car seat, a changing mat on the floor, a portable swing I bought on eBay and a play gym. I have a stash of other toys for him including a few rattles and some teething toys that co-workers bought for him. He hangs out with me in my office (they were nice enough to supply some curtains for my interior windows) and he goes to most of my meetings with me, unless he's napping.

There is certainly no shortage of people to hold him. My office requires that I designate two people to be "baby helpers" so that I have backup support when necessary. Fortunately, it's not hard to find someone to hold a baby when I need some help. Our assistant, Winona, is terrific with Keaton and she holds me when I need to run to the bathroom or something like that.

Here are a few photos of my baby-ready office.


This is a photo from the door of my office.


This is my view from my desk.


Keaton's car seat and the changing pad I have for him. I had just changed him when I took this photo. He was happy just laying on the floor, so I let him play there for a few minutes.


Keaton's play gym. He particularly likes the mirror on it. I think he wonders who that really good looking baby is.


I bought this portable swing on eBay when I was bringing Cate to work. It folds up very nicely, so it's easy to transport. Keaton likes to nap and hang out in the swing, so this is really perfect for him.

Obama Shirt

We got an Obama shirt for Cate. She seems to like it.

Second baby

I've always heard that the second child in a family has issues because there are never as many photos, baby books are only half completed (if that) and the attention always has to be shared. While there's not much I can do about sharing the attention, I vowed that Keaton would have a baby book that is just as complete as Cate and that I would ensure everyone got equal treatment in other ways. Now I've figured out why the second kid always feels shortchanged....there just isn't enough time to handle a full-time job, two children, grocery shopping, car repairs, church, volunteer activities and more. Photos, baby books and other non-essential stuff have gone by the wayside. We're doing well to get out of the house every day with everyone in clean clothes, hair combed and full bellies.

I'm trying to do better. Poor Keaton. There are about a quarter as many photos of him as of Cate. I think I documented her birth, her first blink, every spot of drool and anything else I thought was cute. With him, the camera has laid unused for weeks at a time. I love taking photos, but there just hasn't been a lot of time for it.

This week, I got a few snapshots of him. I made the time for it because he is growing so fast that it seems like he will be a toddler tomorrow. He's a really good baby -- sleeping well, charming the ladies at work, snuggling with mom anytime he can.

Graduation

My little brother (not so little anymore, I should probably start saying younger brother) graduated from KU this spring. I never had time to post anything here about it because Keaton was born just a couple days later.

It is hard for me to believe that Jesse graduated from college. He's now spending quality time in the army for a few years, training in Oklahoma and then off to Alaska later next year.

A few random things

I am back to work full time this week. Fortunately, I can bring Keaton with me for a few months so the transition is a little easier. We are on day two at work and so far, things are going very well. I think Keaton likes the new environment and most of my co-workers seem to like him too.

I've got a couple of random photos from earlier in the summer that I thought I'd put here. One is a photo Cate riding the carousel at the mall in Overland Park, the other is a photo of Cate at the Topeka zoo. She likes going to zoo and we went three or four times this summer.

I have some new photos of both Cate and Keaton and I am hoping to get a few of them on the blog later this week.

Birthday Girl

Cate had a great birthday a few weeks ago. She has discovered the Little Mermaid, so the birthday had a princess theme. Her cake was Princess Ariel, Cate wore a princess crown all day on her birthday and there were balloons, wrapping paper and all sorts of other princess accessories. I will try to post more photos soon.