Thursday, March 30, 2006

More teeth please!



Kennedy is working on 3 more molars. Ouch! She's been having associated above normal temperature readings so we took her in to the Doctor yesterday. The good news is that the ears are fine; there is no mouth infection or tonsillitis; no rash; no vomitting; no other stuff, but she does have swollen gums with three teeth trying to push their way out! Ick. Poor baby.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Big news we failed to share on Monday... As suspected Kennedy cut another tooth. This one is #7 and is located on the top left.

Not only is Kennedy checking off developmental milestones at school, she is starting to strut her ‘big girl’ self at home. Here she is showing how good she is with drinking from a big girl cup. We still use the sippy cup or straw cup for travels and non-meal water or milk – but she is really getting good at drinking from a small cup. This one is from Mimi from last Christmas; we got it from the Wichita Zoo and it has a monkey on it.



Kennedy especially enjoys our weekend breakfasts featuring scrambled eggs and toast.



Of course, sometimes drinking from the cup gets frustrating – here is Kennedy trying a novel approach at getting the water out of the cup.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Look at this; Kennedy has hair! Things are changing fast for our little toddler. She's moved up to the bigger kid section at her daycare/school. Her teachers say that she is doing really well with the transition and having a lot of fun. Last weekend Kennedy stopped taking a night time bottle. She goes straight to bed now after bath and reading time. Some friends walked us through how they helped their daughter stop taking a night time bottle so we tried it and it worked! It wasn't easy at first, but it's all good now.



The same friends were retiring this Little Tikes kitchen so we took it home for Kennedy and she really likes it, especially the ice dispenser.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Kennedy brings book after book to C. K. to read. They have a great time together. He stopped over on Sunday for a brief visit and Kennedy monopolized all of his time!

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Here's Kennedy standing in some neigborhood daffodils.



We took a walk to the park before lunch. Her favorite activity is walking up and down the ramp.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

It's warming up a little here so Kennedy is sporting her spring jacket now instead of her winter coat. We've been taking time outside to smell flowersand touch the new daffodils in our yard.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

OK, OK, OK. I know we haven't posted in a few days because we've all been so busy - so now (mom) you can quit harassing me about needing a Kennedy fix (smile).

Here's a recent photo of Kennedy practicing her acrobatics. This is a common theme for 17 month olds - they love to climb and test their physical abilities. Kennedy is getting really adept at climbing up on chairs (with help) and turning around to sit facing front. She especially loves to do this with her rocking chair.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Kennedy is doing so much better today even though she's still not feeling well. She got up at 4:30 this morning. Here she is playing with her bowl of cheerios.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

We made a trip to urgent care this morning. We thought another tooth was coming in but she didn't sleep at all last night and her fever was persistent. Turns out that Kennedy has an ear infection.

We were surprised to learn that she weighs 22 pounds! A few months back she was just at 18 pounds. We knew she was feeling and looking heavier. She's also been eating better, except when she has an ear infection. Anyhow, that's quite a weight gain in two months time.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Last night Stacey and Carl had to return home to Texas. We will miss them terribly and I know Kennedy is especially going to miss her big sister.



Lately Kennedy has become a big fan of chocolate pudding. Here she is after she tried to feed herself a cup of the good stuff!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Kennedy loves her company. When she walks in the door she immediately looks around for Stacey and Carl. It will be hard for her when they leave town this week. She's grown accustomed to being read to and played with all evening. She goes to bed worn out!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

It's been a long time since we all went to Jake's Famous Crawfish for dinner. Here are Carl and Stacey before dinner--before they were too full to smile! Heh.



Kennedy had her first ever crab cake. Jake's is the place for crab cakes. If you look close you can see her spoon in her water. Stirring the water was her favorite thing to do, until it tipped over into her lap. Not fun.



She ate a bit and then decided the best place to hang out was along the window edge.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Stacey and Sheryl got up early this morning and went snow shoeing in the Gifford Pynchon National Forest in Washington. It's great to have a snow shoeing opportunity this late in the season. A lot of people were out. There were many snow mobilers. We also saw some cross country skiers and a dog sledder.



On Saturday we all went to Peoples Coop for their grand reopening with new registers.



Even though it's still cold, the walk over was nice with so much in bloom. Kennedy still likes her Jeep stroller with all of its bells and whistles on her "steering wheel".

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Spring colds have had us feeling down this week, so we're a little light on the posts. Stacey flew in yesterday and we are all very excited to see her. Susan, Stacey, C.K. and Sheryl all went to visit Kennedy's new room at her Montessori influenced day school. She's moving/graduating into the toddler room and it's an exciting change. She'll do much more structured play and language work in this area.

Here's Kennedy in a picture we took at an Oscar party last Sunday.


Wednesday, March 08, 2006

It's amazing what a little weather and outdated infrastructure can do to your daily life. I am here in Seattle tonight for work and officials have closed Highway 520 - which is one of the two routes over Lake Washington between Seattle and (essentially) Bellevue. This means that one of only two routes over Lake Washington have been closed. The commute over the lake tonight was brutal. Luckily I had a work event that provided a great excuse not to get entangled - but it was stop and go traffic until about 8pm - yikes! While Portland has its share of traffic woes - we certainly can't compete with the complexities found in Seattle!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

On Saturday we took a walk through the neighborhood. Here is Miss Kennedy in her independent-self glory. There was no hand-holding to be had; she wanted to walk all by herself.

Monday, March 06, 2006

On Saturday we met Megan and Mara for brunch at a local breakfast joint. The restaurant is pretty small and they didn't have a high-chair so Kennedy got her first go at a booster seat. Ever the diligent archivists, we captured the moment digitally.

We enjoyed our breakfast and then toddled home for some quality play time and Kennedy's nap.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Great Granny Kay and Grandpa Anderson picked up Kennedy on Saturday for the evening. Susan and I went out to the 40th birthday celebration of our friend Tamara.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Yesterday was a bit of a tough day. It marked the one year anniversary since our other cat, Jack, passed away. (Last year he ate some tulip buds and it shut his kidneys down...) I remember how hard it was and at the time; it felt so impossible to get over the pain. Fortunately, time did heal that emotion - but I still think of him often. He was such a neurotic cat - kinda makes me smile to think about all his quirks.

March 3rd is also the two year anniversary mark from when Sheryl and I got married (the second time) at the County offices. (You can check it all out in the archives.) Of course the courts eventually overturned it - which is disappointing - but Sheryl and I know in our hearts that we don't need a paper or approval of a court to acknowledge our commitment. (Of course, the rights that go with that paper [parental, property, etc.] would be nice.) Anyhow - I don't want to get all worked up about it.

Two years ago was also the date that we actually saw our developing baby for the first time at the doctor's office. She was only about 6 weeks along but we could see the small cluster of cells that would eventually become her heart. Pretty amazing.

This is a photo I am borrowing from Niki and Patrick's website. It is just too cute not to post here too. Niki took this while they were visiting a couple of weeks ago. Kennedy sure loves her toys.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Tonight CK came over and he and Kennedy had a blast playing ‘ride the dog’.



Kennedy’s sixth tooth has finally made its appearance. It’s been on the verge of breaking through for the last few weeks and now it’s showing up in its full pearly glory.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

A couple of weeks ago we scored this great set of stackable and nestable alphabet blocks at Costco. They are super sturdy and Kennedy just loves them. She likes it when we stack them up high so she can knock them over.

She also likes to try and nest them - although this proves frustrating as she grapples with the concept of size; larger blocks cannot nest into smaller ones, etc. We help her a little, but also recognize it's important to let her learn a little on her own as well. It's so fun to celebrate when she does get it right - she claps and smiles at us so big.

This photo is one of our favorites - you can really see how long her hair is getting!