Happy Halloween!

Wow! It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since last Halloween when we dressed Kieran up as a little Pea in the Pod and carried our not-even-crawling baby around the rainy neighborhood! This Halloween, Kieran has been so much more involved and interested in everything that's been going on, so it was a real treat for us to experience all of these new and exciting things with him! There's a common saying that a picture can convey a thousand words, so I'll just let the pictures (and my captions) do the talking.

This year Kieran was really into pumpkins, or "Puck-A" as he calls them. He was fascinated by the pumpkin carving ritual and loved looking and feeling inside the pumpkins as we hollowed them out.

Note to self: next year try not to do the whole pumpkin cleaning thing next to the air vent, as retrieving any wayward pumpkin seeds is not fun, especially when you're 7 months pregnant.

"Hey! Where'd all the cool stuff from the inside go?"

Oh, well! I can still give my Punk-A some lovin'!

Here's Kieran the Skunk displaying his literary prowess. He is, after all, my son.

Below are some more shots of the cutest little skunk we saw this year:
Kieran was in fascinated by this decoration since it combines two of his favorite things: Pumpkins and Cats.

Tonight we headed out to Trick or Treat with Kieran's good buddy, Maya (aka the Cute Brown Bear). They were so adorable!
You could just see the two of them trying to figure out why the heck we had them dressed up and parading up and down the street, holding onto candy containers.
"Okay, I have this weird, shiny stuff. Now what do I do with it?"

Kieran just wanted to leave it all on the sidewalk. He wanted none of that candy in his bag. It's a good thing that Mommy had pockets in her jacket to save the candy for a little snack later.

Of course, we need a picture of the skunk with his Daddy. Sorry, no Skunk and Mommy pictures. I'll just keep you guessing how big my belly is at this point in time!

"Okay, guys. I think the kids have had enough fun for one evening..."

Enjoying some down time playing at Maya's house after the big, exciting evening.

Hope you all had a great Halloween. We certainly did!

Kieran Talking, Take Two

Some more of Kieran talking. His vocabulary just keeps growing every day. We almost need to tape him every day since he acquires at least one new work every day.
Enjoy!

KRUF Talking, Take 1

This is the first in a sequence of several videos in which Kieran shows off his recently acquired vocabulary. Keep looking for more to come. Oh, and we are *so* proud of the "monarch butterfly" that he says. May we brag for a minute and call our son a genius. :)

KRUF The Big Brother

As many of you already know, Kieran is going to be a big brother sometime around the new year. It looks like he is probably going to have a little sister (unless the sonographer somehow missed some boy parts the THREE times I made her double check), and we are all excited about having her join our family, despite the fact that her addition was a huge surprise to all of us. David has given her the nickname 'Baby X,' and Baby X she shall remain until she is born, we believe, seeing as coming up with an acronym as catchy and fun as 'KRUF' is proving to be difficult. (Although, our friend, Kevin, did suggest her initials be 'ENUF', which I am all for. Too bad we aren't really digging any names that start with E for her first name...) Here are some pictures of little Miss X, taken at both 12 (1st picture) and 20 weeks (last two pictures). We find the last picture particularly funny, since it looks like Baby X is already attached to a breast, nursing away. We're pretty sure she's going to give big brother a run for his money on who can nurse more often and for the longest amount of time. Kieran is still very attached to the "numy-nums" and doesn't seem to be inclined in any way to share.

We talk to him all the time about Baby X, and he is convinced that she is a freckle on my belly, slightly off-center and above my belly button. He loves to give that freckle kisses and pats. We hope that that behavior continues once Baby X is out of the womb. David and I keep telling him that Baby X will come home to live with us sometime around Christmas, and he just looks at us like we're talking crazy talk. I've been trying to have him spend more time with younger babies and reiterate that we will have a new baby in our house when Baby X is born.

In other Kieran news, he is changing by leaps and bounds almost every day, it seems. He is really trying to talk, and his favorite word currently is "dooooooo" (two) because he is really into counting. We count everything it seems like, but especially bugs, rocks, sticks, pinecones...all of his favorite things. His dad is tickled pink about KRUF's interest in mathematics and his apparent propensity for the subject. David is already anxious to teach him how to add and subtract and perform his first algebraic function. Despite his sudden interest in math, reading still remains one of Kieran's favorite pastimes. We read countless books every day, with his favorite being "A Potty For Me!". We are slowly working on potty training, but I wonder if I missed the boat of my previous window of opportunity earlier in the summer when he was super interested in using the potty--I just couldn't deal with potty training AND morning sickness all at the same time. We are in no rush, although it would be nice to have him out of diapers by the time that Baby X arrives.

The weather has been cooling off around here, and we've been spending some more time outside playing in the yard and at the park. Kieran loves to "help" us as we work around the house and was in his element earlier this week when I did a bit of fall cleaning and used the vacuum considerably over the course of several days. He shrieks with delight when he sees the vacuum, and loves to help me push it or use the brush attachments. Whenever I turn it off, he asks for "more more more more." His love of cleaning also extends to the exterior of the house. He has commandeered our rake and uses it in the yard, on the sidewalk, in the flower gardens...and he gets very upset when we ask to use it ourselves. He also is in his element when he wheel out the lawnmower and loves to be carried on our backs when we're mowing. (Good thing we have an old-school manually powered reel mower--it's much easier to keep track of him with one of those as opposed to a gas or electric powered mower that makes a lot of noise!) We've been spending loads of time outside, playing and working. I'm not anxious at all for winter and all of its cold weather to make its appearance because our outside time will probably be limited at that point.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print 'round these parts. David is doing well--he's teaching this semester (first time in two years) so he's staying busy. I'm staying home with Kieran and slooooooowwwwllllyyy working on my thesis. I'm determined that it will be done before this baby is born! I will also try to remember to take a picture of me with my burgeoning belly to post--maybe on Wednesday when I will officially be 24 weeks along!!

Below are some pictures of Kieran from the past couple of weeks.

KRUF in his Hokie outfit for Aunt Cathy and Uncle Darren's wedding

Kieran after a fun, but dirty, playdate at a local playground with his good buddy, Maya

Enjoy what's left of the summer and the wonderful weather that comes during autumn.

Pay Close Attention

I would like to note two things about "Kieran gives Molly a Kiss" video below. First Molly teaches Kieran where to find Daddy's car keys. Then, you'll notice the second thing: He grabs them and is so enthralled with them he carries them for the whole video. This is not a good sign for the future...