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This year we had a wonderful and long Christmas vacation: 11 days! Amazing! And even more amazing was the fact that we were all home for the whole time, since Matt took some time off. We considered going somewhere, since it is such a rare occasion we all have time off, but then we thought the most relaxing way to spend these days was staying at home, so we took a “stay-cation’. After all, many people choose to spend their vacation here, so we played tourists in our own town.

Matt planned a lot of activities, and we improvised too, resulting in a fun time for all. We started up with Keegan’s last gym class. He is now too old for that class, so it was a little bittersweet. Lucky for him, though, he got to do his favorite activities on the last day: trampoline and marshmallows pits. Everyone was super nice and said goodbye. He even got to pick an extra stamp.

After class we played outside with Alyce and Betty and we went home in time for lunch. After nap, we went to the zoo, for Jungle Bells, the nighttime Christmas celebration. It was definitely different to be at the zoo after dark, and there were many beautiful lights and music, but Keegan did not really want to do many holiday oriented activities, so we watched his favorite, reptiles, and strolled around…and of course we had to take the skyfari. Keegan posed with the Christmas Koala, and then we headed home.

The following  day we took it easy. We first stopped by IKEA (the first of our three trips to complete our entertainment center…finally) and Keegan played in the play area…with some resistance, even if he did make some friends. We bought some pieces and went home. I had lunch with Lina and Matt and Keegan napped and put together IKEA pieces. We finally put the new TV together, and it looks good. It finally starting to look like a real living room, not some temporary frat house room.

On Christmas Eve we went to Balboa park, at the Natural History Museum. It was raining, so the museum was pretty crowded, but we still enjoyed our visit. As always, we checked out the dinosaurs’ models and skeletons.

Keegan posing with a model of a Oviraptor

There was also a special exhibit on Chocolate: how it is made, its history, where it comes from, etc. It was great, and the wonderful chocolate smell pumped into the exhibits really enhanced it. Keegan rushed through it, but he really enjoyed the video showing the whole process, from cocoa beans to chocolate. I loved the over-sized chocolate box.

We got home pretty late, and Keegan was too excited to sleep long, but he was pretty good, and played on his own as we were cleaning up and preparing dinner. Matt cooked an amazing Christmas Eve dinner and we all ate together…well, Keegan did not try any of the delicious things Matt cooked, but that meant more for us: pork chops, asparagus, scalloped potatoes, spinach appetizers…yum.

Keegan was even able to stay still long enough to pose for a group shot.

After dinner, we got ready for Santa: we read books and prepared the cookies and milk, without forgetting the carrots for the reindeer.

Despite all his excitement, Keegan went to bed with not too much effort…nothing comparing with last year! Matt and I relaxed a little, and when we were sure Keegan was fast asleep we started the wrapping fest. No Christmas Story movie this time, but we played the Pandora Christmas Station, which was quite good. It was really fun, and as always, it felt we had way too much, between our gifts, my family’s and the neighbors’. However, when it was all done, it did looked beautiful.

We even made it to bed before 12…I guess not having to build anything, such a bicycle helped. Keegan woke up at the usual time and he still did his usual routine. When he got to the living room, though, boy was he excited!

Santa came!

As always, the opening was a blur, and we barely had time to stop and take pictures. I was surprised we convinced him to wait to open the Italian gifts, especially because they were the biggest ones, so we could do it “live” via Skype.

Keegan was also happy to see Santa tasted his cookies and left him a letter, commending him on being mostly good and reminding him to be a good listener in the next year.

I think this year we all got what we wanted, or most of it (Keegan is still pining after a McQueen with wings, a huge chunk of expensive plastic I refused to buy).

check out my creative wrapping…

After all the opening was done, including the stockings, I went back to sleep — my favorite present— and when I got up we had a wonderful video call with my parents, my sister and her family. Keegan was very excited to see his cousins, aunt and uncle and his nonni, of course, and he was even more excited he could finally open their gifts. Nonni sent him a huge box, which contained a very cool Palymobil boat. I felt a little guilty about it as I selected it when I was in Italy from a catalog, hoping I could bring it back to US with me. Unfortunately it was not available yet, and my poor parents had to go multiple times to the store till it finally arrived, only to discover it was HUGE. I did not pay attention to size, and thought it would have been much smaller…they did ship it anyway, and I am very grateful. Keegan really liked it. It took us a little bit to build it and place all its stickers on, but the end result was worth the wait.

The afternoon was mellow: Keegan took a nice nap, and I started organize my new closet. Then we all played with our new toys, and Matt cooked another wonderful dinner: his famous cream cheese and pepper appetizers, steak, creamed potatoes, squash, corn bread…He is such a great cook: I am so lucky.

After Keegan went to bed, Matt tried out one of his Christmas gifts: an Atari system that can be connected to the TV. It included 75 games, even if we all know the only ones that matter are: Asteroids, Centipede and Space Invaders. It even came with a wireless joystick. Pretty cool, and quite hard to find…I guess it was THE popular toy this season, and I had to run around to finally find it.

Even Keegan wanted to give it a shot, but quickly gave up, realizing it is still not as easy as it seems.

The following day was a busy one. The weather was changing, so we figured that Birch Aquarium would be a safe bet. It was quite busy, as probably many other had the same idea, but we we had a good time watching all the different tanks and playing in the tide pool area.

As we were going through the Climate Change exhibit, we run into Julia, his friend from school. What a happy coincidence! The kids were happy to see each other and they played together in the kids area.

We had lunch together, dodging the drizzling rain, and at 2 we saw the tide pool feeding, including the elusive gigantic lobster that only gets out at feeding time. It was fun.

We went home to take a nap and then we headed downtown for Betty’s birthday party at the Downtown Bowl and Tavern, just as a beautiful sunset was paining San Diego skies, and the full moon was rising.

It felt really weird to go downtown after dark with Keegan, and even weirder to go into a bar with him, but the bowling area was very nice and kid friendly. The lane had bumpers for the kids and a special stand to help them roll the ball. There were colorful lights and a full bar. There were only a few kids and Keegan felt comfortable and had fun trying to bowl, if you can call drop the ball on the lane bowling.

The adults bowled too, and it reminded me why I don’t do it more often: I really suck at it. Of course, my best hands were when we were leaving, and I scored a strike and a spare in a row. It did not compensate for all the other horrible hands I had, but I really did not care. It was a fun evening.

The next day was the Annual San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade, an annual warm up for the college bowl game. I only been there once, more than 10 years ago, and at that time I walked to it from work, so we were not well prepared for what expected us. Despite our plans, we ended up leaving later than we wanted to, so when we got downtown we realized that parking would have not been easy to find. After a few rounds, Matt dropped Keegan and me off, so we could meet Jennifer, Dave, Hannah and Natalie. They settled in a nice open space, and we could have a great view of the parade. It was great for the kids to be together, so they entertained each other before the parade started. It was really cold, so the running around helped. It took Matt more than an hour between parking and physically being able to reach us, but fortunately the parade was long and he got to see most if it. There were tens of large balloons, marching bands and other groups parading around.

shamu was my one of my favorites

Keegan loved the T-rex…

…and the Storm Troopers

The weather was quite windy, so it was difficult for the handlers to keep the balloon in the air.

Once the parade was over, we took a walk by the bay, and saw the dueling bands. We had a quick lunch and headed home. Keegan did not want to go to nap and was stalling, but I had errand to run, so I left and told him to put himself to sleep, since Matt was napping too. I was really surprised to see he really did that, and he was soundly asleep when I got back.

The following day we decided to go to Legoland. I had a nasty sinus cold, but nothing some good drug can take care of. Obviously we picked the worse day ever: I have never seen Legoland so packed. However, we got a discount coupon we needed to use that gave us access to the park and the Legoland aquarium, and also a free ticket to use before March…so we will be back in slower season. The aquarium turned out to be a great idea, since it was basically empty, and Keegan enjoyed watching the fish interacting  with the Lego features.

peeking out from the underwater bubble with daddy…

and alone…

one of my favorite sea creatures

Legoland itself, though, was a mad house. We only made it to one ride, the Fairy Tales Brook, as Keegan did not want to wait in line…good luck at Disneyland! He did not even want to go in the snow area. He “raced” in the cars area though…

… and we watched the Star Wars replicas (this is the cantina, completed with music)…

…and posed next to the tourist caricature, since that was exactly how we felt.

It was a long morning, so we stayed home after nap, and tried to figured out the living room arrangement, which brought us to two more trips to IKEA in the next two days, but we finally got a workable solution.

On December 30 we went to Seaworld. The weather was again hard to predict, forecasting rain, but we brought our rain jacket, and it only drizzled for a few minutes. The real storm broke loose after we got back home. It was not too crowded, at least not compared to Legoland, so we got to enjoy the Dolphin Show, and the Sea Lions show. We played in the play area, and finally Keegan got a chance to play with snow. Seaworld’s snow zone is a lot better than Legoland’s: no lines to play, and the line for the sleds is quite short. Keegan was finally old enough for sledding, and he went up and down many, many times.

We also built a mini snowman and enjoyed a snowballs fight.

Ready…

set…

go…

On the way out, we checked out the Christmas decorations: the Christmas tree, the giant sleight, the real reindeer enclosure.

We even got the chance to see some of the “animal ambassadors”: an Eurasian Eagle Owl, and a sloth, which, to my surprise, was very active. Keegan really enjoyed seeing the animals and asking questions about them. I loved seeing the sloth, and Keegan got to feed her a carrot, after a couple of failed attempts.

December 31 was a beautiful, clear day, so we decided to celebrate the end of the year by taking a hike at Torrey Pines. Keegan was not too keen at the idea, and did a good amount of whining, but we tried not be bothered by it. It was beautiful, and we tried a couple of short paths we never hiked before. The views were unbeatable.

This photo capture his whole attitude during the hike

We had lunch overlooking the ocean and headed home. Keegan napped and when he woke up, we decided to say goodbye to 2012 by watching the last sunset of the year at the beach. So, we headed to Pacific Beach, and made it just in time, as the sun was plunging into the ocean.

We walked to the tide pools, but it was getting too dark, so we just played around, run and enjoyed the beautiful colors of a San Diego sunset.

We left when it was already dark.it was the prefect way to close a perfect vacation. We really enjoyed playing tourists and having so much time to spend together was a real gift.

After Keegan went to bed, we had a nice dinner, and waited the end of the year watching Blade Runners, a movie we both love…even thought it may have been a little too slow for the occasion: we were both so tired, it was hard to wait till midnight. But waited we did, and we were able to cheer the beginning of a new year.

Goodbye 2012!

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This year, the traditional Christmas season felt very long, since Thanksgiving was so early, so we managed to pack in lots of holiday activities. The weather was not the best, as a series of storms brought rain and cold weather but we did not let it deter us. The weird weather also brought bizarre instrument malfunctioning. This is what we saw one morning on our weather station.

Granted, it was a little cold, but 10 degree? And snowing??? We had to take a picture, as we will never see a snow forecast for San Diego again! Or so I thought. A few days later, my car gave me a snow warning, with beeping alarm. It was really ironic, because I was struggling to see the road, blinded by the sun when the snow alarm went off… (do you see the snowflake next to the temperature?). It actually warns you about the possibility of black ice, but still I thought it was funny.

Anyway, cold and rain aside, we started the season with a bang. We had a fun weekend in Laguna Mountains with our friend Sara and her daughters Alyce and Betty. We rented a cabin and we spent two nights there. We were hoping for some snow, but not such luck: the snowflakes fell promptly three days after we left. N0 matter: we still had a great time.

We left on Friday, December 8 and arrived at the cabin around 5pm. Matt took the day off, and did an amazing job at preparing everything for the trip. He is really the best planner. The cabin was a cute two bedrooms, with a fireplace right inside Cleveland National Forest. The kids went along pretty well, and Keegan found that Betty was his perfect audience as well his perfect companion for loud, crazy games…does that mean Keegan has the emotional maturity of a three year old???

That evening we prepared dinner and we started a nice fire. It was beautiful, and it was perfect for indoor s’mores. The kids were excited, and the huge, flavorful marshmallows that Jennifer gave Keegan for his birthday were a big hit.

The night was a little challenging, as it was very difficult for the kids to settle down, and poor Sara took the brunt of it. Early in the morning the kids were up, but I was so tired I did not really hear them. Sara took them for a nice walk, then Matt cooked a wonderful pancake and eggs breakfast. Nothing better that to wake up with the smell of warm eggs and syrup.

After breakfast, it was time to get out and burn some energy.

We took the kids to a short half-mile hike, which became better known as “the longest half a mile” in history. At one point or another each of the kids had a nice meltdown or whining episode. We adults, though enjoyed the walk, on a pretty sunny day. We stopped at the top of the Kwaaymii Trail resting at the mortar holes used to grind acorns to take pictures.

The shop/museum at the beginning of the trail was much more of a hit, and the kids enjoyed touching different pelts and embalmed animals.

Miraculously, all kids (and Matt) took a nap, so Sara and I were able to kick back and relax. When all the kids woke up, we got ready for our big adventure: The Santa Train, the main reason why we were there. This was an hour train ride, on an old train, modeled on the famous book, The Polar Express. The kids were excited and so were we. The train was in Campo, about 45 minutes away.We arrived just before sunset, and posed for pictures with the resident Hobo, who let our kids borrow his stick.

We boarded just before 5pm, and soon the train left the station. Elves went around with Santa’s lists to fill out, and hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies.

The kids were so excited they could not stay still a second, especially Betty and Keegan, who were feeding off each other. Next, the elves were supposed to read the Polar Express story and lead us into Christmas carols, as we traveled towards the “North Pole”, and they did try…but as Sara mentioned, probably we had the “elves in training”, as it was impossible to hear them. They did not have a microphone and their voices were very soft. It was so bad that some of the parents took it upon themselves to start up Christmas caroling. The kids did not care. All of the sudden, the train came to a stop, and right outside the window we saw Santa’s workshop! We all waved, and as the train started his way back, Santa boarded the train, and stopped with each family. Keegan was very shy, and only asked for “toys”, despite being very aware of what he wanted.

After sitting on Santa’s lap, each child received a silver bell, like in the story. We were very careful not to lose it, though, and it went to adorn Keegan’s small Christmas tree at home.

At the end of train, all the kids were brimming with excitement, and all the parents were looking forward to a nice, cold one. At least, the kids were all tired, and the night went much better. Us adult enjoyed some wine and nice talks before a well deserved sleep. We left the next morning after breakfast: Keegan had a birthday party that afternoon, and we wanted to have enough time to rest. We had a really good time, and we were happy to see the kids went along well. It is the first real “sleepover” Keegan had and it is great to see he did so well.

Back in San Diego, after a nice nap, we headed back to Pump it Up for Gaia’s birthday. It was interesting to be back just a week later, and even more interesting to see how Keegan behaved: while on his birthday he was a mad man, running around and trying all jumpies, this time he was really shy, and did not want to participate. Fortunately, Matt agreed to play with him in the inflatables, and so he had a good time.

swinging upside down is his favorite thing to do.

The second week in December was busy. Keegan had his annual check up and everything went well. He is growing at the appropriate rate, and in fact is now almost at the 50% for weight, and 30% for height. Quite a far cry from the 2% that had us worried when he was a baby. He is 40lb and 42 inches, and even his drawings have improved from the scribbles of last year. He started drawing himself (the big one in the middle) and upon request he added me on the right, with hair (I asked for it) and Matt, the small one on the left. What a masterpiece! Well, hopefully he takes after daddy, and he will be an engineer.

On Wednesday, our local library was hosting a Ginger Bread Decorating event, and thanks to a cancellation we were able to participate. It was pretty fun. Each kid had a plain house and frosting to decorate it. Everyone brought candy to share.

Keegan enjoyed selecting the candies and placing them over the frosting, even if he needed some help cementing them down.

At the end he got to take his house back with him. Of course is way more fun decorating it than eating it, so we still have most of it around.

This year we have been encouraging his belief in Santa a little more. I guess I felt guilty not encouraging this fantasy while he is still young enough to enjoy it, so we cranked it up a little. I wrote a letter from Santa to Keegan, and brought it to the post office, so they can send it back with the stamp from North Pole (Alaska). Together we also wrote a letter from Keegan to Santa, asking for toys he wanted.

We picked a day to mail it in the special mailbox inside Macy’s: ever year, this department store pairs up with Make A Wish Foundation (a charity that grants wishes to seriously ill children) and donates $1 per letter to Santa it receives. It then brings the letter to the post office. So it is a win win situation. And as I found out later, if you include a return address, you receive a letter back from Santa, thanking you for your note. So, Keegan got 2 letters from Santa this year!

We went to the local mall to drop the letter off, and take our annual picture with Santa.

Of course, it started raining, no pouring, the moment we arrived. Matt met us there too, and we all get completely soaked. It makes for an interesting Santa shot. After a large remodel at the mall, Santa now has a new setting, completely bathed with red lights. It was somewhat unsettling, but I guess they do this to prevent parents from taking their own photos.

Of course there was no line, since it was raining so hard, and we were lucky it was open at all. Oh well, it makes for an interesting story. At night, we grabbed some pizza and watched Monsters Inc: Keegan loved it, and I really enjoy it as well. I got to cuddle him the whole movie: it meant so much as it was the same day as the tragic school massacre in Connecticut. How lucky I am to have him, my little boy, to cuddle. our hearts and thought were with these Connecticut parents.

On Sunday we went to my annual Christmas Brunch. Our sitter flaked on us almost at the last minute, but fortunately Van’s mom Gayle offered to watch him and planned a fun play date at Balboa Park. We were so grateful, and we really enjoyed our brunch. Keegan had a blast!

The last week before vacation was a busy one: between work meetings, medical exams, assembling goodie bags, and Christmas time errands time flew by.

This year I have been pretty good, getting most of my shopping done early, but I still found myself assembling gifts and wrapping till almost Christmas. So, as Matt was baking cookies for the cookies exchange at Keegan’s school, I was wrapping and writing cards.

delicious sugar cookies

We finally made it to Friday, the last day before Christmas vacation. The work days went by fast, and Matt and I went to Keegan’s school for the annual Christmas party. As always, the kids were all ready to sing Christmas (and Hanukkah’s) songs, with their elves’ hats and their bells.

Van, Keegan, Brady and Elliott

They were adorable as always, even if it was complete chaos. After the songs, Santa came to visit. Unfortunately they did not hire the great couple that was here in the past two years, and the guy that showed up was a little lame. No singing, or dancing, or involving the kids. He simply sat on his chair and the kids posed for pictures. They did not seem to mind, though.

Then it was cookie time! There were a lot of delicious cookies to exchange and we all enjoyed some socializing with other parents. After the party, we went home to get ready: Keegan had another pool party to attend! It was a Parents Night Out, but this time Keegan was excited, especially because they promised pizza and a movie. We dropped him off at 5.30, and we had a nice date night, a very Clairemont date night: we watched the movie Hitchcock, ate greek food and finished off with an ice cream…all within the strip mall by our house. It was perfect, and we were just in time to pick him up. Keegan had a blast and made new friends, and we enjoyed some adult time…what better way to start our Christmas vacation???

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Wow, it is hard to believe that Keegan is already 5…we reached the last page of his baby book-which means I have less than a year to actually complete it. (-:

Anyway, my little guy is getting big. This year he had been really anticipating the big event. This time around I did not want to deal with the stress of weather forecasting, so by the end of October we reserved our spot at Pump It Up, and indoor play area filled with 4, huge inflatables. I had never seen the place, but heard great things, and Keegan saw one of the locations and was enthusiastic. Of course, at first he was disappointed I did not book Cuck E Cheese, but this is where I draw the line.With the location settled, I only had to stress about the party itself.

We started the preparation a few days before, with our annual trip to the store to order the cake. Keegan originally wanted a very expensive, three tiers Cars cake, but I convinced him to pick a simpler one. The winner was Captain America, and this year, they even spelled his name correctly. I did not think it was that exceptional, but Keegan loved it and that is all that matters.

Back at home, Keegan helped me putting the goodie bags together. He had a great time, but the whole process took more than two hours (for 24 bags). The final result was worth it: they were very cute bags.

all the supplies are sorted out

Keegan being a good helper

Each kid got dinosaurs gliders, a mini stress ball, a space sticker scene, stickers, space stamper, a rocket bookmark, marshmallow, and Keegan’s birthday personalized m&m’s.

This year December 3 fell on a Monday, so we planned the party for the day before, in the late afternoon. I was a little worried about a late party, but it turned out to be perfect: the kids got really tired, had dinner, and crashed. The hardest thing was to manage Keegan’s excitement: he was literally bouncing off the wall, and was quite a handful the whole weekend, leading up to the party. Nonni and zia Cinzia, zio Sandro and his cousins called and wished him a happy birthday. He was hard for him to stay still since he was so excited, and even Skype was a challenge.

After the usual RSVP game, we ended up with 18 kids (2 were sick and could not attend). Honestly this was the best party for us. We really did not have to do much. Matt stopped by Costco and got some food supplies, then we picked up the cake, and we headed over. The staff brought out a cart for our stuff, and took care of everything. They monitored the kids, set up the room, and then gathered our gifts and cleaned everything up.

Right at 5pm, the kids watched a safety video, and then they were unleashed inside. It was a nice place, reserved just for us, with a huge slide, an obstacle course and two other large jumpies. Upbeat music was leading the kids on.

Since it was only us, most of the parents joined in the festivities and jumped or slid down the slides. I guess we all brought our inner child out to play. The kids were mostly independent, so we had the chance to relax, take picture and just chat. With the exception of a couple of short lived dramas, all the kids, from big (8years old) to small (2 years old) had a blast.

the fighting bouncie was a big hit, literally…
 

Natalie, dazed and exhausted

After an hour and a half, the kids got a chance to catch their breath and posed for a group photo or two.

Then, sweaty and starving, they were lead into the party room, which was nicely decorated. All the presents were piled on one corner, and plates were waiting with warm pizza, chips and fruit. The adults got a few healthier choices as well. Keegan was surrounded by all of his girls. Coincidence? Kenzie was sending him kisses from across the table.

There was a large, inflatable throne…which I had to try on. I felt like royalty…and after all, Keegan would not be here if it wasn’t for me, right? So I deserve some recognition too. (-:

But of course, the throne was for the birthday boy, so Keegan enjoyed his moment in the spotlight, while all his friends sang happy birthday. He loved this part, and was all smiles. Then he blew the candles out…in 4/5 takes.

My little prince kindly shared his throne with me.
 

He got the first slice of the cake and then all the friends followed.

By 7, we were all done, and the staff gathered our gifts in large bags and we loaded them up with our limited leftovers.

look at all these gifts…one spoiled little boy
 

We already told Keegan that no presents would be opened till the following day, his actual birthday, and honestly, he was so tired he did not complained. He went to bed easily and we got everything ready for the big day. First order of business was placing Fifi, our elf on the shelf, on the tree, with a birthday card in his hands.

Keegan had insisted Fifi (the creepy little doll that is supposed to magically fly back to Santa every night to report on his behavior) would not wait till his birthday was over to come back, so here we are trying to find different locations for the darn thing everyday…and usually wake up in a panic, as we forgot to move him. How crazy are we? Well, not as crazy as other “elf in the shelf overachievers”. I already linked to a post last year dealing with these overachievers, but if you want to see more of the craziness, try this site. We definitely WILL NOT do anything that time consuming.

We baked our chocolate chip muffins, actually I baked them, which is remarkable. The fact they came from a box, Hershey chocolate chips included, is not important: I still count this as baking.

robot and rockets liners and toppers
 

The next morning, I woke up Keegan: this is a nice change, as we sometimes have to wake him up, always, and rigorously on week days, never on weekends. On Saturday and Sunday he is always up shortly after 6…too much fun stuff to do to miss it sleeping.

He was very excited to see his presents form us, and rightly so. Because we had nonni’s, Lori’s and my sister’s ones, it was quite a sight. In fact, I even forgot to bring one out, the biggest one of all: his dinosaurs.

He ripped through the paper, and was excited about his books – we read 4 before school – his Lego, his playmobil, and his building robots. Before leaving for work, I sent out Keegan to grab the paper, and he discovered the Cars birthday banner hanging on the garage door.

He was excited about going to school, and bringing treats to his friends. He had a fun day: his friends celebrated him again, his teacher offered him a crown, and he had his yoga class, but when I picked him up,  he was ready to go home. Many more presents awaited him.

At home, he listened to the birthday message Loredana and Francesca left him, and he was very excited hearing their voices. And yes, we still have a land line, and, even worse, we still have a corded phone…but guess what? During the last blackout, our corded phone was the only one working!

The lure of the gifts, though, was too much, and he dove right in. He started with the dinosaurs: he was so excited, since he really wanted them. Now his humongous T-rex had  friends dinosaurs to play with.Then he opened our babysitter Jennifer’s present: she packed a great collections of Cars related stories, in a huge bag, filled with large marshmallows.

Check the size and quantity of the marshmallow…

We then opened them all, one by one. I am always amazed by how many toys exists in stores: I never saw most of them, and I’ve spent PLENTY time in the toy store section at Target. Keegan was happy. He got books, superheroes, cars, a garage and all sort of other stuff. Most of the presents contained more than one toy. He got so much he actually told me: ” I got too many toys. Maybe next year we can tell my friend to only bring one present each!” I am not joking…

While we opened them all, we put some away, and he has been playing only with his favorite ones for now. The house looked like a tornado hit it, even if I tried to gather the wrapping and boxes by the time Matt arrived. Keegan showed him immediately all the cool stuff he got.

After dinner, we cut one leftover slice from the cake, and lit candles and wish him, again, happy birthday. Keegan, proudly wearing his school crown, blew the candles out again.

When the evening was over, I am not sure who was more tired, Keegan or us. Keegan was ecstatic, and he repeatedly thanked us, spontaneously, for making is birthday so special and beautiful. He promised to make my birthday special too, maybe buying me some jewelry. What a sweet little boy!

After all the preparation and anticipation, we almost felt “deflated”, but there still one more birthday-related task to do: the thank you cards. While Keegan was enthusiastic about thanking his friends, he started losing interest after card number 3…but we stuck to it, and we finished them all by the Thursday night. Some of them even had drawings in it. Julia’s card had a princess. Can’t you tell?

So, here we are. Keegan is a healthy, happy, STRONG WILLED, little boy. He is 42″ high  (106 cm…he pass the 1 miter mark!) and weights an healthy 40lb (18kg). We are definitely not worried about his size anymore, since he is now in the 50% for weight and 30% for height. His 4 years have been somewhat challenging, in a “clash of the titans” kind of way, but watching him grow, learn and develop, both physically and emotionally is really an amazing experience. We are looking forward to see what next year will bring us and what he will become. And we are especially looking forward to seeing more of his smiles that can light up a room.

We love you Keegan, our little fiery one.

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