But Whose Kid Hasn't Said This?

Today Kellan turned 11 weeks old.

He also rolled over three times.

Ian saw a man at Costco with a crazy beard and said, "Jesus!" He was really excited.

NOT What I Signed Up For

Tonight when I was trying to get Ian to sleep, he kept running his toes through my hair. Like he was trying to soothe me or something.

Memorable Memorial Day

I think I used that same title for our last Memorial Day post, but whatever. I'm lazy and unoriginal.

We headed over to the National Arboretum for our Memorial Day. The weather was disgustingly humid but bearable heat-wise. Within five minutes of being there, I knew it was going to be a great trip because: 1) The sippy cup I grabbed for Ian somehow didn't get washed. His water had thick chunks of old milk floating around in it (which explains why he refused to drink it in the car), and 2) A crazy man in a wheelchair chatted us up while Jesse was getting a map of the park. He said he "got upset" with Bush because he "didn't give a damn about the children" and he was planning on moving to a country that did. He was thinking El Salvador or China, which probably wouldn't be my first picks if I wanted a country that gave a damn about the children, or anything else for that matter. I didn't want to burst his bubble, though, or turn our short conversation into a debate, so I didn't try to dissuade him.

First up was the koi pond:



The pond surrounded the visitor's center, which explained the smell inside. At this one corner of the pond they had a fish food vending machine, and all the lazy tourists would throw the food in that corner. The koi would all cluster there when people would toss food in. It got so intense that fish would get pushed to the surface and just flop around on top of all the other fish, suffocating, until they got worked over to the edge of the cluster and could flop back into the water. Crazy. Also I knew a kid in college who worked in a fish food factory. Crazy.

Then we went and saw something else, I can't remember what the point of it was. Basically all I remember was that they had the old capitol pillars set up, and they had a fountain that a bunch of kids were playing in. Ian loved the water and kept trying to jump into the cistern.


Let me tell you about our jogging stroller, pictured below.


Someone returned it to REI because they had blown out the shocks. It sat at our store through a few attic sales, and Jesse asked our manager how much they would give it to us for. Bear in mind it's a $570 dollar stroller. Eric said we could have it for $40, and then they marked it down two more times. We paid $17.83 for the stroller, and bought new shocks for $36.50. It pushes like a dream. Now on those days when I think drivers out here are alert enough to not run me down, and that the sex offenders in the area are all busy and won't harass me, I can go running! Yay!

Okay, back to the arboretum.

Ian just...
...wouldn't...


...sit...


...still...


...for...


...a...


picture.
Kellan would, though.


Note the diapers ingeniously wedged next to his head to hold it straight(er).

Then we looked at the bonsai trees, some of which were very old. Like, some were three hundred years old.


Here's Ian pretending to take a picture:


Here's Ian contemplating jumping into a pool of water. Note his wedgie.


And walked around the herb garden, where we got our family picture taken by someone who didn't tell us when he was going to take it:



He also didn't tell me I had a hair horn sticking up. Let's pretend it was windy, shall we?

Almost right after we got in the car to go home it started storming, and it let up for a few seconds right when we got back to our apartment complex. Perfect timing!

Here is the picture everyone has wanted.

Courtesy of Jesse's "computer skills."

Mancut

My haircut is horrible. When I was home for Christmas I got it cut really short and it was cute, but grew really fast and I needed a trim three weeks later. I have yet to find a hairstylist out here I like, so I just went to a Supercuts-type place. It turns out there's a reason they only charge $16 for a haircut, and it has nothing to do with the economy and trying to keep business. I told Jesse I look like Zac Efron, but I take it back. He's prettier, and he has a better 'do.

And there's no way I'm posting a picture of my haircut to compare.

It's Like Camping...All The Time!

Ian figured out how to climb out of his crib. I hoped he would forget that he figured it out, but he did it again the next night with even less trouble, of course.

I really applied myself and came up with what I thought was a great solution: put Kellan in the crib and Ian in the playpen! I thought I was so tricky, but Ian kicked his leg up to the level of his ear, hooked his heel on the edge of the playpen, and pulled himself over as easy as if he were getting on a bike. It reminded me of watching Jaymee at the barre during ballet, actually.

The last few nights I have had to resort to laying next to him on the couch until he falls asleep, but that can't continue. We're talking over an hour of getting elbowed and poked, and being told which lights in the house are off, and which are on. Not that I don't love my child. I do. But there's a limit, and when I pass my limit I notice the quality of my mothering decline sharply.

What do to? Crib tent, which looks ridiculous and would probably get ripped off by Ian as soon as he figures it out or toddler bed, which would do no better job of keeping him in than his crib currently does? I dunno....

A Few More

Saturday morning was so beautiful. The temperature was perfect with a nice breeze. So we went for a walk.Ian's first inch-worm.



And Ian's new trick is to climb the post of our bed.

Until he decides it is his turn to play with the camera.

Also, on our walk we met one of our neighbors. He was very nice, but very liberal-minded - which we found out when he asked where I work and who I work for. He automatically assumed that we were liberal democrats too and went off on a bit of a rant, wishing certain conservative-minded individuals "would just die." It was entertaining.

Picture Update

We haven't been taking very many pictures but here are a few fairly recent ones

Kellan has found his fingers.

And his smile.

Ian's bike helmet (for riding in the bike trailer).

What a helpful big brother.

And finally, Ian dancing around in his diaper.

Sweet Tooth

I've noticed (and maybe this is just an excuse) that every time I am pregnant, and every time after I have a baby, I have an incredible, insatiable, humongous sweet tooth. I know that only being pregnant twice doesn't quite make me qualified to say "every time", but this is my blog, so I'm sayin' it.

Anyways, I was reading Stephanie Nielson's blog and her last entry was about this company. And she had the best picture from their website of these cupcakes:

Holy cow, I want those cupcakes!