1st Birthday!

Yes, can you believe it???!!!! Kai is one!

We had a birthday party on the 12th for the big guy. He had a blast. He particularly enjoyed his first dose of sugar-- he LOVED the cake!

Sarah

I just found this photo of Sarah and I while we were pregnant.




THEN.....













and NOW!!

Soren's Big Day

Kai's closest friend, Soren (yes, another Soren who lives just a couple of blocks away from us & who I was lucky enough to watch two days a week during the fall), turned one on Sat.

We had so much fun at the party. I think it helped Kai prepare for his big day!! By the way, it's today!!!

We celebrated today, with just the three of us, by going to Maria's Cafe and ordering Kai our favorite food-- a raspberry/blueberry pancake. It came out with some whipped cream, a candle, and the restaurant singing happy birthday. It was so much fun.

We will have his real birthday party with small friends this Sat. and then more family birthday parties this month. The fun will just keep happening....

Joe and I watched his birth video last night (Thanks Ally for taping it-- we especially liked hearing you say as Kai was about to come out..."Oh my god, how is it going to fit?) and are just amazed that it has been a year since he was born.

It has been our best year yet! We both can't even begin to describe how madly in love we are with Kai and how happy and proud we are of him and who he is growing to become. Now that he is walking, I keep smiling and wondering how he is growing up too fast. Joe and I were talking bout the fact that this year has flown by, but yet the small tasks of each day seem at times to linger on forever. I guess this is the truth of parenthood!Here is Kai in the sled going to Soren's party with his present...
As you can tell, we have a lot of dirty Minnesota snow!
Here is Soren right before he tasted that sweet sugary frosting...
Soren, Kai, and Helen (another one of Kai's good buddies)

New Year's in Duluth!

Soren Hanhan and Kai
We headed up to Duluth to visit our dear friends-- Sarah, Tolga, Ella, and Soren and to ring in the new year with them. Sarah (Paar) Hanhan and I have been friends since birth. She has the sweetest husband and kids. If you can believe it, until this trip,we had not met her newest little guy, Soren. We've been trying to see each other, but we had to cancel a couple of different trips because of crazy schedules and kids being sick. So, finally, we got to be together!
We spent New Year's Eve day skiing-- it was Kai and Soren's first time on skis (well, in backpacks). Kai absolutely loved it. He was giggling (especially going downhill, when he would grab on to Joe's shoulders and squeal).
You may notice from our rosy cheeks that it was wee bit cold. About 1/2 way into our loop, I did start wondering what frostbite looks like on a child. Joe calmly reminded me that Kai would tell us if he was getting too cold....

Here are the boys together-- Sarah and I have hopes of canoe trips to the Boundary Waters with them. Just like our dads took us canoeing every summer...so, the tradition must continue.

Christmas 2007

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Here are some photo highlights....

Typical Day.....

As you know, Joe and I are both home most days. We find that we do ridiculous things to keep Kai (and ourselves) amused. Joe and Kai were pretending to be in a rock band in this photo-- and then their "drums" turned into hats!
Here Kai is showing off as he tries to win the "most messy eater" contest.

Seattle

Here we are in Seattle (notice, there is no snow!)-- Kai is enjoying walking outside, not all bundled up in a snowsuit. You should have seen him giggle! Then, it was perfect --Jen and Paul's son, Will, just pushed Kai when he got too tired to walk. Will is so cute and was friendly with Kai. I could tell Kai loved to hang out with the "big boy."

We spent a lot of time in Seattle with family and friends (which is exactly why everyone got sick!). I think the last photo shows how Kai could have possibly passed on his Norwalk virus to Will. Again, we are so sorry to everyone!

Walking

Kai is starting to walk!

He has taken a few steps on his own, but he especially likes getting a little help.

Here he is with his friend, Soren, as they practice.

Snow!

It's Winter here in Minnesota!

Before our trip to Seattle (and before we all got sick), we spent a fun day with our friends, Andrea, Randy, and Soren. We went to story time at the Red Balloon Bookstore. We never would have guessed that this would be the last day of good health!

By the next day, Kai was sick (the doctor guesses it was the norovirus) and then Joe and I both got sick...but, the worst news is that when we went to Seattle for a trip, we got everyone sick!!! Last count, over 13 people were sick with this nasty virus.

Now, Kai is sick again with another virus (more like a cold). So, it's non-stop action over here at the house of MoJoe. Kai's fever has been staying around 102 degrees, so we are hoping it breaks soon and this means that next year, we will be healthy, since we've gotten all of this illness out of the way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving up at the cabin in Ely this year. We had a great time--Kai loved exploring the new place and enjoyed hikes in the backpack. The lakes have just frozen over in Ely and there was even a little snow. It really felt like the holidays.

We got a taste of what a MN winter is like with a baby who can move! Kai was in his snowsuit much of the time and when I set him down on the ground, he grunted as he tried to crawl around (he could barely move) and looked at me as if to say--"Hey, I can't move. What's up with this?"

Kai is just on the verge of walking. He stands up on his own (not pulling up on things anymore) and takes one or two steps before he very slowly sits back down. But, when he does take a few steps, he gets the biggest smile. This boy likes to move.

Smiles

My Dad just sent me these photos of Kai-- they were taken in October and November. I love them! Thanks Grandpa!

"Hi" & "Bye"

Kai waves hello and good-bye. We love it! Yesterday, Joe was leaving to coach and he said, "Kai, say bye." To our surprise, Kai said "Bye" and smiled.

Well, what a genius! (Ok, so he hasn't done it since, but still....)

Giggles

We have so much fun with Kai. He has a really sweet and playful personality. Last week, at a bookstore's story time, he went up to child after child trying to say hello. Then, he decided to go up to the storyteller and grab her hand. As he held her hand, he just smiled out to the crowd (of about 50 moms and their babies). The real funny part is that no other mom was chasing after their baby like I was. For some reason, all of the babies were just sitting in their laps. Not our Kai....no sir, he was cruising around the room trying to make friends!

Just one of the things that make us love this little guy.

Happy Birthday Grammy!

We had my mom's birthday party on Saturday night. Here are some of the highlights!

Kai and his Papa

10 months

At 10 months, Kai is...

• crawling around really fast
• standing up on his own
• walking with help
• learning how to use a spoon
• getting into everything (this boy is ACTIVE!)
• waving hello and good-bye
• crawling up and down the stairs
  
• saying his first word, "HI!"
• thrilled when he sees new people
  
• smiling and laughing tons!

I was laughing so hard yesterday. I turned on the TV to tape a show. Since Kai is never around the TV, he stopped and watched the TV while I was turning on the VCR. He was fascinated. An ad for diapers came on with babies. Kai got so excited seeing the crawling babies. He started to wave to them and said "HI" over and over again. Then, he crawled as fast as he could over to the TV, stood up, and gave the TV a big kiss. Yep, this boy LOVES to be social! (even with the TV!) I wonder where he gets that from? :)

Unfortunately, Kai has had a double ear infection for a couple of weeks. But, it really has not stopped him or kept him from being busy. He still crawls around and gets into everything. But, now, he just lays down and rests for a few seconds and then bounces back up and he is off!! His favorite thing to chase, of course, is Maxie, our cat. Poor Maxie-- she is chased around the entire house.

Here are some photos of him tonight. He doesn't want to eat anything but finger foods, unless he gets to control the spoon. So, here is tonight's meal, all over his face and hair!

More Todd Photos....

Todd

Way back in June, our friend, Todd Smith, came to visit. I think we posted some photos of his trip back then. But, what we didn't post were the incredible photos he took of Kai. Wow-- yes, he is a professional photographer, as you can guess. Click here for his website.

Here are the photos-- we have had them for ages, but it just hit me tonight that I never posted them. So, sit back and take a stroll down memory lane, when Kai was 'just' 6 months old.