Have you heard?

My mom was nominated for KS95 (our local radio station) teacher of the week!! So, to celebrate, Kai had this to say:


(Plus, here are photos of Kai at my mom's 2nd grade classroom)

Justin Roberts

We had a great Mother's Day Treat-- Ally and Kai treated us to tickets to Justin Robert's concert.

Justin Roberts is a children's musician that is great! You can sing along to the songs and not feel silly doing so and in fact you really get to love the songs. Ally, Ken, Joe, and I have memorized many and we don't even feel embarrassed to say so.

The concert was a hoot! The twins, Jack and Maddie, were there, along with Kai. I think they all loved it. It was Kai's first time at a real concert and you should see his moves! Truly, the boy was dancing. But, by the end of the 1 hour concert, he was sleeping! I think he was a little too stimulated for that much fun...

Check out these eyes...

Joe

Kai and Joe in a rainstorm. Kai loves to go outside every day, rain or shine!


As most of you know, Joe has a new job!! He is working at the Memorial Blood Center in a management position. He really loves his new position and is doing a great job.

Kai and I, however, are lonely for him during the day (but so proud too!). Joe and I have been so happy to be home together with Kai (minus the financial stress) but it's obviously time for one of us to make a little money!

So, it's a huge relief to have Joe working and happily too! Joe is up in Duluth for around 2 nights a week and it's been so sweet that Kai signs "dad" and points at the door before he goes to bed. We are all adjusting!

ECFE Class

We are still in ECFE class (Early Childhood and Family Education) with the Minneapolis Public Schools. We have been lucky to meet such great friends and receive fantastic support.

One of Kai's close buddies, Helen, is in class with us. Here are a couple of photos of Helen and Kai playing together. I noticed they both were so sweet with each other. It's fun to see Kai starting to play with others.

In the past couple of weeks, I notice he really is intrigued with older boys. Today, while shopping with Kit at our kid's consignment store, Kai just stood next to a couple of boys and you could tell he wanted to say hello and play, but just didn't know quite what to do....

Kai is signing like crazy now! He wakes up in the morning and makes the sign for bunny, since he loves going to our neighbor's house to feed her indoor bunny and see her 18+ cats and 5 dogs!

He also signs: more, food, all done, bunny, cat, dog, come, go, outside, and we are working on "help."

Art

We went to Kai's first first art gallery opening-- our dear friend, Andrea, had her art opening at the Minnesota Center for Photography. It was incredible!! For all of you in MN, stop by and check out her incredible work. Kai and Soren had a good time exploring the work. Kai got sick the next day with the croup, an ear infection, and a high fever. We are still recovering, but he is getting much better!

OPRAH

I had my first visit away from Kai at the end of April. I went with my mom and her two friends (and my friends too!), Gregg and Sheri, to Oprah!!

We had so much fun. We spent two nights touring around the windy city, eating great food, shopping, visiting with Christa and her family, and seeing our dear friend Oprah.

Oprah's show we saw taped was the Mary Tyler Moore reunion show. It was a hoot!

Here are some photos of all of us out on the town. Kai and Joe did great while I was gone. Kai is so in love with his dad-- they had fun at the zoo, visiting with friends, exploring at the park, and sleeping. Yes, Kai slept better with me away.

And, well-- me? I slept MARVELOUSLY!!!!

Spring Visitors

Kai is such a social little guy. Well, and so are we! So, we love having friends come over to visit.
This first photo is from when Jack and Maddie (Ken and Ally's twins) came to meet Kai for the first time. Jack and Maddie have been on "house arrest" since they were born very early without the best immune systems. But, now that winter is over, Kai got to meet his new best friends.
Then, we had a great brunch with Aunt Kiki, Paul, Dan and Katrin. It was one of the best Spring days yet! We just sat and ate good food and talked for hours and hours. Dan is entertaining Kai in this photo. Nothing like a big box to bring hours of fun!


Finally, here is our next-door neighbor, Jane. Many of you have met Jane. We are lucky to have one of the greatest neighbors ever. Who just happened to leave yesterday on a 5 month road trip up to the Yukon and down the west coast. Kai will miss Jane quite a bit (we will too!). Kai has decided Jane is his snuggle friend. Whenever he sees her, he just hugs and hugs her and snuggles. I've never seen him do this with anyone before. It's about the sweetest thing ever.

And, yes, Kai is naked in this photo!
Here he is in his full glory! Kai loves to be naked!! It works great too for teaching him "elimination communication." We have been working on having Kai in underwear and having him sit on the potty. But, when he is naked and in the outdoors, well, there is no need to do anything! He certainly knows what to do.

Tools

Kai discovered he loves tools!! So, the Easter bunny brought tools for Kai this year. I love th photo of Nonny in the background in one of the photos. The other photos are from when Kai helped Joe put back together our bed. It was on the ground, so when we co-slept, Kai wouldn't roll off of it. But, now, Kai spends most of the night in the crib and when he does come and join us, he knows how to roll off it without any problems.

April?

Our dear friend, Andrea, watched Kai during the morning while I was staying with Nonny on her final day here with us. I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to have a friend who you can call up at moment's notice and who would drop anything to help you out. Thank you Andrea, Randy, and Soren!

As for the snow, I couldn't believe how much snow we had on April 1! I thought the unusual snow was a fitting April Fool's Joke. As you know, April Fool's day is my favorite holiday. Now, with it as the anniversary of my Nonny's death-- it will be even more meaningful, but perhaps less filled with pranks. But, I guess, who am I kidding? Nonny would love the pranks!

Nonny

My dear, sweet Nonny passed away on April 1, 2008. Her love, kindness, and joy will live within us forever. She is missed by all of us. She passed away quickly and quietly. I'm sure this is exactly the way she wanted to go. As most of you know, my friendship with my Nonny was so strong. I cared for her during her final days and feel honored to help usher into the next world.

She had a special bond with her only great-grandchild-- Mr. Kai. Kai was so gentle, attentive, and quiet around Nonny. He loved to snuggle next to her on the couch. During her final days, Kai would lie next to Nonny and stroke her cheek. He seemed very calm and not scared to touch her and kiss her. One of Nonny's last responses was to clap when Kai came to her bed and with her eyes closed, she kissed Kai on the lips. Sweet love to the end....

Lesson 2: Passing

Kai loved swimming with Uncle Joey, who is not shy with encouragement!

Lesson 1: Bubbles

Destructo

Kai's favorite activity at the beach in Florida....

Pops and Nana

We are so lucky! My dad and Kit brought us all down to Florida for 7-night visit. We had a blast! Really-- it was so much fun. We spent tons of time by the beach, swimming in the pool, playing outside (without a jacket), eating, reading, and relaxing. My brother, Joey, came along with John and Megan (Kit's son and his girlfriend). It was so much fun to get away from it all and to have help with Kai. Joe and I came back feeling truly refreshed and relaxed. Plus, we realized how lucky we are to have family in our life who loves us and Kai so much. Thanks again Nana and Pops!

Like Uncle, Like Nephew

First, do you think my brother, Uncle Joey, looks like Kai? (Check out those eyes)
Second, both of them don't usually have curly hair-- look at what happened in Florida with the humidity!

Water

Kai loves to swim! In Florida, he discovered he liked to dunk his head under, blow bubbles, push off of Joe, and play with his Uncle and Grandpa.

More Florida

Kai had a great time with Uncle Joey in Florida! He got swimming lessons, music lessons, soccer lessons and beach-bumming lessons from a true master!

A visit from the Girls

Auntie Sarah and Brini came to town a while back to shower our boy with affection. Kai was thrilled, and could not get enough of them!

Ahh...he's so cute