Kellan at home in San Diego

Kellan with Aunt Amanda (my little sister)


Kellan with Grandma

Play Group Christmas Party

A bit out of order, but these are from our play group Christmas party. The kids would not sit still for a proper group shot, and in the photo above (which I think is hilarious -- look at them!), Dominic is missing. He is the squirmiest of them all! There are also some cute photos of Kel playing with Griffin, one of his favourite chase mates.

Holiday Wrap-Up

There are lots of photos to follow, but the files were too large and I had some trouble uploading today, so that will be left for later this week. We had an absolutely fabulous two weeks home in San Diego. The weather was gorgeous throughout, we had lots of time to spend with family and plenty left over for fun activities like the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Sea World, as well as for visiting with friends.

Kellan learned about 50 new words while we were away. His language development is astounding at the moment. One of my favourite moments occurred on our first trip to the beach. As Kellan stepped down into the sand, he squealed, "Snow, snow!". He informed us many times about the snow on his shoes. But his language development being what it is at the moment, he was saying "And, and!" (sand) within minutes. Christmas is still "Pah-puhm", he refers to anything Christmas related as "Pah-puhm" and although he heard us say "Christmas" many thousands of times since the season began, he has obviously chosen his own word for the occasion.

Kellan did really well on the flights both ways. This was his last free flight, as he turns two next month and we've already booked our first full fare ticket home for August. At least we no longer need to worry about whether or not he'll get a seat. On the other hand, we've never paid for him and in our many trips home, even during the busiest of holiday times, we've always managed to come up with a seat. For free. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Our Christmas trip provided more wonderful memories that I can possibly recount here. Kellan had a wonderful time with all of his family (and their puppies!). We are printing out photos this week so that Kellan can have some nice memories to frame and put on his bedroom wall, and also so that he might better remember his grandparents and aunt Amanda between visits.

I hope that everybody had a lovely holiday season and that the New Year is off to a great start. I will post lots of holiday photos later this week.

Kellan and the flowers (in December!)

Home again

There were some brightness issues with the sun and the water here (also a novice using my camera!), but you can see that Kellan and I were enjoying a lovely day out at Seaport Village. We're home again for the holidays and loving every minute. Temperatures are in the 70s and 80s, the sun is shining, and all is well with the world.

Enjoying a winter's day inside

As evidenced here, Kellan would much rather enjoy his snow viewing from inside the house.

Kellan and the snow

Not a great fan. There are lots of "Ah dun!"s and generally grumpy attitude. I don't entirely blame him.

The Lumberjack Look

The Bear Rug

We got a great bear rug for Kellan's room last week. He loves it. These days, if we can't find Kellan, he is almost certainly sitting in his room reading books on the bear rug.

Forget "X-mas"...

Kellan has decided to rename Christmas. I don't think that it has anything to do with his stance on popular religion or the inclusion of all people in the holiday season. I believe that the word "Christmas" simply isn't able to sum up the wonder, excitement, and universal joy that Kellan finds in all things Christmas. From the over-the-top display at the house across the street to the hanging holiday advertisements in our local grocery store, from holiday lights to the decorated tree in Denny's, from the Walmart Santa to a wreath hung on someone's front door, Kellan simply loves Christmas. And so, he has decided that the word for Santa, elves, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, wreaths, and in essence, any holiday themed or related decorations will be --

Pah-puhm

Yes, you heard it here first, "Pah-puhm", the new word for that holiday time that we all love to love. And you know, nothing is quite so wonderful these days as Kellan's absolute joy at having spotted something Christmas, er, Pah-puhm, related, as he runs to me shouting, "Momma! Momma! Pah-puhm!". Who knows, he may just be on to something.