Ah, the early morning

Last night was not the greatest in the Kieran-sleeping front, and it was all the more unfortunate because Josh had to be at church by 7 this morning. So, when he got up at 6:15, I decided to also give up on the sleeping thing and enjoy a quiet house until Ayden and Kieran got up. (Kieran, of course, threw in the towel around 6 and is now sleeping like the proverbial baby. Gotta love it!)

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of Ayden's latest adventures with a few comments about Kieran thrown in.

This is a picture of Ayden and his friend Malia. Malia's family has become dear friends of ours. Amanda, her mom, and I get together fairly regularly, and her dad Dan is another pastor at our church. He and Josh spend a lot of time together "talking church." Anyway, Ayden loves their family and their three kids, as do we. So, Amanda, Malia (4), and Jacob (1.5), Ayden, Kieran, and I got together earlier this week at the mall. The mall has an arcade room which thrills Malia and Ayden to no end. Here they are enjoying the motorcycle games.


Ayden LOVES wrestling and bouncing around on the bed. His favorite game is for Josh or I to lay at the foot of the bed while he goes up by the pillows. Then, he jumps on us (as he's doing in this picture), and we pick him up and throw him back to the head of the bed. This game is usually instigated by him saying, "throw me, mommy" or "tackle (i.e., tickle) me" which usually results in him also being thrown.


Ayden loves anything that has buttons and is electronic. So, cell phones and computers are some of his favorite things. Thank-goodness for the Sesame street computer game (or peeung bame, as Ayden says) and child-friendly web sites. Here's Ayden sitting at his table in the kitchen, playing along with Elmo and Big Bird.


Kieran continues to be a joyful addition to our family. He's becoming more alert all the time and is starting to fall into a wake-sleep rhythm that holds consistent for at least several days at a time. He's growing so quickly! Some days I look at him and think he's grown by leaps and bounds over night!

I love watching Kieran and Ayden together. Ayden does a great job with his little brother. If Kieran is crying, he wants to know "whats the ma-ung" (what's the matter) and he's always ready to offer him his "pacifi-ung"(pacifier). (Ayden doesn't quite have the "er" sound down yet, so it's substituted with the sound -ung.) Anyway, here's a typical picture of their interactions together. Sorry it's kind of dark. Not sure if I forgot to turn on lights or what:)