Mobility Calls for Video...

I've been told I haven't posted enough videos lately... I already knew that, but thanks for pointing it out Jessica :)

Here are videos from all of 2010 so far...




Not the most exciting video ever, but it was one of Michael's playdates with his friend RJ (back in January.) They like to just chill together! The video is a little deceptive... RJ could already move... fast. Michael couldn't. (Rj is about 4 months older than Michael.)




This is how the big boys entertain themselves during the baby playdates :) Notice that Kitty Cat is playing drums too.




Scott wanted to play with Play-Doh on his birthday... so we played Play-Doh for well over an hour. Have I mentioned he has an incredible attention span?! So serious, all the time.




And since Michael couldn't play with Play-Doh (you know, all he'd do is eat it,) he played in the jumpy jump. No surprise here, he stopped jumping every time I turned the camera on. At least he was happy the whole time.




The final video for today... taken last night. Michael on the move! Forward this time. That's right, Michael figured out the whole crawling with forward motion thing on Wednesday night and has been fine-tuning since. Still a long way to go with that. It's very spastic and rather slow... but if he sees it and wants it, he can now move forward and grab it. Watch out big brothers, hide your favorite toys and keep the books and choke hazards off the floor!

Dinner in Epcot...

With a rat?!




This was just cool... Remy joined us for dinner. Well, he stopped by anyway.

The Happiest Place on Earth...

Oh, we love Disney World!

This year's trip was a bit more chaotic than past years... you know, something about being away from home with a 6 month old for a week and walking all day long as a group of 7.

We started our vacation with a fun car ride. Scott rode with Grandma and Grandpa the first part of the drive, then we switched and Blaise rode with them. Scott and Blaise both took naps while they were in our car and stayed awake (even though Rush was on talk radio the whole drive) to entertain the grandparents the whole time they were in their car. As we first drove into Orlando, Michael woke up from a nap and I expected a grumpy baby the rest of the drive... but Scott also woke up from his nap and the two of them laughed and laughed and laughed at each other and had a grand ole time. In my opinion, they could not have picked a better way to start our trip :)

Once in Disney, we started in Epcot... Michael was completely overwhelmed within 3 hours of being in the park, so rather than stay for the fireworks, I fed him and sent him back to the hotel with the grandparents (they offered.) He went to bed wonderfully for them and the rest of us stayed for dessert in Norway in then the fireworks. The boys said they didn't like the fireworks, so we left probably half way through.

The next day we were off to Animal Kingdom. We headed straight to the Safari and got to see lots of animals. The boys favorite's are giraffes and there were 2 baby giraffes out, so they were excited about that. Grandma was sure Scott would like It's Tough to be a Bug, which terrified him last year... I told her she could take him in. As soon as we walked into the theater, he had a total panic attack and she walked out with him and waited for us outside. Blaise was pretty scared too and covered his eyes for the 2nd half of the show. Michael was oblivious. He had what he wanted, which was lunch! After that we headed over towards the Festival of the Lion King. We got there early enough for a couple of character greetings before the show. We met Donald Duck and Chip and Dale. Michael liked them, Scott loved them, and Blaise warmed up quickly (though he never got quite as comfortable this year as he did last year.) Then we saw the show, which is basically a circus. Blaise, for the 3rd year in a row, fell asleep! I don't get it. Since Blaise was asleep, Scott got to meet the rabbit's from Bambi after the show. It always amuses me when he meets characters he doesn't know at all and gets all excited about it.

We had our first character meal at the Garden Grill in Epcot after the day in Animal Kingdom. It was a good character meal. It's in my top 2 for favorite character meals. The blueberry buckle was unbeatable- it's making me drool thinking about it a month later (and the rest of the food was good too.) We got to see all the characters (Mickey and pals) at least twice and didn't feel rushed at all.

On to Magic Kingdom... oh wait, first we should note that Scott woke up with a fever in the middle of the night... so, yes, for the 2nd year in a row we got to spend our Disney vacation keeping track of when the last dose of children's tylenol/ibuprofen had been administered. Scott was a trooper and had fun anyway, of course... not going to let some silly fever ruin his trip to see Mickey. (And after last year, we were prepared and already had everything for just such an event packed.) Anyway... Magic Kingdom. Easily Scott and Blaise's favorite place. The most waiting we did all week was the waiting at the gate for 30 minutes plus for the opening show. Blaise's reaction to the opening show (if you've ever seen it, you might be like me and have, "Good morning, good morning..." running through your head at first mention of it) was priceless. Could not be captured with words. He watched intently as the townspeople and the mayor come out and sing, he clapped his hands, he pointed. Then, they pointed out the steam train coming with Mickey and his friends. He looked. He waited. He looked. He SAW them!!!! He kicked, clapped, otherwise flipped out in pure excitement. Totally PRICELESS.

Then we were off to the races... literally.
Such amazing speed walking skills will earn you Dumbo's first flight of the day. Scott was pleased. Blaise was too, though once on Dumbo, it's really not his favorite thing. We figured out by the end of the week (yes, we're that slow) that it might be the height that makes him nervous... at least moving the elephant up increased the anxiety. And we discovered that carousel's are okay, as long as he is sitting on the bench waving to everyone standing around and not up on a horse. Scott on the other hand, still loves being up on the horse and the bigger, the higher the better.


Fast-forward to later in the day... lollipops to entertain, while we wait for the parade... oh, wait, they eat lollipops slowly, so they had them for the whole parade too.


The parade was fun... we were greeted by 3 cheerful characters from the parade. First the Genie came right up to Blaise. To B's credit... he was looking at something else, Genie saw him, Genie (you know, regular man body, with BIG BLUE head, who B doesn't know at all) came running right up to him. I've never seen him move so quickly backward up over a curb in his life. He was a bit scared, to say the least. He watched the rest of the parade from the safety of my arms. Then one of Cinderella's step sisters came up to Scott and asked him to share his lollipop with her... or if he had another one for her... he looked at her like she was crazy. (I wonder what he would have done if she'd reached for it?!) Then Tweedle Dee, or was it Tweedle Dum, came and shook hands with Scott. He was a little unsure of that one, but hey, it's a character right?


Okay, we'll speed up the summary with what I uploaded pictures of, because it's getting late...


In Epcot we got to meet a face character that the boys know! They were quite excited to see her. Mary Poppins asked about Scott's Nemo sticker and Scott of course, wouldn't say anything, but Blaise- have I mentioned that Blaise has learned how to jump well with both feet off the ground in the past couple of months? Blaise got very excited and jumped down the street away from Mary Poppins, saying something like, "Yes, we did find Nemo..." Mary Poppins said, "And how many spoonfuls of sugar have you had today?" They were very cute with her... Mary Poppins is a movie we've watched (multiple times.)



Characters are still the highlight... obviously. Here's a picture of our whole group from our favorite character meal: breakfast at the Cape May Cafe.


What happens when you take a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 6 month old to Disney World? They get tired. Blaise fell asleep on the bus between parks. We managed to get him into the stroller without waking him up. Michael woke up when we got off the bus. Scott was riding on the back of the stroller. Minutes later, he was tipping over! By the way, he weighs a ton... I got to carry him like this for about an hour. I really like this carrier and I'm so glad I made it and brought it with us- totally worth it.

Now I'm tired and haven't told probably half the stories from our trip, but it was Disney World. It was fun and we're already asking ourselves when we'll go back. Scott says, when he's 5... we'll see.

Worth a Chuckle

We are spending the afternoon playing in the living room. I don't know exactly what Scott and Blaise, or should I say Peter Pan and Peter Pan, as they've christened themselves, are doing exactly, but I just heard Blaise say, "No! I'm not dumb!" Well, that's what I heard, upon further consideration, what he actually said was, "No! I'm not done!" My misinterpretations of his speech never cease to amuse.

Meanwhile, Michael is busy playing on his tummy. Which he does often and enjoys, even though he rarely lets anyone outside our immediate family know. When we have company or are away from home, he's much more interested in just being held constantly. So I put him close to the middle of the blanket with a handful of toys, just out of reach...


And before long he's reached a toy one way or another...


And he's doing some serious pushups! Check out the tongue action, he's trying as hard as he possibly can to look like Blaise (not that he really needs to try much at all.)


But alas... still no FORWARD progress. Though if I don't say so myself, a good deal of backward progress. Yes, we're still working on that crawling thing... one of these days.

Oh, and for those who are waiting... I have NOT forgotten about posting about Disney World, it's coming, um, someday, hopefully within the next week or so.

Happy Birthday Dear Scott...

Scott turned 4 today. All day yesterday as we were talking about "tomorrow" being his birthday, I was remembering where I was 4 years ago. Oh the memories :)


Our 4 year old boy is still a big guy... weighing in at 39lbs (76%) and standing 42 inches high (85%). He had his check-up last week and did get one shot. He was quite a trooper. I think the nurse was a bit impressed. He decided he wanted it in his leg, tensed up big time as she gave it to him and relaxed completely instantly, when she was finished. Never said a word about it. Until we got home and he reminded me that I said he could have his last Winnie-the-Pooh lollipop from Disney World.

Scott still loves to be outside... sometimes he just wants to run like crazy all over the backyard, sometimes he sits and draws with chalk, or plays with his trucks, but usually he wants to play ball, and frequently it's baseball. We are now progressing towards running the bases after batting (which is why he got a set of bases for his birthday... a story in itself) and playing catch (with his glove he got for Christmas.) He's getting better at batting and is doing more tracking the ball than swinging and counting on the pitcher to make contact. He still gets totally stressed out after a few misses or after something doesn't go his way- still the same Scotty Boy we love. He has gotten much better at handling himself, when he gets frustrated, but he's still got a long way to go. His other motor skills this year are running and using his arms, rather than running with his arms out flapping in the wind and hopping on one foot, which he's improved to hopping on either foot (he's especially proud of these skills.)



He's also been working on small motor skills and in the past 3 months has really gotten into writing. Yes, the boy who would spell his name for anyone, but would NOT even attempt to write it will now write his name... and just about anything else you ask him to write (letter by letter.) Waiting for meals in Disney World he spent a lot of time just writing letters all over the kids menus with Grandma (she's probably a biased reference, but she was impressed.) Now that he can write letters (or rather, is willing to write letters) he's been writing all his own Thank You notes and sometimes can copy what I have written, which is a lot easier on me than sitting there and telling him after every letter what comes next.

Scott is still a book-worm. He keeps very busy most of the day, but does love to be read to. He's started doing some reading. Mostly memorization at this stage. I've been having him help me read, which means he gets to read 2 or 3 words... so he knows a handful of sight words well (the, and, I, a, big.) He knows all the letter sounds and is starting to try and figure out phonics some. I've got a book from the library we are starting to work through. He's very interested right now, so we'll go with it. Meanwhile, my brain is occupied trying to figure out his learning patterns and what will work for him for homeschooling, when the time comes (what an abundance of materials to choose from!)

He's a sweet little boy most of the time. He went through a very aggressive stage for a few weeks in the fall, but seems to have come out of it for the most part. He likes to take care of people... yes, he's a firstborn, he likes to be in charge and boss people around (particularly Blaise.) He has an imaginary friend, Picky, he tests a lot of things out on her. Her parents both work all the time, so he has to fill in for her daddy sometimes. When she's not here, Scott makes frequent phone-calls to Picky to say I love you. He always talks in this really cute, matter-of-fact, I'm important, tone of voice. Oh to hang on to these cute days forever.

This morning, when he woke up and I told him, "Happy Birthday!" He told me that no, it wasn't his birthday yet- he didn't have any cake :) He's had his cake and is asleep after informing Blaise and Daddy that he's 4 now and he still can sleep in this bed and, "even though I'm 4 now, this shirt still fits on me." Wow, I love that 4 year old boy and I thank God everyday for the blessing his is in our lives... our helper, our joy, and yes, the source of plenty of struggles :) We love you Scott.

6 Months!

Baby Michael is 6 months old already! Can you believe it?

We were actually in Disney World for his 6 month birthday... so I'm going to write this now, about a week later than the date stamp says it is :) But here's a picture from the day he turned 6 months (and I suppose this will have to serve as his Sunday picture for that week too.)


He's grown up so much already! We won't know his official stats until next week, when we go for his check-up, but I'm guessing he's taller than his brothers were and weighs less than Scott did and more than Blaise. He's a big boy, already wearing 12 month clothes, comfortably (which was nice, since the Mickey outfits we had fit him for Disney.)

Physically, he's a strong little guy, like his brothers were. He can sit up and play for a long time. He enjoys being on his tummy and is close to crawling... but not yet. He scoots around a little bit and sometimes uses his head and knees. He can get up on his knees... he's just got a little coordinating to figure out before he "crawls away!" He can roll from tummy to back, but hasn't figured out how to roll back yet (he's close there too... he stretches and arches his back way way back when he's on his back and it's just a matter of time before he accidentally flips himself back onto his tummy and realizes what he's done.)

Oh, and he grows a ton of hair... fast. Here it was a week before our Disney trip...

And then we cut it... he looks like a whole different boy now. We've gotten pretty used to it already though and it grows so fast, it's already back over his ears and needing another trim!


Michael is a happy boy... most of the time. He loves people and wants attention. It was amazing in Disney how he wanted to interact with whoever happened to be beside him (unless he was tired or hungry.) He made friends on EVERY bus and in EVERY line. He doesn't really like to play by himself and wants to be entertained much more than either of his brothers did. Fortunately, he doesn't care too much who does the entertaining, me or the brothers... as long as the brothers aren't being completely wild!

Food... he reminds me of Scott with his passion for food. He's very good at eating Cheerios. That was all I would let him have before Disney... baby food is just not convenient enough for me to want to have to have it in Disney World. He survived and got to try a few new things in Disney. We suspect his rash back in November was from milk. After I cut milk out, it cleared up and it doesn't seem to flair up with cheese or anything. I was thinking about having a little cereal and milk just to see if the whole thing had passed yet, but... some unnamed grandparent and daddy types gave him some of a napoleon and a taste of cheesecake and probably a few other delicacies behind my back in Disney and he did develop some minor spots... so I'll hold off on my bowl of cold cereal for a while longer. That said, Grandma did buy him some banana puffs, which he loves. And now that we are home he's into the sweet potato and the apples that I cooked before we left in our fancy new babyfood machine Michael (I mean I) got for Christmas. Yes, he's going to be a good eater.

We are so thankful that this little man has joined our family and for all the ways he challenges us and helps us all grow with him. Thank you Jesus for baby Michael :)

Out Of and Into

Michael is finally growing out of 3 naps a day. You would think having a baby who sleeps 3 times a day would be a good thing, but for whatever reason, I've always preferred the 2 nap stage- I can never remember to put them down for the third nap anyway. He's growing up so fast! He's even eaten 3 Cheerios now- seems to me like a very weird first food, but we're going to skip cereal altogether this time (oh, I'll probably make him some oatmeal, but it'll be the real thing, not baby cereal) and we're trying to hold him off on solid food until post-Disney World. I figured he could play with the Cheerios (I only give him 4) and then he wouldn't feel so left out at meal times. It's worked like a charm so far- he was the last one at the table at dinner tonight and still happy! Plus, he's getting to work on figuring out his pincher grasp.

Scott is growing into the "why?" stage. I think it actually started a week or 2 ago, but I only picked up on it a couple of days ago. Why are there a lot of days until Disney World? Why did Daddy help setup at church today? Why does Michael go poop in his diaper? Why? Why? Why? I usually turn it into a question back to him and then he says, "I don't remember." For the record though... there are not a lot of days until Disney World- 13 and counting. Cullen started packing today.

Christmastime is Here

Okay, so it's actually already past. Which Scott is quick to point out... yesterday as we were driving in the evening he saw some Christmas lights still up, and informed us that they needed to put their Christmas tree away because Christmas is over. I told him all about how I used to leave up the decorations until the end of January, just because I like them so much it's hard to put them away after such a short time. Now we have lots more stuff in our house and little hands to try to keep away from things... January 1st is a good time to put everything away.

So backtracking... we had a nice December. Had our birthday party for Jesus... but didn't take enough pictures (it was busy). We had initially had 16 preschoolers RSVP for our party (that's a lot by the way.) Sadly, a bunch of them got sick that week and a couple ended up heading out of town a little early... so we had 7 at our party and it was perfect. The kids had a great time and it was easy to give them each a candle on their cupcake. Cullen (the architect) made a really sweet stable scene so we could play pin the star in the sky over the stable (okay, now I'm hitting myself in the head, I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it!) The game was fun. The first little guy pretty much got the star dead center over the stable where I had said was the goal. We think he could see through the hat. Our ground rule was that those under 2 didn't need to be blindfolded... but Sarah wanted to wear the hat. Blaise refused to play at all- no idea why? Scott, not surprisingly refused to wear the blindfold (it was just a winter hat, southerners would call it a tobogan) as did one other boy. We collected birthday presents, in the form of food items, for a local children's home. The boys and I might start volunteering there regularly soon, we had a nice time delivering the gifts the following Monday (see the blog about Monk-chips.)

After the party, we had an empty stable, with an empty manger, and lots of stars in the sky (well mostly strung along the top of the stable like Christmas lights.) We spent the rest of the days leading up to Christmas making people to fill the stable out of footprints. We made angels, shepherds, sheep, Mary and Joseph, and we used Michael's footprint to make the baby Jesus. It was really cute... and I'm mad at myself for not taking a picture... hopefully it will survive the summer in the attic and I can get a picture next year.

We took a road trip one night to Riverbanks Zoo to see the lights before Christmas. It was fun, but we're not sure it was really worth the drive there and back. The lights were nice, Scott got to ride the carousel and the boys got to see Santa. It was really funny, because they are used to Disney Character greetings, who don't talk to you... they just wave, give high-fives, hugs and blow kisses. Scott and Blaise were both a little startled and confused when Santa wanted to talk to them, and actually expected them to talk back. Scott wouldn't even tell Santa that the thing he most wanted for Christmas, the only thing he asked us for, was cookies. (Apparently he has an obsession with cookies.) The trip to the zoo was kind of odd, because most of the animals were not out. We saw the lions. They were sleeping. Then we also got to see the bears, they weren't sleeping, but it was kind of dark. Next year, assuming we don't have a zoo membership, we'll find a neighborhood much closer and just drive through and look at lights.

Cullen's parents arrived on the 23rd and we had a very relaxing, pleasant visit with them. Grandpa took Scott and Blaise, by himself to Harbor Freight (a cheap hardware store). They came home with real tape measures and spent the rest of the day on Christmas Eve measuring everything... Blaise said, "20 pounds" every time he measured anything. The tape measures have now been removed to the shed for when they work out there with Daddy... Blaise cut his hand on his somehow... and for some reason, he doesn't notice when he's dripping blood all over the house (he's a boy?) For the record, it was 2 minor cuts, but they bled a fair amount until I saw them and put bandaids on them. We went to church for Christmas Eve and although things ran a little late the boys all did well.

Christmas day, they woke bright and early, they rushed for their toys... no, just kidding. Michael woke bright and early (he was adjusting to the crib,) and disturbed his big brothers who were excited enough they actually woke up. We brought them into the living room and Scott observed that there was stuff in his stocking... not sure he was really pleased about it at that point. After reading the real story of Christmas and remembering what the real gift is, Scott and Blaise both enjoyed opening their presents this year... no one had to chase Blaise around and "help" him open presents. Michael... well most of his presents got opened in his sleep... and I don't think he minded. I finally got my wish and we slowed down and opened things one at a time. I like the chance to see what everyone is getting and to get excited about handing out gifts.

We had a quiet day at home testing out all the new things and just having fun playing together. Then we made a really nice dinner for ourselves. Yum.

Saturday we headed over to my parents new house for Christmas with my family. It's funny how we tend to fight over who gets to pass out gifts first. Dinner was yummy there too and I was impressed with how unpacked my parents managed to get in less than a week.

All in all, Christmas was a wonderful time with family this year... the only ones we missed were Cullen's brother and family. (And I missed my Grandma lots.)

Our Christmas Card

Merry Christmas
Luke 2:4-20 “... she gave birth to her firstborn...”

Happy Birthday Jesus

We are having a birthday party for Jesus, complete with cake and presents this year. Wonder how you can give a
present to Jesus? After our party, we’ll be taking all the gifts to a children’s home nearby. As Jesus says “A new
command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

To celebrate his birthday and bring a smile to the face of our God who came to us as a little baby and really did have a
birthday just like we do, think of a way you can love others as Jesus loves you this Christmas. We wish you a very
joyful celebration and pray that the guest of honor blesses you abundantly in 2010!

(On the back)
2009 News from Fort Mill, SC

· We are officially “Mouse-heads!” ~Disney World January 2009~
· Scott turned 3 - February 16, 2009
· There was a big birthday celebration (for Cullen) with the Keen’s- the boys love their cousins.
· Cullen is now a licensed architect, still with RPA and enjoying the work.
· Blaise turned 2 - May 7, 2009
· Our 5th Anniversary - June 12, 2009, was spent in Maryland with family.
· Introducing MICHAEL JUSTICE KEEN Born July 24, 2009
· October- more travel for a long over-due visit to NY. Fall in NY = apples!
· Now we’re in the midst of memory making with our 3 little boys this holiday season.
For more detailed updates, see our blog - http://thekeens.blogspot.com

Cookie

Lately Scott has been giving out nicknames. He calls Grandma "Marshmallow," and himself, "Cookie." Blaise is also "Cookie." Suddenly Cullen and I found ourselves being called "Peanut." Oh, and Michael is "Peanut" too. Then when he was talking to Grandpa they added, "Cheerio" to the list of names, so that's Grandpa. At Jesus' birthday party he called one of his friend "Cookie" and I had to reassure the little guy that that was a good thing.

This morning as we were eating breakfast I was talking to Michael and called him something silly (I forget what) and Scott said, "No. He's Peanut." This whole conversation reminded me of when I was little. Jessica was "Peanut" and I was always quite jealous of her for having a fun nickname. I think officially my nickname was Dingbat and Mike was Wingnut (though really Mike was Mikey Boy.)

We have a few fun names we use for our little Michael on occasion. I started out calling him "boo." It happened because I often play peek-a-boo with him during diaper changes (even from the first week)- he's just so happy and sweet during diaper changes. Being Disney fans, "Boo" doesn't really work for a nickname for a little boy. Cullen was quick to point out that "Boo" is a girl. My opinion on that one- whatever, "Boo" is a very neutral nickname. Anyway, "Boo" has evolved into "Bug-a-boo." And I also call him "Buck-a-roo" occasionally... I guess I have a thing for the "oo" sound? From the beginning (beginning being the day we decided we would name our next son Michael) we were set on avoiding Mikey Boy as a nickname, though we do catch ourselves calling him Michael Boy sometimes... it just slips out, you know we have Scotty Boy, and then it happened that we also have Blaisey Boy (okay, that one is just a little odd, but we do use it.) It is also our intention to avoid Mike... we know it's inevitable, but we don't have to call him that. It will be fun to see what we're calling him a couple of years from now. Anyway, here's a picture of Peanut. This was actually before Christmas, he was helping me with laundry... originally he was sitting up in the corner of the basket talking to me, but he was playing and managed to wiggle into the bottom.


Scott and Blaise started out with many nicknames too... I know I've posted about it before and maybe I'll find the post and link it (but realistically, probably not.) The ones that have stuck for Scott are Scotty Boy, and his Grandma calls him Charlie Brown (and sometimes just Charlie.) The ones that have stuck for Blaise are B and we do call him Blaisey Boy sometimes. Buddy and Dude (with the prefix little or big) are used interchangeably for all 3 of them. Here the the 2 big dudes.

Now on to try and post at least some of our December adventures... we'll see how far I get.