Fall Festing

After December, October is probably my favorite month of the year. The leaves are changing, the weather is generally perfect for being outside, and it is still light until dinner time. This October has been a bit colder than usual (with the exception of the first weekend that was about a million degrees) but we have still enjoyed our fair share of outside time. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last week as we played at the tire park, had our mom's group fall fest, and carved our pumpkin. Hopefully this weekend we'll make it to Gaver to enjoy a bit more of fall! Plus we have Halloween on Thursday. Get ready for some more pictures of our cute butterfly and lamb!

Kel's Two Year Appointment

When I take Kellen in to the Pediatric Center I am surprised that they still smile when they see us coming. When they called his name, Kellen said quite loudly, "I want to go home." They laughed. I groaned on the inside as I thought to myself this is not going to go well. Yeah, I was right. Kellen cried the entire appointment with the exception of a few quick distractions. He cried in sentences about keeping his clothes and shoes on, and then, once we forced them off, he cried about putting them back on, so at least they were impressed with his ability "to string words together." After he was measured and weighed, he actually convinced me to help him put some things back on in the hopes that it would calm him down. It didn't. Oh well. Maybe we got out of there in less than 30 minutes, two shots and all, despite a pretty thorough examination because they were done listening to us!

Kellen's two year stats:
Weight: 25 pounds, 6 ounces (19%)
Height: 34 3/4 inches (58%)
Head Circumference: 49.5 cm (74%)

The good news is Kellen is growing. He grew a little over two inches over the last six months and is a nice healthy height for his age. His head is large, but not abnormally so and has been in the 74% three of his six charted appointments. The weight area is a small concern. Kellen gained slightly more than a pound over the last six months. He dropped from the 51st percentile to the 19th percentile. Kellen is a mover and is rarely still. He also is a really picky eater these days. We are going to keep an eye on things to make sure he doesn't keep dropping in weight percentiles but for now we aren't going to worry too much.

The highlight of the appointment for me (and Kellen I think) was when Dr. Burke tried to look in to his mouth to check his throat and teeth. She put in the tongue depressor and Kellen clamped down. He then smiled a mischievous grin as she tried to get him to open up so she could get it out. I would say he kept that mouth clamped down for over a minute! He is a pretty determined little guy! Dr. Burke pronounced him independent, a talker, and healthy. We'll follow up after his iron blood work next weekend to see what his current situation with anemia is looking like, but for now we are pretty happy with his health.

Buying Pumpkins

I still have high hopes that we'll make it out to Gaver Farm for the fall festival this year but so far, no dice.The first weekend in October it was in the 90's, the second weekend it poured, and this weekend we had Kellen's birthday festivities. In case we don't make it before Halloween, we went to the local farm store and picked out some pumpkins and a mum with my mom yesterday afternoon. The kids probably had almost as much fun as going out to the pumpkin patch. And it was definitely closer than Mt. Airy!

Kellen walked with a purpose to find the perfect pumpkin.

Noelle preferred to get up high to check out a few at a time.

How about this one? I think it looks just fine, Noelle!

Hmm, no. I think there is a better one somewhere over there.

The prized pumpkin. And chrysanthemum.

We did it!

Roar!

Kellen likes most things. He loves dinosaurs and trains though so I decided that we would throw him a small dinosaur party for his 2nd birthday. I am always super impressed by my friends who can handle parties for everyone we know. I am not one of those people when it comes to kid events, so we limited Kel's party to the two year old crowd and their families. We were also lucky to have my mom in town to help out. So from 10-12 this morning we went down to the tire park to have a very low-key event with seven other two year olds. I served finger foods only as I did not want to deal with utensils, so on the menu were grapes, strawberries, apple slices, baby carrots, cheddar cheese slices, pretzel chips, and dinosaur-shaped finger sandwiches.

The weather decided to cooperate and everyone ran around on the tires, slides, swings, and balance beams. Noelle entertained herself with the two big brothers that hit the party, and Kellen played with his littler friends, including two other guys that turned two this week. With the exception of everyone gathering to sing happy birthday and grab their cupcake or rice crispie treat, the kids and parents were all over the place and it was pretty much just a glorified play date. This was perfect for us and we had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came out to play. I hope all the kids got in a nice long nap after all the running around they did!

 

The Big 0-2

My baby boy isn't a baby anymore. Today Kellen Matthew turned 2 years old. It really does seem like yesterday when we were in the hospital trying to get him to come out. I still remember very clearly how quickly he entered the world once labor started, as well as how fearful I was that he was going to be the hardest baby ever as he wailed the entire night we were in the hospital. They say babies don't really need to eat anything for a few days - boy did K not get that message! But here we are two years later and thankfully my fears were unfounded and we made it through the baby phase without much trouble with my little guy. The early toddler phase has been hit or miss as it generally is for most little ones of this age, but I think it is safe to say that Kellen has a big piece of my heart, even when he is throwing a tantrum on the floor!

So for those that don't see Kellen very often, what is my guy like on a daily basis?

Kellen loves his mommy, sister, daddy, Ms. Rose, grandparents and extended family, and friends. He loves to talk and speaks in sentences and has a large vocabulary for a little guy. I like to joke this is the only way he can get any attention in this house of Type A talkers! He also loves to sleep. But really only in his crib or maybe a pack-and-play. He loves to go to bed or take naps when we are home in his crib. At daycare or in the car this is less likely, but I can appreciate a boy that loves his bed!

Kellen loves trains, dinosaurs, Noelle's toys, books, and cars. If it moves, he is interested. He likes the tricycle but is not quite big enough to move by himself on it. In fact, he remains my little love and is definitely a few pounds and probably an inch or two smaller than Noelle was at two. We'll go to the doctor Monday and get his official stats.

What does Kel not love? Kellen does not really love to eat what I want him to take down. He highly prefers breakfast and snacks at this time of his life, although will almost always pick fruit or yogurt over anything else. Meat? Yes, mom I know I loved this steak last week but this week, no thanks. Peas. Sure I loved them so much I stuck one up my nose a few weeks ago as I ravenously consumed a bowl full in 3 minutes but I'm off them right now. Carrots? Well if you cook them with some maple syrup I'll guess I'll have a bunch. Even pizza isn't a sure thing as he asked for it for his birthday and then only ate two bites tonight. I am told this is pretty normal for a toddler. It is weird to me because his sister has pretty much always eaten everything unless it is pretty spicy but he has been pickier since the beginning so I guess some kids are born pickier than others. We continue to offer what we are having for dinner and as long as he is gaining weight he won't get other options. I guess that is just how we roll, buddy. Sorry! I am comforted by the fact that I was a picky kid for years and now eat pretty much everything so hopefully Kel's palate will be nice and big when he is a bit older!

Probably my favorite (most of the time) thing about Kellen is that his favorite thing to say is "Hug Me." This is his cute way of asking you to pick him up and hold him. It's pretty hard to reject someone that is asking you for a hug! And it pretty much summarizes Kel at age 2. Smart, chatty, slightly manipulative and devious, and a lover not a fighter. I can't wait to see what the next year brings for him and love watching him grow and come out of his shell! Happy birthday, Kellen Matthew!

Fire Station Fun

When I got home from the race, my daughter was awake and my son soon followed. I guess real naps weren't in the cards today! We took advantage of having some time in the afternoon and headed over to the local fire station open house. The kids loved getting fire helmets, "driving" the fire truck, meeting Sparky, and watching the demonstration of how they use tools to get people out of a crashed car. It was a really cute event! Hopefully when we go see Uncle Kevin he'll show us his fire station and trucks in even more detail!

 

Q-Tip Skeletons

On Friday we had some friends over for a post-nap craft playdate. On the docket was q-tip skeletons. They were super cute and I am so impressed with how good Noelle and her friends are getting with crafts. Here is Noelle and her skeleton!

I should have taken a picture post glue drying, but since I didn't you'll just need to believe that Noelle's Halloween creation looks awesome. We are getting excited for Halloween here!

7.1

Today I ran my first race post kids. The last time I ran for a time other than what mapmyrun or the Nike running ap had to tell me I was about a month out from finding out we were pregnant with Noelle. That race was a half marathon, and I was lucky to have a great friend from graduate school, Jennie, along every step of the way. That race was hard but we did it in good time. For this race, I was running with a bit more purpose and I was solo for my leg. My colleagues and I had banded together to run and raise money for the CTY staff scholarship fund (by the way, if you still want to donate, let me know - it is never too late!). And I am in better shape. I don't run long distances since I have to squeeze things in between four days of work a week, two kids, and the rest of our lives, but I do run between 2-4.5 miles about three times a week. I set a goal of an hour for my 7.1 mile leg, It was optimistic since I hadn't run more than 5 miles straight in 5 years, but since I generally maintain an 8 minute mile on the treadmill and have also done some interval training, I was pretty optimistic I could hit the 60 minute mark if I ran hard.

Despite the skies pouring down on Maryland for the past three days, or maybe because there just wasn't any rain left in the skies, nothing more than a drizzle came down this morning. With temperatures in the mid-60's, and my leg predominantly flat or even downhill, everything was looking in my favor. Well everything but the organization of the race! We couldn't get in the parking lots this morning after sitting on 95 and Russell Street for almost an hour so I had to drive up to JHU for my leg. I did get a spot but had no way back to my car after the race. And the relay exchange points weren't very organized either. But I found Joshu, got our chip, and took off. About 56 minutes later I saw Andrew and handed things off to him. Our goal for our relay was 5 hours and we crushed it at 4 hours 22 minutes. My 7:55 minute pace definitely helped bring us in under our goal! I was really proud of our team and my run, and was pretty excited at how cool Noelle thought my medal was!

Here is our group at the end of the race. We were a bit cold (and a little bitter that the free beer at the end was limited to Michelob Ultra or Bud Light!) but we were a happy group. Go Team Boyd!

Next race up the December Jingle Run. Looking forward to a fun 5K with my mom friends!

Apple Dinner

Our fall themed mom dinner was based around apples and I met up with 8 other moms on Saturday night to enjoy an apple feast. It was the first mom group dinner at someone else's home, and I was glad for the chance to make something other than the entrée (and not to have to clean my house for visitors!) We had an excellent meal and despite the conversation getting heavy at times (wills; getting locked out of the house while our kids sleep soundly inside; Catonsville crime; the real estate market) I had a nice, relaxing evening out.

We started the evening with red or white wine and two appetizers that were both delicious. The first was a pastry with brie, apples, and nuts. The second was a meatball with an apple glaze. The pictures don't do justice to this meal as I was being quick and fighting some evening glare!

I made the salad for the evening and made my first homemade dressing. The salad was greens, julienned apples, walnuts, pomegranate seeds, and goat cheese and the dressing was an apple cinnamon vinaigrette. I thought it was pretty yummy and it looked pretty despite my lack of plating skills. Iron Chef would mark me down in that point category for sure!

Our main course and sides were pretty starch heavy. We had a harvest macaroni cheese for our entrée which consisted of noodles, cheesy goodness, apples, butternut squash, onions and brussel sprouts. It was fantastic. One side was a wild rice with apples and the other was a sweet potato apple casserole. There was also bacon on the side which I clearly helped myself too. Bacon makes everything better, especially mac and cheese!

We finished dinner up with galettes. One was plain apple and the other also had craisins. Both were great, especially with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

As always our themed dinner remain one of my favorite mom events. I love the extended time with other moms to chat and relax, and experiencing the different foods is always fun too. In November we are doing a tapas event themed to different countries and I am sure that will be another successful event. I can't wait! I probably should stop with all of these food related mom events though since my pants are getting tighter and tighter. Oh well!