2011, really?

I cannot believe it's already 2011! It seems like last year flew by more than I can recall any other year doing. With Kieran in the NICU 2.5 months and then a blurry few months after his homecoming, I pretty much lost out on spring and summer went by in the blink of an eye. Ah well, such is life with two little ones.

Looking back to last January, I remember this week in 2010 being so exciting as Josh and I were about to find out the sex of our second baby. I thought I would be completely content with a boy or girl. Since I don't have a sister I would have loved to see that dynamic, especially with the two close in age, but I also knew that Josh and his sister, two years apart, have always been close and hoped that could be the case as well. Well you all know how the ultrasound turned out ;) We have a lovely little man in our midst and we just couldn't be happier. He fits into our family so perfectly, and the bond that Kieran and Maia share is so very evident to all who see them together. Today we got home from dinner out and Josh opened up the back car doors to see them staring at each other, each with enormous grins on their faces. You could literally feel the love - aww! I just found this picture of them in my Photobucket from June...so sweet, aren't they?

Speaking of Kieran a bit more, he is an absolute blast right now! He's made a ton of physical advances in the past few weeks. He's rolling around to get places, so we try to leave him a large space to move about, and last week I discovered him starting to pull up on things! After a few weeks of encouragement, he is now clapping, and he's been 'dancing' for awhile, too! When a song comes on that he likes, he can be seen bopping along, moving his body ever so slightly to the beat. It's so cute!

He's still signing milk, and hasn't added any new signs to his repertoire, though we are working on "more", "all done", "eat" for solids and "drink" for sippy cup time. He's more verbal as of late, too - we've heard him say "dadadadada" and variations of "hey" and "hee" are favorites as well. Maia will get right in his face when he chats and babytalks to him to encourage him to talk, saying things like, "Kee-win, say mama! Say mama!" Such a little mother hen she is!

Lastly, I always say I'm going to talk about Kieran's food journey/babyled weaning, and I never do (but I still will!) so for now, here are some fun food pictures of him eating a brussel sprout. Last week he tried brussel sprouts, walleye, salmon and chicken - and he loved them all! I'm constantly wowed by how much he can do without teeth - he is such a fantastic eater yet he still has zero teeth!

Note the demolished sprout..."What do I do now, mom?"