A.B. Kagledom

Based on the number of posts the week before we left, it should now be clear that I find it impossible to have more than a few things going on at once. Moral of the story: having something due at work and taking care of the boys and preparing for a trip all while being deceptive is hard work. Our vacation, though fun, marks the end of secret trips until Matthew and I are retired old farts.

Adlai's abilities seem to have exploded over the last couple of weeks. He now reaches, grabs, and manipulates objects with five-month-old-Kagle-boy-like precision, he can sit slouched over for a while (if he is focused on the object in front of him), he grabs his feet while on his back and tries to use them to sit up (a great abdominal workout but not a very successful plan as he almost always falls to one side). Adlai, it turns out, enjoys being in WARM water (not cold) and does not enjoy being splashed by his big splashy brother. Alas, he doesn't hold a grudge, the other day he put his arms around Simon and opened his mouth slightly and placed it on Simon's cheek. He didn't pucker up but it was pretty clear the action was intended to be a kiss (his first).

Simon aka "Cold Water Lover Splashy Boy", also made a developmental leap over the weekend. Last night he said he was writing "letters" to his friends. He'd rip a page off of the pad of paper, write something on it, fold it up and put it in a bucket "to mail." I looked over at one point to find that he was actually writing letters on the pages (the ABC kind). Get it? Writing LETTERS. He said "I'm writing my name, 'S I M O N'" as he wrote this...

S...i..m

He's been fascinated by reading recently and, just this past week, started to connect letters and their sounds. "Mmmmmm Mama!" "Hhhhhh Hava!" "SSSSsssss Simon!" As with most things, if you push, Simon stops enjoying the activity and regresses so we have not pushed him to read outside of buying him a Blue's Clue's activity book to play with and renting a Word's World video to watch. I find it particularly fascinating that his desire to read seems so strong. I really thought of reading as one of those things that kids had to be taught in school, you know, by a professional.

Here are some visual highlights of our trip...

Simon built "eggs and sausage" out of candy

Simon rocked every chair he passed at this restaurant

Adlai on the plane

Aunt Judy and Uncle Dave gave Simon this inflated penguin to play with in the pool. He named it "Ducky" and carried it around as his "friend" for the rest of the trip.

Adlai and Grandmother having some oatmeal by the pool

Simon and Grandfather in the water

While in Arizona, the camera always seemed to be in the bag that wasn't with us. Highlights of the Matthew Birthday Tour included:

• A very fun tour of the Cerreta Candy Factory (where Simon made "sausage and eggs" out of chocolate and pretzels)


• A very hot tour of the Mystery House which has a great story but will be less creepy when the owner is no longer living in the place


• A trip to a kachina store in Scottsdale followed by a break at a great ice cream parlor


• Some very nice meals (with the kids, and even though we kept them awake way past their bedtimes, they were very well behaved)


• A failed trip to a wild west town (it turned out to be closed)


• A failed trip to the Wells Fargo Museum (it was closed) with a walk around downtown Phoenix


• Lunch with Great Grandpa Ewing (Hava's Mom's Dad), Aunt Judy, Uncle Dave and Cousin Laryssa


• Lots of swimming and eating of the enormous birthday cake


• Poor Matthew coming down with a cold

and....

The Boppy Photo Shoot!