New boots!

 Because of all the snow, thaws and rain; Kieran needed some boots so he could get out again and enjoy the warmer weather. He loves the puddles, rocks and mud and we love him in his bright green frog boots!

 Throwing rocks into the puddles... a favorite past time for these late winter days.

 "Dirt is so awesome!"

 My new favorite Kieran portrait- what a handsome little devil ;)

 Mud on a shovel, or...

 a phone?!

 Grandpa may need to invest in some more pea gravel... Kieran threw a lot of it into the gazing pool this past weekend!

 Going down the slide

After a full afternoon of getting dirty, Kieran helps grandma clean up... or maybe he's practicing his curling skills ;)

Two-year painting

I visited a friend's home this past weekend and noticed a couple of beautiful pieces of art in the living room- she informed me they were painted by her daughter at age two and three. What a great idea and wonderful way to commemorate the passing of a year. Kieran hasn't been too terribly interested in coloring or painting so far- but we hold out hope that a love for art will grow in our transportation obsessed toddler. We have offered Kieran crayons and markers and a variety of coloring pages- mostly with trains- of course. And although he has worked a little here and there on these "art projects" he hasn't seemed terribly enthused. After having seen my friend's child's art though, I thought I would give it another try- I really want to have a keepsake piece of art from Kieran.
In thinking about the color of our soon-to-be new living room wall, a dark chocolate, I thought a vibrant green would really pop. I bought two pre-fab canvases and prepped them with a warm yellow green background. I brought Kieran to school with me today, set out a few different color acrylic paints, handed him a brush and stepped back...

 Artist at work and in motion...

 Stepping back to survey the work so far...

 Using his left hand... although he started out with his right hand!

 Trying out a different tool- his hands!

 Blending colors- by hand ;)

 Lifting some color and adding texture with a paper towel

 "Eeewwws!" This is a new phrase of Kieran's... too cute! Whenever his hands are dirty now, he holds them up to me so that I can clean them off but if I'm not available right at that moment, his shirt works too!

 Kieran working on his second painting- going for warmer, lighter colors in this one.

The final two works of art... It think they will look awesome over the fireplace on that chocolate wall- don't you?!

Mid February 2011

 I absolutely love this look- he seems grown up in a way in this photo...

 Here Kieran has wedged himself into a toy tote and Rick is sliding him around the floor as KP picks up and collects Dora toys.

 There's my little boy- such a sweet little face

 Cousin Presley slept over this past weekend. She and Kieran play more and more together these days. You can tell Kieran likes her, he lets her play with his trains- for a little while anyway ;)

 Kieran got a hold of the camera and these next few shots are the results- his first photographs!

 Daddy from Kieran's angle...

 Mommy's hand

Owl hasn't been any in the photos in a long time. Kieran sleeps with owl- although mostly they just share the crib. On this occasion, Kieran decided owl needed to get out and take a ride.

The blizzard of 2011 and Happy Groundhog's Day!

This has been the snowiest winter I can remember and these past two days have been a blizzard- literally! We are on our second consecutive snow day which makes six total for the year so far. Everything has come to a standstill including MU, the movie theater, the mall and I-70! In the Ashland area we received nearly 20" with drifts up to four feet high and sub zero temperatures. Today is sunny and something tells me Puxatony Phil will see his stout little shadow and that we are in for another six weeks of this nonsense! Despite all of this, we decided to take Kieran out this morning and see how he reacted to being "stuck" in the waist deep snow. He wasn't all that found of being in the nearly two foot powder but he was plenty happy to hang out in the areas that daddy had shoveled. I had to lure him back into the house with promises of cookies and Thomas videos!

 "Stuck! Stuck!"

 "Help mama!"

 Kieran rode in the sled for as long as mommy could muster the energy to pull him through the 20"s!

 Kieran was much happier once he was on the shoveled driveway. He "helped" daddy shovel which Rick has been doing for the past two hours and only a small dent has been made- this stuff is crazy!

 "You missed some here dad!"

 The wagon was a no go- it was even harder to get around than the sled!

 Yesterday we stayed inside because of the white-out conditions. Here, Kieran is dumping his word flashcards as Neko looks on.

 Back in the truck they go, so that the cards can be dumped all over again.

 We made Kieran a fort yesterday with some folding chairs and a blanket. He loved it and spent a lot of time playing underneath the toddler-sized structure.

 "Vroom! Vroom!"

 Kieran in action, running from daddy with something he wasn't supposed to have- look at the pure glee!

 Playing cars in the Dora house- the doors make great underpasses ;)

Grandma helps out with the door that is always falling off. "Thanks Nana!"